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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a novel novel. I don’t know any other way to describe it. I feel better for having read it, and I admire the author’s approach. I didn’t love the characters, but I think it’s because if we all examine ourselves honestly, none of us would actually love our own characters as much as we like persons. I think that’sa lot of what this book was about.
A tragic, disturbed and hard to describe romance story told in an original and quirky way. Margaret Towne falls for her assistant philosophy professor, a good-looking but unreliable man who proposes to her by tying a piece of twine around her finger without actually asking. He narrates the story of their courtship with only a glancing nod to reality, describing Margaret's complex personality by inventing multiple versions of her with different nicknames to represent her at different stages of life, all living together in a house in Margarettown. Their relationship is never a stable one but has moments of true happiness before death makes its mark. Even this is told with an original flair that turns an otherwise depressing story into an entertaining and thoughtful read.
lighthearted
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
This is a sweet, weird love story. It reads like a fairy tale. Favorite quote: "Oh, all stories are the same, aren't they? Men and women fall in love or out of love. People are born; people die. It all ends happily or it all ends sadly, and the difference matters only to the people involved."
This book isn't well-known and in a way I suppose I can see why, but this book is one of my favorite ones and I just can't put a finger on it. It shows a man's attempt to be more than he was. The chapter about his daughter and her twin was a bit odd and I felt it wasn't exactly nessacary as it wasn't followed through, but nonetheless I love this book and have read it over and over. It shows in an unconvncional way that we have to love someone though all the stages and changes of their life. We have to love all the sides of them.
This is one of those huge surprises. I bought this book at a Poundland store in the UK three years ago. I got this book for A pound. Probably best invested pound ever.
Margarettown explores the topic of the many women each woman really is, the women she has been, the women she is going to become and the woman she currently is. With a love story as the background, Zevin describes the life story of a woman that could be any woman, and that has as many names as variations the name of Margaret allows. A woman that is because of what she has experienced, and that will be because of what she didn't do, or what she actually did and then regretted doing.
Margarettown explores the topic of the many women each woman really is, the women she has been, the women she is going to become and the woman she currently is. With a love story as the background, Zevin describes the life story of a woman that could be any woman, and that has as many names as variations the name of Margaret allows. A woman that is because of what she has experienced, and that will be because of what she didn't do, or what she actually did and then regretted doing.
I really like Zevin's books but this one was just odd. I started reading it thinking ok this is original but then it just didn't even out enough to make total sense to me. I recommend it to those interested in randomness but for those not I wouldn't read it.
What a strange little book. Thirteen years ago, I read my first Gabrielle Zevin book (Elsewhere) and fell head over heels in love with it. I can't remember how many times I read that book, but it was a lot. When I remembered it the other day, I bought it again and a couple more by Zevin.
Margarettown is a hard book to describe. Parts are told by the narrator, N. Some are third person, centred on his wife, Maggie. A few short chapters are narrated by his unborn twins. The last section of the book is third person again, but this time centred on his daughter, Jane. It's something of a jumble of a book, weaving realism and strangeness together so closely that it's hard to tell what happened and what didn't.
Something tells me John Green must have read this book before he wrote Paper Towns.
Was Margaret really five people? I have no idea. Did N invent that as a coping mechanism? I have no idea. But I kind of loved that. It was an odd book, but a great one, and a crazy quick read despite being 300 pages. I can't wait to read more by Zevin (two of her others are featured in this picture; another is lost somewhere in my room). This book was magical. A little break from reality, without feeling like it was unrealistic. I loved it.
Margarettown is a hard book to describe. Parts are told by the narrator, N. Some are third person, centred on his wife, Maggie. A few short chapters are narrated by his unborn twins. The last section of the book is third person again, but this time centred on his daughter, Jane. It's something of a jumble of a book, weaving realism and strangeness together so closely that it's hard to tell what happened and what didn't.
Something tells me John Green must have read this book before he wrote Paper Towns.
Was Margaret really five people? I have no idea. Did N invent that as a coping mechanism? I have no idea. But I kind of loved that. It was an odd book, but a great one, and a crazy quick read despite being 300 pages. I can't wait to read more by Zevin (two of her others are featured in this picture; another is lost somewhere in my room). This book was magical. A little break from reality, without feeling like it was unrealistic. I loved it.
Well, this was confusing. Good, but confusing. Just when I thought I understood, BAM, we're left thinking that maybe the narrator just made it all up. Stupid unreliable narrators. The switching of perspective in the sections really confused me. Jane confused me. I liked the plot toward the beginning but then it ran off in several different directions and I'm like WAIT WHAT IS HAPPENING. That's how I felt about Margarettown.
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
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