12.31.2010

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb


I have this rule about abandoning books. I don't allow myself to abandon them until I read at least 150 pages. At this point, I am usually invested in the novel or it proves itself to be better than I first surmised. After 200 pages or so, I dumped this book. Nothing against Wally Lamb, his writing was just fine - it was the story that was lacking.I'm not against depressing books. What I am against is what felt like one big cliche. If you're going to write about someone's big fat depressing life, at least make it worthwhile and interesting to read about, multidimensional even.

That's what I get for reading an Oprah's Book Club pick. I almost made it all year without abandoning a book.

Publisher: Pocket, 1998

14 comments:

  1. i usually avoid oprah picks and sometimes i get kind of weirdly upset when a book i like gets chosen. i remember one time reading "100 years of solitude" for a class and how everyone was discussing their efforts to get a copy without the oprah sticker.

    -- ellen

    ReplyDelete
  2. I haven't read this one, but did read I Know This Much is True for a book club, and I felt pretty much the same about it as you describe here.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I finished this book, but gave it a 2/5. I have his other book, I know this Much is True, but now I just read Melody's comment...oh boy!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I LOVED this book when I read it about 10 years ago. Sorry it did not work for you.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I read this a few years ago due to my mom's high recommendation. I think the problem with She's Come Undone is that it didn't translate well and the topic (overweight women with low self-esteem) has been overdone in the last 20+ years. Sorry you had to abandon the book, I always hate doing that.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am sorry you disliked this book. I liked this book a lot. But I absolutely loved Wally Lamb's I Know This Much is True.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have to say I'm surprised and I'm pretty sure your reasons to dump it were solid. I have no clue who Lamb is thought, but Oprah has a pattern for her cook clubs

    A)Self-Help

    B)Generic Classics

    C)Flavor Of The Month

    D)Toni Morrison

    She never fails "the pattern"...but I think Toni Morrison is cool.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I've heard mixed things, but I know that I've heard enough bloggers and friends whose reading opinions I trust absolutely hate on Lamb that he's not high up on my own reading lists. Sorry you had to abandon, but I'm impressed that you gave it 200 pages. I quit after 50 if it isn't working out (life's too short, and Nancy Pearl said it was ok).

    ReplyDelete
  9. This one never resonated with me and I never felt compelled to pick it up. I remember when Oprah oohed and ahhhed about it when it was chosen, but sadly, every time I would pick it up at the store, I never purchased it. Ahh, well. Oprah.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I really liked this title. Although, I feel like at this point the topic has been overdone, society has never really had much of a problem when it's an idealized young female, young and thin, which is also exhibited again and again. That being said, I read it when I was 20, and I'm sure my perspective has changed a great deal in 6 years. I remember being fascinated by the way in which the narrator observed her own obsessive behavior (eating too much) and then, in the end, stopped the habit by basically producing these psychotic visualizations of mold growing on everything she attempted to eat. I would agree that looking back it's a bit sappy. I remember really enjoying the perspective at that time, because I don't remember that topic discussed as often as it is now. Sorry you didn't like it. But at least you moved on. I have been feeling guilty about The Elegance of the Hedgehog. But that's reading, right?!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I abandoned this one too. I don't remember much about it (I read it when I was 17, I think) but I remember thinking there was way too much drama.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Tony, I think a lot of people do. I'm sure I'm in the minority. Maybe I would have liked it had I finished the book. I just felt like I was wasting my time. But I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh thank you! I am SO glad to hear that I'm not the only one who hates this book. It was dreadful. Really just awful. Especially the ending. Yawn.

    ReplyDelete