The Red House - Mark Haddon

[Jane B]

I must confess I didn't read this book all the way through but skimmed it to the end to see if it got any better. It sounded good from the blurb;'Richard, a wealthy doctor, invites his estranged sister Angela and her family to join his for a week at a vacation home in the English countryside. Richard has just re-married and inherited a willful stepdaughter in the process; Angela has a feckless husband and three children who sometimes seem alien to her. The stage is set for seven days of resentment and guilt, a staple of family gatherings the world over.' It also promised 'a dazzlingly inventive novel about a modern family.

The 'inventive' style was bitsy and jumped from one annoying character to the next, I couldn't get into and in the end could even be bothered trying.

[Jane R]

I agree.  I was really looking forward to this book, after having thoroughly enjoyed "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" and "A Spot of Bother".  I was most disappointed, the story sounded great, which it was, interesting characters and plot-lines.  However it was written in such a style that you never really knew which character's viewpoint you were reading,so it all became very disjointed and confusing  I think Mark Haddon was trying to write in a certain modern arty style but it didn't really work for me.