Play Book Tag discussion

I guess a few of us are reading Hamnet this month. This is a place for discussion, thoughts, fun facts and any and everything else!!

Who I know is reading this month:
KateNZ
Hayjay315
and me!!

Has anyone else started the book. I just finished it tonite. It is not what I expected.

I haven’t yet (though I’m booked to see the movie tomorrow. Did you like it?

KateNZ wrote: "I haven’t yet (though I’m booked to see the movie tomorrow. Did you like it?"

I do think this might be a better movie. There are parts of the book I really liked and was deeply invested. There were other parts that I kinda hated. I struggle with books with clairvoyancy but then fight against or events cause them deep depression. Its determinism or not. I can't really straddle the fence on that.

I also feel like I'm in the minority.

The book also didn't know if it wanted to be mystical, and figurative or if it wanted to tell a story. It was ehhh to me.

Just back from the movie. Best film I’ve seen for a long time. If Jessie Buckley doesn’t win the Oscar, it’ll be a travesty

KateNZ wrote: "Just back from the movie. Best film I’ve seen for a long time. If Jessie Buckley doesn’t win the Oscar, it’ll be a travesty"

I'm glad you liked it. I will check it out. Hopefully you enjoy the book as well.

I don't think the book was horrible, just not for me.

Have you started the book yet?

I'd like to join. I'm on page 40.

Go for it, Sally! You’re 40 pages ahead of me!

I think I’m two books away from getting to this. Looking forward to it, but work is completely mad.

I finished!! It was magical!

I’m half way through and am absolutely entranced

I am so glad y'all loved/are loving it. That seems to be the common concensus.

What are y'all loving? What are your thoughts and feelings about the writing and the story and the characters.

I love present tense writing, done well (which this is; it doesn’t feel artificial). It drops you right into the scene and the mind of the character - that immediacy works very well for me.

The descriptions of the sights and smells and sounds of the country. This is the area (rural central Warwickshire) where I grew up, so it is all really familiar even though it is several hundred years apart!

I am also really loving the magical realism elements which surprises me a bit. They can sometimes be jarring. But here they just seem like a natural extension of the landscape and the story. Again maybe it helps that this is my original home.

The two timelines would often really annoy me, because it’s such an overdone trope, but I’m totally fine with it here. Still trying to figure out why! Maybe it is just that the whole thing is so beautifully written. And it’s about people rather than plot, though the storytelling is wonderful. (I was fascinated by the flea episode…)

I’m also really glad that I saw the film. The two are different in some ways but I’m finding that they complement one another.

I'll wait a couple more days to chime in - I loved it, gave it 5 stars. I read it a couple years ago but it is quite fresh in my mind. But want all of you to have a chance to post your thoughts before adding mine since you are just reading it.

I will say the whole thing with the flea.... brilliant and a favorite part of the book for me.

Theresa, the flea is one of my favorite parts as well and Hamnet increased my knowledge and research of the plague. My son asked me about the plague today and I knew the answers. seemed all knowing to him yet it was this books.

I alternated from liking the past timeline and the present timeline, which is unusual. I normally favor one over the other but the momentum swung for me.

I disliked the magical realism

I loved this book too, especially the depiction of art and artistry as a healing force for grief.