DNF on page 59
I honestly forgot I was reading this and I feel bad for not finishing it, because how can you say a memoir wasn't a good book? I don't want to qualify someone's life like that, but considering that this is Boylan's third memoir, you'd think she'd get the idea of how to write a coherent narrative. It wasn't bad, but it made me feel lowkey a little stupid.
This has a really weird structure that I'm not entirely a fan of. For the first little section, it worked well -- as an introduction. I didn't expect the rest of the book to be as time-jumpy and random as that. I expected a bit more consistency. I just feel like some of the scenes were incomprehensible (besides being out of chronological order, which I can figure out usually). I didn't understand the point being made or why it was told in that way. I felt like a child surrounded by an adult conversation that is literally going over my head.
Beyond that, and here's the part that makes me feel slightly icky, but I didn't find her, at least from the little bit I read, all that interesting. I'd rather read an article or a few paragraphs summarizing the highlights. I feel like if the structure hadn't been so terrible, it might have made the narrative of her life feel less boring.
Overall, I'd say this is probably a fine memoir, but as the only memoir I've ever tried reading, I didn't like it and I don't think I'll be reading many memoirs in the future.
I honestly forgot I was reading this and I feel bad for not finishing it, because how can you say a memoir wasn't a good book? I don't want to qualify someone's life like that, but considering that this is Boylan's third memoir, you'd think she'd get the idea of how to write a coherent narrative. It wasn't bad, but it made me feel lowkey a little stupid.
This has a really weird structure that I'm not entirely a fan of. For the first little section, it worked well -- as an introduction. I didn't expect the rest of the book to be as time-jumpy and random as that. I expected a bit more consistency. I just feel like some of the scenes were incomprehensible (besides being out of chronological order, which I can figure out usually). I didn't understand the point being made or why it was told in that way. I felt like a child surrounded by an adult conversation that is literally going over my head.
Beyond that, and here's the part that makes me feel slightly icky, but I didn't find her, at least from the little bit I read, all that interesting. I'd rather read an article or a few paragraphs summarizing the highlights. I feel like if the structure hadn't been so terrible, it might have made the narrative of her life feel less boring.
Overall, I'd say this is probably a fine memoir, but as the only memoir I've ever tried reading, I didn't like it and I don't think I'll be reading many memoirs in the future.