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Chargement... Outside Looking inpar James Lincoln Collier
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Ashamed of his parents' way of life traveling around the country peddling honey for medicinal purposes and stealing, Fergy takes his young sister and runs away to find his mother's wealthy parents and a better way to live. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
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The thing is...unlike other Collier books, this one seems oddly flat. It's not a bad book, but everything is a bit more two-dimensional than in most other Collier books; it doesn't seem as real, and the choices mostly seem obvious. I might even say that the plot is a bit simplistic and unbelievable. It's worth a read if you like Collier, but if you're not familiar with his work, try [b:Lost Treasures: The Teddy Bear Habit - Book #3|500896|Lost Treasures The Teddy Bear Habit - Book #3 (Lost Treasures)|James Lincoln Collier|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175284082s/500896.jpg|489000] first - and try to get one of the older editions, one with the illustrations by Lorenz! After that, I'd recommend his historical books over this oddly dated and somehow lifeless novel. He's a very good writer, but this simply isn't his best work.
Update: Looking back, I think I see what the problem is with Outside Looking In. A good story needs to have some point on which the reader can connect. I suspect that may be particularly true for first-person narratives. It's not necessary for the reader to have have the exact same experiences, of course, but in some way there has to be an element with which the reader can identify.
In [b:Lost Treasures: The Teddy Bear Habit - Book #3|500896|Lost Treasures The Teddy Bear Habit - Book #3 (Lost Treasures)|James Lincoln Collier|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175284082s/500896.jpg|489000], for example, George Stable's desire for success drives him to make some reckless decisions. He gets in way over his head. We've all had that same sort of general experience.
But in Outside Looking In, there's really not much to connect to! Fergy starts out living on the road with an abusive father - a man who is SO vile and one-sided that there's no conflict at all. You'd no more consider staying with him than you'd consider staying with a rabid tiger.
That flatness of character, incidentally, also has an impact on Fergy's mother. Why does she stay with such an obviously abusive man? One who is clearly destroying their children's lives, as well as hers? It makes no sense, so she immediately becomes an unsympathetic character.
Fergy's life has nothing in common with that of most readers, I think - unless you grew up constantly on the run in a van with a gang of con men, without schooling or friends. If so, this is the book for you. But for everyone else, I think that the book will leave you cold. ( )