The Little Friend: Amazon.co.uk: Donna Tartt: Books

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The Times
'Harriet is one of the most engaging and rounded characters you are likely to find ... gorgeous, fluent, visual'

Daily Mirror
'Beautifully written and immaculately crafted ... even though there's humour, the tension is palpable. Unputdownable'

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47 Reviews

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(7)
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3.0 out of 5 stars (47 customer reviews)

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing follow up novel, 21 Nov 2003

By	DP Stone (Belfast, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As much as I'd love to praise Donna Tartt for her follow up to the excellent 'Secret History', I have to agree more with the other disappointed reviewers on here. Despite the fantastic first hundred pages or so, and the intriguing central character, Harriet, you can't help but feel let down by the time you finish.

I got distracted easily whilst reading 'The Little Friend' - there was nothing to hold the imagination and grab you by the throat like the compelling plot of the 'Secret History'. The plot just kind of meanders like the Mississippi, and ends with more of a damp fizz than the stunning fireworks of her debut novel. Having said this, Donna Tartt has created an intriguing cast of Southern misfits and religious fanatics, but these unfortunately cannot save you from the feeling of disappointment than ultimately hits you.

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29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars please get an editor, 6 Oct 2003

By	Tiger (Scotland) - See all my reviews

This book is really frustrating. The first hundred pages are brilliant - you get a main character who is completely unique, funny and intriguing placed in a community with a terrible history. At page 100 you're mouth is watering at the prospect of how Harriet powered by her imagination is going to unravel the mystery and in the process cause an outpouring of chaos and disorder in the town.

Then instead of maybe another couple of hundred pages of drama and powerful conclusion 'The Little Friend' turns into a big rambling bore of a novel - where you actually begin counting the pages and feeling pleased you got through another half-inch of it.

I am sure the purpose of the middle section is to deepen the characters and the sense of place but many of these long passages are simply repetitions of other character/place development passages. I always thought brevity was a virtue and repetition a vice of literature and I'm sure Tartt's main aim here in writing this section was to write something 'long'. It's terrible to see her sacrifice all of the suspense and intrigue she has created initially but this is what she does.

It reminded me of the film 'The Graduate' where the director plays the 'Strawberry Fayre' tune over and over again until you actually feel as irritated as Hoffman's character. Is Tartt trying to irritate us too?

I always wonder if these 'hype' books get away with so much bad editing because of the writers ego or maybe because the 'hypers' haven't read anything better. In which case for a dramatic and evocative vision of the south I recommend Flannery O'Connor's 'The Violent Bear it away' Daniel Woodrell's 'The Ones You Do' and Joe R Lansdale's 'The Bottoms'.

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gripping narrative, superb writing, 23 Oct 2007

By	Wynne Kelly "Kellydoll" (Coventry, UK) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Harriet is haunted by the childhood death of her brother Robin and vows to find and punish the murderer. Set in a Mississippi summer - you can feel the heat and dust. The maid Ida Rhew suggests perpetrator is local "white trash" Danny Ratcliffe and Harriet begins to follow him and his brothers. Danny and his elder brother are drug dealers and another brother Eugene is a trainee preacher, hoping to learn to use poisonous snakes in his sermons.

There is a whole range of weird and wonderful characters - some could be straight out of a Coen brothers' film.

Racism of the time is dealt with with subtlety (dismissal of Ida Rhew, sacking of Hely's housekeeper, failure to tell Libby's maid that Libby had died)

Gripping narrative, superb writing and great characterisations. I loved The Secret History, but think this is a better book.

I first got to know this book as an audiobook. It was beautifully read and great to listen to.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Yes yes yes!...On no.
Fantastic opening that gets you hooked from the start, followed by a slow, rich, multi-layered narrative full of wonderful characters which is really rewarding and enjoyable if a... Read more

Published 6 months ago by daisyrock

1.0 out of 5 stars INSULTING, LABOURED AND DREARY!
A few years back Donna Tartt was at home, having her hair cut into a geometric bob whilst counting her royalties from 'The Secret History' when the phone rang.
'Hello? Read more

Published 7 months ago by L. Mueller

2.0 out of 5 stars Such a disappointment
Maybe the author's celebrity-status meant no one felt able to tell her that this novel is in desperate need of a really good edit. Read more

Published 8 months ago by Gillyp

1.0 out of 5 stars Donna Tartt - The Little Friend
Donna Tart is a technically accomplished writer. Her characters are lifelike, her dialogue is convincing and she sets scene and mood beautifully. Read more

Published 10 months ago by J. E. Buckwell

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, beautiful, difficult, exceptionally elegant
Was everyone expecting The Secret History Part II?? No wonder they're disappointed!

This is an amazing book. Amazing. Better than her debut. Read more

Published 14 months ago by L. Rawes

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable
I am shocked to see such poor reviews for this book. I read this during the summer and I found it gripping! Read more

Published 16 months ago by Dystopiana

5.0 out of 5 stars What's Wrong With You People?
Reading some of the other reviews on here made me mad... Okay, people are allowed their opinions, but come on! Read more

Published 16 months ago by C. Lloyd

5.0 out of 5 stars ten years well spent
Donna tartt spent ten years honing this novel. that is a long time and as a fan i dearly hope she will not spend the next ten writing her third - i want more books and i want them... Read more

Published 16 months ago by anonymous

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
I enjoyed The Secret History by Donna Tartt a great deal. In fact it is one of the best books that I have read in a long time. Read more

Published 22 months ago by Kathryn A. Gillespie

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic
This book was a wonderful exploration of different characters, with their own voices, the different strata of society, as well as a reminder of some of the pains and complexities... Read more

Published on 21 Jun 2007 by C. E. A. Middleton

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	36% buy the item featured on this page: The Little Friend 3.0 out of 5 stars (47)
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