Leni Zumas's writing crackles. Her books are sharp, bleak, funny, and possibly dangerous. When her collection of short stories, Farewell Navigator,...
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Though Connolly offers some creative and eerie twists on old fairy tales, that ground has been covered more empathetically by others (such as Gregory Maguire).
I am not a fan of fairy tale retellings in general--they tend to be cliche--but the pervasive misogyny in "The Book of Lost Things" was especially offputting. In what seems to have been an effort to avoid the damsel-in-distress syndrome, Connolly instead demonizes a number of sexually empowered female villains (a Huntress, and spin-offs of Red Riding Hood and Sleeping Beauty, along with the expected harpies and she-monsters). The only sympathetic female character is saintly to the point of unbelievability, and while her frailty is understandable (she's half ghost...), her willingness to suffer in silence is not realistic.
All in all, though it started out with a fascinating insider's view of obsessive-compulsive disorder and a psychotic break from reality, the novel disappointed.
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The Book of Lost Things: A Novel by John Connolly
writingirl22, June 28, 2007
Though Connolly offers some creative and eerie twists on old fairy tales, that ground has been covered more empathetically by others (such as Gregory Maguire).I am not a fan of fairy tale retellings in general--they tend to be cliche--but the pervasive misogyny in "The Book of Lost Things" was especially offputting. In what seems to have been an effort to avoid the damsel-in-distress syndrome, Connolly instead demonizes a number of sexually empowered female villains (a Huntress, and spin-offs of Red Riding Hood and Sleeping Beauty, along with the expected harpies and she-monsters). The only sympathetic female character is saintly to the point of unbelievability, and while her frailty is understandable (she's half ghost...), her willingness to suffer in silence is not realistic.
All in all, though it started out with a fascinating insider's view of obsessive-compulsive disorder and a psychotic break from reality, the novel disappointed.
(7 of 18 readers found this comment helpful)