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3.12 AVERAGE
3.12 AVERAGE
A long time ago I picked up and then quickly put back down Three Junes also by Glass. Just couldn't get into it. When I saw I see You Everywhere for cheap at a yard sale I figured I'd give the author another go. Now I know, no more Julia Glass novels for me.
The stars are for some sections of the prose and the first section - I loved that old aunt. At first, I was excited to read a novel about one sister, Louisa, becoming unclenched (she is so unreasonably angry and edgy when we meet her) in spite of, or because of, her relationship with her free-spirited sister, Clem.
That's not the book I got.
Each section was almost like a short story. Each section jumped to such a new time that you had to reorient yourself as if beginning a new story. And with this structure there was no systematic unraveling and the reconstructing of Louisa as I'd hoped - just a bunch of jumping around a few mile markers in her life such that I really didn't care, or ever get emotionally invested.
The stars are for some sections of the prose and the first section - I loved that old aunt. At first, I was excited to read a novel about one sister, Louisa, becoming unclenched (she is so unreasonably angry and edgy when we meet her) in spite of, or because of, her relationship with her free-spirited sister, Clem.
That's not the book I got.
Each section was almost like a short story. Each section jumped to such a new time that you had to reorient yourself as if beginning a new story. And with this structure there was no systematic unraveling and the reconstructing of Louisa as I'd hoped - just a bunch of jumping around a few mile markers in her life such that I really didn't care, or ever get emotionally invested.
I think I'm abandoning this one. I *adored* Three Junes. For me, this book is trite, the characters don't feel real or likable, and the one character I did like is dead, thanks a lot, Julia Glass. File under "Life's too short, too many good books to waste time on a mediocre one."
A story of a complicated relationship between sisters that made me cherish my own relationship with my sister. In some ways they were mean to one another but they did continue to keep in contact through the years and their miles apart. They leaned on each other in ways I didn't imagine they would due to how they relationship was, but it really just showed that they loved one another through their differences. Took a turn to suicide that I wasn't expecting, but I imagine that suicide happens unexpectedly for loved ones. I like how the book had different perspectives and switched back and forth between the sisters through the years, but I struggled with connecting to the characters. Each chapter was a snapshot of what was happening in the girls' lives and seemed more focused on the hard parts of life, not the moments that we are thankful for.
Would like to give this 3.5 stars because I like the way the stories wove through the decades, but I didn't get as involved in the characters' lives as I expected I would. I thought I'd certainly relate to the older sister, but just displaying "older sister" behavior didn't make her seem like truly an older sister.
I cannot tell you the last time a book brought me to tears. The relationship between these two sisters is so beautifully told and they seem so real. It was an amazing read.
I didn't really love this, but I can appreciate a beautifully written book when I read one.
Louisa and Clem are sisters with little in common. Louisa is an artist, the older and more practical one. Clem is the rebel who loves an adventure and had a string of men to follow her. This book flashes back and forth between their two lives over the span of 25 years. We follow Clem's wild, erratic job patterns and injuries and Louisa's sad relationships and battle with cancer. The two envy each other, but never know each other (in another way). In the end, it is Clem who dies young, leaving Louisa to wonder what went wrong and who Clem really was.
The chapters should have told you which woman you were dealing with and not just the year because it was often confusing. Also, the story should have started when they were younger and being raised in the same house. The chapters were so disjointed that it was impossible to follow what the author was trying to convey. I never got to the point where I was fully invested in either woman and when Clem committed suicide, the author missed the chance to bring the two stories together with some cohesion.
Confusing, disjointed and not compelling.
The chapters should have told you which woman you were dealing with and not just the year because it was often confusing. Also, the story should have started when they were younger and being raised in the same house. The chapters were so disjointed that it was impossible to follow what the author was trying to convey. I never got to the point where I was fully invested in either woman and when Clem committed suicide, the author missed the chance to bring the two stories together with some cohesion.
Confusing, disjointed and not compelling.
Although this book started out beautifully, with the perfect blend of melancholy, color and emotion, by the end of the book, it was washed out and dry. Disappointing.
These two sisters never seemed to like each other very much at all, and yet we are supposed to be convinced that they are extremely close. I think that that is not an unusual thing between siblings, this push and pull. However, the story seemed very clear on the ways that the sisters felt envy, impatience, and dislike toward each other, and didn't really convince me on the ways that they felt love for each other.