Monday, July 7, 2014

The Awakening of Miss Prim - Review

The Awakening of Miss Prim by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera

Rating: 1 Star
Source: NetGalley

Description:  Miss Prudencia Prim becomes an overqualified private librarian at a home in a small community in France.  There she meets her unusual employer, a group of exuberant and well educated children and the very intellectual residents of the small town.

Genre: Fiction
Why I Picked This Book: The setting is a library in a small town in France.
My Impression:
Pros: There's a certain old fashioned charm about the story.  Some of the talk of books was interesting as well.  The community that focused on finding the perfect fit career-wise or personally for everyone who lived there also had potential.  The second half of the book was more engaging than the first half.  The pacing improved and the characters were better developed.

Cons: Maybe there's something lost in translation (this was originally published in Spanish) but I didn't get much out of this one.  I don't care for the kind of detached stream of conscious type writing style but I was neither intrigued intellectually or connected emotionally.  I didn't care for the employer being referred to solely as the Man in the Wingchair and his mother as the mother of the Man in the Wingchair.  Academic theory and texts are talked about regularly but it seemed like an argument in a philosophy class than anything that was really affecting the lives of the characters.

Overall:   This book wasn't for me.  I didn't enjoy the writing style or the characters and felt like much of the talk was simply academic exercise with no real purpose behind it.   While the 2nd half was more entertaining by the time I got there it was a little too late for me.  If you enjoyed your philosophy classes you may get more out of this book than I did.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Probably not.

Would I Recommend this Book?:  If you like stream of conscious style writing than yes.  Otherwise probably not.

16 comments:

  1. Oh no! I love the cover, and the whole library in France thing sounds awesome. I hate it didn't work for you! I was all set to want it. Darn.

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    1. I really wanted to love this one based off the cover and French library! Unfortunately it didn't work for me.

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  2. Oh no, that's too bad. Have a feeling this isn't for me either...

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    1. It definitely wasn't for me. I don't know if it was a translation issue or just the book.

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  3. Not every book can be a winner, can it? I'm sorry this one didn't work for you. Sometimes stream of conscious writing works form me, but I think it's not an easy style to write in and make it work well.

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    1. I'm not sure if this was a translation issue or just a book issue. It probably doesn't help that I'm not a big stream of conscious lover at the best of times.

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  4. I too was hooked when I first read "library" and "France." Thanks for the review! I don't think I will add this to my list. It has great artwork on the cover though! Thanks for visiting me @ The Key to the Gate.
    Happy Reading,
    Rebecca

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    1. I loved basically everything about this book except the book itself! I really hated this one didn't work for me.

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  5. Sounds like a good setting, sorry to hear you didn't enjoy it. I tend to stay away from translated lit unless I hear it's great regardless of the language.
    Esty @ Boarding with Books

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    1. I really wanted to love this one but unfortunately it didn't work. I think I'll be avoiding translations unless strongly recommended as well!

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  6. Hmm, I wonder when the book was written. I see the appeal, I was drawn to the setting as well. So sorry this fell flat for you.

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    1. I went back and checked the pub date after I read it and it was 2013. Apparently it was an international best seller which made me question myself! Maybe it was just a translation issue.

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  7. The setting would draw me in as well, it's too bad it was a disappointment for you. Hopefully you're on to a more enjoyable read now. Thanks for visiting my blog.

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    1. Unfortunately I seem to be in the midst of a string of mediocre reads. Need to fix this fast before the dreaded slump!

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  8. Too bad this book didn't work out for you. Given our similar tastes in reading, I suspect it might not work for me, either. Thank you for the warning!

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    1. I'd give this one a miss Lark. Apparently people loved it but I just couldn't make myself care about it.

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