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My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult


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Nope, I don't have very many friends, unfortunately, it's a direct result of having moved around so much for so many years. I was only teasing about the getting together to see the movie - I know that I will just have to wait until it comes out on dvd as my OH won't go see it with me. He hates chick flicks.

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I only read about 70 pages of My Sister's Keeper yesterday which was bold - I was slow enough getting into it. The first thing that hit me about Jodi Picoult in The Tenth Circle is, I'd always thought of her as a chick lit author, and while the 'drama' might be more a women's thing, she's frighteningly realistic. It's not easy reading, you know? So getting into My Sister's Keeper was a little tough, getting used to the characters and so on. First thing I noticed is Sara is supposed to have dark hair, and they have platinum Cameron Diaz playing her in the movie. But aside from that, I'm really getting into it. Want to get to over page 200 today and finish it tomorrow.

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By the time I get to books, nobody wants to talk about them :blush:

 

Well, I'm only 100 pages in, because I got sidetracked. Just had the first narrative from Jesse's perspective, and so far he's my favourite character.

 

So here's a question: who was your favourite narrator, and why? :)

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Hmm...I really like that it flicks between them all, but I guess Anna is my favourite, closely followed by Kate. Especially the bit where

Kate meets the cancer boy and they go to the dance together, that's probably my favourite bit, she seems so happy.

(Don't read that Roxi, I'm sure you've not gotten there yet.)

 

I was talking to my friend about this book the other day, she reads a little but not much and only chick-lit type books when she does read, but she picked it up and is really enjoying it, so that's good :blush:

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Yeah I definately think that Jodi Picoult bridges the gap between generic chick-lit and actual good drama/fiction. I don't feel like I'm reading chick-lit at all, I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I'll admit, some parts of this even make ME stop and think, 'sheesh...' like for example

when baby Kate has to be kept quarantined essentially, and she has to sleep with her teddy in a ziplock bag which rustles and wakes her up. That actually made me choke up a little, and I don't even like kids :blush:

She's an excellent author.

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She is, I completely agree, and she makes you sympathise with the person who's meant to be 'the bad guy' but you can see it from all angles and kind of feel it from all sides of the story. Like with Anna and Kate/the parents, you can see how Anna doesn't want to do it, but also that her family want her to do it to save Kate, it must be a terrible situation

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My mom's reading this book now, and loving it, too. :blush:

 

I totally agree that Picoult seems to bridge a gap between women's fiction or chick lit (although I don't think she really writes from a chick-lit formula of any kind at all) and general fiction.

 

The part of her writing that fascinates me is how much research must go into the topics she writes of. Her acknowledgment pages are always chock-full of in-depth resources, and it really shows in her writing that she must bleed them dry of information. She seems like a brave writer -- She writes of so many controversial issues, so you know she has to do her homework first or she'd get slaughtered for butchering up an issue that sparks strong opinions in many people.

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It's a shame really that she's seen as chick-lity because she isn't and that probably puts some people off (although maybe it encourages others to try).

 

I like Jesse best too I think as a character, but I like Anna's narration best

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This is a seriously good book. My reading has been a non-event the last couple days, but I'm making myself work through this so I don't lose the effect of the first 100 pages in finishing it. She's an amazing writer. I can see now why people said The Tenth Circle wasn't as good - but realistically, I can't imagine any of her other books hitting as many emotional nails on the head with such perfect use of language as she does in this.

 

I just read

the memory where they're playing football, and Jesse tackles Kate because he forgot he shouldn't, and everyone but Kate gets mad at him, while she's lying there smiling BECAUSE he forgot. That made me choke up a little as well.

 

 

This is rapidly becoming one of the best books I've ever read.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm about half way through this book (wanted to finish it last night but just couldn't stay awake). I absolutely adore it. At the moment I find that I'm being pulled in different directions. I feel for Sara because I think anyone would be willing to do anything to save their child, I feel for Kate because she's the one who's ill and I really understand Anna, what she's going through. This book is incredibly well written, I can feel the characters jumping off the page (which is why I wanted to read the book before watching the film). I have no idea what's going to happen in the end but hoping to finish it today :icon_eek:

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Ok I finished this morning and it really upset me. I cried when

Kate was asking Anna to help/let her die and when they shaved their heads

, and also cried at the end for obvious reasons. It is a great book and makes it into my top 5. I'm unsure about seeing the movie because it says that the movie is very different to the book and I dont want to ruin the book. Has anyone seen the movie?

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I have. The ending in the film is slighly different from the book, but it is a beautiful film, really well done. I cried. I loved the book and wasn't let down by the film

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I went to see the film last night and thought it was great. The ending was different but I think it's suits a film ending, the book is a bit heavy. I think the actress playing Kate was brilliant, she did so well and her performance felt so heartfelt. I was pleased with how much it stuck to the book, picking out the important scenes. My only complaint would be that it was difficult keeping track of the time jumps. I found it slightly easier having read the book but my friend said it was difficult working out what scenes happened when.

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I second that. It was so sad. It was sad because I KNEW what was gonna happen, I knew that

taylor was gonna die. Like in that prom scene, they were so happy... they were so happy :) And he's just... He's just... :D

. I pretty much cried throughout the whole movie, like I did with the book. And I was glad that I did.

 

They got pretty much everything right though. Like, the FEEL of it, not just the characters and what's there and what's not there. The feel of it was right, like it was just like the book. I saw that they tried to do the different perspective things, but they didn't really do the different times bit. Like, the history, how they flashback and stuff. They tried, but I think it could've been better.

 

It was awesome. They didn't try too hard, and it wasn't completely dispassionate either. Apart from the ending, I don't see why they had to do that. It could've been better if it wasn't changed.

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