Which Story did you like the least and Why?

Use this forum to discuss the January 2018 Book of the Month, "And Then I Met Margaret" by Rob White
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E G Suth
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Re: Which Story did you like the least and Why?

Post by E G Suth »

The BookWorm Nagham wrote: 13 Feb 2018, 17:16 The story i least liked was the 14th chapter, the one about Rob and his wife Kat going to a race track, he found the class boring and he imagined himself receiving praises. I thought that he was so full of himself. He thought that he could do anything, I expected him to fail but he didn't! He just had one wrong turn. So how did he learn his lesson?
Later on he gave a team of young bowlers a mantra: Look where you want to go not at where you don’t want to go. I just couldn't connect with it.
I actually had the same thought. I initially thought that the chapter's lesson would be about humility and learning to accept that you are not always the centre of attention, however when his attitude wasn't addressed I felt a bit misled. It's nice to know someone feels the same way about the 14th chapter.
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Post by Annogor »

I think the squack heard around the world is my least enjoyable story. Ie the story about the cupcakes. Simply because i had heard a similar
Story, this one felt like a lie, so
It was just difficult to connect with
It
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Post by Insomniac07 »

At first the cupcake incident felt fake since it's so similar to something I read on the Internet, but I recently learned that my uncle actually did the same thing while in a hurry to get back into work. Now I don't think I can confidently say it was probably a fake story.

However, I was disappointed with the story of Margaret, because it was built up to be epic but failed to live up to my expectations. I still liked it, but not as much as the others.
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Post by freakkshowx »

Emma13 wrote: 18 Jan 2018, 04:39 I had a real problem with the story about the Maasai woman. The way he imposes himself on this incredibly private moment is repulsive, particularly when he then uses her chant as some kind of self-help mantra in his comfortable day-to-day life. The lack of empathy there is startling.
This is something that even ethnographers struggle with, but I feel like the author was just being patronizing here. He wanted a new experience, and traditional African societies are "exotic" and "primitive", right? :hand: :snooty: Reading some of the comments on here, a lot of these little things are beginning to irk me. I was also a bit put-off by the fact that the author used the sacred Masai chant in his regular old business life, because I know that if someone used a traditional Celtic chant just because it "centered them" when it's meant to be part of a deeply significant ritual, I would be more than a little angry as a pagan.
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Post by freakkshowx »

I see a lot of people talking about the cupcake story. I've seen it on Pinterest about fifty times, and I questioned it, too. I don't want to jump to conclusions about the author, but something just doesn't smell right here. It's possible that people stole White's story and shortened it for internet fame, but it's also possible that it wasn't his to begin with.
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Post by Lest92 »

The cupcake story. I've seen the same story again and again. We have a Simba chip commercial on TV exactly like this. This story did make me wonder about the author's authenticity.
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Post by Katiemhardy813 »

The cupcake one was disappointing because I've heard that story so many times. I don't think that doesn't mean you can't write about it - once it's repeated so many times in so many variations, it starts to feel like it belongs to open copyright - but put a spin on it! Do something to make it personal! I wanted that to happen, but I didn't feel like it did, so the cupcake story let me down.

So, too, did Margaret. Her story was fine, it wasn't lacking anything the way I felt the cupcake story was. I just...wanted it to have more oomph. More firecrackers. It was hyped by the title and everything led up to it and...it kind of fizzled. I mean, it was FINE, but I thought it was going to be showstopping. So is that the fault of the story, or the title? Not really sure.
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Post by Mekkinism »

The story of the Masai mother seemed so horribly intrusive. It really bothered me the way that it was framed. He was so incredibly voyeuristic. Taking something from another culture and having no idea or interest in its cultural context in order to fulfill your spiritual journey or capitalize on it is the absolute essence of cultural appropriation.

I have also definitely heard the cupcake story as well. Maybe it wasn't made up, I seriously have my doubts, but even so, it seems to denote a kind of lack of originality.
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Post by Haute_Coffee »

E G Suth wrote: 15 Feb 2018, 14:37
The BookWorm Nagham wrote: 13 Feb 2018, 17:16 The story i least liked was the 14th chapter, the one about Rob and his wife Kat going to a race track, he found the class boring and he imagined himself receiving praises. I thought that he was so full of himself. He thought that he could do anything, I expected him to fail but he didn't! He just had one wrong turn. So how did he learn his lesson?
Later on he gave a team of young bowlers a mantra: Look where you want to go not at where you don’t want to go. I just couldn't connect with it.
I actually had the same thought. I initially thought that the chapter's lesson would be about humility and learning to accept that you are not always the centre of attention, however when his attitude wasn't addressed I felt a bit misled. It's nice to know someone feels the same way about the 14th chapter.
Totally agree with all of this. I related to the author at the beginning but by the end I felt like things were getting a little too narcissistic. I think this marked the turning point for me. I wish there had been a little humility with the success... that would have made him more someone I would want to emulate.
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Post by E G Suth »

Haute_Coffee wrote: 21 Feb 2018, 12:17
E G Suth wrote: 15 Feb 2018, 14:37
The BookWorm Nagham wrote: 13 Feb 2018, 17:16 The story i least liked was the 14th chapter, the one about Rob and his wife Kat going to a race track, he found the class boring and he imagined himself receiving praises. I thought that he was so full of himself. He thought that he could do anything, I expected him to fail but he didn't! He just had one wrong turn. So how did he learn his lesson?
Later on he gave a team of young bowlers a mantra: Look where you want to go not at where you don’t want to go. I just couldn't connect with it.
I actually had the same thought. I initially thought that the chapter's lesson would be about humility and learning to accept that you are not always the centre of attention, however when his attitude wasn't addressed I felt a bit misled. It's nice to know someone feels the same way about the 14th chapter.
Totally agree with all of this. I related to the author at the beginning but by the end I felt like things were getting a little too narcissistic. I think this marked the turning point for me. I wish there had been a little humility with the success... that would have made him more someone I would want to emulate.
That's a really nice way of phrasing it :D. I would appreciate it if you could have a look at my review for And Then I Met Margaret and let me know what you think. Thanks
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Post by Philip Chepsingil »

I liked least the story of 'The Maasai Mother. I am feeling exactly like Emma13. That for him to watch life perishing was being insensitive. The woman had no alternative but to give up hope of the child surviving. This is often the situation in this side of the world because medication sometimes are out of reach because of poverty. Then there comes a 'millionaire' who can't help in anyway to better the situation.
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Post by Samy Lax »

I personally couldn't relate to the bulls story. How could he have transformed so completely due to wealth?
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Post by thelittlelibrary »

There were two stories that I didn't like. The first was the story about the Maasai woman. I thought it was really disrespectful that he watched that private moment in the woman's life. I didn't feel comfortable reading about him following her and watching. It showed a lack of respect I thought to the woman and to the whole village. He then uses her chant and tells it to other people as if it is his own. From what I remember he never learns what her chant means and this made it even worse in my opinion.

The second was the story about Margaret. Perhaps this was because it was over hyped because it felt like a let down after being the story that the book was named after. It felt insignificant in comparison with some of the other stories.
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Post by TheWriteAngel »

The cupcake story did sound a lot like another that made the rounds on social media some time back. Other than this, I disliked the Margaret story, it felt exaggerated. The supposed 'lesson' that the author learns from it shouldn't come off as life changing for someone of that age, it is something he should have known earlier in his life.
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Post by sepicatt »

I was not a fan of the Margaret story. I thought it would've been more influential because of the book title. But the entire story surrounding her was so bleh. It didn't move me and was disappointing and the lesson was so basic that I don't feel it mattered that is was Margaret in particular that taught him. It would've happened anyway.
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