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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you love the theater, actors and actresses, Our Town, and listening to older folks reminisce about their glory days in their young adulthood, this is the book for you.
It was not the book for me. I found the majority of the characters unlikable. The actors came off as shallow and self-obsessed. There was the implied “struggle” of being an actor, but I felt that the struggles were of their own creation. Partying, drinking, smoking, drugs, abortion oh woe is me life is hard as an actor. I can’t help but think, no, you did it to yourself.
“Did actors destroy everything they touched?” Talking about mending clothes, but a good commentary on the egos of those involved. The only valid struggle (again, glossed over) was of her understudy from a racial perspective.
The farm and its fate were the most interesting pieces. It’s weird how the farm work is viewed as a reprieve after acting, as if the farm is the easier work. It There is always a child in the family that follows in the parent’s footsteps and one that diverges from that path in most families and different variations thereof in families with multiple children. The discussion of evolving the farm to survive and that the farm was their priority and not children was interesting to me but not developed. Just like real life, the parents are old fashioned and only think of their own wants for grandchildren and not the children’s desires. But this whole book is a longing for another time. These are probably the only parts in the present piece of the story that were interesting. The adults are preachy andthe adult children super childish and one dimensional.
The back and forth between the two timeframes is a bit weird in the audiobook at first, but Meryl Streep’s narration helps. She makes and apt age appropriate narrator and her narration adds to the interest.
The fascination with Duke is very annoying. He seems undeserving of all the attention and lacking character, but they fawn over him because he is famous. I am not particularly into pop culture and hate self-obsessed people with large egos so this may be my hangup. The piece about paternity was the most interesting part of the Duke story but pittered out. Their father is a much better man and actually deserves this affection. I am unsure how Joe tolerated this whole ode to an ex in front of him. In the prior narrative it is acknowledged Sebastian was the better person. So was Ripley albeit he was a bit controlling. Good men are highly undervalued while dysfunctional egomaniacs are glorified. I guess we do a lot of this in our youth but it does not seem the narrator learned her lesson.
Synopsis - lots of hams and no dinner. Struggled a bit to finish this one, but read it for a book club.
It was not the book for me. I found the majority of the characters unlikable. The actors came off as shallow and self-obsessed. There was the implied “struggle” of being an actor, but I felt that the struggles were of their own creation. Partying, drinking, smoking, drugs, abortion oh woe is me life is hard as an actor. I can’t help but think, no, you did it to yourself.
“Did actors destroy everything they touched?” Talking about mending clothes, but a good commentary on the egos of those involved. The only valid struggle (again, glossed over) was of her understudy from a racial perspective.
The farm and its fate were the most interesting pieces. It’s weird how the farm work is viewed as a reprieve after acting, as if the farm is the easier work. It There is always a child in the family that follows in the parent’s footsteps and one that diverges from that path in most families and different variations thereof in families with multiple children. The discussion of evolving the farm to survive and that the farm was their priority and not children was interesting to me but not developed. Just like real life, the parents are old fashioned and only think of their own wants for grandchildren and not the children’s desires. But this whole book is a longing for another time. These are probably the only parts in the present piece of the story that were interesting. The adults are preachy andthe adult children super childish and one dimensional.
The back and forth between the two timeframes is a bit weird in the audiobook at first, but Meryl Streep’s narration helps. She makes and apt age appropriate narrator and her narration adds to the interest.
The fascination with Duke is very annoying. He seems undeserving of all the attention and lacking character, but they fawn over him because he is famous. I am not particularly into pop culture and hate self-obsessed people with large egos so this may be my hangup. The piece about paternity was the most interesting part of the Duke story but pittered out. Their father is a much better man and actually deserves this affection. I am unsure how Joe tolerated this whole ode to an ex in front of him. In the prior narrative it is acknowledged Sebastian was the better person. So was Ripley albeit he was a bit controlling. Good men are highly undervalued while dysfunctional egomaniacs are glorified. I guess we do a lot of this in our youth but it does not seem the narrator learned her lesson.
Synopsis - lots of hams and no dinner. Struggled a bit to finish this one, but read it for a book club.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Waited to decide how I felt about this. Listening to the audio book by Meryl Streep was beautiful but I think I just don’t enjoy slow “vibey” books as an audio book. I need drama lol. If I stopped listening for a sec I missed an important part so I was left confused but that’s my fault tbh. Still a good book about life and love and loss.
This book showed up a lot in the posts asking what you're currently reading and its mention always had a lot of likes. Between that and seeing a lot of hype for it, I was so excited to read it. Maybe that was a bad thing because it just wasn't that interesting to me. I saw that a lot of people listened to the audio version. Maybe, just maybe, having Meryl Streep telling the story would have made me enjoy it more. Having just read it, however, it left me with a weird, unsatisfied feeling. Some of the characters weren't likable to me and it felt depressing. [SPOILER] The whole thing about Emily thinking her Dad was Peter Duke and insisting on it for years was just weird. I didn't like her character and that part of the story took away something from the story overall. [END SPOILER] When you like some of the characters (Nelson, Sebastian, and the other two daughters), but end up disliking many of the other characters, it's difficult to enjoy the book. It gets 3.5 stars from me, and I feel like that is a gift. Many readers who love Ann Patchett say this is their least favorite book, so I'm going to try one of her others and hope that I like it better.
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
slow-paced
While I never got bored, I don't understand the purpose of these books. I never connect with the characters nor grow attached to their stories. It feels like a friend sharing some personal memory, only I don't care for this friend and the memory is meaningless to me.