rwaringcrane's review against another edition
4.0
Hempl writes memoir with the artistic flair of fiction. Her poignant account of her mother's passing includes detailed descriptions of St. Paul neighborhoods, her father's work as a florist, her own desire to reach beyond "the middle" of everything.
A historian friend loaned this title to me. After reading it I'm sure that the writer's clever weaving of time and place must be why she recommended it.
A historian friend loaned this title to me. After reading it I'm sure that the writer's clever weaving of time and place must be why she recommended it.
k5tog's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to like this book, I really did. Old St Paul history. Local flavor... But the writing was just too flowery for me (although, that is appropriate I guess since the author was the daughter of a florist).
snowmaiden's review against another edition
3.0
On the whole, I enjoyed reading this book. A lot of the details of Hampl's life-- growing up in the Upper Midwest, living with parents of two very different temperaments from two very different ethnic backgrounds, becoming a writer to the mixed pride and incomprehension of her parents-- are similar to my own. Hampl is also a very good writer at the paragraph level. However, I think this book could have used much more editing than it got. There are several anecdotes that she repeats several times throughout the book. She does give different details each time, so I guess it's possible that this was a stylistic choice, but I got the feeling that she had just written up these stories every time she thought of them and no one ever went back and decided which ones to take out. It gave the book a choppy feeling and took me out of the flow each time this happened.
bwreads's review against another edition
1.0
I only read the first fifty pages, and found absolutely nothing in this book that would compel me to continue. I only read that far because it was a book club choice, and I thought if everyone talked it up, I would finish. But nobody liked it.
Basically, it was like a lady I didn't know suddenly started complaining to me about her life, but I had no way of connecting with her at all, and there wasn't any story to it. It was just a stranger complaining. I was bored.
Basically, it was like a lady I didn't know suddenly started complaining to me about her life, but I had no way of connecting with her at all, and there wasn't any story to it. It was just a stranger complaining. I was bored.
jessicaz's review against another edition
Hmm...I want to love this book because she is faculty at the U and also from St. Paul...but its almost too poetic and lyrical for me. This says more about my sophistication as a reader (or lack thereof) than her writing ability/style, though...
libkatem's review against another edition
4.0
Hampl makes me feel nostalgic for St Paul, though I only live ten minutes from there. Honestly. The way she describes her childhood, her growing up Catholic and Irish and Czech reminds me of my childhood, growing up Catholic and Irish and German. The death of her parents is something I dread with my own parents. And I long to escape, to go somewhere, to do something important, but will probably, ultimately, never truly be able to leave Old St Paul- I still call Macy's Dayton's, and I go to Landmark and the Library that's named for the Empire Builder that lives on the top of the hill.
marielee207's review against another edition
5.0
Love all her work; this book is surprisingly fierce.
claireak95's review
4.0
I didn't pick out this book but I somewhat enjoyed it. It's a memoir of just like a regular person and it is very well written as far as her words. However the story was a bit all over the place, telling about her childhood but also about her mother dying much later on. But you really got a fairly good understanding of her family, mostly her parents. 3.5/5 stars.
There was one quote I especially liked so I'm going to put it in here: "The ice, so new, made a particular sound - not a squeak, not a hiss, but a cello note like heavy silk slowly, intentionally ripped - grasped the heart and made you insanely happy to be alive."
There was one quote I especially liked so I'm going to put it in here: "The ice, so new, made a particular sound - not a squeak, not a hiss, but a cello note like heavy silk slowly, intentionally ripped - grasped the heart and made you insanely happy to be alive."
rdebner's review against another edition
3.0
The major reason that I enjoyed this book is that the author has lived all her life near the neighborhood I last lived in in St. Paul. Even though the city has changed very much over the time span that the book encompasses, and in some way is unrecognizable to me, who only lived there for a little less than 3 years, it was still like comfort food. The book serves as a memoir of her parents, but also of the writer herself, in her meditations of what it is to be a daughter who has always been there -- and then who will she be when her parents are gone.