Thursday, February 01, 2007

You Remind Me of Me | Dan Chaon

Well, I am now finished "You Remind me of me" ...I'll do a quick synopsis without spoilers. There is a mother that punishes herself for letting her first born become adopted before she sees it. The 2nd born son is neglected by the mother and has issues revolving around family, love, acceptance... but has a lot of human compassion. He meets his brother by getting a job in a bar that he works in... and doesn't reveal himself. There's a lot more to it than that, but I don't want to give things away.

The problem is, the book is like an oreo. Boring on one end, boring on the other... with some congealed goodness on the inside. The problem is, you never really trust the middle... it could be made of cow cartilage ground together or it could be a sweet man-made substance. Regardless, the mystery of whether it's cartilage or man-made really doesn't matter because it's just not that good of a cookie.

The best cookies are made with passion and an open eye to the world. This cookie was fabricated... and my pallet has grown accustomed to cookies made with emotion.

Lazy writing style throughout... not really meant to be anything other than a decent story. I think it just has to do with the talent of the writer... just not something you would fall in love with.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love your review! Nice comparison, too.

I'm not quite half-way - up to the bit where Jonah gets a job at his brother's bar (spent most of the week moving so am more than a bit behind!) - but I can see what you mean.

Eclectic Indulgence said...

Well, I hope you find that you love it and I'm just crazy.

Expectations can play a large part in it (as I assume most literary buffs know by now), so maybe if you have none then you'll love it. However, I made a point to have none... and it still didn't work out for me. ;)

Looking forward to Wednesday!