Scan barcode
trekbicycles's review against another edition
5.0
The word choice and structure reminded me of reading one long exhilarating poem. A beautiful, tragic story.
adammm's review against another edition
4.0
I found this to be a surprisingly engrossing book: the characters were all empty people with empty lives. They all attempt to seek fulfillment with varying degrees of success. It wasn't necessarily realistic, and the reader probably won't be satisfied with the ending (although I was) but it was a good read.
efmreads's review against another edition
5.0
This is breathtaking fiction: a beautiful, funny tapestry of faith, life, psychology, family dynamics. So rich and decadent to read!
cdehlert's review against another edition
2.0
The main character, Eliza Naumann, is in the slow learners class. She unexpectedly wins the school spelling bee and attracts the attention of her studious father who had previously shown more interest in her brother. Saul, her father, starts spending hours each day studying with her so she can achieve a higher level (transcendental) understanding of letters. The family in this book was just too dysfunctional for me (brother joined the Hare Krishnas and mother is a kleptomaniac) and the story really didn't hold my attention. The only character I halfway liked was Eliza.
marie_gg's review against another edition
2.0
Not quite what I expected--more about a sad, dysfunctional family than a spelling prodigy...
trisha_thomas's review against another edition
2.0
This had to be one of the strangest glimpses into a family life that I've ever read. I didn't necessarily enjoy the spiritual/religion aspect of the novel (interesting that they are soul-seeking. Bad that it takes up such a central part of the book).
maybears's review against another edition
I devoured the first portion of this book; but the second dragged on me and I found myself skimming whole pages by the end scanning for tiny shards of plot strewn in a bit too much introspective mystic prose.
novelesque_life's review against another edition
2.0
2 STARS
"Eliza Naumann, a seemingly unremarkable nine-year-old, expects never to fit into her gifted family: her autodidact father, Saul, absorbed in his study of Jewish mysticism; her brother, Aaron, the vessel of his father's spiritual ambitions; and her brilliant but distant lawyer-mom, Miriam. But when Eliza sweeps her school and district spelling bees in quick succession, Saul takes it as a sign that she is destined for greatness. In this altered reality, Saul inducts her into his hallowed study and lavishes upon her the attention previously reserved for Aaron, who in his displacement embarks upon a lone quest for spiritual fulfillment. When Miriam's secret life triggers a familial explosion, it is Eliza who must order the chaos." (From Amazon)
Great writing but I just could not get into the story. The movie was watchable.
"Eliza Naumann, a seemingly unremarkable nine-year-old, expects never to fit into her gifted family: her autodidact father, Saul, absorbed in his study of Jewish mysticism; her brother, Aaron, the vessel of his father's spiritual ambitions; and her brilliant but distant lawyer-mom, Miriam. But when Eliza sweeps her school and district spelling bees in quick succession, Saul takes it as a sign that she is destined for greatness. In this altered reality, Saul inducts her into his hallowed study and lavishes upon her the attention previously reserved for Aaron, who in his displacement embarks upon a lone quest for spiritual fulfillment. When Miriam's secret life triggers a familial explosion, it is Eliza who must order the chaos." (From Amazon)
Great writing but I just could not get into the story. The movie was watchable.
minty's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book; the heaviness of the subject matter was handled well, I thought. The relentless present tense started to bug me, and the declarative sentences started to pervade my own writing while I read it. I think truly I'd give it 3.5 stars.