I've just finished reading this and am wondering why I bothered. I feel as though I've been at one of those very very long French meals where you're stuck sitting next to the most Boring Person on Earth for about 10 hours. Maybe I'm disappointed too because I was expecting something like Ian McEwan's Saturday. More fool me.
It received SUCH rave reviews that I thought there was no way it could disappoint. Well it did; I feel as though I've been trudging through particularly dense cotton wool. It was reasonably well-written I suppose in a very beige sort of way. I didn't cry when I was meant to (and that's saying something for me!). Neither protagonist was memorable, attractive nor particularly likeable. The ending was a total cop-out. All in all it's chick lit, but for boys as well as girls...
I'd be interested to hear anyone else's views - maybe I missed something!
We had a big proper row in my extended group of reading friends about this... I didn't like this at first, because I didn't like the main characters. But actually I think it's a brilliant piece of writing. The writing is simple yes. The characters are ordinary. You're not supposed to like them. They are boring, their lives are mundane, they are shallow. It's about how important each day is... How you can look back on a dull day and see it for the simple joy it was.. Still I wouldn't recommend it - it's an odd one.
You'll be please to know that they've cast Anne Hathaway, of all people, as the lead 'ugly, fat, plain character! So the film will be dreadful, and you'll be proved right!!!
Haven't read it Fiona but it sounds like one to avoid.
I reckon critics live in a different world from the rest of us. On Flickr they do film reviews and the ones the critics rave about are the ones the public hated most. I try to go on personal recommendation as much as I can, especially with the cost of English language books in France.