The Little Friend

by Donna Tartt | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 9781400033737 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingFifnawing of Voorburg, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on 8/23/2006
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7 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingFifnawing from Voorburg, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Wednesday, August 23, 2006
blurb: "The setting is Alexandria, Mississippi, where one Mother's Day, a little boy named Robin Cleve Dufresnes was found hanging from a black-tupelo tree in his parents' yard. Twelve years later Robin's murder is still unsolved and his family remains devastated. So it is that Robin's sister Harriet - unnervingly bright, insufferably pugnacious, and unduly influenced by the fiction of Kipling and Robert Louis Stevenson - sets out to unmask his killer. Aided only by her worshipful friend Hely, Harriet crosses her town's rigid lines of race and caste and burrows deep into her family's history of loss. Filled with hairpin turns of plot and with characters as engaging as Huck Finn and as appalling as Faulkner's Snopeses, The Little Friend is a work of myriad enchantments by a writer of prodigious talent."

I will offer this as a bookring:

Twynnie (Faversham, UK / ship int'l)
Ceroc-Monster (Derbyshire, UK / ship int'l)
boomda181 (GTA, Ontario, Canada / ship int'l if req.)
CynthiaA (Toronto, Canada / ship pref North Am./Europe)
vicki9170 (Tampa, Florida, USA / ship int'l)
MmeClinton (South Berwick, Maine, USA / ship int'l) <=== has asked to be skipped
valerief (Forest Hills, NY, USA / ship int'l)

...
back to Fifna (Netherlands) <=== the book has arrived back home

Journal Entry 2 by wingFifnawing from Voorburg, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Tuesday, September 5, 2006
Sent the book to Twynnie today. Happy travels!

Journal Entry 3 by Twynnie from Royston, Hertfordshire United Kingdom on Tuesday, September 12, 2006
The book arrived today! (I have been awaiting it eagerly for the last few days!) I should be able to start on it tomorrow or the day after. Thanks very much to Fifna for sharing!

Journal Entry 4 by Twynnie from Royston, Hertfordshire United Kingdom on Thursday, September 21, 2006
This was a really enjoyable read for me! Looking at other people's reviews of this on BC it seems a lot of people found it very hard to get into. In a way I can see why as it does take a long time describing Harriet's world and getting to know the characters before any clear plot develops. I like this though as the detail in the writing was so good it made the characters very vivid and lifelike.

The action increased a lot towards the end, to the point where I didn't want to put it down. I even skipped my morning nap on the train to finish this book!

The only thing I didn't like was the ending itself. I don't want to give anything away but there were too many loose ends, I would have liked more things to be resolved.

Anyway the book is on it's way to Ceroc-Monster as we speak - I posted it first class this afternoon so it should be there soon.

Journal Entry 5 by Jive-Monster from -- Somewhere in Derbyshire🤷‍♂️, Derbyshire United Kingdom on Friday, September 22, 2006
Received in the post today from Twynnie.

Straight to the top of Mount TBR

Journal Entry 6 by Jive-Monster from -- Somewhere in Derbyshire🤷‍♂️, Derbyshire United Kingdom on Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Can't fairly give this book a rating. Unfortunately I had to give up on reading it as the font was so small. (Getting replacement glasses soon). I couldn't really get into either. Maybe I'll give it another go in the future.

Have pm'd boomda181 for address.

Journal Entry 7 by boomda181 on Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Arrived in the mail today. I have a few books to read ahead of this one, but I will be reading it soon! I look forward to journalling more.

Journal Entry 8 by boomda181 on Tuesday, November 7, 2006
I confess, I am sending this book on without finishing it. I began the book and barely got through the prologue when I realised that at this particular moment if I were to try to read The Little Friend I would hold everyone up. I am days away from expecting our first child and could not fathom finishing the book in good time. Thanks for the opportunity, and I hope everyone enjoys the book.

Journal Entry 9 by CynthiaA from Brantford, Ontario Canada on Monday, January 15, 2007
Arrived today... I totally forgot about this book! I look forward to it.

Journal Entry 10 by CynthiaA from Brantford, Ontario Canada on Thursday, March 1, 2007
I liked the book, but I didn't love it. The author's writing style is appealing although I thought the story progressed rather slowly.

There may be some small spoilers below, so if you haven't read it yet... skip the rest!

What I liked:

I really liked Harriet a lot -- she was a beautifully developed character and I ached for her in so many ways, especially after Libby died. Her heartache was so real to me. I really wanted to reach into the pages and rescue her from her neglectful, spacey mother.

I also really liked Danny Ratliff. I thought the author did a fine job of creating empathy for an unlikable man. I was able to get enough insights into his past to see how he had ended up where he was. I felt that underneath everything there was a good man trying to get out... but he was never shown how to be anything other than what he became.

I liked most of the characters -- Edie and the aunts were fantastic. Ida was so well done too. Hely was interesting, but I never really understood his fascination with Harriett. The sister, Allison, was well done too -- a good combination of detachment and affection.

The book did a really good job of demonstrating how segregated this town was, particularly with regard to rich vs. poor more so than racial segregation.

What I didn't like:

The mother, Charlotte. I didn't feel that you were given enough empathy for her situation, which resulted only in resentment toward how she neglected her daughters. For me, anyway.

The ending. We spent all that time reading about Harriet's quest for information about who killed her brother -- and we never learn who killed her brother. I wanted to know! And what will happen to poor Harriet now? She learns only enough to show her that the world doesn't give answers in black and white... but is that enough to heal her from everything that happened? Is it enough to change the way she behaves?


I've got vicki's address so I'll ship the book off today or tomorrow. NOTE: Shipped March 7/07

Thanks so much Fifna!

Journal Entry 11 by vicki9170 from St. Petersburg, Florida USA on Saturday, November 10, 2007
Finished this yesterday. I have to admit that I didn't care for it that much. It had it's good moment, but ultimately left you hanging.

Will be sending back to Fifna as soon as I get her address.

Journal Entry 12 by valerief from Queens, New York USA on Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Thanks! After a few rings ahead of this, I am looking forward to reading The Secret History and this back to back.

Journal Entry 13 by valerief at Mail, Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Monday, September 15, 2008

Released 15 yrs ago (9/19/2008 UTC) at Mail, Bookring -- Controlled Releases

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Agree with many previous comments - I liked but didn't love this book. As I have felt with some other novels, it could have been shorter, even though the character development is superb. Would have like a little more to tie up some of the loose ends, even if I have to use my imagination. I did not read The Secret History before this, and I'm curious to see how it compares.

Interesting article about Donna Tartt on Wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Tartt

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This will be sent back home to Fifna.

Journal Entry 14 by wingFifnawing from Voorburg, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Monday, November 3, 2008
The book has arrived home safely, thanks valerief! And thank you to all the participants for keeping it moving!

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