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hellkitty915's review against another edition
2.0
This book could have been so much better. I really enjoyed the beginning of it and kept wondering how it would end. I wanted to see Carrie become a self-sufficient fashion designer in NYC. Instead, she is a victim of the Midwest and a classic martyr character. How pathetic.
jengiuffre's review against another edition
3.0
I started out thinking that I didn't want to read the book just by reading the cover, too heavy of a topic for me right now. But, then I found myself very curious about what would happen. I enjoyed the writing. I liked one of the themes running through it - about how we become so comfortable in our lives even when it might not be our passions. Very disappointed in the ending, sounds like it was altered for a movie theater ending.
amielizabeth's review against another edition
2.0
I'm not sure how I finished this, other than I really wanted to see if she stayed in NYC or went back home. Obnoxious heroine.
toniobarton's review against another edition
3.0
decisions and how to be yourself.
A young man becomes a paraplegic and his fiancee tries to figure out what to do (they were fighting before the accident). She runs away to New York only to find herself back home in Madison.
A young man becomes a paraplegic and his fiancee tries to figure out what to do (they were fighting before the accident). She runs away to New York only to find herself back home in Madison.
asorrenti's review against another edition
3.0
i still am not sure what to think of this book. i liked it at first, then hated it, then eh. maybe i was too excited about reading it. i definitely thought it would be different.. in what way, i have no idea.
claries's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
An interesting concept tainted by deeply unlikeable characters. Could have saved about 200 pages if someone had told Carrie that any man who chooses to go by “Kilroy” at age 40 is actually the worst person ever
jetjulia's review against another edition
4.0
This book about sacrifice and duty vs freedom really hit home with me when I read it. Another book that I really couldn't put down.
jch2022's review against another edition
4.0
Amazon.com
Carrie Bell is the worst person in the world. Or so she would have you think. In the gripping, carefully paced debut novel of personal epiphany, The Dive from Clausen's Pier, by O. Henry Award winner Ann Packer, Carrie's very survival is dependent upon her leaving her fiancé, even after he dives into shallow water at a Memorial Day picnic and becomes paralyzed. Things hadn't been going so well for the Madison, Wisconsin, high school and college sweethearts. Carrie knew, deep down, that she wasn't going to become Mrs. Michael Mayer. But expectations and pressure from all sides--his family, her mother, her best friend Jamie, Mike's best friend Rooster--force Carrie to shut herself up in her room and sew outfits of her own design as if in a trance. Then one night she slips out of the only universe she's ever known. Many hours later she finds herself on the doorstep of a high school classmate living in Manhattan. Carrie's adventures in the city--quirky roommates and a new romance with an older, emotionally impenetrable man--confuse her in her quest both to forgive herself and to embark on a career in fashion design. Packer writes in a convincing voice and packs a lot into this novel; she infuses Carrie with enough humanity and smarts to choose her own version of "happily ever after." --Emily Russin --
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Vintage; Vintage edition (April 8, 2003)
ISBN: 0375727132
********************
Despite it's subject matter I really enjoyed this tale of what it is that constitutes love. How much of a martyr does one have to be for love's sake?
Packer approaches this touchy subject with grace and aptitude and I found myself rereading many passages as I found myself caught up in this tale of a young woman who seems to hold up rather well on a voyage of self discovery.
Carrie Bell is the worst person in the world. Or so she would have you think. In the gripping, carefully paced debut novel of personal epiphany, The Dive from Clausen's Pier, by O. Henry Award winner Ann Packer, Carrie's very survival is dependent upon her leaving her fiancé, even after he dives into shallow water at a Memorial Day picnic and becomes paralyzed. Things hadn't been going so well for the Madison, Wisconsin, high school and college sweethearts. Carrie knew, deep down, that she wasn't going to become Mrs. Michael Mayer. But expectations and pressure from all sides--his family, her mother, her best friend Jamie, Mike's best friend Rooster--force Carrie to shut herself up in her room and sew outfits of her own design as if in a trance. Then one night she slips out of the only universe she's ever known. Many hours later she finds herself on the doorstep of a high school classmate living in Manhattan. Carrie's adventures in the city--quirky roommates and a new romance with an older, emotionally impenetrable man--confuse her in her quest both to forgive herself and to embark on a career in fashion design. Packer writes in a convincing voice and packs a lot into this novel; she infuses Carrie with enough humanity and smarts to choose her own version of "happily ever after." --Emily Russin --
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Vintage; Vintage edition (April 8, 2003)
ISBN: 0375727132
********************
Despite it's subject matter I really enjoyed this tale of what it is that constitutes love. How much of a martyr does one have to be for love's sake?
Packer approaches this touchy subject with grace and aptitude and I found myself rereading many passages as I found myself caught up in this tale of a young woman who seems to hold up rather well on a voyage of self discovery.