I feel like I should re-read this one, as I don't remember most of the specific scenes you've mentioned anymore. I do remember thinking when I read it (and War and Peace also) that it felt kind of like a soap opera, in that the narrative moved around from various characters and plot lines but they aren't necessarily related to each other. They just happen in a round robin sort of order. It struck me as a bit odd at the time but maybe it was, like you said, the fact that contemporary authors would have the plots intersect in a significant way at the end, most likely.
I also knew the ending was coming before reading it–in fact, it was really the only thing I knew about the story. This happens to me often when I read classics, as I've studied enough literature to know about major works due to references in other books or importance to certain eras, without having read them myself. I just recently read Pride and Prejudice for the first time, despite the fact that I pretty much knew the whole story and ending already. It makes you appreciate the story in a completely different way, like, I know where this is going, but how the heck are we going to get there?
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Date: 2014-11-10 10:47 pm (UTC)I also knew the ending was coming before reading it–in fact, it was really the only thing I knew about the story. This happens to me often when I read classics, as I've studied enough literature to know about major works due to references in other books or importance to certain eras, without having read them myself. I just recently read Pride and Prejudice for the first time, despite the fact that I pretty much knew the whole story and ending already. It makes you appreciate the story in a completely different way, like, I know where this is going, but how the heck are we going to get there?