Submitted by Starlit-Sage t3_11dhmjz in books
TheUnvanquishable t1_ja8vyh0 wrote
Well, I tried it, read the first pages, and I could not get into the story. All the prose reminded me too much of the female writer in the Tandem Story Writing Assignment joke. The one that started: >At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she wanted. The camomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he liked camomile.
I could not concentrate. I give you the first lines of the book so you all can judge:
>The deep sea is a haunted house: a place in which things that ought not to exist move about in the darkness. Unstill, is the word Leah uses, tilting her head to the side as if in answer to some sound, though the evening is quiet – dry hum of the road outside the window and little to draw the ear besides.
>“The ocean is unstill,” she says, “further down than you think. All the way to the bottom, things move.” She seldom talks this much or this fluently, legs crossed and gaze towards the window, the familiar slant of her expression, all her features slipping gently to the left.
meghab1792 t1_ja951c4 wrote
I was interested in the concept but I don’t think I can get past this YA writing style.
Starlit-Sage OP t1_ja9qehe wrote
I'm curious as to what you mean by "YA writing style." It didn't feel that way at all to me, so my interpretation of "YA" must be different.
manshamer t1_jabawyn wrote
To me, it's clunky and there are a handful of errors that affect flow and sentence structure (assuming the other poster transcribed correctly). Also, the use of 3rd person present tense is most common in YA. Of course this is just the first two paragraphs and personally I bet I could get used to it quickly.
Starlit-Sage OP t1_jaekkhy wrote
Ahh okay, I can see that. It's actually in first person, from Miri's perspective, but there isn't a chance for "I" yet because she's describing what Leah is saying and doing here at the beginning. Alternating chapters are from Leah's perspective in the submarine.
I don't have my copy next to me, but I think the first line is italicized and it's supposed to be something Leah just said.... I think "unstill" is also italicized to show that it's the word Leah says.
CrispyCracklin t1_ja9gu3u wrote
Gotta admit, I like this. I've read about this book but haven't added it to my To Read list, until now.
Starlit-Sage OP t1_ja9qbso wrote
I really like the writing myself! To me, it doesn't have a "YA" feel at all because it's so slow paced. I'm not sure why it sounds "YA" to some people... because it's so descriptive, maybe?
cinred t1_ja91kb6 wrote
Wow. I had to read this three times. Little too cute.
kaldaka16 t1_jaah2y3 wrote
If that second stretch is the first lines of the book I'm quite intrigued.
Starlit-Sage OP t1_jaaivf6 wrote
Yes the second quote is the beginning of the book! I definitely loved the writing style personally.
yesjellyfish t1_ja9ekky wrote
Thanks for posting this — you saved me some cash lol
tedyasso t1_jaaevj5 wrote
I had to ditch The Measure over this, which bummed me out since I want to know what happens but couldn't stand the writing.
Starlit-Sage OP t1_ja9jz7k wrote
I was so confused at first because I didn't realize the first quote was from the joke and I was like, uh, there's no Laurie and Carl in the book! now I get it, lol
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