One Whole and Perfect Day* (2006)
Judith Clarke
Rating: 3.25/5
Yes, yes, I wasn’t supposed to buy anymore books until I’ve read the ones I have (Ha! Like that will ever happen). But really, who can turn down 20 percent off, plus a further 15 percent on top of that? Somebody stronger than me, that’s who.
I’m glad I bought this though (let’s just pretend I bough one book for now**), it was funny and very sweet. And Australian.
A whole and perfect day isn’t something that Lily’s had a lot of her. Her father ran back to America before she was born, her mother keeps bringing home patients from the aged care centre where she works, her grandmother has an imaginary friend, and her grandfather recently threatened her brother – who is a bit loony himself – with an axe before disowning him.
So, when her grandmother decides to throw her grandfather an eighth birthday party – and invite the whole family – it doesn’t seem like its going to go well either. But all of a sudden, Lily wants it too. She wants her whole and perfect day.
The story passes through all these points of view and a few more characters. It’s kind of like watching a movie. You get all these snippets from all these people’s lives.
Thankfully, most people are referred to in terms of Lily, the 16 year old “main” character so it’s not too confusing. I wouldn’t exactly call her the main character though – others have the same, if not more, “screen time,” but she is at the centre of the web of connections of all these people.
This book has some incredibly sad moments – like when her grandfather wakes up in the middle of the night and suddenly realises he can’t remember the colour of his mother’s eyes. But it is also really sweet at the same time.
There are only two things that annoyed me about this book.
First, it was never clear where people are geographically. We know that Lily’s grandparents live in the blue mountains, and the name of the suburb where her brother lives (somewhere in Sydney). But I just found this kind of distracting that I kept trying to figure out where everyone was and how far apart they lived. I didn’t want a map – just a little more clarification. (Eventually the suburbs are named, and you kind of work it out, but I spent way too long being distracted by trying to place everyone).
The other thing is the use of coincidence and dreams foreshadowing things that happen later. There are way too many to be believable. But I still kind of want to believe, so I guess it works.
* Finished 25/4
** Am I the only one who can’t just buy one book? It’s like I think they’ll get lonely if I don’t buy more than one. I’ve found three is best.
Although in this case I bought four.
Did I mention the discount?
Judith Clarke
Rating: 3.25/5
Yes, yes, I wasn’t supposed to buy anymore books until I’ve read the ones I have (Ha! Like that will ever happen). But really, who can turn down 20 percent off, plus a further 15 percent on top of that? Somebody stronger than me, that’s who.
I’m glad I bought this though (let’s just pretend I bough one book for now**), it was funny and very sweet. And Australian.
A whole and perfect day isn’t something that Lily’s had a lot of her. Her father ran back to America before she was born, her mother keeps bringing home patients from the aged care centre where she works, her grandmother has an imaginary friend, and her grandfather recently threatened her brother – who is a bit loony himself – with an axe before disowning him.
So, when her grandmother decides to throw her grandfather an eighth birthday party – and invite the whole family – it doesn’t seem like its going to go well either. But all of a sudden, Lily wants it too. She wants her whole and perfect day.The story passes through all these points of view and a few more characters. It’s kind of like watching a movie. You get all these snippets from all these people’s lives.
Thankfully, most people are referred to in terms of Lily, the 16 year old “main” character so it’s not too confusing. I wouldn’t exactly call her the main character though – others have the same, if not more, “screen time,” but she is at the centre of the web of connections of all these people.
This book has some incredibly sad moments – like when her grandfather wakes up in the middle of the night and suddenly realises he can’t remember the colour of his mother’s eyes. But it is also really sweet at the same time.
There are only two things that annoyed me about this book.
First, it was never clear where people are geographically. We know that Lily’s grandparents live in the blue mountains, and the name of the suburb where her brother lives (somewhere in Sydney). But I just found this kind of distracting that I kept trying to figure out where everyone was and how far apart they lived. I didn’t want a map – just a little more clarification. (Eventually the suburbs are named, and you kind of work it out, but I spent way too long being distracted by trying to place everyone).
The other thing is the use of coincidence and dreams foreshadowing things that happen later. There are way too many to be believable. But I still kind of want to believe, so I guess it works.
* Finished 25/4
** Am I the only one who can’t just buy one book? It’s like I think they’ll get lonely if I don’t buy more than one. I’ve found three is best.
Although in this case I bought four.
Did I mention the discount?
No comments:
Post a Comment