11.13.2012

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

 
I picked this one up for the RIP challenge, as I've heard it compared to books like Shadow of the Wind and The Book of Lost Things. I'm pretty sure I'm the last blogger to read this book, so I'm not going to do much recap. This has been called a book for book lovers as our narrator, Margaret Lea, is the operator of a bookshop and longtime bibliophile, preferring the company of books to the company of people. As the novel moves forward, Margaret finds herself working with an incredibly famous though reclusive author, Vida Winter. Winter has hired Margaret to tell the author's untold life story. The novel holds certain parallels to Victorian classics that are mentioned throughout; most notably Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and The Turn of the Screw, to name a few.

For me, the narrative had a few moments of suspense but overall I found the twists underwhelming and the plot filled with conveniences.  The biggest problem that I had with the book was that I found it to be over-narrated; characters and ideas rarely spoke for themselves, instead our narrator told us everything, including the obvious, and never let me assess things for myself. The narration made the story too accessible, giving it an almost juvenile, corny feel:

Everybody has a story. It's like families. You might not know who they are, might have lost them, but they exist all the same. You might drift apart or you might turn your back on them, but you can't say you haven't got them. Same goes for stories.
Aside from that it was an engaging story in parts, but lacking in its delivery. I know I'm in the minority with this one, it just didn't do it for me.

12 comments:

  1. I enjoyed this when I read it, but I didn't fall in love with it as most people did. I agree there were lots of flaws and I'm not sure I'd be very impressed if I read it today.

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  2. I'm with you on this one. And a lot of it came from really not being able to stand the narrator. Agreed with you: interesting concept but failed delivery.

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  3. I've picked this one up a few times but never bought it and now I think I'll just leave it be... Thanks for reviewing it!

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  4. I read this one back in 2007 and really enjoyed it, but I hadn't heard any hype at the time. Sometimes I think expectations can ruin a good book.

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  5. This one has been on my radar for a long, long time, but I could never make up my mind whether or not I want to read it. I think I'll still read it eventually, but I'll probably get it from the library.

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  6. I've read it about 2 years ago and, apart from the big twist, nothing else remained. Bit disappointing.

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  7. You're not the last person in the world to read it! I haven't either ;) I might pick it up one day. Or maybe not. There are so many books out there and I like my socks to be knocked off...not just slightly tugged at.

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  8. I read this last year and was very underwhelmed as well.

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  9. Nooooo! Sad you didn't enjoy this one. I remember not being able to put it down when I read it a couple of years ago. I'll say that I don't remember everything now and did have an issue with the whole narrator-has-a-twin-thing that was never fully developed.

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  10. I enjoyed this book but didn't love it. I do enjoy books about books, but the gothic melodrama didn't do too much for me. I don't remember very much about it. But then, I'm one of the only people in the world that didn't love Shadow of the Wind.

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  11. What a shame, I really devoured this one, but it would be boring if we all enjoyed the same books.
    http://lindyloumacbookreviews.blogspot.it/2010/09/thirteenth-tale.html

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  12. I really liked this book, but reading your review now I realise you right. The narrator telling us everything...

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