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A review by samizimecki
Edith's Diary by Patricia Highsmith
2.0
I so desperately wanted to like this book since it was specifically recommended to me but I unfortunately didn't.
For one, none of the characters are likable. Edith is very vocal about politics and on paper, but passive in person. Her husband Brett leaves her for a younger woman but keeps trying to have a sort of friendship with Edith, which she allows even though she's actually really angry with him. They have a son, Cliffie, who is a trouble maker from the beginning, even before both parents give up on him. Brett's sick uncle, George, is just annoying and a burden. The other supporting characters were forgettable.
Since the book is titled "Edith's Diary," you'd expect it to have a bigger role. Yes, she does use it to create a sort of fantasy life for the son that didn't amount to anything, but at the same time, she is still able to differentiate between the real world and her fantasy. I feel like her descent into "madness" or her mental instability towards the end of the book is rushed and not properly developed (she becomes a bit more forgetful, but she's also supposed to be 50+ and she's still super high functioning), as if Highsmith was essentially like, "This book is going nowhere, might as well end it!"
It didn't help that this book moved insanely slow. It's not a mystery and it's not really a thriller, it's more of a suspenseful book, but one that you get anxious reading, expecting things to happen and then being disappointed and slightly angry with the lack of climax. I'm one of the few people apparently that didn't like this book, and though I thought it was slow paced, it did manage to hold my interest fairly well. It has potential even with the pacing and the unlikable characters, but the ending builds up to nothing and that is the most frustrating thing about this book for me.
For one, none of the characters are likable. Edith is very vocal about politics and on paper, but passive in person. Her husband Brett leaves her for a younger woman but keeps trying to have a sort of friendship with Edith, which she allows even though she's actually really angry with him. They have a son, Cliffie, who is a trouble maker from the beginning, even before both parents give up on him. Brett's sick uncle, George, is just annoying and a burden. The other supporting characters were forgettable.
Since the book is titled "Edith's Diary," you'd expect it to have a bigger role. Yes, she does use it to create a sort of fantasy life for the son that didn't amount to anything, but at the same time, she is still able to differentiate between the real world and her fantasy. I feel like her descent into "madness" or her mental instability towards the end of the book is rushed and not properly developed (she becomes a bit more forgetful, but she's also supposed to be 50+ and she's still super high functioning), as if Highsmith was essentially like, "This book is going nowhere, might as well end it!"
It didn't help that this book moved insanely slow. It's not a mystery and it's not really a thriller, it's more of a suspenseful book, but one that you get anxious reading, expecting things to happen and then being disappointed and slightly angry with the lack of climax. I'm one of the few people apparently that didn't like this book, and though I thought it was slow paced, it did manage to hold my interest fairly well. It has potential even with the pacing and the unlikable characters, but the ending builds up to nothing and that is the most frustrating thing about this book for me.