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Title: The Friday Night Knitting Club (Center Point Platinum Fiction (Large Print))
ISBN: 1585479632
Author:
Kate Jacobs
Publicate Date: 2007-04
Publish: 2007-04
List Price: $32.95
Average Customer Rating: 3.5
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $30.18
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $52.81
Amazon Merchant Price: $32.95
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| Customer Review: |
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1: like watching paint dry
I picked this up to see what all the hoopla was about...nearly 100 pages later (50 more than it deserved) I was still waiting for the characters to fully form so that I could care about them. Drop this like a missed stitch.
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2: Meh
If you're looking for a little slice of life book with a whole bunch of characters that suddenly wrap up all their stories all within about 2 1/2 pages, then sure, read this book. Otherwise.... Look, we spend the first third or so of the book all from one character's POV, and then all of a sudden start switching around to all the characters getting their chance. My mother bought this book for me and I probably wouldn't have picked it up if it wasn't for that, and really wouldn't have missed much. If you saw the ending to this book made into a movie - you'd walk out feeling cheated...unless maybe it was supposed to be a comedy about how everyone accompmlishes their goals all within a 5 minute time span if they just learn how to knit together as a group...
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3: Falls short
I liked the book at first but about half way through it just went down hill.
I was especially disappointed with the author's completion of the book. It was not necessary to have it end the way she did it. Left me shaking my head and saying... HUH? & WHY????
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4: Entertaining enough to kill time, but unworthy of a place on a To Read list
This book was simply cotton candy for the mind. It was entertaining enough to pass time, so if you are just looking to kill a few hours, it will suffice. However, the characters are poorly developed, and the writing leaves something to be desired. The author depends on narratives to tell us things about the characters, instead of allowing the reader to conclude what the characters are like through their thoughts and actions. We are simply told that James is charming (although I saw no actual evidence of this). Also, the writer relies heavily on exclamation points, which I found incessantly annoying and signifies that the writer was unable to rely on prose to convey excitement.
Darwin in particular is not believable, and I kept waiting for an explanation for her name, since it does not strike me as Chinese. Other characters are simply not developed at all, (the book suffers from too many characters.) Cat is probably the most interesting and most developed character, but even she is not fully explored, and says and does things that are inconsistent with traits she allegedly has. She could have been a much more interesting character, who laments the "path not chosen" and the fact that she does not use her own mind and skills, which led to her sadness and dissatisfaction. Instead we are told that she is perceived as an airhead, and then it is demonstrated on the trip to Scotland. This could have been given a much fuller treatment, with the issue explored from her perspective. Instead , this point is shallowly treated and it is thrown in our face to make sure we understand that she is smart, but her talents lie unused.
I felt like I was watching a made for Lifetime TV movie while reading the book. The general outline of the characters could be a good basis for exploring the issues that the author was incapable of exploring in-depth (issues of class, race, empowerment, age).
Much of the dialogue and many of the situations in the book are simply not believable. The trip to Scotland, for example, was utterly preposterous and unbelievable for many reasons, not the least of which was that Cat accompanied Georgia and Dakota on the trip, and that James showed up to proclaim his love. Likewise the scene where Dakota is prevented from boarding the train at Penn Station is not resolved in a believable manner. (Also, I found it difficult to believe that Georgia would have NO recognition of Cat whatsoever, given how close the two had been.)
Lastly, the plot device used near the end of the book is a lazy way to end the story without having the character truly resolve any of the issues raised in the book.
I must admit that I do not read a lot of fiction. (This book was a book club selection.) My purpose in reading books is to become more knowledgeable about the world or about the human condition. I generally find that non-fiction books do this more than fiction, but good fiction can still fulfill this purpose. This book did not.
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5: I Tried To Like It...
...really I did, but I just couldn't get into it. Actually, I did get into it, but that wasn't until the last four chapters. Before that, I was just reading to get finished.
I won't rehash what others have already said. James' character was very one dimensional. There was more to him leaving Georgia than what he gave as his reasons. I felt sort of like the author really didn't have any experience in being a single mother, or in an interracial relationship. Dakota seemed unreal to me, too. What 12 year old talks like that? I really liked Lucie, Gran, Anita and Cat. Those characters seemed real to me. They were authentic. I kinda felt like Georgia was contrived. To me, she, James and Dakota were merely backdrops, and the other characters were real. Even though Georgia is the main character, I still didn't feel like I knew her. I'm a single mom, but I couldn't relate to this character.
The ending left me feeling jilted. It was sad and unexpected, but afterwards I was just annoyed. Anyway, if you like pappy chick lit, this is the book for you, but if you want something of substance, I'd suggest something by Amy Tan.
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