Thursday, January 8, 2015

"Who Could That Be At This Hour?" An Unfortunate Review [from 1 / 16 / 14]

Just read Lemony Snickett's "Who Could That be at This Hour" ? (I should be doing other stuff, but...) Lemme see if I can nail down why I don't like it:

1. Too much mysterious suspense and foreshadowing. Not enough real stuff happening now, in the present book. 2. Just his style... I get a little sick of him defining vocab. "Reticent, which in this instance means..." [and he actually gets wrong]

I remember--trying to read Unfortunate Events, and hearing him on the radio: getting sick of his fake-depressing schtick.  (Not as much in this book, but...sure, still a little.)

3. Maybe the stakes aren't high enough. (I know can't save the world every time; but all that work--of a whole book--for some stupid trinket...we probably won't find out why important until book 5 or 6.)

So, that's the critic--and professional jealousy--in me. Sometimes a little bit fun / funny / interesting... I could add: I like that the town is called "Stained-by-the-Sea" and fueled by Octopus Ink.  That's great.

And I got sucked into it.  Wanna find out what happens in end...but, then, kind of maddening--b/c, again, with mystery vs. action--not satisfactory enough. I don't think.  Doesn't reveal enough here and now.  Ending is always: "Sorry.  Gotta wait, go read my other book--if you really wanna find out."

Like only solution: get mad or stop caring.  (Don't want to read a whole nother book, to find out what he should've told me already.)

I guess this is kind of a rant, huh ?  Okay, I'm done.

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