The choice of Tracey Ullman to perform this is absolute gold. I have to wonder if I would’ve liked it as well if I’d read it since it seems custom madThe choice of Tracey Ullman to perform this is absolute gold. I have to wonder if I would’ve liked it as well if I’d read it since it seems custom made to be performed by Tracey Ullman. My inner reading voice (if there is such a thing) could never pull off all the voices and accents and the very specific intonations of certain British slang.
I was enthralled for the first 90% up to the last chapter when I was disappointed by several things I found way too over the top (which is saying a lot compared to the rest of the events throughout). But this is a book I will go back to, it’s so full of life....more
Her voice is by turns charming, quirky, naïve, and disconcerting - but always feels real. Full of dark humor, and at times a distance or understatemenHer voice is by turns charming, quirky, naïve, and disconcerting - but always feels real. Full of dark humor, and at times a distance or understatement in describing horrible tragedies.
Each chapter is less than 6-7 pages and some kind of significant twist happens in just about every one.
the young boy feeling jealous about his dad drawing the new baby: “I’ll tell you what’s wrong with this house, no one paints me”
“she had a large flabby face and looked rather like a determined oyster”
“she was quite 6 feet tall and very beautiful in a totem-pole kind of way, with huge staring eyes like headlamps”
And the one that nearly everyone mentions: “I had a kind of idea if you controlled your mind and said ‘I won’t have any babies’ very hard, then most likely they wouldn’t come. I thought that was what was meant by birth-control.”...more