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A review by danchibnall
A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
3.0
I enjoyed this but also found it rather strange. This is just a short review but here were some of my issues with it:
1. I find the narrator's inner voice not believable. It's difficult to determine if the narrator is older now and is looking back on her time in college and is yet somehow remembering all these vivid details. Or is the narrator 20 years old and somehow has a more well-developed mind than her character seems to possess. The language is beautiful and Moore has an elegant style, but this bothered me a bit.
2. The characters are way too archetypal. I know the points Moore is trying to make with these characters, but I felt like I was taking a Symbolism in Literature course while reading it.
3. The boyfriend as possible terrorist thing was strange. It seemed very out of place.
At first I wasn't wild about how the babysitting gig just ended, but then I realized that the whole ending of the book is a series of things that end before they're supposed to, i.e. her brother's life, the restaurant, the relationship with the boyfriend, the relationship with Mary-Emma, etc. That was actually a great stroke by Moore and I applaud her for it.
1. I find the narrator's inner voice not believable. It's difficult to determine if the narrator is older now and is looking back on her time in college and is yet somehow remembering all these vivid details. Or is the narrator 20 years old and somehow has a more well-developed mind than her character seems to possess. The language is beautiful and Moore has an elegant style, but this bothered me a bit.
2. The characters are way too archetypal. I know the points Moore is trying to make with these characters, but I felt like I was taking a Symbolism in Literature course while reading it.
3. The boyfriend as possible terrorist thing was strange. It seemed very out of place.
At first I wasn't wild about how the babysitting gig just ended, but then I realized that the whole ending of the book is a series of things that end before they're supposed to, i.e. her brother's life, the restaurant, the relationship with the boyfriend, the relationship with Mary-Emma, etc. That was actually a great stroke by Moore and I applaud her for it.