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jess_mango's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 out of 5 stars...
I know that I have many books that fit into the "oh, I just have to read that!" category, and Monsters of Templeton was definitely one of those. So, I was super excited when it was selected for the monthly pick for one of my book clubs. It turned out to be a big hit with everyone in the book club.
The Monsters of Templeton was a very unique book that is kind of hard to describe. At its heart, it was the story of a young woman trying to uncover who her father is. Willie Upton is a 28 year old archeology PhD student who returns home to Templeton, NY after having an affair with one of her professors.
" Templeton was to me like a less-important limb, something inherently mine, something I took for granted. My own tiny, lovely village with a great old mansions and a glorious lake, my own grand little hamlet where everyone know your name, but with elaborate little frills that made it unlike anywhere else: the baseball museum, the Opera, the hospital that had vast arms extending into the rest of upstate, an odd mix of Podunk and cosmopolitan. I came back when I had to, to feel safe, to recharge; I just hadn't had to in so long."
Shortly after Willie arrives home 2 things happen: 1) a huge, dead lake monster floats to the surface of the lake in the center of town and 2) Willie's mother, Vi, confesses that Willie's father wasn't a random free love hippie in San Francisco but was in fact someone from Templeton. Vi refuses to tell Willie her father's name but does tell her that her father is someone who is also connected to the town's founder. Willie starts researching her family tree and the town's history to try to determine who her father could be. As she conducts her research she uncovers scandals, ghosts and more. The chapters alternate between present day told from Willie's point of view and the past told from Willie's various ancestors' points of view.
I really enjoyed this book. It was quirky and filled with whimsy and subtle humor. There were lots of interesting characters uncovered during Willie's research. It was a combination of historical fiction, mystery, and contemporary fiction. Overall the book was a very engaging read that I found extremely difficult to put down.
I know that I have many books that fit into the "oh, I just have to read that!" category, and Monsters of Templeton was definitely one of those. So, I was super excited when it was selected for the monthly pick for one of my book clubs. It turned out to be a big hit with everyone in the book club.
The Monsters of Templeton was a very unique book that is kind of hard to describe. At its heart, it was the story of a young woman trying to uncover who her father is. Willie Upton is a 28 year old archeology PhD student who returns home to Templeton, NY after having an affair with one of her professors.
" Templeton was to me like a less-important limb, something inherently mine, something I took for granted. My own tiny, lovely village with a great old mansions and a glorious lake, my own grand little hamlet where everyone know your name, but with elaborate little frills that made it unlike anywhere else: the baseball museum, the Opera, the hospital that had vast arms extending into the rest of upstate, an odd mix of Podunk and cosmopolitan. I came back when I had to, to feel safe, to recharge; I just hadn't had to in so long."
Shortly after Willie arrives home 2 things happen: 1) a huge, dead lake monster floats to the surface of the lake in the center of town and 2) Willie's mother, Vi, confesses that Willie's father wasn't a random free love hippie in San Francisco but was in fact someone from Templeton. Vi refuses to tell Willie her father's name but does tell her that her father is someone who is also connected to the town's founder. Willie starts researching her family tree and the town's history to try to determine who her father could be. As she conducts her research she uncovers scandals, ghosts and more. The chapters alternate between present day told from Willie's point of view and the past told from Willie's various ancestors' points of view.
I really enjoyed this book. It was quirky and filled with whimsy and subtle humor. There were lots of interesting characters uncovered during Willie's research. It was a combination of historical fiction, mystery, and contemporary fiction. Overall the book was a very engaging read that I found extremely difficult to put down.
gilliske's review against another edition
5.0
Het is moeilijk uit te leggen waarom ik dit boek zo goed vond. Feit is dat ik vanaf het begin moeite had om het boek neer te leggen. Het mysterie-aspect rond de afkomst van Willie prikkelde me. Ik werd meegezogen in haar drang meer te weten te komen over de geschiedenis van haar familie. Ik vond het boeiend samen met haar telkens een tipje van de sluier te lichten, iets meer te weten te komen, maar tegelijk met nieuwe vragen geconfronteerd te worden. De groeiende en veranderende stamboom en de foto's vond ik zeer fijne toevoegingen die mij des te meer prikkelden. Hoewel je dankzij het voorwoord heel goed weet dat de personages en locatie volledig fictief zijn, helpen ze mee de illusie scheppen dat je in een echt verhaal bent terechtgekomen, en helpen ze je nog meer te verliezen in dat verhaal.
Als liefhebber van het fantasy-genre bleek deze uitvoering van het magisch-realisme mij bovendien ook wel te smaken. Voor zover ik weet was dit mijn eerste kennismaking met dit genre, maar op basis van dit boek zal ik er makkelijk nog eens opnieuw voor kiezen. Ik vind het fijn dat bovennatuurlijke gebeurtenissen in het verhaal niet onthaald worden met veel 'oh mijn God' -poeha, maar eerder als iets normaals en vanzelfsprekends worden beschouwd.
De rode draad waaraan dit allemaal wordt opgehangen (ongepland zwangere dochter vlucht naar haar moeder in haar geboortedorp om zich in schande onder te dompelen) zorgt ervoor dat je de personages leert kennen als geloofwaardige dochter, moeder, vriend, .... Je ziet de karakters ontwikkelen, relaties vormen, groeien, veranderen. Het geeft wat extra diepgang aan het verhaal.
Wat mij betreft een aanrader, al besef ik dat zeker niet iedereen even enthousiast zal zijn over dit boek als ik
Als liefhebber van het fantasy-genre bleek deze uitvoering van het magisch-realisme mij bovendien ook wel te smaken. Voor zover ik weet was dit mijn eerste kennismaking met dit genre, maar op basis van dit boek zal ik er makkelijk nog eens opnieuw voor kiezen. Ik vind het fijn dat bovennatuurlijke gebeurtenissen in het verhaal niet onthaald worden met veel 'oh mijn God' -poeha, maar eerder als iets normaals en vanzelfsprekends worden beschouwd.
De rode draad waaraan dit allemaal wordt opgehangen (ongepland zwangere dochter vlucht naar haar moeder in haar geboortedorp om zich in schande onder te dompelen) zorgt ervoor dat je de personages leert kennen als geloofwaardige dochter, moeder, vriend, .... Je ziet de karakters ontwikkelen, relaties vormen, groeien, veranderen. Het geeft wat extra diepgang aan het verhaal.
Wat mij betreft een aanrader, al besef ik dat zeker niet iedereen even enthousiast zal zijn over dit boek als ik
lizloulie's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
mrswhite's review against another edition
3.0
Wilhelmina ("Willie") Upton - a promising graduate student at Standford University - has fled back to her small, historic hometown of Templeton, New York "steeped in disgrace." The affair with her married grad school mentor has been found out, and, now pregnant with his illegitimate child, she hopes to find solace in her mother, Vivian ("Vi") Upton - a woman whose footsteps Willie has unwittingly fallen into. Herself a child of the free-loving 1960s, Vi had always told Willie that she is the product of one of the many lovers she took while living in a San Francisco hippie commune, but when Willie returns home Vi thinks it best that she finally tell her daughter the truth about her parentage. In an attempt to take her mind off of her own unraveling life, Vi partially lets Willie in on the long-kept secret of her heritage - that she is not a result of "any one of three random hippies in a San Francisco commune," but rather the illegitimate daughter of some "random Templeton man." Thinking it best that Willie have a task to keep her occupied in her time of emotional duress, Vi refuses to reveal this man's identity, but instead insists that Willie solve the mystery for herself. The novel that follows is made up of the random snatches of genealogical research, generational family rumors and gossip, and historical documents Willie digs up to help piece together the epic story that is her family's history, and - most importantly - to discover the true identify of the father who shared her hometown but whom she never knew.
The "monsters" in The Monsters of Templeton are numerous and varied. The day of Willie's homecoming also happens to be the day when the fabled lake monster of the town's Lake Glimmerglass dies, its fifty-foot fish corpse rising to the surface to finally end the several-hundred-year-long debate over its existence. There is an actual ghost that haunts Willie's bedroom, and who occasionally emerges to help her in her quest. And, of course, there are various human monsters who are unmasked as Willie unravels the thread of her family history to reveal betrayal, murder, rape, countless affairs and loads of intrigue. As a whole, the novel is part mystery, part historical fiction, part magical realism, and only partly successful.
Obviously, when you pick up a book knowing that one of its characters is a giant lake monster, you don't really go into it expecting absolute realism, but even still one of my criticisms of the novel is that some of the twists in the plot are too easily arrived at. For instance, when Willie reaches a dead-end in her search, her mother - *tada!* - suddenly remembers owning a sealed envelop of old letters written by the very same relatives Willie is researching at that particular moment. Or, when she's not sure what path to travel down next - *tada!* - a ghost emerges and tell her. There aren't many moments like these, but when they happened I couldn't help but roll my eyes.
Next, is the language. Time and time again, Groff's sentences felt like they were trying way too hard. I wouldn't call it pretentious exactly, but with characters named Marmaduke, Cinnamon, Primus Dwyer, and Ezekiel Flecher; and with ridiculous sentences like, "He slept, openmouthed like a boy, blissfully naked, his smooth rear exposed trustfully to the sky" she is definitely risking absurdity on more than one occasion.
But despite all of this, I couldn't help but enjoy reading this book. The story - although often unbelievable - was engrossing, and the language - while often grating - was also often beautiful, allowing the terrible spots to be quickly and easily laughed away. It's been a long time since I've felt so conflicted by a story, and that alone is reason enough to make me glad to have read it.
The "monsters" in The Monsters of Templeton are numerous and varied. The day of Willie's homecoming also happens to be the day when the fabled lake monster of the town's Lake Glimmerglass dies, its fifty-foot fish corpse rising to the surface to finally end the several-hundred-year-long debate over its existence. There is an actual ghost that haunts Willie's bedroom, and who occasionally emerges to help her in her quest. And, of course, there are various human monsters who are unmasked as Willie unravels the thread of her family history to reveal betrayal, murder, rape, countless affairs and loads of intrigue. As a whole, the novel is part mystery, part historical fiction, part magical realism, and only partly successful.
Obviously, when you pick up a book knowing that one of its characters is a giant lake monster, you don't really go into it expecting absolute realism, but even still one of my criticisms of the novel is that some of the twists in the plot are too easily arrived at. For instance, when Willie reaches a dead-end in her search, her mother - *tada!* - suddenly remembers owning a sealed envelop of old letters written by the very same relatives Willie is researching at that particular moment. Or, when she's not sure what path to travel down next - *tada!* - a ghost emerges and tell her. There aren't many moments like these, but when they happened I couldn't help but roll my eyes.
Next, is the language. Time and time again, Groff's sentences felt like they were trying way too hard. I wouldn't call it pretentious exactly, but with characters named Marmaduke, Cinnamon, Primus Dwyer, and Ezekiel Flecher; and with ridiculous sentences like, "He slept, openmouthed like a boy, blissfully naked, his smooth rear exposed trustfully to the sky" she is definitely risking absurdity on more than one occasion.
But despite all of this, I couldn't help but enjoy reading this book. The story - although often unbelievable - was engrossing, and the language - while often grating - was also often beautiful, allowing the terrible spots to be quickly and easily laughed away. It's been a long time since I've felt so conflicted by a story, and that alone is reason enough to make me glad to have read it.
badseedgirl's review against another edition
5.0
The Monsters of Templeton was hard to categorize. I finally decided it is magical realisim. Regardless of how you want to categorize it, I found the book to be a wonderful read.
Set in the current day, the author takes the reader on a trip through the establishment of the town of Templeton, using journals and letters written by and for the towns founders, the Templeton. There is all kinds of magical and supernatural elements interspersed throughout the novel. That is not really the focus of the story, but is much more of a character driven plot. So when these supernatural elements are introduced, they are much more disconcerting.
his was an engrossing read and a bit of a departure for me, but I found it well worth the time to read it.
Set in the current day, the author takes the reader on a trip through the establishment of the town of Templeton, using journals and letters written by and for the towns founders, the Templeton. There is all kinds of magical and supernatural elements interspersed throughout the novel. That is not really the focus of the story, but is much more of a character driven plot. So when these supernatural elements are introduced, they are much more disconcerting.
his was an engrossing read and a bit of a departure for me, but I found it well worth the time to read it.
lapoo99's review against another edition
2.0
Nice last page but you weren’t writing a great Russian novel so why did you have the amount of characters in one. Fuck.
amymarchlawrence's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
ir_sharp2's review against another edition
2.0
Ugh. Just. Ugh.
I picked this one up because I'm very visual with my choices, and this cover is graphically appealing. I don't even know how many times I've picked it up, read a chapter or two, and put it back on my shelf. Enough that I was VERY familiar with the first chapter and knew what was gonna happen before it did. This time I got 100 pages in and decided "Dammit, I'm gonna read this sucker." ....And then put it down for a week... And then made myself pick it up..... And then put it down for a couple weeks.... And today I picked it up out of sheer frustration at having carried it around so long for nothing.
Well, I finished it. It wasn't a **bad** story, but damn was it hard to stick with. I had to put ambient music in my earbuds cuz hearing the tv or even any songs with words would let me drift out. The sentences were....just....ugh.
Ah, there we go. This book was celery. You chew and chew and chew on it, it never gets any better than neutral at best, and you get nothing for the effort. At least celery burns calories....
I picked this one up because I'm very visual with my choices, and this cover is graphically appealing. I don't even know how many times I've picked it up, read a chapter or two, and put it back on my shelf. Enough that I was VERY familiar with the first chapter and knew what was gonna happen before it did. This time I got 100 pages in and decided "Dammit, I'm gonna read this sucker." ....And then put it down for a week... And then made myself pick it up..... And then put it down for a couple weeks.... And today I picked it up out of sheer frustration at having carried it around so long for nothing.
Well, I finished it. It wasn't a **bad** story, but damn was it hard to stick with. I had to put ambient music in my earbuds cuz hearing the tv or even any songs with words would let me drift out. The sentences were....just....ugh.
Ah, there we go. This book was celery. You chew and chew and chew on it, it never gets any better than neutral at best, and you get nothing for the effort. At least celery burns calories....
beneduck's review against another edition
3.5
Not my fave LG, but definitely memorable and tasty. Fun to read her first novel - makes me appreciate her mastery of the form even more. My discipleship continues.
gobby_gilbert's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5