If I could sum up my disappointment in three words or less, trust me, I would. So, what's wrong with Sarah Waters' much praised and heralded book, "The Night Watch"? Simply the gimmick of telling the story in retrograde doesn't work. I know that the ploy is meant to show us why the characters end up becoming the people that they become, but honestly, I never felt like I knew the characters enough to have an 'aha' moment when a big, revelatory moment happens. And by 'happens' I mean in a painfully drawn out manner where words are used, but not to great effect. Why not go ahead and reveal some of the motivating factors behind some of the characters decisions? Why does Viv stay with Roger? Why does Helen become a quivering bowl of jealousy, or just cherry jell-o?
In the end, I just didn't connect with the characters, and I absolutely hated it when the book jumped from 1947 to 1944 in order to facilitate an exposition that never fully materialized. It was all just one big tease with no pay off.
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I'm a big Sarah Waters fan, but I hated this book...could have something to do with the way the story was told, or with the lack of lesbians...whatever, it sucked!
Yeah, just finished it, and I can't say it was as good as "Affinity" even. See, when you tell a story backward, suspense is no longer your friend, so you need to built up a heck of a lot of curiosity about the exposition, and I only had a little curiosity about the exposition. Also, the exposition really didn't explain much. Sooooooo... Whole lotta readin' and a whole lotta nothin'.
I have to say I respectfully disagree ... I thought the whole point was to capture the feeling of utter despair both during the war, and after ... when people had little, and then had nothing, and were faced with the exhaustion of rebuilding a city, or a life. I think it was a "different" approach ... but I didn't think it was bad. Certainly a far cry from her other, more plot-based works. This is Pirategrrrl, by the way ... Thought I'd finally de-cloak and say HI! :D
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