The Little Stanger

I don't want to beat a dead horse but like pretty much everyone else has mentioned I really did not enjoy this book. My reasons have all already been highlighted (length, too much pointless detail, boring, etc) but I think that these things cannot be separated from the book. I think the extravagant attention to detail goes hand in hand with the story and, although much of it isn't central to the story, I think the story needs most everything in it. To me, the writing style almost mirrored Hundreds Hall in that it was huge and filled with many things not central to the families needs, hence why they sold so much off so easily, but that opulence was what made It the home of a wealthy family. Did anyone else get this feeling?

I also didn't like the way the book ended. I understand it and I know some people appreciate mystery but I definitely don't! I wanted to know who "You!" was although, like the mother, I attributed everything to the eldest daughter that died of diphtheria (right disease?). Do you think that leaving a story open ended makes a book better or worse?

I found the fact that fire was involved in Roderick's descent into madness was interesting because I always think of fire as a symbol of knowledge or illumination although I know that it can be very destructive as well. I do think that you could interpret it as either and perhaps Roderick became aware of the ghost which triggered his mental breakdown. Thoughts?

Overall I'm very excited to move onto the next book in our class if only to be done with this one haha