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3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
Much darker than I thought, and really not in a funny way. I did enjoy the read as it reminded me of the many ways girls and later on in life women lose themselves. The loss is either at the hands of a predator, body images, cultural expectations, self-esteem, etc. it is a sad story and unfortunately a reminder that for many there is no happy ending, but maybe peace.
(First appeared at http://www.thenewdorkreviewofbooks.com/2015/09/this-is-your-life-harriet-chance-evison.html)
Normally, I'd avoid a novel about a 78-year-old woman like, well, a real-life 78-year-old woman in a grocery store line. But a novel about a 78-year-old woman written by Jonathan Evison? I'm all in! And this is great.
Harriet Chance has lived a long and fruitful life, and soon after Bernard, her husband of fifty-plus years, dies, she learns he'd won an Alaska cruise, which he'd never collected, at a silent auction. She decides YOLO, and goes, even after her friend Mildred bails on her, and her two grown (and scheming) children, Skip and Caroline, try to talk her out of it.
Along the way, though, we delve back into Harriet's life in short snippets of story (told in the style of the radio program "This Is Your Life"; "Look at you Harriet, a grown woman!", i.e.) that show her at various formative stages. All this gives context for the real-time action, and the revelation of a secret about Bernard that Harriet discovers not long after she's embarked on the cruise. It's a secret that changes everything...dum dum dum.
But the intriguing thing here is that we soon learn that Harriet harbors her own skeleton(s), and isn't completely blameless. Evison's revelations are carefully placed and tug us along through the narrative at just the perfect times. It's a near-perfectly constructed novel, is what I'm saying.
One of my favorite parts of this novel is how it subtly scolds readers for our (or maybe just my?) stereotypes of and annoyances with the elderly. Indeed, there's even a scene, at a time in the novel when we're at maximum sads for Harriet, when she struggles with her coupons in the grocery store, and the line behind her gets impatient. I'm not going to lie, I was a little ashamed of myself when I read that part.
Overall, though, this is quick, charming, delightful, if often sad, read. As was the case with The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, Evison's terrific 2012 novel (soon to be a movie with Paul Rudd, by the way), Evison is fantastic at somehow making his readers happy while reading a sad story. You'll read this quickly, and if you're like me, you'll really dig it.
Normally, I'd avoid a novel about a 78-year-old woman like, well, a real-life 78-year-old woman in a grocery store line. But a novel about a 78-year-old woman written by Jonathan Evison? I'm all in! And this is great.
Harriet Chance has lived a long and fruitful life, and soon after Bernard, her husband of fifty-plus years, dies, she learns he'd won an Alaska cruise, which he'd never collected, at a silent auction. She decides YOLO, and goes, even after her friend Mildred bails on her, and her two grown (and scheming) children, Skip and Caroline, try to talk her out of it.
Along the way, though, we delve back into Harriet's life in short snippets of story (told in the style of the radio program "This Is Your Life"; "Look at you Harriet, a grown woman!", i.e.) that show her at various formative stages. All this gives context for the real-time action, and the revelation of a secret about Bernard that Harriet discovers not long after she's embarked on the cruise. It's a secret that changes everything...dum dum dum.
But the intriguing thing here is that we soon learn that Harriet harbors her own skeleton(s), and isn't completely blameless. Evison's revelations are carefully placed and tug us along through the narrative at just the perfect times. It's a near-perfectly constructed novel, is what I'm saying.
One of my favorite parts of this novel is how it subtly scolds readers for our (or maybe just my?) stereotypes of and annoyances with the elderly. Indeed, there's even a scene, at a time in the novel when we're at maximum sads for Harriet, when she struggles with her coupons in the grocery store, and the line behind her gets impatient. I'm not going to lie, I was a little ashamed of myself when I read that part.
Overall, though, this is quick, charming, delightful, if often sad, read. As was the case with The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, Evison's terrific 2012 novel (soon to be a movie with Paul Rudd, by the way), Evison is fantastic at somehow making his readers happy while reading a sad story. You'll read this quickly, and if you're like me, you'll really dig it.
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
While this book seeks to deliver a realization of life to the reader, it comes across as rather cliche. I read this for a book club but would not have chosen it for myself.
I wanted to like this book. Said no good review ever.
Sadly, I just ended up vaguely irritated with all the main characters.
You can read the blurb, Harriet at 79 goes on a cruise that her late husband won. But it’s more than that as Harriet kind of goes through a review of her life. All good. But it think I wanted Harriet to be less Old - she’s only 79, not 99, age is all in the mind I guess. Maybe the point is that she is trapped in gender roles her whole life ... even after her husband died. How depressing.
So, it’s just not enough. I wavered over 2 and 2.5 stars, but in the end it’s a solid 2 because I felt let down.
Sadly, I just ended up vaguely irritated with all the main characters.
You can read the blurb, Harriet at 79 goes on a cruise that her late husband won. But it’s more than that as Harriet kind of goes through a review of her life. All good. But it think I wanted Harriet to be less Old - she’s only 79, not 99, age is all in the mind I guess. Maybe the point is that she is trapped in gender roles her whole life ... even after her husband died. How depressing.
So, it’s just not enough. I wavered over 2 and 2.5 stars, but in the end it’s a solid 2 because I felt let down.
Jonathan Evison pulls no punches in his portrait of Harriet Chance looking back on 78 years of life. He careens through her life like the ball in a pinball machine, offering us snippets of Harriet over the years. Like us all, it has not all been a fairy tale. Evison frames his portrait with devastating news which requires Harriet to reconsider the circumstances of her life. While Evison has given us ample evidence of the negative aspects of Harriet's personality, the reader can't help but feel sympathy for her as she reels in the discovery of numerous betrayals. Ultimately we are given a nuanced portrait of a life lived although I found myself annoyed by Evison's game show gimmicks as he escorted us through Harriet's life.
Eh. I listened to the whole book but didn't connect with the main character as much as I really wanted to.
relatively quick to read, but it will stay with me for a while. both bright and perky and dark at the same time. the moments of our lives that change us, that stay with us, that define us. and how we can change those things.
I'm always in for well developed elderly female characters and this one fit that bill. No spoilers, but there were two major plot points that spoke specifically to women's experiences that were used as emotional shorthand that threw this off for me, especially toward the end. The first half (two thirds, even) was pretty great though.
5: This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! by Jonathan Evison...a bit of lighter reading for a few days.
Not without its realistic and thought-filled take on how our individual responses to events and actions we take--really every single fork in the road--get us to "live" the lives that we do, it is in ways a tad "flip" about little things that really are big things so maybe reads as "light" when it is actually kind of heavy.
Harriet is 78 "now," widowed and going on an Alaskan cruise, but the book hops all over the place, section by quick section, filling us in on the vast number of events in Harriet's life that got her--and her husband, her daughter, her son-- with her to here. It actually ends up being a somewhat enjoyable trip through the decades, both in Harriet's fashion, her internalized concerns, and more going on at those times in general.
It's a thought-provoking read. I think you might like it!
Not without its realistic and thought-filled take on how our individual responses to events and actions we take--really every single fork in the road--get us to "live" the lives that we do, it is in ways a tad "flip" about little things that really are big things so maybe reads as "light" when it is actually kind of heavy.
Harriet is 78 "now," widowed and going on an Alaskan cruise, but the book hops all over the place, section by quick section, filling us in on the vast number of events in Harriet's life that got her--and her husband, her daughter, her son-- with her to here. It actually ends up being a somewhat enjoyable trip through the decades, both in Harriet's fashion, her internalized concerns, and more going on at those times in general.
It's a thought-provoking read. I think you might like it!
This book lacked all of the charm and most of the heart that Evison's previous novel had. I wanted so much more and was sorely disappointed by the way the book was setup, narrated, the story that was told, and the "resolution".