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A review by batrock
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
5.0
The coveted Alex Five. I decided that sure, Commonwealth deserves it. This is a book that starts solidly, then decides to wrong foot the reader at every turn thereafter. To Patchett, time is not a linear construct - as long as the first scene in the book and the last scene are the first and last chronologically, she's happy.
So Commonwealth is a book about a collection of people whose lives intersect to greater and lesser degrees as their lives progress; being a family saga, it's not about any specific event, but rather the cumulative effects of co-existence. There's a mystery to unpack that's solved elliptically, turning out to be not much of one at all. Spanning fifty years, there are chances for constant evolution and turnarounds.
The one tip I could give is don't read the blurb. Commonwealth follows its own trajectory, and to nail it down to any single moment would be a mistake: its unique progression and precision of insight makes it a singularly enjoyable book.
So Commonwealth is a book about a collection of people whose lives intersect to greater and lesser degrees as their lives progress; being a family saga, it's not about any specific event, but rather the cumulative effects of co-existence. There's a mystery to unpack that's solved elliptically, turning out to be not much of one at all. Spanning fifty years, there are chances for constant evolution and turnarounds.
The one tip I could give is don't read the blurb. Commonwealth follows its own trajectory, and to nail it down to any single moment would be a mistake: its unique progression and precision of insight makes it a singularly enjoyable book.