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3.21 AVERAGE
3.21 AVERAGE
This was on a recommended list that I saw somewhere. I liked the review so much that I immediately went onto my library site and put a hold on it.
What a gem. This book was so specific on what it is like to be this one girl from junior year in high school through her college years and into her early adulthood, based on the men she has been emotionally involved with. It gave me so much to think about and to reflect on. I think that I have never been as passive as she was in her life, but I can see how certain similar situations have happened to girlfriends I have had through the years.
This book really resonated with me and I would love to hear other women's opinions on it.
What a gem. This book was so specific on what it is like to be this one girl from junior year in high school through her college years and into her early adulthood, based on the men she has been emotionally involved with. It gave me so much to think about and to reflect on. I think that I have never been as passive as she was in her life, but I can see how certain similar situations have happened to girlfriends I have had through the years.
This book really resonated with me and I would love to hear other women's opinions on it.
Apparently a "love it or hate it" novel. Is Evie credible? I began as a "hater", but ended up as a "lover". Evie is an artist, everyone worth caring about in the novel are artists and Hammann has written the story of the lives of artists. Well done.
One of those books that found me at exactly the right time. It has moments of brilliance, as well as moments of great tedium. Not unlike life itself, I suppose. What makes 'Anthropology of An American Girl' strong are the deep insights into the shifting dynamics of complex relationships over time. I am certain that I have never dog-eared so many pages in a book before. What makes the novel weak is the narrative underlying and linking these pithy bits. Too much has to be explicitly explained in retrospect. And I never quite believed that the characters were as rich as the author wants - needs - us to believe in order to buy into the storyline.
Still, I couldn't put it down (which is saying a lot, given its extraordinary length), and perhaps these shortcomings are entirely reasonable for a debut novel. A smidge repetitive. A bit self-indulgent. But the mosaic Thayer Hamann painstakingly constructs of the evolution of a self-aware, capable, conscientious and caring young woman feels authentic and familiar to me. Its the picture of a different sort of strong female lead that we don't often enough come across.
The poem, "You Learn", by Jorge Borges begins,
After a while you learn the subtle difference
Between holding a hand and claiming a soul,
And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning
And company doesn't mean security.
And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts
And presents aren't promises,
And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head up and your eyes open
With the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child
'Anthropology of an American Girl' is about that; the process of becoming a woman. All told, its admirable work.
Still, I couldn't put it down (which is saying a lot, given its extraordinary length), and perhaps these shortcomings are entirely reasonable for a debut novel. A smidge repetitive. A bit self-indulgent. But the mosaic Thayer Hamann painstakingly constructs of the evolution of a self-aware, capable, conscientious and caring young woman feels authentic and familiar to me. Its the picture of a different sort of strong female lead that we don't often enough come across.
The poem, "You Learn", by Jorge Borges begins,
After a while you learn the subtle difference
Between holding a hand and claiming a soul,
And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning
And company doesn't mean security.
And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts
And presents aren't promises,
And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head up and your eyes open
With the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child
'Anthropology of an American Girl' is about that; the process of becoming a woman. All told, its admirable work.