dinsdag 8 juni 2010

Book Review: The Eight by Katherine Neville

Remember when I blogged my schedule? No? Never mind that.
I said that I was reading The Eight by Katherine Neville, and now I’ve finally finished it. So it’s time to let the world know my opinion!

First of all, I’d like to state that I normally don’t take this much time reading a book. But this is just… well…

The Eight has a curious structure: It’s basically two books in one. Authorities have described it as a “great intertwining of two seemingly unrelated stories.” I only halfway agree with this: The two stories are indeed almost unrelated, save near the end, and thus are not intertwined at all! I WAS DECEIVED! (I won’t spoil)

Then there’s the plot. I had to read carefully; otherwise my common sense would have trampled over it like it was a fragile flower in the middle of a highway. To give an example: First, two girls are warned by everyone that this guy (actually a main character) is a despicable villain, and that they should not get involved with him. The next thing I knew is that one of the girls had sex with him. I DON’T GET IT! Any further mentions of him being evil are missing, too. It’s like he was suddenly replaced with his not-so-evil twin brother.

Then, there’s the cheesy jokes. One person says something like this: “Stalin reigned, as his name implied, with a steel fist.” I don’t know whether the translator came up with this (I read the Dutch version) or if it was included by Neville, but it’s just not fitting.

People have compared this to The Da Vinci Code, which I thought was amazing, but frankly, I don’t know why they did so.

Now to read its sequel, The Fire. People say it's good as well, but hey.

Quote of the day: “Decorations? When the guests come I’ll hang them.” -MLIA

1 opmerking:

  1. Wow that is utterly confusing. I have to read Grapes of Wrath for English, and I go through books in a day, but I have been on the first page since sometime in May, its just about scenery zzzz!

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