Books Stephen King Recommends discussion

What did you think of this group read?

Finished. Absolutely terrific. The ending I could never imagine was exactly that one I would never have imagined. A fitting ending.

Yes!
Travis sivarT wrote: "Finished. Absolutely terrific. The ending I could never imagine was exactly that one I would never have imagined. A fitting ending."

I loved this book. In style it reminds me of Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch but it is unique and special in its own right. The writing is mature for a debut novel and compelling.
The insights into the social and political world in 1968 and between up to 2011 are woven nicely into a coming of age tale for what turns out to be several characters.

I enjoyed it! I felt some parts could have been edited a little, especially some of the protesting/march, but overall it was enjoyable.

Great to hear you enjoyed the book. It would be great if you guys joined in the discussion on the individual sections. :-)

I've finished and I loved everything about this book. It took me by surprise. Hill created some great characters. Characters that you wanted to know more about and why they were the way they were. They felt real, so real that when one of the characters died, I felt like someone I knew had died. I was invested in the story. The writing was perfect and it had a good flow to it. It never got bogged down at all even when there wasn't much happening. The only section I found slightly like it dragged was the protest at the end and that was more to do with me wanting to find out what happened and there was more switching of POV focus than in other sections. But it was such a minor thing. This is still a 5 star read and I loved every minute of it. I will definitely be keeping my eye out for HIll's future works.

I hope Hill didn't set the bar too high on this novel. I mean can he really consistently write this well? I hope so

Enjoyed how everything wrapped up. Definitely agree with the Donna Tartt feel. Maybe it was because I finished reading at 1 a.m. after driving 9 hours, but for some reason, something seemed to let me down about the ending, but I can't put my finger on it. I felt myself trying to skim those last few chapters. Still, I enjoyed it overall.

I'm still iffy on the nisse/nix. Real? Hallucination? Mental illness?

I don't think it is real. Just Frank had ghosts that he carried with him. I think it's metaphorical. As to whether the stories are ones he created or his family or whether they are traditional Norwegian stories.

Larissa: the idea of the nisse/nix seems real to me, as something that is a part of a group's deep-seated beliefs. As Sarah said, they were real ghosts to Frank; and knowing the background I felt very sad for Frank and his early dilemma that broke his heart when he had to make an impossible choice.
That the nix may have contributed to mental illness or depression also seems real and sadly worked it's way through the generations.

Larissa wrote: "I'm still iffy on the nisse/nix. Real? Hallucination? Mental illness?"

Travis : i hope so too.
Travis sivarT wrote: "I hope Hill didn't set the bar too high on this novel. I mean can he really consistently write this well? I hope so"

5 star read for me enough said. Will be looking out for more works by him but I think this one was a long time in the writing, which shows as it's great. Hope he's not another Harper Lee. I'm not saying it meant as much to me as when I first read To Kill a Mocking Bird which was a motivator at age nine that instilled a love of reading along with my Lord of the Rings (so I totally related to the Elf game in this book as I still at forty think it would be better world if elves and hobbits etc existed). I would say it's probably up there in top five of books I have read in last ten years. Brilliant and lived it

Well folks. I finished the May / June read in August, but I did finish!

3 stars from me.

Why did I put this off?

Truly the definition of the rating "It was Amazing" = 5 Stars.

So did you get how Charlie Brown ended up in wheelchair. I see you posted missing it but had you missed it or just not gotten to it yet

Travis sivarT wrote: "So did you get how Charlie Brown ended up in wheelchair. I see you posted missing it but had you missed it or just not gotten to it yet"

Just had not gotten to it yet. Everything was wrapped up nicely.

Nathan Hill either left you hanging just before a time switch or shocked you with the first sentence of the switch itself! Either way, although you were interested in the time you were "in", you could hardly wait to get back to the other time frame.

That's what I was wondering because I was thinking how did she miss that. Then unsure if it just showed up in later chapters I figured this thread was the safest place to ask