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3.19 AVERAGE
3.19 AVERAGE
A good "grown-up" book, but nothing particularly special. I might have enjoyed it more were I married myself, since it revolves around the dissolution and reconstruction of a marriage. That being said, I still enjoyed learning more about the characters and seeing the resolution - I just don't have a desire to read it again.
Quick little story of an artist and his struggles with fidelity, trust, family, worth and relevance. Enjoyed the story and the characters.
3.5 stars. I decided to listen to this one because it had great reviews and was billed as a dark comedy, but I found it more dark than comedic. It's about the aftermath of an affair on a marriage, told from the perspective of the cheating husband who wants his family back. It was very well written and had many lovely moments and reflections on the nature of marriage and love, and I found the story and the emotions true-to-life, and the characters multi-faceted and believable. Overall though, it's just not that much fun to read a book about the worst part of a person's life, which prevents this one from getting more stars from me.
The audiobook narrator was EXCELLENT and did a great job with accents and women's voices.
The audiobook narrator was EXCELLENT and did a great job with accents and women's voices.
A breezy read that still manages to include smart, three-dimensional characters with rich interior lives. That isn't easy to pull off. The novel also does well to avoid plot pitfalls. Every time I feared that an oddball tangent would derail the narrative, the tangent was dealt with almost immediately and we were back on track. This is a really impressive book. I'm still not sure if the eventual plot resolution completely worked for me, and the protagonist had enough off-putting qualities to make me disinclined to keep following him around, but (mini-non-spoiler) the book ends with a big dramatic plot point that relies on symbolism built up throughout the story, and none of it is at all gimmicky. Again, no simple feat. I'd love to see what Courtney Maum does next!
Good for fans of The Marriage Plot, with a bit of Where'd You Go, Bernadette? mixed in.
Too pat, but it captures some of the truths of marriage. Don't screw it up, people!
Ever wonder how the cheater felt? Richard cheated on his wife with an American journalist. He doesn't really understand just what he's done to his wife Anne-Laure until she explains it herself. Richard is a self-centered idiot. He lost sight of why he loved his wife and only realizes it when the affair ends in a way he didn't foresee.
So I didn't finish. I really just couldn't. The 'protagonist' was a shallow jerk, and I didn't think his marriage deserved saving. And I was bored.