Reviews

The Cradle by Patrick Somerville

amysbrittain's review

4.0

What a wonderful, odd, heartbreaking, sweet story. I love Somerville's writing, and that his characters are so vivid, even the minor, less appealing ones. At every turn the story felt real and yet unexpected; couldn't wait to get back to it but was sad in advance that it was going to end. Sigh.

kymme's review

5.0

Spare but rich, this understated tale of one man's quest on behalf of his pregnant wife offers delicate surprises page after page. I left the book at home while away for a weekend, and thought about it constantly while I was gone. Stories and themes of adoption, redemption, and plain old weirdness intermingle. A most satisfying end.

mallorykjorgensen's review

3.0

This book received rave reviews, so maybe my expectations were too high. Though the book wasn't bad, I was extremely disappointed. A quick read.

tomaind's review against another edition

4.0

A good story with some interesting characters. I really enjoyed this book except for the non-ending. I hate when a book leaves you guessing what happened to the characters. You become emotionally involved with the characters situations and it would be nice to have closure. Non-endings make me feel cheated.

ecari's review

4.0

This book was quite short, for all that was packed into it. I frequently found myself thinking of it as a fable. The two main characters are very clearly drawn, but in pencil - no extra colors or shapes or irritating background scenes, just their "beings," if that makes any sense at all. Their histories are told in short bursts that focus only on the critical memories that have shaped who they are. As someone who frequently wonders why I don't remember more than I do and why I remember the random events, feelings, situations that have lodged in my brain, I appreciated the economy and effectiveness of Somerville's method of investing me as reader in his characters. He also gets very far inside the heads of these two (a man and a woman). I was a bit disappointed in the shift to another character's perspective at the end of the book - I found it unnecessary, and I wanted to be back with the woman - to know what she felt at this crucial juncture. I'm not sure why he deprived me of that, although I did feel pretty sure I *knew* what she felt because of all I had learned of her so far. Perhaps this just demonstrates the investment I felt.

I did find the plot(s) a bit bizarre, but it didn't seem so much the point as learning about what makes these two people tick, particularly the man. As no doubt clear from my comments so far, there are two disconnected storylines in this novel, which do eventually come together in conclusion. I did find the disconnection a bit difficult to follow, and the time periods were also different, which I actually didn't realize until the end. This was possibly because I was being a lazy reader, but it definitely added to the slightly jarring effect, which switching back and forth between the two stories had on me in the beginning. Despite this, I felt hooked into both stories and wanted the updates to each as they came.

In sum, this book is a wonderful weekend-on-the-couch read and I'll look for Somerville's next.

christiek's review

3.0

I knew going into the book that the request was a bit out there, but it wasn't until toward the end of the book that I understood Marissa (not her motivations so much, the narrations *tells* us what her motivation is, more what it was about her personality and the nature of Matt and Marissa's relationship) that I believed that Matt would go on a wild goose chase for this cradle. I think it would have helped if readers were eased into the narrative before she made her request. Instead she asks her husband to find the cradle she herself was a baby in on page one. And he agrees because as the first line tells us, "Marissa could not be comforted, and wouldn't have it any other way." I spent the first half of the book annoyed with petulant Marissa and spineless Matt. Certainly, Sommerville wants to create a journey where the reader goes from not much caring for these folks one whit to developing an understanding and empathy for them. I did that, but I think he risked having readers put the book down after 30 pages. I would have abandoned the book, except I abandoned the one before this. I am glad I didn't.

tschmitty's review

3.0

Interesting short read. I really liked the style of writing by this author, I just would have liked a tad more resolution between the mother and the son. Neat little story.

amysbrittain's review against another edition

4.0

What a wonderful, odd, heartbreaking, sweet story. I love Somerville's writing, and that his characters are so vivid, even the minor, less appealing ones. At every turn the story felt real and yet unexpected; couldn't wait to get back to it but was sad in advance that it was going to end. Sigh.

oursuburbanfarm's review against another edition

3.0

I had a difficult time putting this book down, though, I wouldn't say I loved the book. It was interesting reading about the two stories and trying to figure out how they were connected. Some of the characters could have been better developed, but overall it was a good and fairly quick read.

kimsquatch's review against another edition

3.0

I want to give this four stars, but I'm pretty sure that extra star would just be because I loved The Universe in Miniature in Miniature so much. It was a good, quick read but I would've liked another hundred pages or so just to flesh out the characters and add some weight to the ending.