My Frankly Rubbish Review of The Little Friend by Donna Tartt

I did it!!! On Sunday evening I finished Donna Tartt’s The Little Friend and then couldn’t sleep as 1) I loved it and couldn’t stop thinking about it, and 2) I only bloody finished it and couldn’t stop marvelling at that!!!

16 years that’s taken me and in that time I have fathered two children, moved home, Orbital have spilt up, reformed, split up again and then reformed once more, I’ve had a vasectomy, eaten salted caramel ice cream, finally found a use for Bluetooth and now it’s finally read. Blimey.

I have no answer as to why I never bothered to get past the first page until now* but on this attempt it grabbed me and didn’t let up until the final page. I’ve read a few contemporary reviews of the book this morning and at the time I guess it was impossible for a reviewer not to compare The Little Friend to The Secret History and most of those comparisons were unfavourable but (and I know this is an obvious thing to say) it’s a different book and whilst things that are comfortable and loved are good I really admire Tartt for doing something different and writing a really good Southern Gothic novel which more than holds its own with the many others I have read.

I liked Harriet the book’s protagonist a lot and her story meant something to me so much so that Tartt did what the best authors do and she made me care about her characters and what happened to them and as I reached the last 100 pages I didn’t want anything bad to happen to Harriet and had to know what did. For me that’s the sign of a good book, does it matter that not everything got resolved and tied up in a nice little package? No. The Little Friend was sad, funny, shocking in places and it had passages that I couldn’t put down. Harriet’s dysfunctional family

Does it matter The Little Friend isn’t The Secret History or The Goldfinch? Absolutely not, those two books are genuinely amazing but – and yes I’m going to say it – so is The Little Friend and whilst I can empathise with some of the reviews I’ve read, I don’t agree with them on the issue of it being a poor follow up book and if you’ve put off reading it then you should give it a (or like me, another) go. It’s not a traditional whodunnit, it will leave you with questions and it will frustrate you and enthral you at times but for me these are all good things and make The Little Friend a recipient of my #tonyrecommends hashtag.**

So I’m off on holiday at the weekend and my to be read on holiday pile has grown somewhat and changed a bit too since I listed it on here but surely that can only heighten the excitement for you my trusty followers! What’s Ant going to read? How many books will be manage to complete? Do I actually care? Find out in the next couple of weeks.

I also read a list detailing fictional and non-fictional books about cults yesterday and having already already read many on the list I’ve added a few to my TBR pile. I was slightly worried as to how many books about cults I had read already.

Currently reading: Claire Askew: All the Hidden Truths – the aftermath of a college shooting seen through the eyes of the shooter’s mother, a victim’s mother, and a detective investigating the shooting.

Currently excited about: The last episode of Sharp Objects – I can’t bloody wait!!! I’m away when it it’s on!!! Argh!!!

Not enjoying: The muggy weather – I really don’t do muggy.

Music: The new song by Bill Ryder-Jones who I’m a big fan of. I think this tune is magnificent and have been playing it a lot since it got released earlier in the week. I can’t wait for his new album in November and have already ordered it on vinyl – it comes with a bonus 7” single – drool.

*Okay so maybe laziness, maybe being intimidated by the original hardback having a ribbon bookmark in it as it was such a big book or maybe being swayed by reading so so reviews at the time – yes I can be pathetic like that.

** Which in the scheme of things means nothing whatsoever.

The Little Friend: An Update

If you’ve been on tenterhooks then fret no more as I have begun reading Donna Tartt’s The Little Friend and what’s more I am past the prologue and well into the – well gosh – second chapter which is more than I’ve ever read of it before!!!* Has it grabbed me this time? Yes. Do I know why? No idea but it has and I’m looking forward to getting back to it this evening.

Now I know I said that I wouldn’t set my myself any further reading challenges on here as basically I’m inherently lazy and fight against doing what I set myself to do but I’m off on holiday next week and I do have a very big list of books to plough my way through and I am going to set myself the challenge of doing a short – possibly pithy, but I can’t guarantee that – review of each one and these are the books that I will be reading:

1. James Oswald – No Time to Cry
2. Philip Pullman – The Subtle Knife
3. Laura Lippman – Sunburn
4. Elly Griffiths – The Zig Zag Girl
5. Dervla McTiernan – The Ruin
6. Will Dean – Dark Pines
7. Peter James – Dead if You Don’t
8. Cara Hunter – In the Dark
9. Christopher J Yates – Grist Mill Road
10. Johanna Gustawsson – Block 46
11. Liz Nugent – Skin Deep
12. Nico Walker – Cherry

I’m going armed with a pukka pad and a biro and will be writing as I go along before letting you know how it went, whether we made it to Rouen and if anybody on the campsite annoyed the living hell out of me.

NB: This list is subject to a lot of changes between now and my holiday departure as I can never make up my mind as to what to read.

That’s if for today only to say that last night I was listening to the Sharp Objects playlist on Spotify and this piece made me swoon a little bit, it’s by Alexandra Stréliski and is called Plus tôt:

* I feel that I should point out the chapters are bloody long in this book.