winkgirl4's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Review of It's What He Would've Wanted." Review of It's What He Would've Wanted."Okay, I promised a review of "It's What He Wouldn've Wanted" by Sean Hughes and, so, here it is: Let me begin by saying that I chose this book out of a stack of books because it promised to be funny and I was looking for something light and interesting. I was surprises at what it ended up becoming. Hughes' stark humor is hard to take, in the beginning, as well you might expect, as it begins with the main character, Shea, discovering his father hanging from the rafters during a holiday visit. From there, it evolves into a journey of one self-absorbed, commitment-phobic man trying to discover who his father really was, and who he is, in spite of it. By the time I was about a third of the way into the book, I had decided that I really wasn't liking the dark turns that it was taking, many of which seemed unnecessary. Unfortunately, unless it has just frightened me beyond my wits end, I just refuse to put a book down, unfinished. So I lingered on. I was surprised to find that by time I got to the final third part of the book, I was really connecting to the story and it's characters and that many of those unnecessary loose ends seemed to be tying up, nicely- if not unexpectedly. There are some nice surprises in this book. I liked the sagaciousness it took to write a main character so unabashedly selfish. A character who doesn't deny the nastiest of details in life like passing gas to get his brother's attention or falling in love with a prostitute. I think that, perhaps, the book falls short by not offering much depth to the supporting characters who, it turns out, help him discover- not so much who his father was, but- who he was, instead. It's an interesting story with a shocking beginning, a labored body and surprisingly good conclusion. It was one of those rare books that seemed like the writer just got better as the book went on and the book couldn't help but to follow suit. It's certainly not the best read of the year but it was, in the end, worth the read. I'd give it a good C+, just edging toward a B with the acknowledgement that I would seek out more of Hughes' work in the future. His sharp, though sometimes overly-dry humor is incredible. 2:23 a.m. - 2003-03-23 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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