Laura
I watched the new film version of this book on a plane recently, so I had to read the book. There was so much clearly missing from the film, some of it in a good way. I skipped most of the bits with the farm labourers and whoever because I'm a snob who doesn't care to pick through dialect. I'm only here for the sheep and the romance!
I didn't technically finish this. I don't usually rate books I don't finish, but I did not get much out of this book, although this probably had to do with it not being suited to the audiobook format. The sections were poorly delineated, so it wasn't clear whose perspective you were hearing. I wish the author had written it all from her perspective and kept the tone more cohesive and consistent. The narrator was inappropriately chipper at times. (It was like a kindergarten teacher telling her students about how badass she is. It didn't work.) There weren't many clear or strong messages, and most of the stories were not about specific mistakes or failures per se, but more generally about the difficulties they faced and how they overcame them, which isn't quite the same thing (or maybe it is and my expectations were wrong). It didn't help that I fell asleep or just entirely stopped paying attention during some points. I may have gotten more out of it at a different time in my life and/or career, but I didn't enjoy it at this stage.
Slowly made its way to the heart of what is difficult about writing (and making art) and eventually gave some practical tools and guidance to make it manageable. I am that jerk who doesn't appreciate Lynda Barry's drawing/collage style (too chaotic and overwhelming for me), but this book is great in spite of it. It was also unbalanced – I was thinking of giving up before the ‘two questions' section, and then with the writing exercises I totally gave in. Wonderful stuff.
The exercises connected with me especially because I recently started making lists and thinking about memories from my childhood. The revelation that the image is the thing (which I knew before but forget when people say that emotion is the thing or action is the thing or character is the thing) was illuminating for me. The idea that childhood is a neighbourhood is spot on – there are many different neighbourhoods in my head and in my memory. The images living in those neighbourhoods are what connects to emotions and action and character.
Her emphasis on play also meant a lot to me because I play with my nieces and nephews a lot, and the way they play is fascinating, but while I go along with what they're doing, I'm not as engaged with their point of view as I could be. I guess I am a little self-absorbed and always keep a foot in the grown-up door so I can switch into adult mode when I need to. But they and I would have more fun if I just gave in and tried to see what they were seeing, instead of playing on my own terms.
So that's me – but this book is great for those who are worrying about whether their work is any good and are looking for practical ways to get unstuck and are not afraid to explore the memories of things that might be painful or horrible or shameful.
I loved the parts about running, but the family drama and present-day scenes didn't do it for me and took up too much of the book for my taste. I wanted to hear more about training and gear and racing in the 1920s in Canada and more about the races she ran posing as a man later in life, which were mentioned in only the most passing of all possible passings. But I'm a selfish reader. I should probably be trying to satisfy this thirst elsewhere.
This book is front-loaded with mostly 4-star stories and then there's a string of 2-star stories and then it ends with a couple of 3-stars. Throughout, the prose style and tone were a bit difficult for me. It took me a while to get into the rhythm of each story, but that probably comes with the genre and the form. Frequently my patience paid off. Some great themes and fascinating worlds and cultures, but Tiptree, Jr. did not breed further interest in stories like these.
Re-read this on Christmas Eve Eve and Christmas Eve 2016. Bumping it up from three to four stars. It's a cozy, heartwarming read for this time of year.
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This was fun to listen to and there were some really good bits. But the plot was so one-note, like it should have been a short story. But what do I know – I listened to this mostly while I was sick and probably even slept through parts of it (oops).
This book is essentially a fantasy of my life had I gone to university right out of high school and stuck to writing fan fiction instead of other things and hadn't gotten into online relationships. Cath's problems with meeting people and doing new things were very familiar. Not the twin sister or parental issues though. And I mostly wrote Sailor Moon fan fiction (too old for Harry Potter) and was never popular. And I did not have anyone in real life with whom I had fan fiction in common. (Still don't.) And writing is a solitary thing for me, not something that I can do with someone else (except, kind of, long ago, for the life story exchanges with my few real life best friends and one internet best friend, Jessica). So not that close to my own life, but close enough.
I wish there had been more focus on Cath's struggles as a writer of things other than fan fiction. I liked the parts with the writing professor and the fiction-writing course make-up chance, but then her story appeared out of the blue in the end. It would've been nice to see more of that process.
That's the only negative thing I have to say about this book, and it's not even enough to make me remove a star. Maybe I would've liked to see more about Cath's relationships with online people? Like her beta reader who was mentioned in passing like twice? I never had a beta reader either. Anyway. I reread most of the book again after I finished, and then parts of it again. It's due back at the library soon so I may have to buy my own copy.
P.S. Thank you, Amy, for recommending this to me!