Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.13 AVERAGE
3.13 AVERAGE
Let me first preface this review with the idea that I, more often than not, refuse to read the most popular and trending titles. The reason for this is that many are too alike. Nothing unique. I've been a reader for most of my 42 years, and I've read A LOT. More importantly, I remember much of what I read. I get bored easily with a book that doesn't separate itself from something I've already read. With the exception of a continuing series. I have recently been reading many different perspectives from WWII fiction. I needed a palate cleanser. But not a long one. I am simultaneously working on reading off of my own shelves. I have collected books donated by friends or books I've purchased a while ago that I didn't recall. Searching through my shelves, I found this title. It was a measly 220 pages. I've never heard of the book, nor the author. I began paging through and was sucked into the writing. Such a different way of writing. Two first-person alternating narrators. You needed to understand the characters to understand which one was speaking. Also, separating it from other novels about marriage was the time frame. Baby boomers and one a previous soldier medically experimented on trying to live out the American Dream while knowing his life would end at any time. A man unresentfully taking a back seat in the marriage to his independent and emotionally strong wife. I am unsure why this book wasn't a bigger hit in 2006 when it was published, but I certainly feel many women would have found a relevant perspective in the wife and would have hailed the husband as a hero.
This is the reason I read unknown authors and small publishers' books. This is why I steer away from popular novels and gravitate to books that I have never heard of, but just know I might enjoy. I am going to see if Robert Hill has other novels. What a fantastic find!
This is the reason I read unknown authors and small publishers' books. This is why I steer away from popular novels and gravitate to books that I have never heard of, but just know I might enjoy. I am going to see if Robert Hill has other novels. What a fantastic find!
This book gets three stars because I think it goes way overboard with the metaphors. I like that this story wasn't so much a story of who did what to get to there and how this situation happened...but more a snapshot into the lives of Myrmy and Dan and their family, and when it did that I enjoyed what the story was about and thought it was at it's strongest. It's when the descriptions become existential and the sentences last for two paragraphs that my mind would wander.
Maybe it's just me because this is definitely a different style of writing and I can appreciate it for what it is and for trying to tell what may have been a boring story in an interesting way. This style just isn't for me though.
But this is not to say I didn't like it altogether. I loved the dynamic between Myrmy and Dan and how their gender roles were challenged, this being set in the 60's and while both worked, Myrmy is the main bread winner. It was interesting that Dan never seemed to harbor any resentment toward her for that...there were others reasons for resentment, but that comes with a long marriage.
I thought it was interesting, if a little unbelievable, that Mrymy being who she is made out to be in the book did both roles, mother and working girl, so well. But maybe some people have it in them to make both roles work.
What I dislike most is the style of writing, it took me out of the story many times and I would have to re-read what I just read because I would turn a page and not know what happened. I just zoned out.
What I like most is that this book makes you think. I can always appreciate books that do that.
Maybe it's just me because this is definitely a different style of writing and I can appreciate it for what it is and for trying to tell what may have been a boring story in an interesting way. This style just isn't for me though.
But this is not to say I didn't like it altogether. I loved the dynamic between Myrmy and Dan and how their gender roles were challenged, this being set in the 60's and while both worked, Myrmy is the main bread winner. It was interesting that Dan never seemed to harbor any resentment toward her for that...there were others reasons for resentment, but that comes with a long marriage.
I thought it was interesting, if a little unbelievable, that Mrymy being who she is made out to be in the book did both roles, mother and working girl, so well. But maybe some people have it in them to make both roles work.
What I dislike most is the style of writing, it took me out of the story many times and I would have to re-read what I just read because I would turn a page and not know what happened. I just zoned out.
What I like most is that this book makes you think. I can always appreciate books that do that.