The Rehearsal: Life is too short...

The Rehearsal, by Eleanor Catton
My review: 1 out of 5 stars

To be honest, I could not get past page 15, so in all fairness I probably shouldn't give it a rating. At one point, I pledged to read only books that get at least a 3.5 or 4 rating in Goodreads, and this one has a 3.27. But it sounded interesting, and I feel lacking in the modern female adolescent category, and it involved theater and music...right up my alley, right? So wrong.

The Rehearsal has been described as a postmodern novel, and some readers describe it as brilliant. But right from the very first page, I didn't like it. It's hard to put my finger on it, but I think it's because the characters were so removed and distant, the dialogue completely stiff and unrealistic, and it seemed artificial. Reading the other reviews, I understand that this is the point. However.

I have learned something: when I've had this initial instinct about a book and plowed on ahead (after reading other people's glowing reviews and convincing myself to give it a chance), I'm always disappointed. Sometimes I find redeeming qualities in the book and it's not as bad as I initially think.

But is that really good enough? When I have so many books I want to read? No way. Life's too short to read books that you don't enjoy (or that don't at least have some educational, redeeming quality).