Scan barcode
A review by lindseypinzy
A Widow's Story by Joyce Carol Oates
I dont think I have ever gone without "star rating" a book, but there is no possible way to rate this book on a scale of 1 to 5.
I dont even know if I enjoyed this book or not. I admire the author for putting all of her fears and worries on a page. I have lost someone very close to me before (not a spouse, but a very close friend) and her feelings resonated with me.
But then her stubbornness to actually GRIEVE just angered me. Though we all grieve in different ways, I felt like her refusal to cancel any classes (she is/was a college professor) or speaking engagements was, in a way, disrespectful towards the loss of her husband.
And not that it makes it any less of a loss, but her husband was SEVENTY EIGHT. This book read as if he was THIRTY EIGHT.
(She also got remarried a year after her first husband passed... which seemed to bother most reviewers- professional and or otherwise. Once again, everyone grieves in different ways for different periods of time, and I have no right to judge her.)
To sum it up: I judged her pretty harshly for what she wrote in this book, which I shouldn't have and I appreciate her capturing the grief one feels after an unexpected loss. That's all I've got...
I dont even know if I enjoyed this book or not. I admire the author for putting all of her fears and worries on a page. I have lost someone very close to me before (not a spouse, but a very close friend) and her feelings resonated with me.
But then her stubbornness to actually GRIEVE just angered me. Though we all grieve in different ways, I felt like her refusal to cancel any classes (she is/was a college professor) or speaking engagements was, in a way, disrespectful towards the loss of her husband.
And not that it makes it any less of a loss, but her husband was SEVENTY EIGHT. This book read as if he was THIRTY EIGHT.
(She also got remarried a year after her first husband passed... which seemed to bother most reviewers- professional and or otherwise. Once again, everyone grieves in different ways for different periods of time, and I have no right to judge her.)
To sum it up: I judged her pretty harshly for what she wrote in this book, which I shouldn't have and I appreciate her capturing the grief one feels after an unexpected loss. That's all I've got...