Scan barcode
A review by dilchh
Be Frank With Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson
4.0
This has good to be one of those "feel good" books that I've read this year. I really didn't expect to like it. To be completely honest it was a matter of random choice when I picked this book up, but once I did, it was really hard to put it down.
To put it simply, this book is so simple. It is a story. Yep that's pretty much it. There were nothing elaborate about it. The simplicity is what made this book so enjoyable. Alice as the main character is not the perfect character you would have expect. The quiet ones with hidden arsenal that will change the course of life of the other characters. Nope, not Alice. Alice is like us. Alice is the people living in the background of our lives. But, that is why it was interesting to listen to Alice. That she is who she is, regardless of how imperfect she made herself to be, we never get the feel that she's actually perfect. She is imperfect. Just like Mimi is so annoying, even though she was such an acclaimed author. Just like Xander is a no good thing, even though he is supposed to be incredibly and extremely handsome.
The story is sweet, endearing, and bittersweet. But, above all, it is honest. You would expect that reading this book, some miraculous thing would happen, like maybe Frank will be accepted by his friends regardless of how different he is, or Mimi will love and accept Alice, or Xander will be responsible, or Alice finally made something of her life by the time the book ends. But, no. No such thing had happened.
But, it doesn't matter. Because not all stories has to have endings where everybody is happy and all problems seem to resolve itself. Just like life, stories can end abruptly. Whilst I was surprised by the time I read the last page (I really thought it was going to be something more), I ended up feeling the ending was the perfect ending. That just because a story ends, doesn't mean it is the final to everything. I love it.
Now, if just I would know what the story that Mimi wrote.
To put it simply, this book is so simple. It is a story. Yep that's pretty much it. There were nothing elaborate about it. The simplicity is what made this book so enjoyable. Alice as the main character is not the perfect character you would have expect. The quiet ones with hidden arsenal that will change the course of life of the other characters. Nope, not Alice. Alice is like us. Alice is the people living in the background of our lives. But, that is why it was interesting to listen to Alice. That she is who she is, regardless of how imperfect she made herself to be, we never get the feel that she's actually perfect. She is imperfect. Just like Mimi is so annoying, even though she was such an acclaimed author. Just like Xander is a no good thing, even though he is supposed to be incredibly and extremely handsome.
The story is sweet, endearing, and bittersweet. But, above all, it is honest. You would expect that reading this book, some miraculous thing would happen, like maybe Frank will be accepted by his friends regardless of how different he is, or Mimi will love and accept Alice, or Xander will be responsible, or Alice finally made something of her life by the time the book ends. But, no. No such thing had happened.
But, it doesn't matter. Because not all stories has to have endings where everybody is happy and all problems seem to resolve itself. Just like life, stories can end abruptly. Whilst I was surprised by the time I read the last page (I really thought it was going to be something more), I ended up feeling the ending was the perfect ending. That just because a story ends, doesn't mean it is the final to everything. I love it.
Now, if just I would know what the story that Mimi wrote.