Can't win 'em all. Found this book in a "free library" box in Vermont while hiking. I figured it would make for good tent reading. I liked the cover graphics, which included numerous favorable reviews. I read two-thirds of it and finally gave up. It concerns an eccentric French couple and their young son. I guess the author (his first novel) thinks we should care about them because they are so unabashedly quirky, but they merely grated on my nerves. The mother eventually descends into madness, but there's no pathos, just more non-humorous displays of antisocial behavior. The author's penchant for rhyming his sentences is irritating. (Can an English translation of French even pull this off??). Neither did I like his casual, sometimes mocking depiction of mental illness.

However, I did think it interesting that the author was able to fashion a book around a favorite song, Nina Simone's cover of Jerry Jeff Walker's bittersweet "Mr. Bojangles." But tossing in snippets of the song lyric was silly and lazy.

Prior to this book I read "Of Mice and Men." This book is to "Of Mice and Men" what a mediocre tattoo artist is to Rembrandt. What were these reviewers thinking?

Ze heeft elke dag een andere naam, maar danst elke dag op hetzelfde liedje. Als je deze unieke ouders door de ogen van hun kind ziet, dan ontdek je de magie in deze dolgedraaide gekte op de meest onschuldige wijze. Alsof je een Wes Anderson film leest

Het is een uitzonderlijke wereld die logischerwijs uitloopt op een fiasco, maar dan wel zelfbewust en vastberaden. Wanneer het gebeurt ben je niet zozeer verrast als verroerd.

Een aanrader.

J’ai découvert le film un peu par hasard, j’ai adoré et me suis promise de lire le livre.
J’ai revu le film et enfin lu le livre : un petit bijou.

Comment on fait pour se remettre d'un livre pareil ?

Vraiment incroyable.