I read it.

marydell | February 18, 2003 10:54 PM

Me too. Obviously.

Maybe everyone else has been abducted by aliens.

Andy | February 18, 2003 11:52 PM

I finished the book last weekend.

Hunter | February 19, 2003 12:15 AM

This book is one, for several reasons, that I could tell from the synopses on Amazon that I didn't want to read.

So I didn't. Sorry. Don't even have the book. :-\

From the initial comments here, it'd seem like my initial impressions were correct. I'm all for challenging books, but this one appeared to have an aura of punish-the-reader that's not my bag.

No 'issues,' no homophobia, no head-in-the-sand issue avoidance, just a lack of desire to subject my head to an emotional lashing.

I've been a bad participant of late. I'll try to hop in on the next one.

Rich | February 19, 2003 10:38 AM

Dammit, Rich -- I was looking forward to finding out what you had to say. Oh well.

Sarah | February 19, 2003 11:10 AM

Kate read it as well, but told me she kept wanting to look away since there are many things in life she doesn't really want to know about.

This book is not only a difficult read but also difficult to discuss. In breaking it apart, you have to talk about things that are exceptionally uncomfortable. As a result, I'm not surprised most members decided to not participate this month.

marydell | February 19, 2003 11:27 AM

Sarah, I’m with you. It’s much more fun when Rich shows up and rips apart the monthly selection. Since he liked Revenge, we were lucky Alex (Dark Past) came along and made the discussion lively for us. Let’s hope he hates Shopgirl.

marydell | February 19, 2003 11:32 AM

LOL. Rich, destroyer of words.

Hunter | February 19, 2003 12:09 PM

Sorry Andy. I wimped. Mary gave me a brief synopsis and I guess I kinda recoiled. Which surprises me - 'cuz I don't usually shy away from 'difficult' material. I've just been in an overall funk (wah wah wah) and have little motivation to do anything. In fact...I haven't been reading much at all.

barbara | February 19, 2003 2:14 PM

I did read it - I promise I will get into the discussion!!

Kate | February 19, 2003 2:16 PM

Heh - sorry to disappoint, everyone. I'm flattered...sorta. :-p

Rich | February 19, 2003 4:20 PM

Thanks rich for not making me feel like the only wimp here. But I have an additional excuse!!! I was afraid that the book would get caught by Korean censors and I would have paid a lot for a delivery I would have never gotten.
Instead I tortured myself with a revisionist biography of the Dowager Empress Cixi. Which, incidentally, tends to be all about sex too. Which is the worse reading experience, I'm still not sure...

do-hee | February 20, 2003 12:55 AM

Do-hee -- what kind of censorship do books undergo in Korea? That had never even occured to me....

Sarah | February 20, 2003 12:06 PM

Actually Sarah, not entirely sure how book censorship works in Korea. But sex is one of those taboo subjects the gov't tends to be pretty uptight about (spanning from Geroge Micheal's "I want your sex" to no full frontal in porn flicks--though oddly, rape is ok). And although sexual norms have loosened up considerably, Korea's a highly conformist society and things can get "lost" in the mail here fairly easily.

do-hee | February 24, 2003 4:24 AM

someone just alerted me to this... it makes me totally psyched. just wanted to say a huge huge thanks for reading my book and talking about it here. xxscott

scott | March 6, 2003 2:35 AM

Holy crap. We got a comment from the author.

(I'd think of something wittier to say but my brain is completely gone. It's report card night.)

marydell | March 6, 2003 8:42 PM

So, author, do you mind that we all think your book was gorgeously written but difficult to read and, in the end, highly creepy?

Sarah | March 6, 2003 10:34 PM

Sarah, no wonder your dead author didn't show up for a visit. Mysterious Skin wasn't "creepy," it was "difficult." Just like Don Quixote wasn't "annoying," he was "troubled."

marydell | March 8, 2003 9:55 AM

I stand corrected.

Sarah | March 8, 2003 12:15 PM