It is almost like Christmas. You’ve finally acquired the new novel by your favourite author. Or you’ve picked up this book, which sounds like it was written especially for you, matching your favourite themes, tropes and writing style.
What happens then? Well, for me it often ends in disappointment. I don’t keep stats, but I doubt my five star prediction rate is particularly good. And even if the book ends up being reasonably good (3-4 stars), I can’t help feeling disappointed. Whereas if I’d picked up the book without any prior knowledge or expectations, I might have felt pretty good about it.
So even if I love the joy of expectations, I believe a more neutral stance may benefit the reading experience overall.
Another dimension to five star expectations is the general hype surrounding a book. Quite often, I don’t love the books, which the reading community is raving about. I know we all have different reading taste, but occasionally I can’t help wondering, if I am missing something or if there is something wrong with my taste.
Anyway, below are two recent reads, which perfectly illustrate this. Both are favourites in the bookish community, both were five star predictions and both fell short of expectations.
In the past I’ve read two amazing books by Ann Patchett, setting her on course to become a favourite author. The Dutch House with its dysfunctional family, close sibling relationship and fairytale elements was a clear favourite. I thoroughly loved every single character with all their flaws and unfathomable decisions.
The essay collection, These Precious Days, was possibly even better. Patchett’s musings on family, friendships and writing were interesting and heartwarming and I wished they could have gone on forever.
Tom Lake is quite different from the two other books, demonstrating the author’s agility. During the pandemic, Lara’s three daughters come home to the cherry farm to help pick cherries and spend the lockdown period with the family. Whilst working, Lara tells them the story from her youth about her aspiring acting career and fling with a famous actor.
The novel is slow and introspective, focusing on family and relations, the choices we make, the past and the future. However, I don’t have much to say about it. It was a fine, enjoyable story without being spectacular or particularly memorable. 3 1/2 stars.
Title: Tom Lake [2023]
Author: Ann Patchett
Format: Audiobook, narrated by Meryl Streep
Genre: General Fiction
The Belgium novel, I Who Have Never Known Men, was first published in 1995, but for some reason, it has got a lot of attention the last couple of years.
On paper, it sounded perfect for me. It’s a dystopian story, where the circumstances are never explained. The premise is a group of females, who are kept in an underground prison, guarded by armed men. The novel explores existential themes, such as what it means to be human and how we find the motivation to keep on living despite hopeless circumstances. Via it’s unusual set-up, it also comments on, what a world without men really implies. Relationships aside, the ultimate consequence is no children and no future. How do you create a meaningful life with this outlook?
All of this should have been so interesting. I love books, which make me ponder on the more existential aspects of life. However, this book didn’t do that. In my opinion, it didn’t bring anything new to the table and it lacked the depth and nuance to inspire further reflections. Like Tom Lake, it was a good reading experience, but I’ve read other dystopian novels with a more engaging and thought-provoking narrative. 3 1/2 stars.
Title: I Who Have Never Known Men [1995]
Author: Jacqueline Harpman, translated by Ros Schwartz
Format: Audiobook, narrated by Sarah Lambie
Genre: Dystopian
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How do you feel about five star expectations? Do they often result in disappointment? And do you disagree with my views on these two popular books?
Fab post! I haven’t listened to these two but totally understand about being disappointed with over hyped books. Emily Henry’s books are an example I enjoyed two, but DNF’d Happy Place last summer and can’t decide if I want to read Funny Story. 🤔
Thanks Nicki. It is interesting with Emily Henry, most readers tend to love a subset of her books, but not all of them. I guess you will have to take the chance! 😀
Great post!
Thanks!
I have had that happen… and I am thinking “the Emperor has no clothes!” Lol
Haha, I have thought that as well! Sometimes, I can see why other readers like a book, even if I didn’t get on with it. Other times, I am just utterly baffled. 😆
I feel like I tend to have bigger expectations for my favourite authors. Some of them turn out to be 5 star books, and an author that has the capacity of exceeding my expectations several times is a great joy.
Yes, that is the problem with favourite authors, you automatically set the bar (too?) high. It’s difficult to find an author who can consistently deliver a high quality, at least I can’t think of anyone just now.
I agree! I’ve just read The Dutch House and loved it, but will need to wait at least a year before picking up Tom Lake or anything else by Ann Patchett otherwise the next book will fall short because of my expectations.
I am glad you loved The Dutch House as well, it was such an amazing book. Did you listen to the audiobook? I thought Tom Hank’s narration added a lot to the story, it is one of these rare cases, where narrator and story are a perfect match. If you decide to pick up Tom Lake at some point, maybe try to keep expectations down.
I read The Dutch House on paper, but am so intrigued by your comment that I might go back for round two with the audiobook. Tom Hanks would be the perfect narrator.
I’ll leave Tom Lake for a year or so, which helps.
The audiobook of Tom Lake is narrated by Meryl Streep, who does a great job as well, but even her narration couldn’t lift Tom Lake to more than “just fine”. Waiting to read it seems like a good plan.
Yes, hype tends to result in disappointment in most areas of life. Like you, I was underwhelmed by Tom Lake (but to be fair, so were most of the reviewers whom I read). Your other book is as yet unknown to me. Still, they did get the Booker Prize right in 2023. I thought Prophet Song was a marvellous read.
We must follow different reviewers, I’ve seen a lot of people raving about Tom Lake and it’s got 4+ avg rating on Goodreads. Ah well, I guess I will still try more of Patchett’s books in the future, since I loved the previous ones so much. I didn’t read Prophet Song, maybe one for the TBR.
I ternd not to read Goodreads reviews. Many of the recommendations I follow up come from selected book bloggers. But I earnestly recommend Prophet Song.
I also prefer reviews from specific people, but I haven’t apparently found anyone with similar taste as me. Maybe that is impossible.
Yeah I tend to agree. I seldomly give books 5 stars. I don’t know why … mostly if I like a book a lot I’ll give it 4 stars. 5 stars is a bit reserved for something spectacular. I thought Tom Lake started off very slowly … but at the end it had some better parts to it. It was nostalgic and the character seemed grateful for the choices she made looking back. I didn’t love love it. I gave it 4 stars. I’ve always liked Patchett’s nonfiction better than her fiction.
I tend to be a bit stingy with my 5 star ratings as well, but I actually read two books this year, which got top marks from me. Most books are in the 3-4 stars range, luckily 1-2 stars are rare, I’d rather DNF. Tom Lake was definitely nostalgic and I did enjoy it, but I guess my expectations were just too high. It hasn’t prevented me from wanting to read more of her books. Maybe my next attempts should be nonfiction.
This sometimes happens with books I have been longing to read – they sit on the shelf waiting and waiting because I’m afraid that the experience will be such a disappointment. So better to live in expectation than face that disappointment 🙂
Yes, very true. It would be so much better, if we could just teach our brains not to have too high expectations.