Comments on: A Separation by Katie Kitamura – LET’S DISCUSS!

By: Susie | Novel Visits

Susie | Novel Visits — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 04:51:28 +0000

I read your review right after I had finished A Separation and SO agreed with you about your Gone Girl rant. I loved that story and no other book I’ve ever read that was compared to GG has lived up to it. It’s truly misleading.

Between the lack of action and the narrator’s never ending opinion, A Separation was a huge disappointment!

Thanks for joining in on the discussion.

By: Andrea Hallberg

Andrea Hallberg — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 23:22:39 +0000

OK! I had lots of thoughts on the marketing of this book on my blog, and went on a rant about how TOO MANY books are compared to Gone Girl. This, as others have now mentioned, is much closer to Fates and Furies. I didn’t read much about it beforehand, so I didn’t see that comparison until AFTER I read it. I did read that it was a ‘mystery’ – so I definitely felt cheated of that. The only other book I can think of offhand that disappointed me in this way is The Little Friend, by Donna Tartt – again, no mystery, just character analysis.
I could NOT connect with the main character, as she just seemed like a vessel for the author to make witty and searing remarks. The writing was worthy of much underlining, but I don’t think there was enough there for a novel. It might have worked better for me as a short story. I generally don’t enjoy novels with unlikeable characters, mostly because they are the introspective, navel gazing, priviledged white woman variety – like Fates and Furies, Hausfrau, Rich and Pretty, Unbecoming, etc. I rather enjoyed Gone Girl despite the unlikeable characters because there was SUSPENSE and ACTION and UNPREDICTABILITY. All that is to say that I enjoy a good thriller over a character analysis ANY DAY.
I am not an audiobook person, so I can’t speak to this! I only listen to memoirs on occasion (maaaaybe once a year) like Bossypants or something by David Sedaris. 🙂

By: Susie

Susie — Fri, 24 Feb 2017 04:21:07 +0000

In reply to Sarah's Book Shelves. Your comment on listening to fiction really has me thinking. I'm thinking maybe I should concentrate on nonfiction for my audiobooks for a while. Maybe I'll have better results and I loved When Breath Becomes Air on audio. As for the narrator in AS, to me she never had any credibility. I get that her husband was a total jerk, but I felt like we never really knew her. We knew what she thought about things, but how was she as a wife? As a friend? I felt like she disliked everyone and came across as morally superior.

By: Susie

Susie — Fri, 24 Feb 2017 04:13:24 +0000

In reply to Tara. I'll be really interested to hear what you think.

By: Susie

Susie — Fri, 24 Feb 2017 04:12:49 +0000

In reply to Kate @ Parchment Girl. I look forward to hearing what you think.

By: Susie

Susie — Fri, 24 Feb 2017 04:12:17 +0000

In reply to Elizabeth. Well said! It will be interesting to see how they make this into a movie since almost all of it was going on in the narrators head. I foresee some huge changes.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Fri, 24 Feb 2017 01:00:50 +0000

I feel the same way about unlikable characters. Sometimes I don’t mind them at all and the development is key. With Fates and Furies (which is far more comparable to this vs Gone Girl), I didn’t like the characters as people but they were well drawn and fascinating. Here, the narrator just bored me and I never connected to her or the story. There were some interesting observations about marriage but while I typically love books about the dark side of marriage this one fell flat for me. The lack of quotation marks and not getting out of the narrator’s head don’t help my experience. I expected to love this one but didn’t. I hope others do!

By: Kate @ Parchment Girl

Kate @ Parchment Girl — Thu, 23 Feb 2017 23:14:53 +0000

I only read the intro to your review because I haven’t read the book yet, but I have to say, I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve heard generally good things. I’ll pop back to read your review once I’ve read the book!

By: Tara

Tara — Thu, 23 Feb 2017 14:26:51 +0000

Okay, so I only read a portion of this post because I intend to read this one; having said that, I am so thankful to you and Sarah for helping me temper my expectations and not pay attention to the marketing description before I begin – ha!

By: Sarah's Book Shelves

Sarah's Book Shelves — Thu, 23 Feb 2017 12:32:50 +0000

1) That’s a great point about the publisher’s blurb vs. the press commentary. I thought the publisher’s blurb was fairly accurate – maybe save for the “shocking breaking point.” It was the Elle and Millions comments that really were egregious. I’d been interested in the book long before seeing it in The Millions. And I also heard Rebecca Schinsky talk about it on All the Books podcast before reading it – where she addressed the GG comparison and said AS is not at all like GG. So, despite it all, I think I had the appropriate expectations going in. BUT – if you go into this thing expecting action and shocking twists…you’re definitely going to be disappointed.

2) Here’s where we differ. I liked the narrator’s snarky commentary on marriage, her mother-in-law, her husband, etc. I thought she was funny and spot-on. But, I have been in the situation before where I can’t stand the narrator and want out of her/his head. The Husband’s Secret comes to mind. Cecliia drove me crazy!

3) I always think listening vs. reading makes a huge difference (for me at least)…and not even related to the narrator. I always have trouble with fiction on audio and especially have trouble with books where nothing much happens. Back when I listened to fiction on audio, it had to be very plot-driven books. I feel like this book was all about the writing and that doesn’t generally translate well for me on audio.

Great discussion!