The story has so much potential in its unique setting: Depression/Prohibition-era traveling circus. Maybe some more explanation of what caused the change would have helped. A lot can change in 70 years, but I can't see the sensitive, humble Jacob I meet in large stretches of the novel with the bitter, crotchety old Jacob I meet in shorter excerpts. (Speaking of descriptions, every strong smell is described as "overwhelming." Really, is that the best adjective you've got?) Additionally, I can't quite reconcile the young Jacob to the 90/93-year-old Jacob. But when you describe it in exhaustive detail, it doesn't make me think something is happening quickly. OK, so people don't always react instantaneously. Too often he encounters situations in a total stupor.
It takes him too long to figure things out he likes to describe a scene in excruciating detail before he "realizes what's going on." If I had been standing next to him, by the time he "realizes what's going on," I would have smacked him over the head and left. The crudeness calmed down after a bit, but it distracted me through the center of the novel.įurthermore, I'm not even sure the narrator is believable/realistic. The instances of it are over-the-top and some even slightly grotesque to the point of distraction. It felt more for shock value than actually relevant to the plot or characterization. I don't inherently react against books with sex, but I do object to explicit, gratuitous sex. There were several instances of explicit sexual encounters fairly close together in the heart of the novel that annoyed me. The novel really ends up being more of a romance tale, and to be honest I think it would be just as interesting (more so?) without Marlena. She doesn't engage me or hold any allure. She's married to her arrogant, bipolar boss, so maybe there's some sort of damsel-in-distress complex triggered in our hero. The narrator/main character, Jacob, is clearly infatuated with her, but I'm not sure why other than she looks good in pink sequins. I have adapted it herein.įirst, the main "heroine," Marlena, is incredibly flat & boring. Though I finished the book in its entirety, I wrote a short review on my blog about halfway through, expounding on the aspects of the book that irritated me. I think I expected too much out of this novel and therefore had room only for disappointment.
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