Sunday, January 05, 2014

Unsatisfied

Instead of "My Unexpected Life in Knitting," the subtitle of yarn reviewer Clara Parkes' book The Yarn Whisperer should be "101 Knitting Metaphors". I think I read somewhere that Clara does not write reviews of yarns she doesn't like - the if-you-can't-say-something-nice-don't-say-anything-at-all philosophy. She takes a similar approach in this "memoir".

The writing is excellent, and, initially, the metaphors are charming, but I kept hoping for more. Each time I thought she was going to finally, finally delve deeper into a personal topic, she would veer into yet another knitting or yarn metaphor. Halfway through, I almost gave up, but the chapter on her time in France renewed my interest enough to keep me going. It is a short book, after all, 160 pages printed on thick stock.

I hope while Clara wrote this, she kept notes on the rest of her story. Maybe in her dotage, she will be brave enough to write it down. Now that is something I would like to read.

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