Book #11: The Ropemaker, Peter Dickinson

[grav_ity]

I have a rule. It's not a hard and fast rule, but it probably should be. That rule is that I never read a book that has won an award (except for Hugo and/or Nebulas). The Ropemaker is an Honor Book, and on the front cover it's endorsed by Phillip Pullman. You'd think I'd pay attention.

The main problem with The Ropemaker is that it was too freaking long. Way, way too long. It needed to be, like, three books. That way things could really be dealt with and not just spewed out on the page. Also, it was not broken up in meaningful ways, which made it challenging to follow. It was basically a story the size of Lord of the Rings (walking included) squashed into a book not as long as the Hobbit. So it overflowed. It jumped around and made no sense. It was dreadfully boring.

AND THEN, as if that wasn't bad enough, the heroine character wasn't the heroine character. She just sort of...floated along and let other people do everything. It was really annoying.

Also, they walked ACROSS THE PLANET and I DIDN'T GET A MAP.

5 out of 10. And I want the last two weeks of my life back.

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OB-Wan has been walking around the apartment singing "I've Been Dreaming" in his very best James Marsden impression since he got home from volleyball. Damn it, Disney! Why must your songs be so catchy?

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If I'd remembered that Adam Shankman was choreographing the Oscars, I might have watched them.

Comments

[colej55.livejournal.com]

I've got to say that this has been absolutely the best Oscar show in all of my nearly half a century (EEEK!) of watching them - and that's saying something! Thoroughly enjoyable throughout with very few exceptions.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I am really happy for The Hurt Locker. I know they had good momentum early in the night, and everyone is going to cry politics, but I am thrilled about it. (And I am usually the one complaining about sci-fi movies not getting the win.)

[colej55.livejournal.com]

The Hurt Locker has the dubious honor of being the lowest grossing winner of all time ($12.6 million). However, it and The Blind Side are the only two movies that I really want to see. I haven't heard anything political other than it tells the true horror of what the troops are going through, so I say good for them! Nobody has had the guts to allege that it got the vote due to "liberal Hollywood". Maybe people will go see it now because a lot of effort at authenticity was put into it. Overall, a nice night at the Oscars, which is rare.

[victory-raven.livejournal.com]

Maps. Maps are good.