Had to read this for year 12 English and I didn't really understand it and therefore didn't enjoy it. I find both situations strange as I am usually drawn to Australian war stories, fiction and non-fiction. Maybe it deserves a re-read with my older, more mature brain...one day.
Read in September 2002
Read it for year 12 English. Probably would have enjoyed it more if we hadn't been forced to read the whole book out loud as a class - some of the scenes were not the kind to be read out loud with idiotic teenage boys jeering at the sex scenes (well, I thought they were sex scenes when I was 17). Despite that horribly embarrassing experience I enjoyed the story and should probably read again now that it's 10 years down the track.
Read in April 2002
I really enjoyed this, except for the ending. I don't want to spoil it so I will just say that there were a number of far better ways to end this, other than the one Niffenegger chose. I really enjoyed reading about the twins, especially the fact that they were mirror images of each other (which I had never heard of). By the last 1/4 of the book I was really hating Elspeth.
Strange book, not as focused on the food aspect as I would have imagined (and hoped) from the blurb on the back. A short book, but not a quick read.
I found this a fascinating book!! I am really interested in anything about medicine and so found the description of early psychological treatments of WWI veterans very interesting. Also, that the whole trilogy is based on fact, on the real life meeting of the poet Sigfried Sassoon and his doctor during his rehabilitation W.H.R. Rivers. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
Read it for year 12 English. Probably would have enjoyed it more if we hadn't been forced to read the whole book out loud as a class - some of the scenes were not the kind to be read out loud with idiotic teenage boys jeering at the sex scenes (well, I thought they were sex scenes when I was 17). Despite that horribly embarrassing experience I enjoyed the story and should probably read again now that it's 10 years down the track.
