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bookherd's review against another edition
3.0
Although I enjoyed 9 year old Nory and her imagination, at times I thought this book was just an exercise in cleverness for Nicholson Baker. The observations that Nory makes about friendships and the social world of 9 year olds are beautifully done, and the stories she tells herself for her own pleasure are strange and wonderful. What really bothered me was Baker's representation of the children's speech--childlike malapropisms were charming at first but then began to get old--and the sense that the story was not really going anywhere. Enjoy the moment in this book, because that is all there is.
mikaclapson's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
margaret45678's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I can't quite explain why I love this book so much. I wouldn't consider myself someone who is endlessly charmed by kids in real life, but I find this book so funny and sweet, without being overly cutesy. I've wanted to read it since I was a child myself and saw the cover when my mom was reading it, and it definitely lived up to my expectations. I did end up asking my mom, "Why did he write this book?" (to which she replied "I don't know"), but like, in a good way.
Generally it felt very real, although it bothered me slightly that the third-person narration would sometimes make Nory-esque mistakes/wordplay ("crucifiction") but not always. I loved the malapropisms ("what in the Blue Blazers" etc) but the occasional misspelling of individual words was a bit distracting (it might have been different if he'd just gone full Riddley Walker with it).
Generally it felt very real, although it bothered me slightly that the third-person narration would sometimes make Nory-esque mistakes/wordplay ("crucifiction") but not always. I loved the malapropisms ("what in the Blue Blazers" etc) but the occasional misspelling of individual words was a bit distracting (it might have been different if he'd just gone full Riddley Walker with it).
pbobrit's review
3.0
I really interesting book ... think the stream of consciousness of a creative nine year old. Eleanor is an American child living in the UK and the book all told by here with some fantastic nine year-old grammar and spelling basically tells of her first term at her new school and all the trials and tribulations that come with that. It took a little while to get into, but after you get used to the narrators voice it is a genuinely sweet and believable account of life from the perspective of a young child. Baker has always (in my opinion) had a knack for doing first person narrative well and this is no exception. This book is not shocking or in anyway erotic like Vox or The Fermata, but is an honest and understated book.
chelseamartinez's review against another edition
2.0
NB: Don't recommend reading this on a week when you go to a scientific conference in a subfield new to you where you want to sound intelligent; reading the internal monologues of a 9-year old on the way to hours of talks already a bit above your level will just make it harder.
But seriously, folks. Child protagonists can be just as fascinating as adult ones. But not all of them are.
But seriously, folks. Child protagonists can be just as fascinating as adult ones. But not all of them are.
cjw's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.5
relf's review against another edition
4.0
Nory, our heroine, is a nine-year-old American girl whose family has just moved to England. Her charmingly fuddled language, imaginative stories, and, well, nine-year-old twists of thinking were delightful, but I spent the first third of the book expecting that the narrative was leading to some adult plot twist. No need to worry: this is "just" a clever and delightful account of a likable nine-year-old's first term at a new school, and the only plot twists involve the sometimes serious and sometimes silly things that come up among nine-year-olds and their families and friends. I may be especially susceptible because I, too, moved to England just as I turned nine . . . but this was just the cheerup I needed during and after this election season. Now I'm glad I saved it all this time since it came as a gift from my dear Kovacs.
montigneyrules's review against another edition
2.0
#readingchallenge2019 (my book with my favorite animal on the cover)
I’m fairly certain this novel is actually a transcript from a recording of a 9-year-old girl who found a microphone and rambled her entire life into it over a long period of time. Complete with tangents, the stream of consciousness is rant-like.
Granted the author does an incredible job, as a middle aged man, pretending to be a young child, but where he attempted to be clever, it felt flawed. Such as when he misspells words.
The overall whole of the novel was not a ‘good story’. I felt like an aunt telling my niece ‘uh-hu-cool-oh she did what?!-bleg. Dragging on and on and on
I’m fairly certain this novel is actually a transcript from a recording of a 9-year-old girl who found a microphone and rambled her entire life into it over a long period of time. Complete with tangents, the stream of consciousness is rant-like.
Granted the author does an incredible job, as a middle aged man, pretending to be a young child, but where he attempted to be clever, it felt flawed. Such as when he misspells words.
The overall whole of the novel was not a ‘good story’. I felt like an aunt telling my niece ‘uh-hu-cool-oh she did what?!-bleg. Dragging on and on and on
calamari's review against another edition
3.0
really cute and delightful to read it was like diving into my childhood self’s brain.
yangyvonne's review against another edition
2.0
WAAAAAAY too ADD for my taste.
Nory is a precocious 9 year old who is transplanted from her Boston home to Thresh, England. In a series of short, rambling chapter, Nory tells stories from her vivid imagination, details the treatment she receives from her classmates and generally gives the reader a peek inside the fantastic mind of a 9 year old girl. We learn of her parents and truck-obsessed little brother, as well as the schoolmates. There are tons of typical "mean" kids who make fun of Nory (Eleanor) just for being American and then there is Pamela - bullied for an unknown reason - who becomes Nory's "cause" and eventual BFF.
This book took me so long to get through, I almost gave up at the halfway point. The lack of any plot or progression to the story was frustrating and made the process awful. We also are "treated" to misspelling, syntax errors and made-up words.which is a HUGE distraction that I don't need to "experience" being in a 9 year old's mind. About halfway through we were embroiled in a "bullying" theme involving a girl named Pamela. This became interesting, and was truly "authentic" in the way Eleanor would react, but not really resolved in any satisfactory way by the end. But, I guess that is the most realistic way things would go??
Nory is a precocious 9 year old who is transplanted from her Boston home to Thresh, England. In a series of short, rambling chapter, Nory tells stories from her vivid imagination, details the treatment she receives from her classmates and generally gives the reader a peek inside the fantastic mind of a 9 year old girl. We learn of her parents and truck-obsessed little brother, as well as the schoolmates. There are tons of typical "mean" kids who make fun of Nory (Eleanor) just for being American and then there is Pamela - bullied for an unknown reason - who becomes Nory's "cause" and eventual BFF.
This book took me so long to get through, I almost gave up at the halfway point. The lack of any plot or progression to the story was frustrating and made the process awful. We also are "treated" to misspelling, syntax errors and made-up words.which is a HUGE distraction that I don't need to "experience" being in a 9 year old's mind. About halfway through we were embroiled in a "bullying" theme involving a girl named Pamela. This became interesting, and was truly "authentic" in the way Eleanor would react, but not really resolved in any satisfactory way by the end. But, I guess that is the most realistic way things would go??