I recently finished Jewel by Brett Lott. It was amazing. I read The Memory Keeper’s Daughter in August and absolutely hated it. The story was good, but the author did not have the talent to pull it off. Jewel, however, is almost the same story but infinitely better told. The writing is just beautiful, the characters are real. It took me months to finish the book. I blamed it on time constraints, but I think that’s only partially true. If I were completely honest with myself, I think I would say that a book like that–so rich–is not something to speed through. I allowed myself to go slowly and see the characters in my mind. I hated for it to end.
I started My Sister’s Keeper a few days ago. I can’t say whether I would have the same reaction to this book if I had read it before Jewel. You see, when you read something like Jewel or East of Eden whatever you read next just cannot hold up: The writing cannot be as good, the story will seem flat. That is how I feel about My Sister’s Keeper. I’m actually interested in the story, but I find the writing is choppy and the chapters told by various characters is distracting. I’m reading this book quickly and I find that’s OK because I don’t have to invest much in these characters for them to tell their stories.
What do you think? Have you ever read a book that’s just so good, then tried to read a book right after it and found it was sort of meh? Do you think you would have had that same opinion had you read the second book first?
Update: I have finished My Sister’s Keeper. It’s really, really sad. Just so you know.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Sounds like I need to read Jewel.
I loved East of Eden!
I haven’t read Jewel, but I will check it out, as I have read the Memory Keeper’s Daughter and thought it was pretty good; although the end was a bit of a cop-out. I too have read My Sister’s Keeper and had much the same response as you. A decent read, but the constantly changing narrator (very common for that author) was distracting and I thought the end in that one was a cop-out too. The author didn’t really have to resolve the story.
Have you read the Time-Traveler’s Wife? If not, go read it because it is excellent. Difficult to follow the pace initially, but well worth the time. It is a book that I go back and read once a year or so. I love books–can you tell?
Question: How on earth do you find TIME to read?
With two teenagers, it’s almost impossible for me to get enough “alone time” to read the mail, much less a book. I’ve been working on a light fiction number for the last 2 months and haven’t been able to finish it yet. What’s your secret?
My Sister’s Keeper is on my pile, so I’ll be reading it before too long.
And YES, I know what you mean about reading a wonderful story and then the next book just seems pathetic by comparison. In fact, sometimes after I read a novel that I just love, I take a break from novels and catch up on magazines or nonfiction or something else – just so I don’t break the spell of that wonderful book.
I keep telling you Time Traveler’s Wife, but will you ever believe me?
I actually really appreciated My Sister’s Keeper. I thought it could have been a little better organized, but the writing, the story and the premise were really appreciable and deep. Yes, it’s a crier, but man it was well worth it.
Oooh, I need to write those down. Every time I go to the library, I stand there and draw a blank.
Okay, I’m not very observant. I just noticed your reading list. We Were the Mulvaneys is also very good. In fact, I now think of that book when looking for another book to read because it is just a good story. Read it soon!
I have Jewel sitting on the bookshelf–i guess I need to pull it out and read it. You know a book is good when you feel sad about it ending!
I think I have told you this before, but I am not a big Jodi Piccoult fan My Sisters Keeper was so-so, but I get really tired of the fakey-introspection throughout her books. Her characters all seem to be too philisophical to be believable–for me, anyway!
Anything I read has to be a week-ender. Usually that’s all the time I have- or the equivalent of it over a week-long vacation.
I know what you mean, though. I rarely choose a book I’m not pretty certain I’ll like a lot. They’re the kind I just can’t put down until they’re done. I really get that way with historical fiction – like the ones that start in prehistory somewhere and lead up to the beginning of the story.
I got about 1/3 of the way into Memory Keeper’s Daughter and just stopped. It was like running under water, slogging and slogging through so much unnecessary verbage. The cover was so pretty and the story line seemed intriguing, but then… it was not.
I am finishing The Memory Keeper’s Daughter right now, I have to say it is a “different type of book” but it grew on me. I liked the imagery, and how the author passed time. But I can totally understand someone not liking it.
It was a great story as a whole.
Bret Lott is a writer who needs to be read slowly and savoured–his style is rich in details and his pace is slow, he writes about the little everyday things. I’ve read 2 others by him (the retelling of Ruth (I forget the title) is really good; sad but hopeful) but not Jewel. After you finish a really good, deep book I think you need to take a break and just savor it, replay parts in your mind, etc, before starting a new one, so I agree with you. I haven’t read the other two you mentioned.
I too find that I need to take breaks between books, especially well written ones. Greg Ilis is one of my favorites. He’s southern and you can tell. His writing is so beautiful. Dean Koontz is someone I’m really getting into these days, especially his more recent work. Some of his earlier stuff is too violent for me (I’m a huge crime novel fan), but his newer stuff has some real depth.
One book that I read and then had to take a break after was Anne Rice’s Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt. Her writing is so incredible! I’ve never read her vampire books (so not my cup of tea!), but I really enjoyed this book and have recommended it to many people (although not teenagers. As lovely a book as it is, it does make you want to read everything she’s ever written, which wouldn’t be healthy for youngsters.). I love beautiful writing.
Another great one is Tim Downs’ Bug Man Series.
I like books.
I read Jewel and few months ago and like it a lot. I was remembering about when I read “My sister’s keeper.” I actually ended up reading it in a few sittings at the book store. When I finished, I was sitting in Barnes and Noble crying my eyes out. I do not even want to know what people who saw me thought. I guess that is what I get for reading a book for free at the book store.