This was a re-read (the day before i read prep), as i wasn't feeling to drawn to any of the unread books i have sitting on my shelf. sometimes you just want a sure thing...
i passed by this DVD in blockbuster yesterday and saw that kate winslet is in it. i think kate winslet is amazing, and very pretty, so i couldn't really see her as the barely attractive frizzy haired stay-at-home mom, sarah, i was assuming she portrayed. it made me sure that they had taken liberties with other parts of the story about two suburban marriages, well three, actually, and the bizarre circumstances that break them down.
this book was actually really disturbing in some parts, but overall hilarious and engrossing. the characters were super stereotypical (the "perfect" mom who never forgets snacks, has a to-the-minute schedule, including sex, and talks to her 4 year old about getting into harvard, the meathead cop) but they still seemed like very real people, in the cliche way that stereotypes are based on truth. somehow, it worked. he was making fun of the people in the book, but like the way you make fun of yourself as part of a group.
some of the plotlines were just surreal, too, how matter of factly some characters who would normally be marginalized were portrayed. you would think a child molester placing a personal ad would be a horror story, but when you're reading it, you're like, "of course, what else would he do?" (how would the movie deal with that?)
i enjoyed it just as much the second time i read it, and it's definitely staying in the permanent collection. i don't think i'll see the movie. movies based on books i like are never worth the time.
1 comment:
Do you think I would like this? My main thing (and I say this at the risk of sounding like an idiot) is that over the summer, I just don't like to have to think very much when I am reading. I like to take my book outside and lay out and it's hard to think and sweat.
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