Telling Room, The: A Tale Of Love, Betrayal, Revenge, And The World's Greatest Piece Of Cheese (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
The concept is great. I can see why Paterniti got wrapped up in this adventure and why it took so long to finish the book. The biggest issue I had which the author acknowledges somewhat is the direction the book takes. There is so much rich history that preceded the events he's written about that he tries to weave it in, but he does so unsuccessfully. The footnotes largely contained a lot of historical information. Some we interesting and helpful, but they broke up the story. Because of their length, I frequently had to go back and re-read the section I was reading to get the context again. I eventually stopped reading the footnotes all together so I could follow the story. The book also is unfortunate because I felt as though it was two books cobbled together. The story of Ambrosio and the story of Guzman and this region. I think some of this is the author but also the editor. They should have done an overhaul in places. I enjoyed the end where Paterniti returns to Guzman a number of times for closure and information realizing only then that everything was not as it seemed. I wish the book had been more focused, less wandering, more organized, etc. So. It started so strong. The descriptive writing throughout is quite beautiful. But man. The writing wanders. I suspect the author was attempting to use the written wanderings as allegory for his own real-life wanderings, and I appreciate the effort, but it just didn't work. I really wanted to love this book. I can only say (judging by the fact it took months to finish it) that I kind of, sort of liked it.
What do You think about Telling Room, The: A Tale Of Love, Betrayal, Revenge, And The World's Greatest Piece Of Cheese (2013)?
Really interesting beginning, but I (and it) just kind of lost steam about halfway through.
—HoorayForPie
The second star is for the concept. terrible execution.
—MJG344
I never put a book down... A first for everything.
—matt0220
