When I first picked up this book at a bookshop in KL, I found the brief synopsis at the back rather interesting. A 12-year-old girl, Harriet, is trying to grow up amidst a broken family. Her mother moves around in a dazed manner, her dad has moved out, and her sister is strangely unaware of anything much happening around her. Why is all this happening, you may ask? Well, apparently, her brother, Robin had been mysteriously strung up on a tree 12 years earlier, and the family continues to be haunted by the memories of their only son. Except Harriet, anyway, who sets out with her friend, Hely to find out who murdered her brother when she was just a baby and punish him.
After reading through the entire book, I felt rather disappointed because though the characters are well-developed throughout the story, all of them seem to only believe one thing; that they are always right. Harriet, who heard rumors about aboy the same age as her brother when he was killed, immediately leaps to the comclusion that he was the murderer. Like duh, a nine-year-old murderer, who somehow has the strength to strangle another nine-year-old and string him up on a tree, which is probably taller than both of them to begin with? Sorry, I just don't buy that.
Anyway, Harriet becomes absolutely convinced and decides to kill Danny, the suspect in question. With Hely, an annoying 11-year-old boy who has a lot of trouble keeping his mouth shut, they set out to find Danny and kill him. But Danny is not as innocent as we would all think. He's a drug dealer, and his family, which consists of his grandmother, Gum (an odd old lady), his eldest brother, Farish (a mentally-disturbed man), his other brother, Eugene (a messenger of God) and the youngest brother, Curtis (who is retarded).
Harriet manages to piss of all of them and set them after her, by stupidly dropping a cobra on their grandmother from the overpass when she was driving on the highway. How idiotic it is! She didn't even check who was in the car before dumping the snake! Anyway, Farish was intent of getting revenge on the kid who almost murdered his grandmother, and Danny found out that Harriet had something to do with it. Amazingly, neither of them tried to question Harriet during the next few weeks, while she was running around trying to hold her breath underwater like Houdini.
After a very long time, they did find her and spent some time chasing her around the community before losing her. During this time, Danny had found Farish's secret drug stash atop a water tower and had decided to steal it and sell it off so that he could get away from his family. Harriet, who followed Danny, found out as well and decided to investigate, as if she's some sort of private detective. And before going out, she actually took a gun from her father's cabinet, read an article about firearms in an encyclopaedia, armed the gun, and set out.
She climbed to the top found the drugs, and decided to dump the drugs in a water tank to punish Danny. What she did not count on happening was Danny and Farish appearing at the scene, Danny shooting Farish in the head and climbing up the water tower to get his drugs. She tried to shoot him, but the gun backfired and she ended up dropping it on his head as he climbed up the ladder.
At the top, they struggled and feel into the tank, where Danny tried to drown her, and she survived because she had mastered her breath-holding ability. Thinking that she has drowned, Danny climbed out, only to fall back in when something broke. She climbed out, and the ladder into the tank broke, and she ran away, leaving him there to drown.
When she got home, she seized and had to be sent to the hospital. Two days later, she found out that Danny survived (even though he couldn't swim and the water tank was extremely deep) and had been arrested for the murder of his brother.Harriet suddenly realised that Danny might not have killed her brother and felt a bit guilty. Then the book ends. And my first thought was "What the hell?"
And I'm still wondering. Waht exactly was Donna Tartt trying to show in the story? That children are idiots and shouldn't be allowed to run around toting guns? And with the many other annoying characters in the story, I find this book really odd. If any of you want to read this, make sure you do only when there's nothing else you can do. It will occupy you for a while, but leave you frustrated in the end.
At the top, they struggled and feel into the tank, where Danny tried to drown her, and she survived because she had mastered her breath-holding ability. Thinking that she has drowned, Danny climbed out, only to fall back in when something broke. She climbed out, and the ladder into the tank broke, and she ran away, leaving him there to drown.
When she got home, she seized and had to be sent to the hospital. Two days later, she found out that Danny survived (even though he couldn't swim and the water tank was extremely deep) and had been arrested for the murder of his brother.Harriet suddenly realised that Danny might not have killed her brother and felt a bit guilty. Then the book ends. And my first thought was "What the hell?"
And I'm still wondering. Waht exactly was Donna Tartt trying to show in the story? That children are idiots and shouldn't be allowed to run around toting guns? And with the many other annoying characters in the story, I find this book really odd. If any of you want to read this, make sure you do only when there's nothing else you can do. It will occupy you for a while, but leave you frustrated in the end.
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