A review by bookishlibrarian
Love and Shame and Love by Peter Orner
3.0
I almost gave up on this book several times, but I'm glad I stuck with it to the end. This is the story of several generations of the Popper family. Instead of the sweeping epic you might expect, it's told in short bursts, collections of small, mostly ordinary moments among ordinary people. Most of the big events that happen to the family occur offstage or are referenced obliquely. Some of the set pieces are so well-done that minor characters--a music teacher, an old-boys-club judge--are more memorable than the Popper family. I got a little Stuart Dybek feel (one of my favorite writers)at times, although that may be because Chicago is featured so prominently, although Orner's Chicago is heavy on the Democratic political subculture (with a defense of Walter Mondale and Michael Dukakis)instead of Dybek's Polish Catholic neighborhoods.
With the constantly shifting time periods and perspectives and sections not longer than a couple of pages, so much of the story of this family seemed to take place in the gaps, what wasn't said or explicitly spelled out in the book and what the family members didn't say to each other. As a result, the characters in the book seemed to repeat the same patterns of the previous generation. It made for a sometimes frustrating reading experience, but more resonant in retrospect.
With the constantly shifting time periods and perspectives and sections not longer than a couple of pages, so much of the story of this family seemed to take place in the gaps, what wasn't said or explicitly spelled out in the book and what the family members didn't say to each other. As a result, the characters in the book seemed to repeat the same patterns of the previous generation. It made for a sometimes frustrating reading experience, but more resonant in retrospect.