18 February 2008

9. Case Histories



It is quite difficult to say what I think about this book. First two chapters, I loved it. Until the end, I assumed there was something wrong with me because I could not keep up. I made charts, I borrowed a friend's chart and notes, and I backed up a few times hoping to gain some insight into what the devil was going on. I mean, I love a mystery - and this book has at least three. Jackson, the middle-aged detevtive, was delightfully sympathetic. So what was my problem?

I think I know. It was just too much. I was never going to figure out who these people were and how they were all related, much less figured out who murdered Laura or snatched Olivia. And the other story - I am not sure at which point I even knew what happened. So the only mystery was why I could not get to the end.

And then, in the end, I rather liked the book. It was not your typical mystery. It was more a character study. It had human interest, sex, lunacy, devotion, and the good guy does win. I think I realized that I liked the book at my book group meeting. We could not stop talking about the people and what we had thought about them and their stories along the way. It really didn't matter that we were somehow disappointed. We all knew these people.

TITLE: Case Histories

AUTHOR: Kate Atkinson
COPYRIGHT: 2004
PAGES: 312
TYPE: Fiction
RECOMMEND: Maybe, it depends on why you think you want to read it.

FlusiCat

No comments: