Monday, August 2, 2010

Nineteen Miniutes by Judy Picoult


I cried off and on all the way through this tragic story. I know it is one that will remain with me. Besides thoroughly delving both sides of the shootings of students by another student that had been bullied nearly all his school career the author inserted as many incidentally sad elements as she could come up with and write in. Suicide, death of a family pet, abortion, abusive relationships, the death of a child/sibling (not related to the shootings), unconnected/distant parents, Yikes! It was all too much for me. It will be a while before I attempt another book by this author. I'm not saying it wasn't good, it was. Just not my cup of tea at this time. It left me feeling hopeless. The "twist" at the end didn't work for me, it didn't feel right for the character.


Quote: "When you don't fit in you become superhuman. You can feel everyone else's eyes on you, stuck like Velcro. You can hear a whisper about you from a mile away. You can disappear even though it still looks like you are standing right there. You can scream and nobody hears a sound. You become the mutant who fell in the vat of acid, the joker who can't remove his mask, the bionic man who's missing all his limbs and none of his heart. You are the thing that used to be normal, but that was so long ago you can't even remember what it was like."


Interview with Picoult
Excerpt

1 comment:

Jo, a retired teacher said...

My daughter-in-law encouraged me to read her books, but after the 2nd one I decided she wasn't my cup of tea.

Now I know I'm not the only one. Thank you.