Customer Reviews

Carrie Pilby (Red Dress Ink Novels)

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is extremely funny and fun to read, but it also made me think. I actually wrote down a few of the lines and told them to a friend, because there are many good quotable observations here about society.

Carrie Pilby is a 19-year-old genius who graduated from Harvard last year. She has spent her life getting good grades and didn't socialize much with people her own age. Now she lives in New York and her psychologist gives her a list of goals, like going on a date and joining a club. She is very moral, though, and findsit hard to tolerate all the 'hypocrisy' among people in the city. (She also talks about all the hypocrisy there was back at college, and it really reminded me of some things from my own college days). She tries to understand religion, make friends, and get to know different types of people.

Carrie starts off very judgemental, and after some funny adventures and foiled social outings, she slowly learns not to judge so much. A big dilemma is when she meets a guy she's attracted to but who is morally off limits. Should she be like everyone else and just have her fun?

I think most people will get something out of it...maybe different things for different people. As a bonus, I also think I'll do a lot better at the "word origins" category on Jeopardy now! I laughed, but I learned some things, too. It gives you a lot to think about and talk about, especially the whole idea of 'fitting in' as Carrie's attempts to avoid changing in negative ways just to fit in with society. I also enjoyed the cast of characters.

This was not like the typical Red Dress Ink books I've read where the heroine is a single relationship/fashion obsessed young woman in the big city trying to find love and committment.

This was more about a unique young woman trying to find her place in her world, with the focus placed mostly on her emotional well-being and her acceptance of others.

Carrie Pilby is very much like the young Amelie from the movie "Amelie." She's young, single, quirky, shy and lonely. Both Carrie and Amelie are curious about the world around them and long to fit in, to find love, to make friends and to express themselves as individuals without fear of rejection.

But Carrie differs greatly from Amelie in personality. Where Amelie was gracefully generous and tentatively curious, Carrie is cynical, suspicious and overanalytical. Though both women embark on missions to help virtual strangers, Amelies's reasons are more unselfish - she just wants to see these people happy. Carrie's reasoning is more to prove a point - to teach someone a lesson in morality.

Carrie Pilby has been isolated from others nearly her whole life because she's a prodigy. She skipped three grades in school and graduated from Harvard before the age of 19. As the book begins, we find a shy, sarcastic person who struggles to understand morality and hypocrisy. Since she has had limited social experiences, she's on the verge of defining morality thanks to her therapist, who has provided her a with a list of goals to achieve before the year's end. Carrie approaches the goals in a somewhat unconventional manner with the intent of quickly just getting the list completed, but learns some unexpected lessons about human rationalization.

I highly recommend this book. It was such an unexpected pleasure and change from the typical "chick" stuff Red Dress has printed in the past. I hope they continue to publish quirky stories where it's more important for the heroine to evolve and become satisfied with aspects of her life than to 'get the guy'.

And if you've seen the movie "Amelie," read this book and compare the two stories about a single young woman trying to understand and fit in her world.

Carrie Pilby is a genius, but this fact alone doesn't make her life easy or enjoyable. She sees a therapist, works as a temp, and suffers from odd mental malaise. I found her insights to be believable, yet often annoying. Having known several people like Carrie in my life, (No, I'm not a genius!!) I can relate to the ways the other characters in the novel interact with her.

I think this book definitely gives Red Dress Ink some credibility. This strays from the usual poor, loveless fashion hopeless protagonist and gives us someone who readers can truly empathize with. This is a fast read and a fabulous insight to the lonely world of "geniushood."

Ever look at the world and see it swarming with hypocrits? Ever refuse to tell someone what movie you've rented because if you ever decide to rent a dirty movie you don't want to have to tell them? Or have you ever refused to tell someone what book you are reading because you don't want to have to give them a 10 minute summery? Carrie Pilby, the former child prodige does all of these things. Not to mention requiring to know the IQ of someone before she dates them! If you like a bit of cynical humor this book is really for you, and even if you don't you'll still find this book amusing if not absolutely hilarious. Ah..the wonders of a good book. In this marvelous masterpiece you can get a glimpse through the eyes of a cynical former child prodige who realizes that morals aren't as clear cut as she once thought.

This book starts as an absolute delight - funny, witty and smart. But towards the second half of the book it loses it. I just couldn't get rid of an impression that the author simply lost any interest and was rushing it to publisher to get paid. The last 50 pages or so are incredibly boring and meaningless, which spoils the whole experience.

Carrie Pilby is one odd chick. To me, that's a good thing. So I was looking forward to spending some time with the inner life of this 19 year old genius - it was her crazy-but-yet-insightful explanation of why one shouldn't disclose the titles of movies one rents to any old body (the witty beginning of the novel, and I think you can read it on Amazon) that drew me in.

So why didn't I love the book? The usual reasons: Carrie's sad and lonely and can't figure out how to make things better and after a while listening to her observations felt more claustrophobic than lapidary. Not implausible, but also not so fun, and it made the end seem more tacked on as a genre requirement than realistically cathartic.

One thing that I liked: the book is kind of yay sin. Carrie and her friends sometimes do things they oughtn't, things they might regret, but the book's fair about why they do these things anyway and some of the pleasures, as well as the pains, that come from them.

Carrie Pilby is odd by her own admission, or perhaps the rest of the world is what is odd. At nineteen, she is a genius, dateless, unemployed, and while not agoraphobic, prefers not to leave her home. At her father's insistence, she sees a psychiatrist weekly, but is getting nowhere. The doctor gives her an assignment. She is to name things she loves, do things on the list, join something, celebrate New Year's, and go on a date.

Carrie does her best to follow the assignment. She does join a church, though she suspects it might be a cult, does some things on the list, especially the sleeping part, and places a personal ad to get a date. It is not her fault that all the repliers are unsuitable. Her odyssey to get a date will lead her through several unfortunate meetings, a lesbian encounter, and a promising relationship with a man cheating on his fiance. Carrie learns a lot about herself and about life, and gives the reader her witty commentary in the process.

***** Carrie is someone with whom everyone can identify, at least in part. She is so realistic, it can be scary at times. However, she is someone that you will want for your best friend, once you can get her to leave home to meet you. *****

Carrie Pilby is a nineteen-year-old genius that is trying to find her place in the world. She is currently living in New York City, and just trying to please her father. She visits her therapist weekly, but so far there is no improvement. The only thing that has come from these weekly visits is for the therapist to make her a five-point plan. She is instructed to complete all five points before New Years. 1) She must make a list of all the things she likes, than 2) do them. 3) She must join an organization. 4) Make plans for New Years, and finally 5) she must go on a date. So Carrie puts the plan into action. She places an ad in the personal section of the newspaper, and waits for the suitors to call her. She then joins a church, and tries to uncover it as a cult. Not only that but when she finally gets a normal guy through her ad, she discovers, that he is cheating on his wife. So through trying to do what is right and moral, and discovering the life of adults in New York, she must complete her five "tasks". It will make you laugh while you try to translate Carrie's unique view of the world around her. Carrie will interpret adultery and the encounter of a lesbian relationship, and her reactions will make you roll with laughter. This book will keep you reading through the twists and turns, and hilarious ways of life as Carrie sees it.

I read this book on the recommendation of a friend and while I don't normally read 'chick-lit' ('cause, y'know, I'm a guy), I was hooked from page 1. Funny, insightful and touching, anyone who has ever felt like a misfit can relate to Carrie, who has it even worse than the rest of us, since we at least had our high school and college years to go through the usual angst. Carrie, unfortunately, is still a teenager, but living the life of a full-grown adult out in the real world.

One of the many things that impressed me about this book, was that the author doesn't attempt to provide the reader with any easy answers to some very difficult questions. Upon finishing the book, you're left to think about them and hopefully come to some conclusions on your own.

An impressive debut from a talented writer worth keeping an eye on both within the world of 'chick lit' and beyond.

I didn't know whether to expect a 'chick' read or the satire that the back of the book seemed to indicate but there a good helping of both...there are some really sharp observations from this recent-college-grad genius who is trying to figure out how to fit in with the real world and still maintain her beliefs. On one hand, there are modern allusions to everyday pop culture, and on the other, you will come across a literary quote or even Monty Python thrown in. I was impressed with the quality writing without it being overwrought or stuffy...it was a breezily-moving, fun story that seemed a step above.

One great line I remember is (this might not be exact) is: "There's nothing like watching people get caught in the thick, coarse gossamer of their own hypocrisy." The dialogue is fun, and there are doses of romance AND suspense. It will probably come up in a few of my discussions this summer. If you remember what it was like to be young and think you knew everything you should get something out of this.