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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DustinPBrown
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Re: Which Story did you like the least and Why?

Post by DustinPBrown »

PriyaRD wrote: 17 Jan 2018, 15:58
SPasciuti wrote: 17 Jan 2018, 13:07
PriyaRD wrote: 16 Jan 2018, 01:07 I personally didn't connect with the story of the cupcakes as I have read the similar story with different ingredients on the internet.
It looked like that Chapter " The Squawk Heard Round the World" was added for name sake.
Which Story you didn't like? And Why?
It’s been a bit since I read the book and I’ve read a bunch since I put it down. I don’t seem to remember the cupcake story. What was it about again?

As for me, the story I liked least was probably the Margaret one. I was just expecting so much more and she turned out to be just this regular kid focused on her dress. And like...he might have seen her as super impactful, her entire chapter just felt lackluster, which was thoroughly disappointing, especially after the hype the title gave her. And I feel like the lesson she taught him was one that he really should have been aware with from the start, considering how he’d grown up.
The cupcake story is in chapter 17, in which the author search for the mini-cupcake he bought and found it on the side of the lady who is sharing the table with him and his wife. He grabs and eats it thinking it's his own and he gets irritated at the lady who smiles and takes one of the cupcakes from him and he thinks she is arrogant to take his cupcake and eat. So he takes the remaining cupcake and keeps in his lap :) After the women left, his wife tells him that his cupcake has fallen down on the floor and so she has kept it on his travel bag. Then he understands he ate the other lady's cupcakes :D

Regarding Margaret, I was expecting Margaret story to be a top-class one among others as it is the title of the book. but it was just so normal and I thought the author overreacted to this incident. Moreover, who in the earth thinks such small kids will hear a lecture about his hard work instead of eating the snack and mess it around :lol: . of course I couldn't get the point that the author related this incident with being nice to his employees because I thought understanding the employees was basic manners to be a good boss.
I agree on the Margaret story being less than impactful. And really, if he was a teacher for so long, he should have realized that a group of 7-year-olds would not be impressed in the slightest by a lecture. Kind of surprising he only learned that that day.
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Post by orangehornet57 »

I've also seen variations of the cupcake story too. It's even been called an urban legend. Most other versions usually involved cookies. Why didn't his wife point out the mistake? Several people would have spoken up, even if nicely.

My least favorite story was about the con artist. It was obvious there'd be no happy ending. The bar owner keeping the $10,000 was understandable. But he could have split it with Rob. In actuality it'd probably been better had Rob caught the creep instead of those underworld characters. He might have showed some mercy. Hopefully he got his money back elsewhere. Also, that guy didn't get away with such antics forever.

Second favorite goes to the Shakespeare in the rear pocket story. Yes, I like happy endings! One English teacher said it's because of fairy tales. Many teachers rarely show much mercy. Ironically, if he'd failed Rob, that second grade could have counted. It'd been very nice had the teacher done so.
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Post by Gikonyo Caroline »

The Maasai moment story. Despite the fact that I reside in same country with the maasai community, I have never heard of a story of this nature about this community so I felt the story and traditions were folklore not factual but perhaps I could be mistaken because the Maasai who reside in Kenya could be different in terms of customs and traditions from those who reside in Tanzania or perhaps time and civilisation has erased these traditions, customs from my history. Anyway I didn't like some sections in the story for example where the hyena waits on the Maasai woman to feast on her child's dead baby. Too emotive and graphic for my imaginative mind. ( even if the author did spare us the graphic details).
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Post by E G Suth »

uyky wrote: 17 Jan 2018, 12:23 I agree with most people about the cupcake story. But the one I hate most was the story about running with the bulls. It seemed so self centered. The tale of a spoiled millionaire (who went running with the bulls in silk shirt :doh: ) who learned not to yell at his friend because the accident happened. Not to say anything about supporting bull fighting as a way of growth (but he saved a deer when he was a child so that's ok :roll2: ). My hat off to you, sir :tiphat:.
I had similar feelings about that chapter as he came across particularly arrogant and I couldn't see how the fact that someone pulled his shirt could make for a meaningful moment in his life. Nevertheless I still enjoyed most of the stories.
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Post by OPgirl9122 »

As for me, What I like the least were both eating cupcake and that village woman encounter. I know that it were painted as such for the purpose of plot and character development but at least he should have not acted like that and should at least apologize for being rude afterwards. One should not be miserly and disrespectful. Thank you.
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Post by Gunnar Ohberg »

My least favorite story was the story about the Porsche. All I felt was, "You have multiple homes, own vast amounts of real estate, spend time watching the beach in California, go to Africa for weeks... I'm not even remotely comforted that you didn't get enraged over one single wrecked Porsche. On the other hand, for those of us who can barely support one car that we NEED for our livelihood, this self-aggrandizing amount of empathy rings hollow."

I also didn't like the story about the kid riding the wave for purely pragmatic reasons: you cannot hear a mother talking to her son unless you are very close or she is yelling at her son, either of which adds a level of alarm to his story.
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Post by PriyaRD »

Gikonyo Caroline wrote: 20 Jan 2018, 09:53 The Maasai moment story. Despite the fact that I reside in same country with the maasai community, I have never heard of a story of this nature about this community so I felt the story and traditions were folklore not factual but perhaps I could be mistaken because the Maasai who reside in Kenya could be different in terms of customs and traditions from those who reside in Tanzania or perhaps time and civilisation has erased these traditions, customs from my history. Anyway I didn't like some sections in the story for example where the hyena waits on the Maasai woman to feast on her child's dead baby. Too emotive and graphic for my imaginative mind. ( even if the author did spare us the graphic details).
True, I wasn't comfortable reading those hyena sections, good that he didn't elaborate too much.
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Post by PriyaRD »

Gunnar Ohberg wrote: 21 Jan 2018, 15:50 My least favorite story was the story about the Porsche. All I felt was, "You have multiple homes, own vast amounts of real estate, spend time watching the beach in California, go to Africa for weeks... I'm not even remotely comforted that you didn't get enraged over one single wrecked Porsche. On the other hand, for those of us who can barely support one car that we NEED for our livelihood, this self-aggrandizing amount of empathy rings hollow."

I also didn't like the story about the kid riding the wave for purely pragmatic reasons: you cannot hear a mother talking to her son unless you are very close or she is yelling at her son, either of which adds a level of alarm to his story.
Agree! People having a single car for livelihood are having empathy by nature, whereas some people who have abundant have to learn their lessons.
I also didn't like the story about the kid riding the wave for purely pragmatic reasons: you cannot hear a mother talking to her son unless you are very close or she is yelling at her son, either of which adds a level of alarm to his story.
True.Agree on this point! Felt the same while reading it.
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Post by PriyaRD »

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.
Ya, I don't know how the mantra can be considered a self-help and what impact it would make in life and moreover, he wants his readers to try as well, I couldn't buy it.

The Mantra he mentions with the explanation of its meaning as "the mother's way of asking the sun god to take the very life-force energy from the baby so the baby would no longer suffer" and but then he tells if it's chanted we get a sense of who we really are :shifty:
May he can relate it due to his experience with the incident. But as a reader, I have mixed feeling :|
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Post by kdstrack »

I did not like the story of the Massai mother. I understand that he was instructed to not interrupt the ceremony. But that he would exalt what happened shocked me. The attitude expressed in this chapter made me doubt the other stories.
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Post by pinklover »

I love all the stories because I understand why he wrote it that way. I enjoyed all the stories because I remember my childhood days and silly days. :lol:
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Post by Al Chakauya »

After reading the book several times last year, I concluded that the story I liked the least is the cover story- the story about Margaret. Maybe it was because I was expecting too much because it was the book title but for me the story was rather underwhelming, to say the least. The entire chapter was a huge disappointment for me. I didn't really get what he learnt from a small girl admiring her nice red dress- this was overly distracting for me.
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Post by CNWaweru »

My least favourite chapter was the last one: 'I Decided not to Die.'

I feel that the power that we human beings have been portrayed to have in that chapter is a bit too much.
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Post by pinklover »

Al Chakauya wrote: 22 Jan 2018, 10:56 After reading the book several times last year, I concluded that the story I liked the least is the cover story- the story about Margaret. Maybe it was because I was expecting too much because it was the book title but for me the story was rather underwhelming, to say the least. The entire chapter was a huge disappointment for me. I didn't really get what he learnt from a small girl admiring her nice red dress- this was overly distracting for me.
I got your point and understand it. I thought also that this book is a romance novel. The title drives me to read it when it's not. My pre-conceived idea of the title made me disappointed. Anyway, I enjoyed reading it though. :D
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Post by SPasciuti »

PriyaRD wrote: 17 Jan 2018, 15:58
SPasciuti wrote: 17 Jan 2018, 13:07
PriyaRD wrote: 16 Jan 2018, 01:07 I personally didn't connect with the story of the cupcakes as I have read the similar story with different ingredients on the internet.
It looked like that Chapter " The Squawk Heard Round the World" was added for name sake.
Which Story you didn't like? And Why?
It’s been a bit since I read the book and I’ve read a bunch since I put it down. I don’t seem to remember the cupcake story. What was it about again?

As for me, the story I liked least was probably the Margaret one. I was just expecting so much more and she turned out to be just this regular kid focused on her dress. And like...he might have seen her as super impactful, her entire chapter just felt lackluster, which was thoroughly disappointing, especially after the hype the title gave her. And I feel like the lesson she taught him was one that he really should have been aware with from the start, considering how he’d grown up.
The cupcake story is in chapter 17, in which the author search for the mini-cupcake he bought and found it on the side of the lady who is sharing the table with him and his wife. He grabs and eats it thinking it's his own and he gets irritated at the lady who smiles and takes one of the cupcakes from him and he thinks she is arrogant to take his cupcake and eat. So he takes the remaining cupcake and keeps in his lap :) After the women left, his wife tells him that his cupcake has fallen down on the floor and so she has kept it on his travel bag. Then he understands he ate the other lady's cupcakes :D

Regarding Margaret, I was expecting Margaret story to be a top-class one among others as it is the title of the book. but it was just so normal and I thought the author overreacted to this incident. Moreover, who in the earth thinks such small kids will hear a lecture about his hard work instead of eating the snack and mess it around :lol: . of course I couldn't get the point that the author related this incident with being nice to his employees because I thought understanding the employees was basic manners to be a good boss.
Oh! Right. Gosh, I can't believe I forgot that one. I don't know why his wife didn't just mention it to him there. It might've been embarrassing but at least then it wouldn't have left it in a situation where he couldn't apologize to the woman. I'd rather have been told, anyway. I can definitely see why this wasn't liked much.

Exactly! Margaret should have been the stand out moment of the entire book! I was so annoyed that it wasn't. I understand the lesson, too, but I feel like he could have and should have learned that all the time? And Margaret wasn't impactful at all, but he tried to make her so simply because she inspired a feeling in him that anyone could have inspired, to tell the truth. And you'd definitely think that anyone who's taught kids in the past would understand enough about them not to be annoyed that they weren't focused on their lesson.
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