Ravelry Knitters discussion

Tom Rob Smith is a young writer -- I think The Farm is maybe his second book? -- and in an interview (http://www.welovethisbook.com/feature...) he reveals that the story up to where the main character Daniel sits down to speak with his mother really happened to him. The rest is fiction. Now I can't wait to read this. The interview is a window into mental illness and why he wrote this book, a fascinating read in itself.

I read this last month and had quite mixed feelings regarding it. I look forward to seeing what everyone else thinks.

This sounds intriguing, but I'm going to see what others think here before deciding to read it myself.

I will start this after I'm done with my current reads. Sounds intriguing but I'm far more fascinated to see what the others think!

I finally finished The Casual Vacancy but have to wait for The Farm to be available from the library.

I picked up a copy of the book at the library and I'm on page 72. I'm really enjoying it so far ... I'm also curious to see what everyone else thinks.

I was just notified I can pick this up at my library! Looking forward to reading it.

Rachel wrote: "I read this last month and had quite mixed feelings regarding it. I look forward to seeing what everyone else thinks."

I'm hoping that as the month progresses and people are making progress with this book, you'll be sharing what some of those mixed feelings are! I, for one, really benefit from the thoughtfulness of other readers insights.

This is my first time taking part in a group read, and I was really interested in the synopsis of this book. I'm about 16% through it and am enjoying it. There is a duel narrative happening, which was slightly confusing at first.

picked this up at the library this morning and am already deep into it. I don't usually think the "psychologoical thriller" is my cup of tea, but I'm totally in on this one.

I'm about a quarter into the book. It is the kind of book I am compelled to read to the end, whether I am liking it or not. The characters make me feel creepily uncomfortable.

I finished this book a while ago and I have to say... In complete honesty... I hate it! There I said it! The simple truth! Flaky reasonings, weak characters and just plain boring, poor flow of narration...

My opinion of course!

I will never hesitate to say I hated a book so I obviously have no qualms about hearing those words from others. I also have a problem putting a book away unfinished but understand when that happens too.

I'm still waiting on my copy of this month's book so while I'm waiting I'm reading The Goldfinch -- finally! While I didn't hate The Casual Vacancy, it was hard to finish it, I disliked it so much. On the other hand, I tried listening to the audio of The Goldfinch when it was our group read a while back and couldn't get into it.

Now I'm reading all 770 pages of it -- all of it, I swear, I have a hard time putting it down. I'm loving it. I don't have to like all the characters; I can relate somewhat to each and every one of them. I will be reading more Donna Tartt too.

Like Rowling in Casual Vacancy, she touches on many very contemporary issues -- addiction (drugs, alcohol, gambling), terrorism, everyday human drama, underage children involved with or exposed to all of the above -- and she does so with honesty and in a very realistic and plausible way. Not being British and not living in a small British village, I'm not sure how realistic Rowling was, but I found her characters to be annoying and their lives nothing I could relate to.

While I'm currently engrossed in Goldfinch, I'd put it down in a heartbeat as soon as I got The Farm, I'm intrigued by the responses so far.

My partner bought me Goldfinch because it got such favorable reviews; he says the same of The Secret History. I will read that one as well.

Interesting to read the different opinions on this book. I thought the basic premiss - is she crazy or is he a crook - was really good. Unfortunately I didn't like the mother at all and I found it hard to be sympathetic towards her. And at some points the story seemed so unlikely, no matter which of them was telling the truth, that the book irritated me. However, the story was interesting enough to make me want to read it to the end. So not all bad!

I'm still reading -- actually, I'm listening to the audio version -- and I was wondering if it was only the voice of the female narrator that was annoying me. She seems whiney and at times borderline hysterical.

Dad is about to arrive on the scene so we'll see if he appeals to me more. I too like the storyline and I'll be finishing it up quickly, along with the black socks I'm knitting along with.

I stayed up late last night finishing this. It all made sense to me in the end and I couldn't stop listening until it was done -- I even fell asleep a couple times while listening.

I guess I assumed it was going to end differently, that the mom's story would be verified and she would be able to resume a somewhat normal life. Contrary to that, she is determined to be mentally ill and the truth is revealed. Wow. It's a powerful story of mental illness told by a family member who really doesn't want to believe it's true and who struggles with remaining objective.

Murder mysteries are not my favorite genre so I was pleased to have the focus be on the causes and dynamics of her illness, even though she herself was obsessed with solving the "mystery". This turned out so differently than I thought, I am glad I finished it. I am now less disappointed in the mom's behavior. It seems entirely in character now.

Perhaps I didn't enjoy this book because I have lived with an aunt with mental illness and was aggressive unlike his mother. To me as she was reciting her story sounded exactly like my aunt's crazy tales so I never expected a different ending, also I believed they had flimsy excuses for keeping certain secrets from each other, however, I listened to the audiobook, the mother just plainly annoyed me. Her story seemed unending with pointless clues and details that were important to her, again reminds me a lot of my aunt.

I sort of find it funny how much I disliked reading this since my whole career revolves around medicine and neuropsychiatry so I believed I would find it very interesting. The opposite happened for me... Alas one cannot always love everything they read!

None of the characters or their relationships held any interest for me.
I did finish the book, but the ending was no surprise.