Average Rating: 7.5Noteworthy: Sara's last book club
Tina: 8.5 - Slow beginning but necessary for rest of book. Good story and a "coming to peace". Left some characters open-ended. Michael/Nick store quite unsatisfying. She copped out at the end. The end somewhat anticlimactic. (At 6 week of quitting and kicking ass.)
Anne: n/a - (pg. 68) Love the characters. Dora is hilarious. Excited to see where the story goes. (Went to Cafe Ena. Adjusting to not working. Will is now sleeping through the night.)
Dana: 7.5 - Similar to Crossing to Safety. Late 1950s wives but didn't get to see Dora's "wife" dutier. I liked the description of the characters. Things didn't happen until the very end. (Planning Vito's 1st birthday, pirate themed. Finished 2nd year of grad school.)
Sara: 9.0 - Couldn't put it down. Beginning slow. Wondered what would happen. Ending didn't have closure that I wanted. Irked me that Nick and Michael never ended. Religion interested me. The impossibility of high standards makes it harder to hold standards. (Moving to Chicago. I'm a doctor, life is crazy. I'm excited for shopping in Chicago, nervous too.)
Rebecca: 8.5 - Reminded me of Crossing to Safety. Love the beginning. Thought it ended in limbo. Bothered me you didn't get to know other characters, but if you did, it would have been too much. Dora's ability to take ideas from another intrigued me. (Rotating jobs again. Looking forward to summer. Got a hookah.)
1 comment:
COMMENTS FROM BECKY
(IN IRAQ)
This review is long overdue. However, from what I have heard many of you didn't finish, or start, this book by bookclub as it were. I almost didn't finish this book, but there is something about me that won't let me quit once I have started. It made me think pretty deaply and I will share some of this with you, but I am not sure reading the entire book was necessary for me to get it. I give this book a 4.
At first I felt pity for Dowell. Then, I was frustrated with his weakness. I wasn't sure what to make of this man. But, after finding out more about his wife, Florence, I understood more. However, it bothered me that he wasn't more of a man, if that makes sense. I wanted him to stand up for himself. I felt his narrative, especially at first, was one of self pity. But, when he talked of just wanting to care for somone, that made sense to me. He didn't have anyone to take care of, therefore, wasn't able to truely express his love. I thought it was so lonely.
I thought Leonora, although incredibly sad, was the strongest character. I felt a connection to her in a strange way. I thought the description of her personality, based on her Irish Catholic upbringing was oddly familiar. Her view of the world was to fix things; to work, no matter what, on fixing the issue or die trying. Quiting was not an option for her. She would rather have loved and endured then suffering then leave. Her idea of her potentially broken future, her children's potential bad upbrinings, prevented her from having them. I think she was more concerned with her non-existance children's future than her own husband.
She was a very purposeful, self driven, efficient woman. She had a deap desire for mastery, which allowed her to keep her mind busy and not actually enjoying the good marriage she could have had.
And, this is all not to say that Edward was a good man. I think, although he was this supposed 'good soldier', he wasn't a good man. I really got lost after awhile in keeping track of all these women he was with, still tangled in debt with, and trying to be with into the future. I gave up in keeping them straight.
One of my favorite lines from the book comes from page 116 when it talks of Leonora and her friendship with Mrs. Powy. It says "And, if they met seldom, yet it was often enough to keep each other's personalities fresh in their minds". I feel many of you have kept in touch with me over these past many many months - and your personalities are fresh in my mind. It's so important, and some of the best friendships are long distance, but are so strong that each other's personalities stay strong in our minds. I just love that.
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