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A review by notrachel
Family History by Dani Shapiro
3.0
still processing...I'll edit this later.
(edit) 5/26/2015
I first read Shapiro's Still Writing. Then I read Devotion. So I went into this having become a fan of her style. It was interesting to read this after reading Devotion because of the overlap in contentious mother/daughter relationships. When I was reading the beginning of Family History I had the thought that this reminded me of some other character who had problems with her mother...only to realize it was Devotion (which is a memoir) that I was remembering. Also the similarity with an incident regarding a young child in Family History and Shapiro's own son. I can't really accuse Shapiro of being derivative or repetitive...Family History was published first and Devotion was non-fiction, so. It just is. As a dabbling writer, I often fictionalize events from my life as a way to cope, to investigate.
Putting that plot similarity aside (which isn't the whole book in either case) I liked this...I didn't love it (as I did my previous reads of her books). It felt like an early work (in comparison to her other books...not to things I've read in general). But the style that I have come to appreciate- slow but rhythmic like breathing, introspective without being neurotic or obsessive- is definitely there though a touch unrefined. Also, there is a turning point in the history of these characters...but nothing is ever made of it, nothing is ever settled or found out. Focus is switched to a another point...but I kept thinking something would happen with an earlier moment (the story is told non-sequentially). I kept hoping until the end, but there was no resolution. I try to be okay with a lack of resolution...but such a big deal was made of the change in this character that to delve into something else...why?
Actually rating would be 3.5 if I could rate on the half-star.
(edit) 5/26/2015
I first read Shapiro's Still Writing. Then I read Devotion. So I went into this having become a fan of her style. It was interesting to read this after reading Devotion because of the overlap in contentious mother/daughter relationships. When I was reading the beginning of Family History I had the thought that this reminded me of some other character who had problems with her mother...only to realize it was Devotion (which is a memoir) that I was remembering. Also the similarity with an incident regarding a young child in Family History and Shapiro's own son. I can't really accuse Shapiro of being derivative or repetitive...Family History was published first and Devotion was non-fiction, so. It just is. As a dabbling writer, I often fictionalize events from my life as a way to cope, to investigate.
Putting that plot similarity aside (which isn't the whole book in either case) I liked this...I didn't love it (as I did my previous reads of her books). It felt like an early work (in comparison to her other books...not to things I've read in general). But the style that I have come to appreciate- slow but rhythmic like breathing, introspective without being neurotic or obsessive- is definitely there though a touch unrefined. Also, there is a turning point in the history of these characters...but nothing is ever made of it, nothing is ever settled or found out. Focus is switched to a another point...but I kept thinking something would happen with an earlier moment (the story is told non-sequentially). I kept hoping until the end, but there was no resolution. I try to be okay with a lack of resolution...but such a big deal was made of the change in this character that to delve into something else...why?
Actually rating would be 3.5 if I could rate on the half-star.