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3.16 AVERAGE
3.16 AVERAGE
I am mixed on this book. The parts about Mary-Emma and Tessa's brother are heartbreaking but the book seemed rambling and didn't really go anyway.
1.5 stars, this book just seemed to be all over the place.
Lorrie Moore’s writing is often as witticism-laden as Juno or something, but I’m ok with that since it’s Juno for someone exactly at my level. Here, however, it clashes badly with the overripe subject matter, handled without that the grace and, frankly, authority needed.
Meandering and ultimately disappointing. Also, I read this like two years ago.
The experience of reading this book reminded me why I love reading. Moore's prose dances elegantly and reverently in the style of the Sufi dervish, twirling from humor to grief, from aimless naivety to worldly confidence. The magic of the prose does not prepare the reader for the twists of the novel's plot, and appropriately so, as we are asked to face them with the same preparedness to which Tassie has access--that being, none at all. In this way, Moore puts her reader in the shoes of a 20-year-old girl, struggling into her identity as a woman against race, deceit, love, loneliness, loss, unable to see herself in the faces of women around her: childless, motherless, nameless, and placeless in the rapidly changing world of the early 2000s. A gorgeous, patient, quietly beautiful novel.
I thought this was exactly the type of navel-gazing & witty yet ultimately meaningless book I would write if I were to write a book. The plot meanders, discussion of race was interesting but lacking insight, and the last act is all out weird, yet I enjoyed it.
First Lorrie Moore I read, and I liked it a lot for her encapsulation of college for working-class kid, and for a girl's learning about her sexuality.
This book is without doubt beautifully written, I read it wishing that I could speak or write with such wit, power and emotion. If I were to rate the quality of the writing or even the individual sentences contained within the book it would get 5 stars however in this case the parts really are greater than the total . I failed to connect completely with this book and care for the characters, perhaps you are so absorbed by the beauty of the writing that you miss the actual story.
I think I would prefer to read an essay by the authors rather than her attempts to create characters which do not feel real. Her write style is so distinct that her voice overpowers the characters .
I am pleased I read the book and maybe this should be a 4 star but it did feel like a collection of very good short essays forced together to make a novel.
An adult now, Tassie looks back on a year during college when she worked for Sarah as a nanny to the baby she was going to adopt.
Tassie retrospectively documents the confusion of college romance, her shifting relationship with her parents, the events of 9/11 (which took place at the time for her), and her intimate glimpse into the life of a family.
Lorrie Moore is a good writer. This book was interesting. But I never felt truly connected to any of the characters, which is why I only gave it 3 stars.
Tassie retrospectively documents the confusion of college romance, her shifting relationship with her parents, the events of 9/11 (which took place at the time for her), and her intimate glimpse into the life of a family.
Lorrie Moore is a good writer. This book was interesting. But I never felt truly connected to any of the characters, which is why I only gave it 3 stars.