Date of Completion: 26/08/2021
Here is the thing, I know exactly how ‘The Starless Sea’ is supposed to make me feel. I hear it repeatedly in Erin Morgenstern’s poetic writing – like the pause before a clearly expected applause. Yet, I do not feel that way.
I do not feel the wonder, astonishment or pleasure I know I am supposed to feel. As each word washes over me and the story emerges like a rainbow after the rain, I feel nothing… but indifference.
Why is that, I hear you ask? Good question!
After giving this considerable thought I realised that I was far too busy being confused and/or annoyed to fully connect with the story.
A boy at the beginning of a story has no way of knowing that the story has begun.
Anyone who reads fantasy books knows that they tend to be fairly confusing at first as strange, new worlds and characters are introduced. Well, this book takes that initial confusion to a whole new level.
That’s right! Forget mild confusion. Readers are given the wonderful gift of… utter confusion! Characters, plot, setting – all of these are difficult to define and so a deep, lasting confusion sets in.
It seems that at least half of this book is spent just introducing the world and characters. In fact, it is not until around the halfway mark that a clear plot begins to emerge. This central plot is made even harder to discern by various tales and narratives that are woven in throughout the book. These tales repeatedly interrupt the core story and generally add very little. They simply served to lead readers back into a state of utter confusion by raising more questions than they answer.
Coupled with the enigmatic plot is an excess of descriptions and details that attempt to create an “enchanting” atmosphere. Unfortunately, this information overload only serves to maim any fascination I initially had. The death of my fascination was then ensured by the reflective nature of this book which examines both the story it presents and the components of all stories in general. These reflections certainly make this book a homage to story-telling and literature, but failed to keep me engaged.
Everyone is a part of a story, what they want is to be part of something worth recording
You would think that a plot that took half the book to establish would be gripping and hard to put down as things finally start to come together. However, that was not what happened here. Since I had spent so much of this book confused and indifferent, I could not bring myself to care despite the emerging connections and clarity. Even the twists and reveals that cropped up along the way had very little impact on my indifference.
The main character, Zachary Ezra Rawlins, did not fare any better. Personally, I found his character rather dull and one-dimensional. Yes, his desire for an adventure made him slightly relatable, but his passiveness only led to him being exploited by strangers. He even managed to fall in love with one of these strangers despite having very few interactions with this character.
Like Zachery, the other characters in this book are very underwhelming and underdeveloped. Honestly, for most of the book, I got the names of two secondary characters mixed up and this made very little difference to the story. The only character I found fairly interesting is Katrina Hawkins. Although she only gets a few chapters towards the end of the book, it is clear that her character is very smart and not one to mess with.
Ultimately, ‘The Starless Sea’ is a book that demands the awe of readers through its creative flair and cryptic messages. It succeeds with this to a certain extent as readers are taken on a reflective journey accompanied by an ode to stories. However, the lacklustre plot and characters failed to sustain my initial fascination and drove me into a permanent state of indifference.
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[…] debut that constantly impressed me but failed to keep me invested throughout. I am reminded of The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, and I would recommend that as a similar read, though I enjoyed this book a lot […]