Thursday, May 27, 2010

Woman in the Fifth

Is the floor open for comments/discussion? Megan, e, anyone? I have a bone to pick . . . with the author

6 comments:

  1. Me too! I'm writing my bit on the train in the mornings. Hope to be up by Sunday at the latest!

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  2. Okay...I guess the two of you didn't like the supernatural twist...

    I must admit that though it took me a bit by surprise, I suspected something when the main character and the woman met...

    Just made in France, I hope the soon-to-be-completed film of this book is released in the U.S. eventually.

    Kennedy is a wonderful storyteller.

    Tut, tell us more about your bone to pick with the author...this should be an interesting discussion.

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  3. I found the supernatural twist to be disappointing and the easy way out to explain a good bit of the action. The author writes very well, and the plot moves along briskly. I read up on him and discovered that he's American, which surprised me.

    I would much rather the woman had been real and her apartment not some magical bit of business. And having the apartment manager freeze was a bit much. If he had worked with reality, this would have been a much tighter, more exciting story.

    I also found the character of his wife to be little more than a stock rendition of a shrew, too. She didn't seem real. And the student's sudden spiral into mental illness seemed stagey too.

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  4. I also thought the wife was a bit shrewish, though I have encountered women of her description in academia...As for the apartment, the woman's estate paid for it, so the only magical bit was her ghost hanging about...Perhaps you are right about Kennedy trying to work with reality, but I looked at his effort as a writer taking a bit of a risk, which I admire him for attempting...

    Curious to see what the film is like by comparison...

    Is the verdict here a thumbs down for you and Meg?

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  5. No, there was the clean apartment when the ghost was in it, and the apartment covered in dust with rats, etc., when she wasn't.

    Who's in the film? Did you say it was a French production?

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  6. Megan, did you take my copy of Sarah's Key? I can't find it anywhere!

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