Customer Reviews

Scented Gardens for the Blind

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I know, i'm a loser. I wasn't aware of Janet Frame until I saw "Angel at My Table." Better late... The strange and estranged life of the Glace family, all sensory-deprived-- father Edward has left wife and daughter and now spends his time studying the geneology of another family, daughter Erlene has gone mute, and wife Vera has gone blind. Each character lives in a lush world of their own making, never quite understanding what the others want of them. Frame's writing is right on target--she never wastes a word.

The first thing that disappointed me about this book was that fact that the blurb on the back gives away what seems to be the only thing that would even come close to a plot twist. That has nothing to do with the acutal writing itself, but it was rather a spoiler.

Then I started to actually read the book, which was worse. Frame uses 40-word setences when being 'descriptive'. She ends up to near rambling, and using almost hackneyed descriptions of what the characters do.

Her whole idea is very intriguing, but she goes nowhere with it. The end of the book is in the blurb, and even if it was not, it would still be a very boring read. No empathy or connection was made with any of the charachters, false or not. They were stiff and dull.