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librarydosebykristy's review against another edition
4.0
There were times where I felt this book was dragging. I thought about abandoning it a few times. But I couldn't! The characters hooked me and I wanted to know what would happen with them.
It was beautifully written with characterizations and descriptions of relationships that were almost painfully accurate. In particular the mother and son relationship at the center of the story was beautiful and fraught and I cringed a lot at the behavior and opinions of the mother, fearful of turning out like her!
Still, when she passes away at the end of the book, I wept, to my complete surprise.
Overall, it's a beautiful moving portrait of family life over the past 80 years or so and an important literary achievement.
It was beautifully written with characterizations and descriptions of relationships that were almost painfully accurate. In particular the mother and son relationship at the center of the story was beautiful and fraught and I cringed a lot at the behavior and opinions of the mother, fearful of turning out like her!
Still, when she passes away at the end of the book, I wept, to my complete surprise.
Overall, it's a beautiful moving portrait of family life over the past 80 years or so and an important literary achievement.
twhittie's review against another edition
2.0
I’m still trying to figure out the point of this book. It jumped around so much, never really tying up anything. I thought this was mainly going to be a historical novel, but it turned out to be more literary, which I struggle with for these very reasons.
geeeburns's review against another edition
1.0
A better title is "What's the Point of The End of the Point"?
eclectictales's review against another edition
2.0
I won a paperback copy of this novel via a blog giveaway contest. This review in its entirety was originally posted at caffeinatedlife.net: http://www.caffeinatedlife.net/blog/2014/06/28/review-the-end-of-the-point/
What I found interesting about this novel was that despite of all of the changes happening in the United States during the 20th century, the place of Ashaunt Point remains the same. People come and go but the Porter family, for all of its ups and downs, have found a true home and a rock in Ashaunt, a place they can turn to even when things get tough. It was also interesting that despite of the Second World War raging at the start of the novel and the presence of the military in the area, the place seemed safe, protected from the outside world.
The build up of the story and the family was slow, and I found myself wondering a lot of the time where everything was headed. But because the novel covers such a large chunk of the 20th century and two to three generations of Porter family members, I feel like I didn’t really get to know the characters all that well. Much of Helen’s interesting days abroad and her formative years were covered swiftly via Part II with her letters and diaries, and the next time the reader is acquainted with her is as a mother, in particular her tenuous relationship with troubled Charlie, her eldest. For all of Charlie’s rebelliousness and waywardness and search for himself, I didn’t find him charming or something that would garner my sympathy towards his character (a lot of the time I found myself waiting for his family members to show up in a scene with him). His relationship with his mother was supposed to be a central point of the story, alongside the family’s relationship with Ashaunt, but it felt touch-and-go a lot of the time.
Overall, The End of the Point was interesting enough, that sense of place and how Ashaunt stands the test of time. However, the family story and the relationships left me wanting and a bit hollow. The span of time covered amongst the Porter family just left events feeling rather disjointed on a whole.
Actual rating: 2.5/5
What I found interesting about this novel was that despite of all of the changes happening in the United States during the 20th century, the place of Ashaunt Point remains the same. People come and go but the Porter family, for all of its ups and downs, have found a true home and a rock in Ashaunt, a place they can turn to even when things get tough. It was also interesting that despite of the Second World War raging at the start of the novel and the presence of the military in the area, the place seemed safe, protected from the outside world.
The build up of the story and the family was slow, and I found myself wondering a lot of the time where everything was headed. But because the novel covers such a large chunk of the 20th century and two to three generations of Porter family members, I feel like I didn’t really get to know the characters all that well. Much of Helen’s interesting days abroad and her formative years were covered swiftly via Part II with her letters and diaries, and the next time the reader is acquainted with her is as a mother, in particular her tenuous relationship with troubled Charlie, her eldest. For all of Charlie’s rebelliousness and waywardness and search for himself, I didn’t find him charming or something that would garner my sympathy towards his character (a lot of the time I found myself waiting for his family members to show up in a scene with him). His relationship with his mother was supposed to be a central point of the story, alongside the family’s relationship with Ashaunt, but it felt touch-and-go a lot of the time.
Overall, The End of the Point was interesting enough, that sense of place and how Ashaunt stands the test of time. However, the family story and the relationships left me wanting and a bit hollow. The span of time covered amongst the Porter family just left events feeling rather disjointed on a whole.
Actual rating: 2.5/5
cheryl1213's review against another edition
4.0
This is a story of a family and of a place. It opens in 1942 with the Porter family summering in Ashaunt Point, a fictional community on Buzzards Bay in Massachusetts. Ashaunt is very much an insider's community, the summer home to wives, children, and hired help, where the husbands visit on weekends and when they can get off work. Bea, a nanny largely focused on the youngest daughter, is the main character in the early chapters as Ashaunt is altered by the arrival of soldiers building a base for WWII-related purposes. As the novel progresses, it focuses on several other characters (all members of the family aside from Bea, who is essentially an adopted family member).
We see the years progress, the women juggle family and work/intellectual lives and one son deal with the after-effects of a bad drug trip and another war. Different characters take the lead as the years progress from 1942 through 1999, although Bea is revisited as a focal character at several points.
A number of themes run through the novel. Family relations, both blood and heart-bound, are a major topic, including the strained relationships that can exist between parent and child. Family ties with the theme of place and the way a place can shape an individual and an entire family line. War's effects are another theme as WWII and Vietnam impact Ashaunt and the Porter family. Nature and conservation are also key topics.
My thoughts -- I'm not sure I'd seek out another Graver novel, but I did enjoy the book (supplied to me by Harper). The writing was good, but I didn't find it as spectacular as other readers report. I liked the concept of focusing on how time flows and how people and a place evolve together. I wasn't overly interested in the character of Charlie (son of one of the three daughters from the first section), so those parts dragged a bit for me. I enjoyed being able to revisit Bea throughout the novel since she was definitely one of my favorite characters. I'd have loved more of a glimpse at the dynamic between the hired help and the well-off families of Ashaunt, including those who become part of the family and those who do not....although the novel is already a bit packed. The novel is, perhaps, too packed and could have benefited from dropping one or two themes.
Overall - A decent read. Lots of themes and not a frivolous read but I think it would still make a good vacation/beach book. Three and a half stars....rounded up for sites that require "full" stars because of the well-developed characters and sense of place.
We see the years progress, the women juggle family and work/intellectual lives and one son deal with the after-effects of a bad drug trip and another war. Different characters take the lead as the years progress from 1942 through 1999, although Bea is revisited as a focal character at several points.
A number of themes run through the novel. Family relations, both blood and heart-bound, are a major topic, including the strained relationships that can exist between parent and child. Family ties with the theme of place and the way a place can shape an individual and an entire family line. War's effects are another theme as WWII and Vietnam impact Ashaunt and the Porter family. Nature and conservation are also key topics.
My thoughts -- I'm not sure I'd seek out another Graver novel, but I did enjoy the book (supplied to me by Harper). The writing was good, but I didn't find it as spectacular as other readers report. I liked the concept of focusing on how time flows and how people and a place evolve together. I wasn't overly interested in the character of Charlie (son of one of the three daughters from the first section), so those parts dragged a bit for me. I enjoyed being able to revisit Bea throughout the novel since she was definitely one of my favorite characters. I'd have loved more of a glimpse at the dynamic between the hired help and the well-off families of Ashaunt, including those who become part of the family and those who do not....although the novel is already a bit packed. The novel is, perhaps, too packed and could have benefited from dropping one or two themes.
Overall - A decent read. Lots of themes and not a frivolous read but I think it would still make a good vacation/beach book. Three and a half stars....rounded up for sites that require "full" stars because of the well-developed characters and sense of place.
jodyjsperling's review against another edition
3.0
Graver struggled to keep my attention in this novel. Sometimes the narrative seemed a bit meandering. Of the vivid scenes, the middle section of part three when Charlie gets involved in civil disobedience is quite good. Everything surrounding the cat that he adopts for his friend while his friend is in jail feels important and urgent. Also, Charlie's relationship with his mother toward the latter quarter of the novel is well-portrayed. Overall, I would not be excited to read Elizabeth Graver again anytime soon, but I can feel a great well of talent rising in parts of this book.
nomadreader's review against another edition
5.0
(originally published at http://nomadreader.blogspot.com)
The basics: Spanning three generations of the Porter family and fifty years of their relationships with their hired help, The End of the Point focuses on the family at four different times in history, beginning in the 1950's. Much of the novel takes place at their summer home in Ashaunt, Massachusetts.
My thoughts: Reading The End of the Point made me realize how much I love present-future narrators. As the story of the Porter family unfolds, the reader gets hints of how things are now, even though the story is told in the moment:
These moments aren't frequent, but as I encountered each one, it felt as though I was unwrapping a present. We don't have the certainty of the future in our own lives, but literature can provide us with one for these characters. It's a testament to Graver's writing and character building that this technique feels so real. I was utterly absorbed in this family that kept growing in number as the generations increased. Graver infuses so much richness into each of them, it's astonishing the novel is as short as it is. It feels more epic than its number of pages, and it feels like a complete story of the people in their time and place. Ashaunt is a character itself:
I pictured it so vividly and delighted in seeing how the bedrooms changed hands over the years and depending on which siblings and cousins were there on a given weekend. In fact, as the narrative moved forward to the next moment in time, the house provides the structure, both literally and figuratively, as the reader takes stock of what has changed since the last moment in time.
As I read the last pages, I wept openly and publicly in the airport terminal. When I turned the last page, I was immensely satisfied, yet sad to say goodbye to these characters who felt like family in the two short days I spent with them. Most of all, I wondered how I had not heard of Elizabeth Graver until this, her fourth novel.
Favorite passage: "Largely, now, it was not anger he felt, but rather a kind of bone-scraping, quiet, ever-present sorrow. To come to the place that was supposed to stay the same, to come and find it changed. Dr. Miller had warned him against what he called the "geographic cure." You can't fix yourself by going somewhere else, he'd said. You'll always take yourself along."
The verdict: The End of the Point is a beautifully written, deeply moving portrait of three generations of the Porter family and the their evolving relationships with their servants and caregivers.
The basics: Spanning three generations of the Porter family and fifty years of their relationships with their hired help, The End of the Point focuses on the family at four different times in history, beginning in the 1950's. Much of the novel takes place at their summer home in Ashaunt, Massachusetts.
My thoughts: Reading The End of the Point made me realize how much I love present-future narrators. As the story of the Porter family unfolds, the reader gets hints of how things are now, even though the story is told in the moment:
"If things had turned out differently, she would have begun the story here--or no, Smitty would have told it; unlike Bea, he loved an audience, he'd have made it funny, drawn it out."
These moments aren't frequent, but as I encountered each one, it felt as though I was unwrapping a present. We don't have the certainty of the future in our own lives, but literature can provide us with one for these characters. It's a testament to Graver's writing and character building that this technique feels so real. I was utterly absorbed in this family that kept growing in number as the generations increased. Graver infuses so much richness into each of them, it's astonishing the novel is as short as it is. It feels more epic than its number of pages, and it feels like a complete story of the people in their time and place. Ashaunt is a character itself:
"She loves her house with a tenderness that makes it feel almost human."
I pictured it so vividly and delighted in seeing how the bedrooms changed hands over the years and depending on which siblings and cousins were there on a given weekend. In fact, as the narrative moved forward to the next moment in time, the house provides the structure, both literally and figuratively, as the reader takes stock of what has changed since the last moment in time.
As I read the last pages, I wept openly and publicly in the airport terminal. When I turned the last page, I was immensely satisfied, yet sad to say goodbye to these characters who felt like family in the two short days I spent with them. Most of all, I wondered how I had not heard of Elizabeth Graver until this, her fourth novel.
Favorite passage: "Largely, now, it was not anger he felt, but rather a kind of bone-scraping, quiet, ever-present sorrow. To come to the place that was supposed to stay the same, to come and find it changed. Dr. Miller had warned him against what he called the "geographic cure." You can't fix yourself by going somewhere else, he'd said. You'll always take yourself along."
The verdict: The End of the Point is a beautifully written, deeply moving portrait of three generations of the Porter family and the their evolving relationships with their servants and caregivers.
v_iaggio's review against another edition
2.0
This book was written nicely, but it just didn't go anywhere. Atmospherics are great, but it seemed like the story wanted to build toward something and just didn't quite ever take off.
darthchrista's review against another edition
2.0
This book was not for me. There were whole sections I skipped cause I didn’t like the character and it didn’t seem to take away from the story.
mmz's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0