Paint it Black – Janet Fitch
Goodreads rating: 3.4 (5,700+ ratings)
My rating: 3/10
Why it’s on the list: I’ve had this book for a few years, and i’ve started it about 3 times and have never got further than the first chapter, so finally decided i’ll finish it.
First published: September 18th, 2006 by Little, Brown & Co.
Genre: Modern Fiction
What a depressing book! By the end of it, I felt so down. Long, dragging story short – Josie Tyrrell is in love with a guy called Michael, and he kills himself by shooting himself in the head in a motel in the Californian desert. Of course, a terrible thing to happen, and Josie is obviously depressed.
That’s basically it… she and Michael’s famous pianist mum Meredith clash, and then become friends, and then fight, and are then friends. Josie does some drugs here and there, smokes a certain type of cigarette, wears some ratty clothes and does some acting. She eventually visits the motel where Michael killed himself… aaand that’s really about it.
Paint it Black was such a drag to get through, and it had promise. It’s written by the writer of White Oleander, which although I haven’t read the book, I have seen and enjoyed the movie. This story could have been great, but it wasn’t and I don’t recommend reading it
Fitch said in an Amazon.com blog “Paint It Black started as a gothic little short story, which became the emotional core of the book, like a secret windowless room at the heart of a haunted mansion. Then I built outwards from that room, into the outer life of the book, until I finally got the beginning, and then the ending, which is the doorway out, into the sun.”
I really think it should’ve stayed a gothic little short story, rather than expanding it into a long-winded novel.
Oh and also, I don’t know if anyone else ever feels like a book isn’t set in the right city, but this one was set in LA and really should’ve been set in London.
-H-
Interesting to read your review. Congratulations for slogging through it, after a few false starts. At least you gave it a good chance to get better!
Doesn’t sound like this would’ve made a good short story either, since it sounds like it’s lacking a real arc.
Thanks for warning me off this one. I hope your next read is exhilarating!
Thanks Vickie! You’re probably right, it wouldn’t have been a good short story either.
Currently reading the 2nd and 3rd Sookie Stackhouse books, unfortunately I think they’re really badly written so not exhilarating