le book review number nine~ a million little pieces

Friday 6 January 2012

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Book title: a million little pieces
Author: James Frey
Star rating: 3/5 stars.

When I originally intended to read the book, I thought it was actually his memoir because I read a few quotes online that were from the book. I started reading it at the library to see if it was as good as the quotes led me to believe. I checked it out and the librarian and I got talking about how it was not actually true. My opinion of this book is based solely on the content not about the author.

As you can see, I have a lot of memorable moments (located in the post below) from this book. I found the vocabulary and description to be very intense, beautiful, and thought provoking. But all of the words strung together makes for only about a decent book. I liked it, but didn't fall in love with it. The story moved along well enough and the characters were real enough and believable enough based on judgement of that they are only characters.

What the book is about:
James is an alcoholic, a drug addict, a Criminal. He has lost. He feels lost. He goes to a rehab center to recover. To figure out his life. The book is his story. It introduces the reader to the people he encounters, the people that suffer from the same things he suffers from and it tells the story of people at their lowest trying to rise.

The demons that James is forced to deal with are portrayed in a artistic way. His addictions have been prominent before he even entered teenage years. His alcoholism and drug addiction seem to have a lighter effect based through the character. There was repetition of phrases and words in paragraphs. This focus to certain aspects expressed an almost addiction to thoughts and ideas.

The middle of the book seemed to be where I didn't like it as much. The recovery process seemed to lack the character. I felt that he was changing, like he was supposed to, but that the new character wasn't what I had expected and wanted. I understand it was written as a memoir (although it is not true), but the development to me seemed that the lie could have been more deeply created.

As an overall book, I did enjoy it and would recommend it for a read. I would not purchase the book because I don't think I'd want to read it multiple times, but I would recommend it. However, I caution readers due to the strong language and subject matter.

2 comments:

Shadow Lawliet said...

It's rather reassuring to hear you enjoyed this book. :D I found it at Goodwill and bought it because it seemed interesting (that's why I love Goodwill; books there are so cheap that I can afford to buy random ones just because), and my mom commented on it being of inferior quality or something, so I've been thinking to myself that I'd probably end up really enjoying it despite she disliking it—heh okay this is all irrelevant isn't it? But point is, I'm glad there's a person in my age range out there that finds the book worth reading. Now I'm looking forward to reading it myself that much more~

Becca said...

i mean, part of my problem about the book is the author and the controversy surrounding him that partially biased my opinion. but as a book, i can't complain too much because it was full of perspective that i really admire and it gave me a new way of looking at things (especially with addiction) that i appreciate from it.

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