Nate's Reviews > Summers in Squid Tickle: A Newfoundland Odyssey

** spoiler alert ** I spoke to this guy and then I did this and then i did that and then . . . .zzzzz

While the book breezes along, the story is lost in the details because it's all about details, mindless and unimportant details. There's no conflict to prime the engine that any good story needs. There are merely bits of everyday life, supplemented by the history of the land and the histories of the people. It's like reading someone's diary with explanatory footnotes added. It's initially interesting until it becomes repetitive and full of particulars that matter not one whit, eg (at random): "Wayne has a slow timetable for his house. Last year they got the sauna tubes poured. This summer they plan to get the deck on. At this rate, it may be done for Willis' centennial." Does any of this matter to or amount to anything? Nope.

Sure, we all talk idly at times with friends and family, about nothing at all. It passes the time. But imagine reading someone else's 300 pages of reportage about people you don't know and their idle talk. Way too painful. DNF.