Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Review: Dale Loves Sophie to Death by Robb Foreman Dew

I read this for last year's Decades Challenge (yes, that tells you how behind I am but at least this was a December book so I'm getting closer to 2008) and had probably had it in my tbr piles for decades as well since it was published in the 80's. I am glad I finally read it because it means I can stop moving it with me each time we move (on average every 2-3 years). Yes, those of you who know me know that I don't easily let go of books so you also know this means I did not like the book at all. Maybe it didn't age well (maybe I didn't age well) but I found not one thing in it that appealed to me. The characters were boring and I just didn't care about their small and unpleasant lives. Every summer Dinah takes her children from her East Coast home to the small Ohio town she grew up in while her husband stays behind and works. I truly didn't understand the reason Dinah was drawn back to her roots, especially given her lack of a relationship with her father nor did I think the town was particularly well drawn. Both Dinah and her husband interact with friends (or more than friends) but they don't seem very likeable people even to those with whom they are closest. Perhaps the biggest stumbling block for me was the constant internal narration, not quite stream of consciousness (which I loathe) but close enough to make this entire book a dreary slog of a read for me.

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