memorysnow reviewed Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple
Review of 'Today Will Be Different' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
This book could have been really good...if it weren't such a mess!
There were some excellent concepts in this book--the graphic novel aspect, the poetry study, the hilariously-drawn caricature of New Orleans society (especially in contrast to her take on Seattle life)--but the abundance of directions this book took left everything feeling half-baked. Even the recurrent name-dropping of Violet Parry (yeah, we see what you did there already!) seemed contrived--either bring her character into the story, or reference her once and move on. I really wish Semple had taken more time to develop Eleanor into a plausible (if not always trustworthy) narrator, to explore some of the concepts that could have turned this into a compelling book, and to flesh out the necessary supporting characters (and not one character more).
I enjoyed reading it overall, but it's no more than 3-stars for me.
P.S. The Timby/autocorrect joke just did not …
This book could have been really good...if it weren't such a mess!
There were some excellent concepts in this book--the graphic novel aspect, the poetry study, the hilariously-drawn caricature of New Orleans society (especially in contrast to her take on Seattle life)--but the abundance of directions this book took left everything feeling half-baked. Even the recurrent name-dropping of Violet Parry (yeah, we see what you did there already!) seemed contrived--either bring her character into the story, or reference her once and move on. I really wish Semple had taken more time to develop Eleanor into a plausible (if not always trustworthy) narrator, to explore some of the concepts that could have turned this into a compelling book, and to flesh out the necessary supporting characters (and not one character more).
I enjoyed reading it overall, but it's no more than 3-stars for me.
P.S. The Timby/autocorrect joke just did not work. At all. Ugh.