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A review by peripetia
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
Did not finish book. Stopped at 0%.
This book is beautifully written and buried in it is probably a great story. I'm conflicted about dnf'ing this at 46%, but the story is just so slow and in parts utterly uninteresting. Reading this feels like a chore and I'm not sure that this book is worth that effort.
I loved the beginning of the book, but was disappointed and bored when we switched to Digby's, the Scottish doctor's, POV. I also did not care much for Dr Rune, maybe because I don't find that kind of religious fervor very interesting, to be quite honest. I loved getting to know the local environment and culture, even if the depictions sometimes became more like a history book than a novel.
I feel like this book is so long because these kinds of family sagas are supposed to be long. This doesn't have to be. There are so many great elements in this book, but the story just meanders and drags on. It seems like the book can't decide between being plot or character driven - in the best case scenario it would be both, but now it's neither.
What started to annoy me quite a lot is that all of the POV or central characters are perfect people. Even their mistakes and shortcomings are on the level of "oh no I fell in love with the wrong person". Maybe this will change later in the book, but 46% is too much for such one-dimensional characters, interesting as they can be.
I'm not afraid of long books, but I dislike books being long just for the sake of being long. The story is fascinating and beautiful, but it drowns under history lessons.
I loved the beginning of the book, but was disappointed and bored when we switched to Digby's, the Scottish doctor's, POV. I also did not care much for Dr Rune, maybe because I don't find that kind of religious fervor very interesting, to be quite honest. I loved getting to know the local environment and culture, even if the depictions sometimes became more like a history book than a novel.
I feel like this book is so long because these kinds of family sagas are supposed to be long. This doesn't have to be. There are so many great elements in this book, but the story just meanders and drags on. It seems like the book can't decide between being plot or character driven - in the best case scenario it would be both, but now it's neither.
What started to annoy me quite a lot is that all of the POV or central characters are perfect people. Even their mistakes and shortcomings are on the level of "oh no I fell in love with the wrong person". Maybe this will change later in the book, but 46% is too much for such one-dimensional characters, interesting as they can be.
I'm not afraid of long books, but I dislike books being long just for the sake of being long. The story is fascinating and beautiful, but it drowns under history lessons.