A review by ninareadingbooks
All My Puny Sorrows, by Miriam Toews
2.0
Hm, I did not like this one. Though the book has received a number of nominations for literary awards in Canada, it didn’t meet the expectations I had after reading the synopsis and acclaims about it. The book lacked the suspense and tension that I needed to be invested in the main conflict. Part of the problem was that I felt the book ambled on more about Yolandi than about Elf and her suicide attempts. I hoped the book would focus more on Elf, as she was a character I found really interesting.
The writing is weighed down by heavy words, descriptions, and what felt like grime. The tone is gray and muddy, like spring in Ontario. It's not just that most of the book is set in Winnipeg or that the rest of it is set in Toronto, it's the way the author brought particularly gritty parts of town into focus. It was the long passages which harped on the snobbery of Toronto neighborhoods and the less becoming characters whom Canadian social systems have failed.
The book was long and miserable, it wore on me like a Canadian winter that just won't end. We all have ideas on the flaws of our countries, cities, etc. and this book drowned on like your squirrelly aunt. Picture it, you're cornered at a holiday gathering and are desperately trying to escape this negative conversation. Your eyes are flickering around for any means of excusing yourself so you can go back to enjoying your sanctioned leisure time and hopefully not get sucked into another conversation like this one. That was how I felt by the end of this book.
The beginning of the book was intriguing. It reads like Anne Patchett's voice and Jeannette Walls' childhood. I was excited about it. I liked the characters, I liked where it was going. Unfortunately, the writing from the early parts of the novel felt emulated and the author seemed to run out of steam. An entirely different voice emerged and it was tiring to read the rants and trials of the story.
I don't really recommend this book, unless you're already feeling particularly down in the dumps and the mildew and darkness will provide comfort to you. I think in the same vein that I believe books we love meet us at the right time and place, this book didn’t connect with me where I am at right now.
The writing is weighed down by heavy words, descriptions, and what felt like grime. The tone is gray and muddy, like spring in Ontario. It's not just that most of the book is set in Winnipeg or that the rest of it is set in Toronto, it's the way the author brought particularly gritty parts of town into focus. It was the long passages which harped on the snobbery of Toronto neighborhoods and the less becoming characters whom Canadian social systems have failed.
The book was long and miserable, it wore on me like a Canadian winter that just won't end. We all have ideas on the flaws of our countries, cities, etc. and this book drowned on like your squirrelly aunt. Picture it, you're cornered at a holiday gathering and are desperately trying to escape this negative conversation. Your eyes are flickering around for any means of excusing yourself so you can go back to enjoying your sanctioned leisure time and hopefully not get sucked into another conversation like this one. That was how I felt by the end of this book.
The beginning of the book was intriguing. It reads like Anne Patchett's voice and Jeannette Walls' childhood. I was excited about it. I liked the characters, I liked where it was going. Unfortunately, the writing from the early parts of the novel felt emulated and the author seemed to run out of steam. An entirely different voice emerged and it was tiring to read the rants and trials of the story.
I don't really recommend this book, unless you're already feeling particularly down in the dumps and the mildew and darkness will provide comfort to you. I think in the same vein that I believe books we love meet us at the right time and place, this book didn’t connect with me where I am at right now.