The Summer of 2016's 'To Read': "The Accursed" by Joyce Carol Oates

My reading project for this summer may become a fall project as well, but I have set my mind to go through reading every book on the list. Some changes have been made, but the amount of books to read are still the same. One for each month of the year.

This one, "The Accursed" by Joyce Carol Oates is a worthy and interesting book for someone who is interested in a well-written novel with 'historical' elements and an author who is always a bracket away. The story of a woman who suddenly disappears and the aftermath of her disappearance is interesting and caught my attention - especially the historical signs here and there: The idea of slaves, and a woman's place in society. But what made it a difficult book to read was the constant need for the author to reevaluate the choices made of what to include in the novel and what to leave out. Furthermore, the need to underline that he or she is the only one who made this and that historical find. - until I found out that it was written from a historians perspective - a character implemented in the book. By the way, a fact I did not know until recently, when I had finished the book. Not knowing this fact made the entire book cool and weird at the same time.

I find the story interesting, but it is not a book I would read again. The constant stop to reevaluate the "author's" accomplishments, makes it difficult to get back on track with the storyline of the book. The idea is genius, but the way it has been carried out makes it "heavy" to read and makes one skip interesting and maybe important parts of the story that could have been a major help in cracking the code to the story.

In the end it became a "fight" to get through all of the over 700 pages long book.

2 stars out of 6 for this one.