Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult

This is an earlier writing of Picoult and it shows. It's still well written, but it's missing some of the elements that she's developed in her newer work. She still writes from many character viewpoints, but I found myself confused trying to figure out what point in time we were in in several spots (it jumps back and forth quite a bit). I'm still not sure what the point of the story was, I felt a little let down at the end. I know that since Picoult has become a 'hot' writer they've republished and remarketed her books. It's just interesting to take an earlier one and see where she has come as a writer. If you enjoy Picoult's books, you'll probably enjoy this, maybe just not as much as other ones that she has written.

3 comments:

Alaine said...

I read this a few years ago and completely agree with your review.

Anonymous said...

I agree. It's pretty obvious that Songs of the Humpback Whale is her first book both in writing style and content.

Sue Jackson said...

I agree completely. She definitely refined her writing style later. Although another of her earlier books is one of my favorites, Plain Truth.

Sue