The Paris Wife (NS)

[duckduck]

Has anyone ever really liked this book? I was looking through the "read in October" thread again and noticed a bunch of people thought it was boring. My IRL book club unanimously panned it.

It had some redeeming qualities-- the writing was good and the two main characters were well-developed-- but the subject matter combined with the pacing just... meh. Apparently I gave it three stars, but that seems a little generous in retrospect.

It has 3.72 stars on Goodreads, so somebody must like it!

[briedrew]

I listened to it- and I'm wondering if that actually helped me like it more. I think there was plenty not to like, but I actualy enjoyed her perspective on some of the people thwy met and some of the things they did. It doesn't really paint a very flattering picture of him, though. I think that's what some of the people I know who've read it had a problem with, they wanted to like both of them but just couldn't.

[5kcandlesinthewind]

I liked it more than I thought I would. I haaaaaaaaaaaaate Hemingway - residual anger from being forced to read The Old Man and the Sea in high school, heh. I thought Hadley was maddening at points, and obviously H. is an asshole, but I thought it was well-written and the story was interesting. Plus, Paris in the 20s is fascinating to me, so I loved all of the peripheral characters.

[mrshandy]

It was ok. Nothing to write home about. The time period and the places they went were interesting.

I never really got the main character. She seemed like a crappy mom to me.

[rootbeerfloat]

I brought it up in the October thread. Maybe I was expecting more, but it was boring. As much of an ass as Ernest was, I had trouble sympathizing with Hadley. But it was well-written, and I enjoyed the descriptions of the era and places they visisted.

[briedrew]

The era and the places are probably what I liked best. I hadn't really thought about it, but that was definitely part of the draw.

[msmerymac]

Eh, it just made me want to read Hemmingway, which would have been better. I should have just read A Moveable Feast instead.

I wonder if the characterization was good because she was basing it on real people? So there was a lot of research to draw from.

[definitelyO]

I read it quite a while ago and remember really liking it. but it wasn't a recommendation just something I picked up randomly after I got back from Paris. I've been recommending it to my friends.

[czarcasm]

I had such a hard time getting in to this one when I read it. I hated the two main characters (for different reasons) and spent most of the book frustrated with the decisions they made.