Reading 1001 discussion

1. How did you experience the book? Were you engaged immediately, or did it take you a while to "get into it"? How did you feel reading it—amused, sad, disturbed, confused, bored...?

I was not engaged immediately and it took me a long time to get into it. I spent most of the time confused but did enjoy the parts of the tale that were about Hannah.

I was exactly the same as Anna it was really the last 10% of the book that drew it altogether for me.

I agree it was a little hard to get into in the beginning but around the 2nd part it took off and was more interesting.

It was hard at first, but got much better. I enjoyed the early American and Indian histories, so it kept my interest.

It was hard to get into and it never got better for me.

This book did not draw me in right away. There were parts that seemed effortless.

.....huh, what? Sorry, I just woke up.

It took me a little while to get into it. I enjoyed the Hannah parts better than the present day parts. It could have flowed a bit better for me, but it wasn't a bad book overall. I am curious how it reads in the original language. I thought some of the word choices used were odd and sometimes out of context. Also, flowery, descriptive language would be combined with almost slangish verbs. Just curious about the translating. Interesting story, but I am not sure if it belongs on the list.

It was hard going at times. The premise of the novel and its plot made for an interesting development; however, I didn't feel that Mukherjee's writing style suited its execution. You can feel that Mukherjee is erudite, but it feels like she's writing it just for show, a little bit like Byatt. When it comes to erudite writer, I much prefer reading Eco where at least I can feel that he wants to share his knowledge and involve the reader in learning.