Book #1 New Classics Challenge Black Water

I finished Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates late last night. I wanted to like this book, I really did. I thought the concept was interesting. It was obvously supposed to be about Ted Kennedy and the Chappaquiddick incident. Unfortunately I hated the book. It was repetitive and had a very odd writing style that just made it hard for me to get that interested in the story. There were whole paragraphs with only one period right at the end. It made me a bit crazy.

The one thought I really got from it was how sad it was, that this young girl was so flattered that this man was interested in her that she was willing to change all her plans to go with him. She didn't dare say she thought they were lost as she didn't want to upset him. She was so thrilled to be "the one". In the end she lost her life because of it. It's a concept I can understand intellectually (having seen it in some of my friends) but not emotionally. I was raised to believe in my worth as a human being. I wish more girls were. I wanted to grab Kelly and shake her and tell her how much better she could do than this old, skeezy man. This aspect of the book left me feeling sad, frustrated and angry. But at least it made me feel, which is more than I can say for the rest of the book.

Here's hoping I have better luck with the next book I read in this challenge.