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There are currently 20 member reviews
for The Rabbit Back Literature Society
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AmberBug, shelfnotes.com, CT
Book Lovers and Writers... this books for you.
The plot of this book sounds super intriguing, right? Well, the book IS/WAS but the main character fell entirely flat for me.
My favorite part was how when the Author introduced a new character, each came with a revealing personal trait or story. For example, Ella with her defective ovaries or Winter getting so fat that he loses sight of his Mister Peter. I haven't yet experienced a book or Author that exposes the character right away. It's like imagining the crowd before you naked or maybe this is how it feels to be a part of a support group. The style is unique and I liked how the Author also embraced this concept and embellished upon it with the societies "game".
Overall, this book had some interesting style to it. This might be attributed to the cultural differences between Finland and the United States, as I haven't picked up many Finnish books or maybe this is truly a style the Author is known for.
The book also focuses on one of my favorite concepts about art, that we create the best art when suffering and emotional, not when life is perfect. I can't knock any book that delves into that topic, but that's my personal opinion. This will be a book I'll recommend to any writer and maybe even some book lovers.
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Eileen F. (Drexel Hill, PA)
Magical Finland
The premise was intriguing and the story was full of mystery and magical happenings. I was disappointed that three story lines were never concluded in any way. I enjoyed the setting and the atmosphere the writing invoked. I would recommend this to Harry Potter fans and any reader who enjoys books in far away locales.
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Shaun D. (Woodridge, IL)
Would give it a 2.5 if I could
After reading the description I was really excited to receive this book advance. I am drawn to mysteries, thrillers, suspense, etc and this sounded like it hit all 3 categories. However I found myself skimming instead of reading. It seems like it was a novel-length short story. The characters were only vaguely described - and the descriptions were exactly the same regardless of who is doing the talking or thinking - and the descriptions were repeated and repetitious ie one character is described as having curly hair. So in one scene she 'tosses her curly hair'. In another she 'twirls her curly hair'. In yet another the wind 'blows her curly hair'. That's it. Over and over. Each chatacter is repetitiously described using only 1 or 2 physical traits. So you never get to feel that these people are real - they come across as very flat and one-dimensional. And as for the plot - it had potential and in the hands of a more experienced author - could've been a seriously creepy thriller. Instead 3/4 of the book is spent building up the suspense, only to reach a very unsatisfying and incompletely resolved conclusion. For example - when events occur - they just occur. No explanation before the event and no further analysis afterwards. Just 'this happened and then that happened' kind of narration. Maybe something was 'lost in translation' and it reads better in its native Finnish? All in all it's clearly a freshman effort that felt like it could've benefitted from some serious editing and revisions.
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Chris W. (Temple City, CA)
a weird tale
The premise of this book was intriguing, and I was excited to receive a copy. I really enjoyed the beginning of the story; however, it then wandered into the bizarre. I didn't find The Game to be believable - what adults would willingly take drugs and spill such personal secrets until totally exhausted? It seemed very cruel, occasionally violent, and an odd way for writers to get ideas for future stories. I didn't really care about the characters and liked the story less and less as it went on. The main character teaches English and then destroys student essays? A virus changes books? The violence involving the dogs at the end seemed unnecessary. There were too many questions and mysteries left unresolved. Maybe this book needed Ms. White's editing. Book clubs could certainly discuss the merits of a children's literary society for budding writers, how revealing intimate details about yourself can affect relationships, how writers get ideas for their stories, and keeping secrets. But I wouldn't recommend this book.
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Jeanette L. (Marietta, GA)
The Rabbit Back Literature Society
This is a strange story that left a lot of loose ends and unanswered questions when it finished.
The books in the town's library have some kind of virus that changes the stories in famous books, one of them being Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky but we never really find out why is this happening.
The literary society group is led by Laure White a famous writer of children's books one day she simply disappears and we never find out what happened to her.
The literary society group comprised of nine children of both sexes who grew up together and were very close friends don't talk to each other now that they are all grown up, why?
Ella the main character is a substitute teacher who has been interested in Laura White and her children's books for quite a while publishes a short story about this author in the local literary supplement, Laura White reads her short story, likes it and invites Ella to be part of the Literary society group making her the tenth member. This opens up a whole new investigation about a previous tenth member who disappears and is never mentioned again we never find out what really happened to this person, another loose end.
I read this book all the way to the end and was left with an unfinished feeling; it was as if the book was missing a complete section which was forgotten at the printer. Not a very good book, I would not recommend it to anyone.
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Ruthie A. (Summit, NJ)
Wasn't magical for me...
The premise of this novel, a young teacher being asked to join a writer's secret society, piqued my interest, and I settled down eagerly to read this book. I became nervous when I started to read about goblins, gnomes and elves, and things just got worse.
Our main character, Ella, is a recent grad, working as substitute teacher. She confiscates an altered edition of Crime and Punishment from a student, submits a short story to a local paper and finds herself simultaneously invited to join a select group of famous writers and drawn into a mystery.
For me the plot never held together, the characters were all unlikeable and the writing was oddly stilted. There were writing quirks that distracted - everyone was called by their full name, Ella's beautiful lips, nipples and defective ovaries were mentioned repeatedly, etc. There were so many questions that were raised and never answered, all of them relevant to the plot. There were jumps in time that were jolting. Ella's father, whom she seems to love and who we meet in what seems to be the late stages of Alzheimer's disease, injures himself and there is a lot of info, then suddenly we find out he is dead, and Ella seems to find this all rather annoying...?
Central to the novel is The Game, which members of The Society play in order to come up with new material for their novels. The rules and implementation are bizarre and cruel, and it would seem that a decent writer could find material so many other ways. There is a great deal a random violence in the book, lack of normal emotions of loved ones/friends toward one another, and it all just felt ugly.
There was one satisfying plot twist at the end of the novel that I really liked, but there were so many unanswered questions and unresolved issues that I found this to be a very annoying read. To me, this seemed like a great idea for novel that went very, very wrong!
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