Saturday, July 26, 2014

We Were Liars

What did you think? Enjoyable, cheesy? CL, you're the expert on YA literature -- how do you think "We Were Liars" holds up in the genre?
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7 comments:

kc said...

I enjoyed it. I loved the "King Lear" plot elements. The book would have worked without the nod to Shakespeare, but I thought that was a clever way to add some complexity to the mystery. And also it's good for young adults to learn that dysfunctional, rich families have ancient roots in literature!

5:28 PM, July 27, 2014
cl said...

I read the book recently enough that I'm a little sentimental over it, so I will not look upon you sternly, Erin, for putting "cheesy" out there. (What fun would it be if we all fawned over the same work?)

Nothing contemporary comes to mind that is comparable, but I thought "We Were Liars" combined some of the best in older YA: the poignant romance from "Seventeenth Summer," the originality of the unreliable narrator in "I Am the Cheese" and the tragic survivor perspective of a "A Taste of Blackberries," though that was written for a younger audience. Maybe even the subtle racism and misunderstandings of "Iggy's House." That's an ambitious combination, and it worked for me.

It also worked for me in that I think it transcended what I think of as the Then Something Happened genre. Like "The Dive Off of Clausen's Pier" or "The Rest of Her Life." The complexity of the entire family dynamic, the tension caused by Gat's presence on the island and the disappointments that already touched the characters in the book came about at the start of the story rather than the aftermath of what happened.

3:42 PM, July 28, 2014
Erin said...

I liked it, too! I just thought, you know, someone might find it a little cheesy.

I would have been all over this as a YA. I was always interested in the dark side of wealthy, "perfect," New England families. I wrote a short story in 9th grade about a family like that where the father turns out to be abusing the daughter.

2:50 PM, July 29, 2014
Erin said...

I liked it, too! I just thought, you know, someone might find it a little cheesy.

I would have been all over this as a YA. I was always interested in the dark side of wealthy, "perfect," New England families. I wrote a short story in 9th grade about a family like that where the father turns out to be abusing the daughter.

2:50 PM, July 29, 2014
cl said...

Erin,
I'm sorry I was stern.

5:31 PM, July 29, 2014
kc said...

"I wrote a short story in 9th grade about a family like that where the father turns out to be abusing the daughter." Hehe

Those plot lines are so attractive to teenage girls. I remember my sister illicitly reading those trashy V.C. Andrews books that were brimming with incest and other shocking revelations!

6:02 PM, July 30, 2014
kc said...

I feel like I went straight from Dr. Seuss to adult lit somehow. I remember sitting at the kitchen table on a snow day in fifth grade and reading Hardy's "The Mayor of Casterbridge." I barely understood it, and I don't remember any joy in it, but I had this idea that reading was good for you, even if you didn't much understand it or enjoy it. There was a sense of accomplishment in just doing it, especially if what you were reading was a "classic." Now, all the time, I hear people refer to classic YA-type books they read as kids. Remember this?! Remember that?! No one told me about those books! And I feel sort of jealous because I feel like I missed out on something that would have appealed to me and would have been more age-appropriate.

(Are the Hardy Boys YA? I did read those.)

6:13 PM, July 30, 2014

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