While I found Small Great Things to be effective for bringing a discussion of skin color and privilege to the commercial fiction audience, only one of the three focal characters really rang true to me.
Kennedy, the attorney, was the most authentic, like a real person, while Ruth and Turk felt too heavy-handed and purposeful as black victim and pro-white skinhead, respectively.
The pacing was also choked by poorly timed backstory dumps, and the redundancy of revisiting various scenes from each of the three characters' POVs. Things didn't pick up and really begin commanding my interest until jury selection got underway, which comes well beyond the halfway point!
Also, at times the narrative felt almost like borderline textbook reading vs. fictional storytelling. It's a very heavy-handed message book vs. being a natural and authentic story that has an underlying message. There were lots of convenient, coincidental incidents used to make a point about discrimination and privilege. I felt there were more subtle and organic ways to achieve the same goal with the narrative. What reader wants to feel beaten over the head with any good message?
Overall, it highlights some very good points about American society, and encourages people to exam themselves and their own individual role in things.
At the end of the day, despite its flaws, Small Great Things is a very momentous book, particularly because the author is a household name with a huge built-in audience. Bravo to Jodi Picoult for having made the effort!
Kennedy, the attorney, was the most authentic, like a real person, while Ruth and Turk felt too heavy-handed and purposeful as black victim and pro-white skinhead, respectively.
The pacing was also choked by poorly timed backstory dumps, and the redundancy of revisiting various scenes from each of the three characters' POVs. Things didn't pick up and really begin commanding my interest until jury selection got underway, which comes well beyond the halfway point!
Also, at times the narrative felt almost like borderline textbook reading vs. fictional storytelling. It's a very heavy-handed message book vs. being a natural and authentic story that has an underlying message. There were lots of convenient, coincidental incidents used to make a point about discrimination and privilege. I felt there were more subtle and organic ways to achieve the same goal with the narrative. What reader wants to feel beaten over the head with any good message?
Overall, it highlights some very good points about American society, and encourages people to exam themselves and their own individual role in things.
At the end of the day, despite its flaws, Small Great Things is a very momentous book, particularly because the author is a household name with a huge built-in audience. Bravo to Jodi Picoult for having made the effort!
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