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Friday, June 4, 2010

Books On Finishing One Day

Posted by Paul Constant on Fri, Jun 4, 2010 at 1:04 PM

Yesterday, I wrote a Lunch Date about a novel called One Day by David Nicholls, a literary love story told in twenty chapters spanning two decades. (Each chapter takes place on July 15th of every year between 1988 and 2008.) I said, "There's nothing wrong with a good, page-turny love story every now and again, and assuming that Nicholls doesn't cock up the ending, this looks like a great one."

Last night—well, early this morning—I finished it, and it's definitely a page-turner all the way through. Nicholls doesn't cock up the ending, but—I'm staying spoiler-free, here—the ending is simply not as ingenious as the book's high concept. In fact, it's kind of the standard literary love story ending. I can't call it disappointing, because it's exactly what it claims to be—a funny, sad story of a romance—but One Day had a shot at being a novel that transcended its genre (like The Time Traveler's Wife) and it failed. If you're looking for some vacation reading that satisfies your emotional-rollercoaster needs, One Day will easily do the job. If you're looking for fine literature, you're going to have to keep looking.

Comments (2) RSS

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That makes me sad, Paul. When I saw your post on One Day yesterday, it reminded me of Maynard and Jennica, with all its quirky love-ish storyness. Can you rewrite the ending in the margins of your copy of One Day and then lend it to me?

Posted by Luckier on June 4, 2010 at 1:33 PM

I looked up the reviews of One Day yesterday after you posted about it, because I am looking for some summer reading that I don't have to think too hard about, but that isn't complete dreck. A lot of the reviewers said that while the liked One Day, it didn't quite measure up to his first novel, A Question of Attraction. It looked interesting so I ordered that instead.

Posted by Sheryl on June 4, 2010 at 1:39 PM