The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! š
eososray's review against another edition
5.0
I like the meandering style of this family story.
I was rather partial to the story gaps, where chapters would start 2-9 years later and you are left to catch up on what had happened and what was happening. I found it an enticing way to read a story.
The almost never judgmental love that is portrayed in the story is a nice change from the often dysfunctional families in so many books.
I also like how, for the most part, the entire story focuses on the people in the family. Not on the changing world around them or even how those changes are effecting them. It's just about family dynamics through 50 years of love, tragedy, marriage, divorce, death and children.
I was rather partial to the story gaps, where chapters would start 2-9 years later and you are left to catch up on what had happened and what was happening. I found it an enticing way to read a story.
The almost never judgmental love that is portrayed in the story is a nice change from the often dysfunctional families in so many books.
I also like how, for the most part, the entire story focuses on the people in the family. Not on the changing world around them or even how those changes are effecting them. It's just about family dynamics through 50 years of love, tragedy, marriage, divorce, death and children.
novelesque_life's review against another edition
4.0
4 STARS
"A Good House begins in 1949 in Stonebrook, Ontario, home to the Chambers family. The postwar boom and hope for the future color every facet of life: the possibilities seem limitless for Bill, his wife Sylvia, and their three children.
In the fifty years that follow, the possibilities narrow. Sylvia's untimely death marks her family indelibly but in ways only time will reveal. Paul's perfect marriage yields an imperfect child. Daphne unabashedly follows an unconventional path, while Patrick discovers that his happiness requires a series of compromises. Bill confronts the onset of old age less gracefully than anticipated, and throughout, his second wife, Margaret, remains, surprisingly, the family anchor."
(From Amazon)
I had no expectations of this novel but WOW what a great read...and it's Canadian. A look at a family in the post-WWII. A Canadian Jennifer Haigh in my opinion. Hurry up and write more, please.
"A Good House begins in 1949 in Stonebrook, Ontario, home to the Chambers family. The postwar boom and hope for the future color every facet of life: the possibilities seem limitless for Bill, his wife Sylvia, and their three children.
In the fifty years that follow, the possibilities narrow. Sylvia's untimely death marks her family indelibly but in ways only time will reveal. Paul's perfect marriage yields an imperfect child. Daphne unabashedly follows an unconventional path, while Patrick discovers that his happiness requires a series of compromises. Bill confronts the onset of old age less gracefully than anticipated, and throughout, his second wife, Margaret, remains, surprisingly, the family anchor."
(From Amazon)
I had no expectations of this novel but WOW what a great read...and it's Canadian. A look at a family in the post-WWII. A Canadian Jennifer Haigh in my opinion. Hurry up and write more, please.
meganturnsthepage's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
griffk07's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Thereās a bit of back and forth through time that can get confusing but it takes you through the whole life span of a family.Ā
katymvt's review against another edition
3.0
It was well-written, but the problem with a book spanning 5 or 6 decades and three generations is that there are too many characters and too much left out time. The only characters I really liked where Paul and Andy Others, I didn't really get to know well enough to like, or were just downright awful. Maybe if I could see more into their motiviations, I would have liked them more, but I'll never know.
kristamccracken's review against another edition
4.0
Burnard's depiction of small town Canada and the trials of a family are spot on. A Good House follows the Chambers family for fifty years and across multiple generations. At times the abundance of grandchildren and multitude of names do become a bit confusing, but this doesn't impact the story negatively -- rather it made me think of the large families were even the family members have a hard time remembering everyone sometimes.
The story is simple and does a good job of being true to real life. I also really enjoyed Burnard's use of actual places - the University of Western Ontario, Grand Bend, and countless other Southern Ontario landmarks. This accurate landscape helped me imagine a real family living their lives in the small town of Stonebrook.
The story is simple and does a good job of being true to real life. I also really enjoyed Burnard's use of actual places - the University of Western Ontario, Grand Bend, and countless other Southern Ontario landmarks. This accurate landscape helped me imagine a real family living their lives in the small town of Stonebrook.
bookthia's review against another edition
4.0
The 2000 Giller Prize winner, this book is like looking through old family movies after a family dinner. I feel all warm, cozy and filled up.
eileen9311's review against another edition
4.0
This I loved! It was an old fashioned, generational family saga, with the writing so beautiful that you were unaware somehow. The tale meandered, much as life does, with evolving relationships and emerging tolerances. There were brief hints of the typical Canadian arrogance towards Americans, but I can forgive her that. I was disappointed to learn that Bonnie Burnard's additional work consists only of a couple of short story collections and one other novel. That one looks as though it may be heavy going, but I will probably be unable to resist.