So if you're like me, when you're not knitting (and let's face it, we can't all the time), we're blogging about knitting, or reading knitting blogs, or looking on the web for knitting patterns, or reading knitting books, or reading books about knitting.
This is where I made my mistake. A couple of months ago there was some blog chatter about "The Friday Night Knitting Club" book being made into a movie starring Julia Roberts (release date for the movie is sometime in 2008). The book was just released, and I checked it out at the library.
Friends - this book is absolutely awful. Other than the fact that it's primarily set in a yarn shop in Manhattan, it has nothing to do about knitting. It's a trite attempt to write about various relationships women have, and it's dark, depressing, and just plain bad. It was one of those reads where it starts out rocky, and you hope it gets better, but then you're past the point of no return and feel like you have to finish. I wish I'd just stopped in the middle and returned it to the library (thank goodness I didn't waste money on buying this book). The plot was sketchy in many places, and frankly, one doesn't care about the characters. There's bad language scattered throughout (why do some writers think this is necessary), and some references to some various Christian denominations that are completely wrong (the author obviously didn't research this part of the book). Additionally, I doubt the author even knits. Yes, there's a few references to knit and purl, and continental style, but other than that, nothing substantial. I realize this is a novel, and not necessarily a book about knitting, but in my view, it fails miserably. Reading it was a complete waste of time.
For my picks, stick with Debbie Macomber's "A Shop on Blossom Street" and "A Good Yarn." They're not as dark, it's fun fiction, and knitting itself essentially becomes its own character. And as much as I like Julia Roberts, I'll be skipping "The Friday Night Knitting Club" when it hits theatres.
Comments (4)
Darn - I had high hopes that if Julia was involved, it must be good.
Posted by Zarah | February 13, 2007 7:18 AM
Well, nertz. I guess I'm not surprised in that anytime Hollywood gets involved it tends to get mucked up (though not always, this is true). I guess we'll just have to stick to our reading of knitting blogs/books/patterns, etc.!
Posted by Sue | February 13, 2007 12:47 PM
I forgot to mention this in my blog that the yarn I'm using for the Wristers is discontinued, which is a real shame because it is nice to work with. It's soft like Lorna's Lace. I'm hoping that Knit Picks comes out with some new stuff soon. I've heard rumors that it will be some time this Spring.
Posted by Trish | February 14, 2007 1:28 AM
So disappointing - a friend of mine just gave me this book and I was so excited! You're so right about The Blossom Street books, though. Such brain candy!!
Posted by Meredith | February 20, 2007 8:54 AM