lucyreadingbooks's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
ruth_bookaddict's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
2.5
Spoiler
this book is full of problematic elements. I raced through it and really enjoyed it but, thinking back there were so many relationships that were dodgy and not really frowned upon. One of the only ‘nice characters has sex with someone he thinks is his niece and a teacher who has sex with a student is invited to a funeral and no one cares what he did (student is at funeral. Father has issue with lesbian daughter but is ok with this other stuff!richardpierce's review against another edition
4.0
When people think about intergenerational epics they have books in mind that span 500 or more pages. This is an epic on 260 pages, and it's an amazing and heart-rending story. There's sparse dialogue, and it's perfect because the narrative that's the story, and the people in it who live it. A must-read.
jillyfay's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting story told through 4+ generations in a Catholic family.
jasonfurman's review against another edition
5.0
An historical novel (with a man going off to fight in World War II and then Korea, the 1960s, and beyond). A Catholic novel (with generations of a family struggling with their relationship to Catholicism, falling in and out of observance). A trashy soap opera (with teenage pregnancies, concealed births, and incest). A dysfunctional family account (see the previous). And, mostly importantly, much for than the sum of its parts--Liars and Saints chronicles five generations of the Santerre, moving quickly in a short novel that seems to be both a complete account of several decades but also very light on the period detail or actual events, just capturing the most important turning points. Each short chapter is told from the perspective of a different character, alternating between more than a half dozen members of the family each of whom perceive events very differently--which sometimes is a matter of perception and sometimes is because they are lying to each other. It is very well written, feels very authentic, is a page turner but also feels like a deeper revelation about family dynamics and relationships as well.
alba_marie's review against another edition
3.0
{3 stars}
"He let her fall from his arms to the stone, but ther was no pain. She understood that she was going to meet her lord, and she remembered how wonderful that moment would be."
Liars and Saints is not a happy book. It is the tale of the Santerre family through the second half of the 20th century. They are hopelessly Catholic, and therefore consumed by shame, sin, repression, and an obsessive need to "be a family." Though well-written, Liars and Saints was not a particularly engaging the book. It purports to be a family saga, but is just 250 pages long. It does not have a narrator, but instead skips around to various 3rd-person POVs throughout the book. Because of the shortness of the text, we just get snippets of things that happen, with a few pages seeing the birth of a baby to the child becoming a toddler and then suddenly in school, but then we get several pages that delve into some specific incident in depth, before jutting forward more years in the next chapter.
As far as I could tell, no one was happy. There were a few brief moments of sort-of happiness, all of which seemed occur to people in their teens and twenties, and then they spent the rest of their lives miserable. Because they were all VERY Catholic (too Catholic), there was a lot of talk about what god would do and what god thinks blah blah blah -it got tiresome to hear Yvette and Teddy harp on about god as if he was their best friend who lived next door.
No one was likeable. And this weird little family somehow managed not only to have a homosexual couple (of course not accepted by the insane catholics) but also plenty of incest, adultery, divorce, teen pregnancies and secret babies.
I think the main thing to like about the book was Maile Maloy's writing, which is lyrical and Literary (with a capital L). She is a good writer, I just can't say that was very interested or invested in her choice of subject matter. I think fans of Steinbeck, Hemingway, Faulker, that sort of American-style writer, might like this book.
The second half of the 20th century is surely one of the periods of history that I find least interesting. In the book, the family was so invested in themselves that exterior events had little impact on their lives (with the exceptions being WWII and the Vietnam War). But this is not historical fiction. In fact, it could have been set in any time period where women's lives were literally "you're a baby maker, and that's all." There were no dates, so it was sort of timeless, which I found unsettling.
The author would include tidbits like the president was assassinated, or Duran Duran is popular, or how the Serbians were the "bad guys" in the child's playground game, or vague references to the Gulf War - but these were easy to miss, and also, not being interested in US history or world history past about 1935, I don't know these dates by heart and didn't care enough to look. I felt slightly cheated that there wasn't more emphasis on daily lives in the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s like there would be in real historical fiction.
In the end, this was a lyrical but ultimately plotless book that is heavily character driven and morosely bleak - not really my cup of tea. I prefer family sagas in which each generation gets a proper story (in the Edward Rutherford variety - but beware, his are hefty tomes of 800 pages!), and books with a less desolate outlook. It's a pretty fast read though!
"He let her fall from his arms to the stone, but ther was no pain. She understood that she was going to meet her lord, and she remembered how wonderful that moment would be."
Liars and Saints is not a happy book. It is the tale of the Santerre family through the second half of the 20th century. They are hopelessly Catholic, and therefore consumed by shame, sin, repression, and an obsessive need to "be a family." Though well-written, Liars and Saints was not a particularly engaging the book. It purports to be a family saga, but is just 250 pages long. It does not have a narrator, but instead skips around to various 3rd-person POVs throughout the book. Because of the shortness of the text, we just get snippets of things that happen, with a few pages seeing the birth of a baby to the child becoming a toddler and then suddenly in school, but then we get several pages that delve into some specific incident in depth, before jutting forward more years in the next chapter.
As far as I could tell, no one was happy. There were a few brief moments of sort-of happiness, all of which seemed occur to people in their teens and twenties, and then they spent the rest of their lives miserable. Because they were all VERY Catholic (too Catholic), there was a lot of talk about what god would do and what god thinks blah blah blah -it got tiresome to hear Yvette and Teddy harp on about god as if he was their best friend who lived next door.
No one was likeable. And this weird little family somehow managed not only to have a homosexual couple (of course not accepted by the insane catholics) but also plenty of incest, adultery, divorce, teen pregnancies and secret babies.
I think the main thing to like about the book was Maile Maloy's writing, which is lyrical and Literary (with a capital L). She is a good writer, I just can't say that was very interested or invested in her choice of subject matter. I think fans of Steinbeck, Hemingway, Faulker, that sort of American-style writer, might like this book.
The second half of the 20th century is surely one of the periods of history that I find least interesting. In the book, the family was so invested in themselves that exterior events had little impact on their lives (with the exceptions being WWII and the Vietnam War). But this is not historical fiction. In fact, it could have been set in any time period where women's lives were literally "you're a baby maker, and that's all." There were no dates, so it was sort of timeless, which I found unsettling.
The author would include tidbits like the president was assassinated, or Duran Duran is popular, or how the Serbians were the "bad guys" in the child's playground game, or vague references to the Gulf War - but these were easy to miss, and also, not being interested in US history or world history past about 1935, I don't know these dates by heart and didn't care enough to look. I felt slightly cheated that there wasn't more emphasis on daily lives in the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s like there would be in real historical fiction.
In the end, this was a lyrical but ultimately plotless book that is heavily character driven and morosely bleak - not really my cup of tea. I prefer family sagas in which each generation gets a proper story (in the Edward Rutherford variety - but beware, his are hefty tomes of 800 pages!), and books with a less desolate outlook. It's a pretty fast read though!
msmandrake's review against another edition
1.0
I originally bought this ages ago, I guess partly because it is initially set in Hermosa Beach, CA, near where I live, thought that might be interesting, but the only place name that pops up is "Hermosa High"...which does not exist. Is that intentional, if so, why can't the characters go to a real school, or was it just lack of research? Nitpicky, I know, but that is what I do best. Now the story, it's told at warp speed, if you miss a paragraph accidentally a newborn baby might have just entered seventh grade. This results in a lack of connection with the characters, at least for me. I almost abandoned it fairly early in, but it got a little more interesting and I kept on. Then a really ridiculous thing happens, followed by another, incredibly melodramatic thing, and I threw up my hands in despair and although I finished it, I decided that I really didn't like this book. It is off into the donate pile.
PS (the song is called "El Paso", not "The Ballad of El Paso" ....can't anyone look anything up and get it right? As a Nitpicker, I hate silly errors that no one catches)
PS (the song is called "El Paso", not "The Ballad of El Paso" ....can't anyone look anything up and get it right? As a Nitpicker, I hate silly errors that no one catches)
penguinsliketoread's review
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Oh, this was quite the page-turner!
It's been a while since I've read a book that I didn't couldn't put down. So much happens in this book over the course of many years which is kind of impressive considering how short the book is. A first I felt as though they were telling the story too fast, but I got used to it and liked how quickly the story progresses.
While I wish some characters were developed more, I overall really enjoyed reading this book.
It's been a while since I've read a book that I didn't couldn't put down. So much happens in this book over the course of many years which is kind of impressive considering how short the book is. A first I felt as though they were telling the story too fast, but I got used to it and liked how quickly the story progresses.
While I wish some characters were developed more, I overall really enjoyed reading this book.
jessalynn_librarian's review against another edition
4.0
This feels substantially longer than it really is - and that's a good thing - as it covers spans of years in a few pages. Starting during WWII and continuing up until the present, we follow one family's story. Much is left to the imagination in spare detail, but the story still has a the weight of a good, satisfying saga. Recommended for when you just want a good book. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel, A Family Daughter, which looks like it turns a lot of Liars and Saints on its head.