Victoria B.C. (Book Club) discussion

I noticed that John gave only one star to this, which interested me since I thought I was the only person who seems not to like this book.

Roberta wrote: "I noticed that John gave only one star to this, which interested me since I thought I was the only person who seems not to like this book. "

I'd love to know why neither of you liked this book. I found it quite fascinating.

Even though I didn't like the book, I have tucked it back into my to read pile. Partly this is because so many people liked it and partly because I was told the second half was better than the first half. My basic dislike is the way the book is written. Every second line has Greg Mortenson in it. He is rarely referred to as he, or by his first or last name. I know who it is about. I don't need to be beaten over the head every two minutes with his full name. My other gripe was the bit about the break up with his girl friend. It had no relevance to the story. A better writer may have made a more interesting book.

Interesting. I hadn't noticed that either of these things bothered me when I read it. Mind you, my expectations were low....I often feel that books like this that are so widely hyped will likely annoy me, but in this case I was pleasantly surprised. Not sure I want to read the sequel though.....

I felt the same way about "Eat,Pray, Love" and was determined not to read it...but then i did and enjoyed it much more than I expected. Not sure I will read the sequel though....

Sometimes I think my expectations really colour my opinion of a book.

I'm like you, the more the hype the less I want to read a book. Sometimes the hype is warranted but so often little gems get over looked. That is what I love about Goodreads, I have been introduced to so many good books I might never have heard about otherwise.

I agree about the little gems. I have found many on goodreads. I've also noticed a lot ofvampire/fantasy books as well but I don't read many of those. I went back and looked at Three Cups of Tea. At the time, I only noticed being irritated by it (and vaguely ashamed af the irritation) but now I notice the frequent mention of his name and, for me, the wooden writing style.

Count me in with the wooden writing style. He's doing good things in the world, but he needs a ghostwriter, I think.

I was told once that writing is like a finger pointing at the moon. When it's bad, you see the finger. When it's good, you see the moon. I think there may be another category - sometimes you see the fingerprints. I'm reading Her Fearful Symmetry by the author of the Time Traveller's Wifr, and I'm having the same trouble with it as with TTW and to a greater extent Three Cups of Tea. I can feel the effort.

Roberta wrote: "I was told once that writing is like a finger pointing at the moon. When it's bad, you see the finger. When it's good, you see the moon. I think there may be another category - sometimes you see..."

Someone I was talking to the other day told me they enjoyed the second book better than the first. She said that the first book was written together with a ghost writer, but that he wrote the second one himself and that it is better written. Maybe it's worth a look.

I will add it to the lost. I'm very interested in that area of the world. Have you read Teaching Lolita in Tehran? I liked it very much much, although some in my bookclub were not so crazy about it.

I thought it was a wonderful book and went on to read many more books set in Iran...some of them very painful to read....makes you glad to be a Canadian.