"To compensate a little for the treachery and weakness of my memory, so extreme that it has happened to me more than once to pick up again, as recent and unknown to me, books which I had read carefully a few years before . . . I have adopted the habit for some time now of adding at the end of each book . . . the time I finished reading it and the judgment I have derived of it as a whole, so that this may represent to me at least the sense and general idea I had conceived of the author in reading it." (Montaigne, Book II, Essay 10 (publ. 1580))

Monday, February 17, 2020

Furious Hours (Casey Cep, 2019)

(276 pages)

Book club selection (via Nick; session held 16 February 2020).

Main hook here was Harper Lee - super trendy/popular right now in view of current politics - author researched a serial murder situation in Alabama that Lee - stuck for another hit after her one-time success - wanted to turn into another novel.  But she wasn't able to finish it.

Some interesting stuff here about Alabama in those days, but the core concept wasn't enough to carry along a book.

Or maybe I'm the wrong person - I am baffled that anyone can ever be interested in crime stories, let alone serial murderers.

Harper Lee may have written a popular book, but it seems she had trouble with life in general - sudden wealth, unclear personal connections, landing in NYC (rather a foreign place), some alcohol issues, etc.

Connected from childhood with Truman Capote - another hook for the author - but doesn't really solve the issue about lacking a coherent story line.

Quick read.
Posted by at
Labels: ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)