Book Club Discussion - The Starless Sea

[ufcasey]

The book club discussion pick for June is The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern.

I don’t have discussion questions, so feel free discuss your opinion of the book - what did you like/what did you dislike?

[ufcasey]

Tagging people who may have read the book:
aurora, dontlook, wesleycrusher, krystee, travella, Vespasia, mrspez07, sassypants, charlatti, rootbeerfloat

[dontlook]

I’m still waiting for it to become available from the library. I think I still have 3 weeks to wait. Boo. I’ll stay out of this post until I read it.

[charlatti]

I really like Morgenstern's writing style -- it's flowy and dreamy and lovely. This book was confusing and it was often hard to grasp exactly what was happening, but I expected that and was willing to go along with it, if that makes any sense. I read the paper version and also listened to the audio (one of the narrators was completely wrong, but I forget which one now), so I definitely enjoyed it, despite still feeling somewhat lost.

[travella]

It is very rare for a fantasy book to really grab my attention. I considered throwing in the towel many times.

In the beginning I was lost- I had zero interest in the fairy tale story line and only mild interest in the reality. Even though I felt the book was well written I couldn't focus. My mind would wonder and I'd be at the end of the chapter and have no idea what I read. The book got a little easier to follow in the middle. However, as soon as he sets off to look for his friend the story lost me again because the descriptions of the setting became horribly long and tedious.

The writing although tedious at times was beautiful. I probably wouldn't have finished the book if the writing hadn't been so flowy. I can see why some enjoyed the book, but I wasn't one of them. I give it 2 stars for the writing alone.

[rootbeerfloat]

I LOVED The Night Circus, so even though I knew this book would be different and tried to manage my expectations, it was a disappointment.

Her writing is beautiful and descriptive (though the idea of being underground surrounded by cats terrified me lol). I didn't mind the jumping between the actual plot and the stories, but the problem was that I liked the stories better. The characters were dull, and I wasn't invested in the romance.

Mainly, though, I didn't get the point of Zachary's journey. He was destined to... blow everything up? And if he'd gone through the door as a child, he would've been supposed to accomplish that as a child? What?

I read this before The Ten Thousand Doors of January (so didn't participate in that discussion because I was late), but I enjoyed that book about doors to other worlds much more.

[wesleycrusher]

I rated it 2.5.

Slogged through the beginning. I started to get invested in the plot (not really the stories although some were better than others) and I thought it was getting good towards the middle of the book... but then it devolved into I don't even know what happened. It was just pointless with some bizarre love at first sight romance.

I also didn't care for The Night Circus.

[ufcasey]

I enjoyed The Night Circus but I quit at 25% into this one because I just couldn’t get into it. The book inside the book didn’t interest me and the ‘real’ storyline bored me. It might have gotten better but I wasn’t in the mood to stick it out.

[meowmaps]

Jul 2, 2020 14:33:26 GMT -5 ufcasey said:

I enjoyed The Night Circus but I quit at 25% into this one because I just couldn’t get into it. The book inside the book didn’t interest me and the ‘real’ storyline bored me. It might have gotten better but I wasn’t in the mood to stick it out.

This was pretty much my experience - really liked The Night Circus but quit early on into The Starless Sea because it wasn't grabbing me.  

[krystee]

Jul 2, 2020 11:07:54 GMT -5 charlatti said:

I really like Morgenstern's writing style -- it's flowy and dreamy and lovely. This book was confusing and it was often hard to grasp exactly what was happening, but I expected that and was willing to go along with it, if that makes any sense. I read the paper version and also listened to the audio (one of the narrators was completely wrong, but I forget which one now), so I definitely enjoyed it, despite still feeling somewhat lost.

This is exactly where I am. The writing style and general concept was 5 stars, for sure. But I got so lost a few times and didn’t quite buy the love story when they had about four minutes together.

I think I ended up rating it 3.5 overall.

[aurora]

I love fantasy, but didn't really like this one (or the Night Circus). I think she needs an editor to help keep her stories moving.

I will grant that, in both cases, I listened to the audiobook. Perhaps I would have engaged better with the written book.

In the end, I liked the premise, but felt overwhelmed by the complexity of the storyline. I don't feel like it all fit together.

I did have an interesting moment midway: I happened to download Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House (since she was in the news) right when getting to the interdiction of Eleanor in the Starless Sea. So, it was pretty cool to get that allusion in real time as a complete coincidence.

[aurora]

Jul 2, 2020 11:07:54 GMT -5 charlatti said:

I really like Morgenstern's writing style -- it's flowy and dreamy and lovely. This book was confusing and it was often hard to grasp exactly what was happening, but I expected that and was willing to go along with it, if that makes any sense. I read the paper version and also listened to the audio (one of the narrators was completely wrong, but I forget which one now), so I definitely enjoyed it, despite still feeling somewhat lost.

What do you mean by a narrator was wrong? Not a good fit for the character, or something else?

Maybe that's why I was confused listening to the audiobook.

[aurora]

I mentioned it here briefly a few weeks back, but I also feel overwhelmed by the doors again after having recently finished The Ten Thousand Doors of January (which I liked a lot better). Maybe if I had read them in the opposite order I would have liked Starless Sea better.

[charlatti]

Jul 2, 2020 18:26:14 GMT -5 aurora said:

Jul 2, 2020 11:07:54 GMT -5 charlatti said:

I really like Morgenstern's writing style -- it's flowy and dreamy and lovely. This book was confusing and it was often hard to grasp exactly what was happening, but I expected that and was willing to go along with it, if that makes any sense. I read the paper version and also listened to the audio (one of the narrators was completely wrong, but I forget which one now), so I definitely enjoyed it, despite still feeling somewhat lost.

What do you mean by a narrator was wrong? Not a good fit for the character, or something else?

Maybe that's why I was confused listening to the audiobook.

The reader’s voice didn’t match up with my expectation, like when they choose the wrong actor to play a character in a movie made from a book. I wish I could remember which part it was!

[mrspez07]

I listened to the audio on this one. The writing is beautifully descriptive and I really enjoyed the “real world” parts of Zachary’s life and later Kat’s. I kept hoping that he’d get back home sooner, and was disappointed in Kat going in to a world. I feel like I am good at picturing a scene as a book unravels, this story world was so vast I had a hard time picturing each scene in relation to where the characters were coming from his world. It seemed a bit easier in the stories.

Stories wise, the one I liked the most was the innkeeper and the sun and moon.
I read this before the Ten Thousand Doors of January (back to back) and much preferred that one, I wished it had been longer.

Here was my good reads 2* rating narrative:
I listened to the audio version of this, which was excellent.
However, holy heck it was a long book! Probably longer than it needed to be with so much wandering around. I found sections to be beautifully descriptive and engaging, unfortunately it felt like the book just wandered for so long, and it didn’t feel particularly cohesive. My favorite parts were those on the “surface” and the end with Kat’s secret journal. The mystery and investigation taken on by the characters at the beginning and the end were the best parts of this book.

[mrspez07]

Jul 2, 2020 19:34:52 GMT -5 charlatti said:

Jul 2, 2020 18:26:14 GMT -5 aurora said:

What do you mean by a narrator was wrong? Not a good fit for the character, or something else?

Maybe that's why I was confused listening to the audiobook.

The reader’s voice didn’t match up with my expectation, like when they choose the wrong actor to play a character in a movie made from a book. I wish I could remember which part it was!

Kat? She didn’t sound like I had originally pictured her in the beginning.

[charlatti]

mrspez07 , no, it was one of the male voices. I think it was the Sweet Sorrows reader but I’m not sure; it has been a while. I didn’t love Kat’s voice either, though, but it kind of grew on me.

[aurora]

mrspez07, I also liked the story of the innkeeper and the moon best.

I think if Morgenstern could have kept it to the two main characters (Zachary and Kat) plus the innkeeper and one other story the book would have been a lot better. And I say this as someone who loves long, complex, multi-POV, world-building stories.

[expectantsteelerfan]

I read this when I was severely sleep deprived (we had just gotten a puppy and for the first 3 weeks I was seriously up every 2 hours at least for many nights, it was a nightmare until I gave in and moved myself and the puppy into a room without our other dog). I thought it was confusing and hard to follow because of that, but maybe it's just a confusing and hard to follow book?

[dontlook]

I’m throwing in the towel 50% of the way through. This book is awful. I don’t care about the books or the main characters. I’ve tortured myself enough to get to this point. This book could have been shorter and more concise.

I loved The Ten Thousand Doors. It was different, interesting and easy to follow along with. This...not so much.