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Read I'll Go To Bed At Noon (2005)

I'll Go to Bed at Noon (2005)

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Genre
Rating
3.76 of 5 Votes: 4
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ISBN
0393328007 (ISBN13: 9780393328004)
Language
English
Publisher
w. w. norton & company

I'll Go To Bed At Noon (2005) - Plot & Excerpts

I am a huge fan of the precursor to this novel, August, so I had high expectations for I'll Go to Bed at Noon. I liked the first novel better; I enjoyed being transported to Wales and growing up with the Joneses. This novel is also well-written and Woodward continues to strongly develop his characters - and it's precisely because of how well-written Colette and Aldous are in particular that this novel is hard to read at times. You want things to turn out well for them, you want for them to be happy, but that doesn't happen. It is a depressing novel, but that's only half the story; it's also a funny novel filled with deadpan humour (it's very English in that sense). This isn't a novel of major turning points or important, life-changing events; it's a novel about the effects of alcoholism on a bland, ordinary middle-class family in suburban London. Once again, just like with August, Woodward's memorable characters make this book come to life.One quibble: The shoddy editing of this novel was very distracting. Small mistakes like "its" instead of "it's" and speech marks gone awry are really unforgiveable considering the reputation of the publishder (Vintage)!

I could not pass anywhere beyond the 50-page limit. The author or the editor should have bothered to draw a family tree. Names, relationships and genders are so confusing that at one point, you start guessing the character's identity. And a same name shared by two characters, added to this confusion. The events unfold for nothing and end up as loose ends at each chapter. Drab and one of the most boring-ever reading experiences I have ever had. Obviously, I did not read this book, but gave it a 3 star, for the only reason that it was in the long list. I don't know why such a dishevelled, mis-ordered and drenched-in-booze family would call itself a family at all. If you want to know more about alcoholism, you had better go through medical journals. Not this novel.

What do You think about I'll Go To Bed At Noon (2005)?

Okay, I had really high hopes for this book - about alcohol addiction and a Man Booker Prize finalist. However, I had to read the first chapter twice just to get the family structure down and I was still confused. Then I realized there were two main characters with the same name - Who does that??? I tried reading this a few times with an incredibly open mind but found it hard to follow, pretentious, and very annoying. I actually put it in the garage sale bin that is growing in my garage. I NEVER not finish a book. This one I didn't - I got through the second chapter and that was it. Maybe I didn't give it a fair shake, but honestly, after reading the first chapter twice to try and get the gist, I really didn't care anymore.
—Melissa Lee-tammeus

What on earth was the Man Booker committee thinking with this one? The only prize-worthy thing about this book is the title; other than that, I can't imagine why this book was put on the long list, much less the short one. Nothing happens here at all -- a family composed mostly of alcoholics acts mean to everyone, fucks up, commits crimes, and then a bunch of them die. That would be fine in the hands of a writer who had something to say -- what Jonathan Franzen could have done with this! -- but Woodward uses this promising-enough raw material to write nothing more notable than a few episodes of Eastenders. Now, I quite like Eastenders, and this narrative was pretty good, which is why I gave it two stars instead of one. But a Man Booker nominee? WTF? The characters are poorly drawn and hackneyed, and the writing itself is a bore. Really, don't bother.
—Laura

Sad little story about a bunch of alcoholics before alcoholism was a commonly known disease. I didn't like any of the characters: none of them were compelling or sympathetic protagonists. You sort of hope for the best for both Januses but don't care that they end up the way they do. In fact, it seems fitting that most of them end up the way you might expect them to.The writing wasn't especially beautiful, but it kept me engaged until the very end -- an impressive feat considering I didn't care about any of the characters and the novel wasn't plot driven. I think there's something to be said about that. It felt like a straightforward description of an alcoholic family without any judgment or bias. I found it worth the read, though I haven't read anything else like this to compare it to.
—Kathy Ahn

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