A Failed Literary Leap

I haven't read any of Maguire's other books. And in fact I only read this one because I am participating in a book discussion group this semester. Luckily (I guess) for me I forgot about the discussion group until 2 days before and had to read this book in two days. I just powered through it--otherwise I hear that it took months for the other readers to read it because they kept putting it down. It is a very dark book both figuratively in the characters and in the weather. Also, throughout most of the book you have no idea what is going on, and the heroine is not very likable making it very hard to sympathize and connect with her. All of these things make the book very hard to read. I think Maguire was trying to make some kind of profound statement with this book and in the process the book just became unreadable to the general public. No one in my reading group liked it (which included mostly English college Instructors). But I do think that it make a good book for a discussion group, because I really think that Maguire wants you to reflect and think about this book when you are finish reading it. I don't think he meant for it to be easily digestible.

Plot: Winnie is a writer of children's novels. She is going on a trip to London to visit her cousin John and to work on her new novel. Only, when she gets to London she finds no sign of John and there are workers in the house tearing out the pantry to make an illegal (its an historic structure and John's building plans have not been approved) staircase to the roof. Winnie decides to stay in the apartment and try to figure out what happened to her cousin. Then weird things start happening in the apartment; Winnie and workers begin to believe that the apartment is haunted. Winnie begins to investigate the haunting and to harass her neighbors about the where abouts of her cousin. Is the apartment actually haunted? And what has happened to John? You will have to read the book to find out. There is also some side plot action. There is a story in a story as Winnie works on her new book. That story is about a woman going to pick up a baby she has adopted in Romania. Plus Winnie has decided to research on Jack the Ripper for a book as well which blends into the haunting plot. Most of the time you are not sure exactly where the plot is going or how it all connects.

The biggest problem for this novel is that you do not like Winnie. She is abrasive, irritating and mean. She does not behave well towards the other characters, and she is annoying to the reader. She is very hard to sympathize with or identify with which makes the book hard to read. If you don't care about the main character then why read the book? Plus most of the peripheral characters are not fleshed out so that you cannot connect with them either.

Secondly, the book is very dark. It is dark topic wise and setting wise. While Winnie concentrates on a murderous spirit in the apartment and the uncanny disappearance of her cousin a storm continuously rages outside the apartment. So if you are looking for a feel good novel this is not going to be it. It is just not that light read to take to the beach kind of book.

The writing style does not draw you in. In fact, this book is a very hard book to read. I would have never finished it except I was part of a discussion group. You get bogged down in all the different plots, all the allegory and the fact that Winnie is unlikable. I think Maguire is trying to make a literary statement, which he sort of does once everything connects at the end, and in doing so he forgets to make the book readable to the general public.

Overall, I did not enjoy reading this book. However, the connection that is made at the end (which I won't give away) made for a great discussion in the group. While Lost is not a good read for the individual, it did make a great book for a discussion group because provided lots of discussion material. If you are looking for a good book to read, I would not recommend this one. You will be really disappointed.