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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Perhaps this novel failed to impress me because I have recently read several nonfiction books about caring for dying relatives and managing in the wake of such a loss. I have enjoyed other novels by Tyler. This one seemed to never get very deep into the subject matter.
I liked the concept. Aaron, who works for a vanity press, loses his wife Dorothy to a freak accident. We watch him struggle to re-engage in life after this loss. He avoids going home, he has stilted relationships with others, he reviews their married life and finds it unremarkable. But the oddest consequence is the way Dorothy appears now and again, reinserting herself quietly into Aaron's life. Somehow, Tyler keeps this book one about the quiet struggles of day-to-day life--even with this novel's paranormal dimension. Aaron responds so matter-of-factly to Dorothy's appearances, showing indirectly that it's her absence that is the unexpected, grotesque, and paranormal for him.
Perhaps the treatment would have been more suitable for the length of a short story. Tyler herself lost her husband in 1997, so she has the experience to inform this story. Maybe her message is too subtle for me to decode.
I liked the concept. Aaron, who works for a vanity press, loses his wife Dorothy to a freak accident. We watch him struggle to re-engage in life after this loss. He avoids going home, he has stilted relationships with others, he reviews their married life and finds it unremarkable. But the oddest consequence is the way Dorothy appears now and again, reinserting herself quietly into Aaron's life. Somehow, Tyler keeps this book one about the quiet struggles of day-to-day life--even with this novel's paranormal dimension. Aaron responds so matter-of-factly to Dorothy's appearances, showing indirectly that it's her absence that is the unexpected, grotesque, and paranormal for him.
Perhaps the treatment would have been more suitable for the length of a short story. Tyler herself lost her husband in 1997, so she has the experience to inform this story. Maybe her message is too subtle for me to decode.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Reading an Anne Tyler novel means spending time in a pleasant world where people are mostly kind and nobody ever shouts. (This was the perfect antidote to watching all the evil on display in The Dark Knight Rises last night.) Tyler intends the main character to be irascible, but on the continuum of humanity I think he's a pretty easy-going guy. I'm glad that he gets a happy ending.
I think I like this better than any of Tyler's novels since Breathing Lessons. Sad fact: She has said that she thinks this one will be her final book.
I think I like this better than any of Tyler's novels since Breathing Lessons. Sad fact: She has said that she thinks this one will be her final book.
I love Anne Tyler no matter what she writes. I think i'd give 5 stars to every one of her books. You care about her characters as if they were your friends...
emotional
fast-paced
I got about halfway through the book and then just couldn't take Aaron's oddly old-fashioned speech/views any more. I know he isn't *really* old-fashioned since he chooses to marry a woman that won't smother him or bother about doing the laundry/cooking, but to proclaim that a woman who paints her toenails has something to hide suggests that he has weird standards. Also, generally the people I know that say "say" as an exclamation are in their fifties and don't believe women should be like Dorothy, Aaron's wife.
All that said, I also didn't really like Dorothy. I didn't feel like I got much of who she was, other than stubborn, slightly bitchy, and the opposite of the smothering women in Aaron's life. I skipped to the end.
It was fine, but I'm pretty sure I'll forget about it within a few days.
All that said, I also didn't really like Dorothy. I didn't feel like I got much of who she was, other than stubborn, slightly bitchy, and the opposite of the smothering women in Aaron's life. I skipped to the end.
It was fine, but I'm pretty sure I'll forget about it within a few days.
It wasn't my favorite Anne Tyler book, but there were moments that just enchanted me. I adore her.
What an enjoyable read. Started it one day, finished it the next. It had moments of humor and poignancy.