The different timelines can easily work if they had been grouped together in larger sections. There isn't even so much as a space between the paragraphs to the let the reader know that Shreve is switching between past and present. Blah blah we're in the present now blah blah so I hope you were paying attention. The problem is that it goes something like this: The book flashes between the present, a letter written in the 1800s and descriptions of events from the 1800s. Reminders every two pages that she's jealous. The regular reminder in every chapter that the husband is a poet and (surprise!) liked to drink. The same island described a million times. How is it possible that it moves soooo slow that forty-six pages felt like a hundred? I realized I was skimming pages, something I only do when I'm really bored with a story, so I checked what page I was on.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |