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3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
This was my latest library book and I enjoyed it but was left with sadness. Sad for Harriet, sad for her daughter Carolyn (although I have hope for Carolyn), sad that children aren't treasured the way they should be treasured.
Meh. This was an audible, and the reader had a stilted delivery that grated. I may have had more sympathy or laughter had I read it the old-fashioned way.
I thought this was really well done - the characters were great and Evison gave them great voices.
There was a lot of buzz surrounding this in the book-terverse and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy. Having finished it, I’m not entirely sure why I’ve waited so long to read any Jonathan Evison. His ability to write what appears at first to be a really ‘sweet’ story, but which in reality is anything but, is superbly clever.
Through Harriet’s interactions with her ‘difficult’ daughter Caroline, her son Skip, and Bernard himself (is she going a bit mental? The reader, and her offspring, are never quite sure…), we are given an incredibly vivid look at her life so far. Finally released from the shackles of a marriage in which her daughter describes her as ‘servant, nurse… practically his mother’, we are introduced to a 78 year old woman whose relationship with her children is beginning to show all the signs of suffocating role reversal.
Harriet is no longer a pushover. Bernard’s illness has taken its toll and changed her forever. Just when you think you know where the story is going, another layer is peeled away and the story takes off in an entirely new direction. Similarly, just as you feel you’re getting to know the ‘gentle’, strait-laced Harriet Chance she comes out with something like: ‘Admit it, the real reason you chose cremation was because you yearned to see his mortal shell pulverized’. By the end of the novel, the reader is left in no doubt about the horrifying reality of Bernard’s final 18 months.
Harriet certainly has regrets and, particularly in the case of her daughter, is sad at how their relationship has turned out but she doesn’t over-indulge in vast quantities of misplaced guilt. I found this a great relief – after all, I didn’t particularly like the insufferable Caroline and actually identified more with the mother than the daughter. Harriet is, despite everything, a very practical and (perhaps surprisingly) a very independent woman: ‘Darlings, if you really want to help me, fix that garage door… if you want to comfort me, how about sending an Easter card?’
Evison’s ability to capture the somewhat fraught mother-daughter relationship is just brilliant. Does he have sisters I wonder? ‘Why does it always come to this between her and Caroline? As though they’re out of patience before they’ve even begun… after the briefest of exchanges their relationship devolves into this prickly state of nervous exhaustion’.
Her children may be concerned about Bernard’s continued ‘presence’ in her life. She categorically is not and it undoubtedly serves a very real narrative purpose: ‘Just suppose I took a little comfort in it… I suppose you two would want to deprive me of that, wouldn’t you?’
The various threads of conflict (and there are a lot of them!), as well as the uncovering of some fairly earth-shattering secrets creates a delightfully uncomfortable, unpredictable and gripping read. One of my favourites of the year.
Through Harriet’s interactions with her ‘difficult’ daughter Caroline, her son Skip, and Bernard himself (is she going a bit mental? The reader, and her offspring, are never quite sure…), we are given an incredibly vivid look at her life so far. Finally released from the shackles of a marriage in which her daughter describes her as ‘servant, nurse… practically his mother’, we are introduced to a 78 year old woman whose relationship with her children is beginning to show all the signs of suffocating role reversal.
Harriet is no longer a pushover. Bernard’s illness has taken its toll and changed her forever. Just when you think you know where the story is going, another layer is peeled away and the story takes off in an entirely new direction. Similarly, just as you feel you’re getting to know the ‘gentle’, strait-laced Harriet Chance she comes out with something like: ‘Admit it, the real reason you chose cremation was because you yearned to see his mortal shell pulverized’. By the end of the novel, the reader is left in no doubt about the horrifying reality of Bernard’s final 18 months.
Harriet certainly has regrets and, particularly in the case of her daughter, is sad at how their relationship has turned out but she doesn’t over-indulge in vast quantities of misplaced guilt. I found this a great relief – after all, I didn’t particularly like the insufferable Caroline and actually identified more with the mother than the daughter. Harriet is, despite everything, a very practical and (perhaps surprisingly) a very independent woman: ‘Darlings, if you really want to help me, fix that garage door… if you want to comfort me, how about sending an Easter card?’
Evison’s ability to capture the somewhat fraught mother-daughter relationship is just brilliant. Does he have sisters I wonder? ‘Why does it always come to this between her and Caroline? As though they’re out of patience before they’ve even begun… after the briefest of exchanges their relationship devolves into this prickly state of nervous exhaustion’.
Her children may be concerned about Bernard’s continued ‘presence’ in her life. She categorically is not and it undoubtedly serves a very real narrative purpose: ‘Just suppose I took a little comfort in it… I suppose you two would want to deprive me of that, wouldn’t you?’
The various threads of conflict (and there are a lot of them!), as well as the uncovering of some fairly earth-shattering secrets creates a delightfully uncomfortable, unpredictable and gripping read. One of my favourites of the year.
Was a complete random pick of the library shelf and it was mediocre at best.
Good concept. Had some moments. But I'm trying hard to think of them.
Good concept. Had some moments. But I'm trying hard to think of them.
I thought this book was going to be a light-hearted, humorous story of redemption. What it felt like to me instead was a series of emotional gut-punches where each revelation was worst than the last.
It wasn't that I didn't want to like Harriet - I really, really did - but then most of the book is about her miserable life and how it rendered her unable to be anything but a horrible mother to her daughter, much as her mother was to her.
Perhaps if I had gone in with a better idea of the tone of the book, I might have liked it more. Then again, perhaps I would have then avoided the experience altogether rather than reading something so depressing.
It wasn't that I didn't want to like Harriet - I really, really did - but then most of the book is about her miserable life and how it rendered her unable to be anything but a horrible mother to her daughter, much as her mother was to her.
Perhaps if I had gone in with a better idea of the tone of the book, I might have liked it more. Then again, perhaps I would have then avoided the experience altogether rather than reading something so depressing.
Overall this was a pretty great book. There were parts that were touching, funny, devastating, and lovely. I loved the format - when done well, having a non-linear timeline is wonderful and it was done well here.
What I didn't care for were the Bernard parts. I suppose they were added in to show that Harriet wasn't crazy, but they didn't improve anything about the story or the character developments, in my opinion.
As the book progresses, you get a deeper and more meaningful look at Harriet's life - the good and the awful. I think the strength of this book is in the realistic reactions and feelings that arise in Harriet, the other characters, and the reader as more and more is revealed. I felt like I knew Harriet and it made me want to keep reading well beyond my bedtime.
What I didn't care for were the Bernard parts. I suppose they were added in to show that Harriet wasn't crazy, but they didn't improve anything about the story or the character developments, in my opinion.
As the book progresses, you get a deeper and more meaningful look at Harriet's life - the good and the awful. I think the strength of this book is in the realistic reactions and feelings that arise in Harriet, the other characters, and the reader as more and more is revealed. I felt like I knew Harriet and it made me want to keep reading well beyond my bedtime.
A rich, smart, funny and engaging novel. Evison is such a gifted storyteller, and this book us a delight: insightful, humorous and with a handful of surprising bombshells for this cast of unforgettable characters. This is the third of his five novels I've read, and looking forward to his latest, Lawn Boy!