The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs by Matthew Dicks

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

25331993

Caroline Jacobs was generally a quiet, reserved, almost meek person in her community.  So when she suddenly uttered a fairly obscene outburst at the PTA meeting, insulting the queen bee of the moms, it was unclear what was going on.  When her daughter Polly was brought to the principal’s office the next day, it just seemed to be the right thing to steal Polly away and take her on a journey – a journey to correct the mistake she’d made years ago in high school that had overshadowed her entire life from then on.

While at first this story is somewhat entertaining and a little suspenseful (you are curious what this incident was that she needs to correct) and how she “killed” her younger sister, which is foreshadowed early in the book, but it sort of melts down into a quagmire of ridiculous details and unlikely and unrealistic scenes.

I think this is a possibly good idea, but not very well executed.  Quite forgetable…

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

51Jmpor4I+L._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_

Madeleine, Leonard and Mitchell are on the cusp of graduation from Brown University.  They seem to have it all, graduating from an elite university, each with their own talents and accomplishments, with their whole lives ahead of them.  But dig a little deeper, and you learn that Mitchell has been in (probably unrequited) love with Madeleine since freshman year, Madeleine is despondent after a breakup with Leonard, and Leonard is having a breakdown.  The story follows each of the characters just prior to and after their graduation, as Mitchell searches for his faith as he travels the world and Madeleine and Mitchell confront the pain and the swing of Leonard’s mental illness.

The author does an extraordinary job of painting Leonard’s bipolar disorder with tenderness, sensitivity and honesty, showing the various shades of the illness, with its extreme highs and devastating lows.  Leonard truly loves Madeleine but sometimes cannot make room for her in his world that is crowded with thoughts and emotions that overtake him.  And Madeleine tries to support him but there are many times when he is not “supportable.”  Leonard is particularly winsome, with a charm and intellect that endear the reader to him and his plight, and when he falls, the reader is right there with him.  But the reader is also privy to the effects of Leonard’s illness on many of those around him, and this is a sad portrayal of how this disease can affect so many.

Mitchell provides the lighter side of the story, with his almost comical travels and experiences.  As he searches for meaning through good works and volunteering, he learns about his own limitations.  He is not, as it happens, Mother Teresa.  His journey also helps him to come to terms with his love for Madeleine and gives him the courage to figure it all out.

I also have to confess…  I loved the locations of the scenes in this book.  The mention of places particularly in Providence in the early 80’s brought me back to my teen years and was so pleasantly nostalgic for me.  An extra bonus!

 

 

The Opposite of Me by Sarah Pekkanen

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

6604176

Lindsay is a smart, driven, slightly compulsive and successful ad executive on her way to the top – until she finds herself in a very compromised situation that puts her career on the line.  She is totally thrown, because after all, she is the smart one.  Her twin sister, Alex, is the beautiful one.  This is how it’s always been, ever since she can remember.  How can she tell her parents that she’s no longer successful?  This would throw off her entire identity.  The journey into which Lindsay is propelled brings all of her preconceived notions into question and forces her to really examine her priorities — and her relationship with Alex.

What begins as light-hearted and somewhat comical actually builds gradually into a heavier and more substantial novel.  Lindsay exemplifies the pressure so many young people feel today to be perfect and successful, even at the expense of their personal lives.  It is hard for her when she takes a step back and examines what she has actually accomplished and what is really important to her.  It also examines stereotypes and the roles we are socialized to play, whether they reflect our true talents or not.

Throughout, however, the author writes with a voice that is full of both tenderness and sarcasm.   It is a fun, generally light read that is great for the beach or just for those late nights with the reading lamp on!

 

Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

10872085

Harry Clifton begins his life as the son of a poor widow, having to lick the bowl of his uncle’s oatmeal just to have a taste of breakfast.  Thought to be destined to work on the docks, as his uncle does, he avoids school as much as he can.  Fortunately, he discovers a mentor in Old Jack, who is thought to be crazy but who is actually very wise and kind.  It is Old Jack who actually instructs Harry and prepares him for the entrance exams to the prep school he ultimately becomes eligible for and this opens doors that Harry never knew could exist.  As Harry enters this world, he also eventually learns more about his own beginnings, including how his own father actually died and how complicated his beginnings actually were.

While this book was a fun read, it was not at all realistic.  Characters were too good or too bad.  They had connections that were beyond what might be coincidence.  And the plot twists and turns, while suspenseful and amusing, were not ones that were likely to ever have occurred.  I guess, though, that’s why they call it fiction?

The most frustrating part of this book, though, is the crazy, cliffhanger ending that is not an ending.  I hadn’t expected that I HAD to read the next book – and because of that, I’m not sure I will!  So beware -this is more of a commitment than you might think!

 

 

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

462033

Maisie Dobbs is a detective who is just beginning her own practice in post-WW I London. Her first case, a seemingly simple case of a jealous husband who is trying to figure out where his wife is going everyday while he’s at work, leads her to an investigation of much higher import.  As she becomes more and more entrenched in her investigation, she also comes to terms with her own very traumatic past, her having overcome a humble beginning and her very difficult personal experience of the war.

What begins as an entertaining, almost innocent, story broadens very gradually into a very stark commentary on war and its horrible effects on those who survive it.  With a subtle pen, Winspear writes a narrative of war that leaves the reader to draw the gorier details in the imagination.  What does come through with stark clarity, however, is that whether or not survivors of war return with outer scars, there are almost always inner scars that some can work through and some cannot.

This book is engaging, romantic, suspenseful and beautifully written – I very highly recommend it!

The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

2-the-marriage-of-opposites

Rachel is a headstrong, fiercely independent young, Jewish woman living with her family on the island of St. Thomas in the early 1800’s.  Unfortunately, when her father’s business falters, it appears that the only solution is to marry Rachel off to an older man (with 3 young children), so that the two businesses can merge and hopefully prosper.  Rachel is devastated, as this certainly will delay the realization of her dream, which is to one day sail off to live in Paris.  Her best friend, and housemaid, Jestine, tries to convince her to resist, but she too is powerless in resisting the cultural pressures of her time and status as a woman.  The two of them experience many heartbreaks and successes together as the saga of their lives moves forward.  The one success that Rachel achieves, although this is one that causes her great pain as well, is that she ultimately becomes the mother of Camille Pissarro, the painter.

The writing of the tale is as lyrical as Pissarro’s paintings themselves.  The author paints both St. Thomas and Paris with words, filling in the hues, the aromas, the sensations of each world. There is also a great amount of magic and fantasy, as Rachel’s faith mixes with that of the native culture of St. Thomas, and conjures up many fictional, imaginative stories that Rachel records for herself and for her children.  And although there are a few paragraphs in which the author sort of meanders onto sidetracks, it is a story that keeps one glued because the characters are ones you don’t ever want to leave.

I admire Alice Hoffman for telling the story from Pissarro’s mother’s perspective.  It is not just a fictionized biography, but it is truly a story of a strong woman in a time when women weren’t allowed to be strong.  She shows how difficult the times were and how women’s powerlessness was analogous to that of the slaves at the time.   Neither could own property, could determine who they would marry, or truly had control over decisions that were made for them by the men in their lives.   This further deepened the emotional strength of the story.

Oh, how I’d love to go back to the Musee D’Orsay now!

Giliad by Marilynne Robinson

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

91k3cIBsWSL

This very beautiful novel is written as a letter from an elderly, dying Reverend, John Ames, to his very young son.  The Reverend is the third generation leader in his small congregation in his smaller town on the American Plains.  As he reflects on his own life, and those of his father and grandfather, he also is visited by his friend’s son, who is in trouble and seeking help of some sort.  There is clearly a very unusual relationship between this man and John Ames, and this creates the little story line that carries the novel.

This is not the kind of book that grabs you  with action and holds you to the end.  This is more the type of book that you have to read slowly, to let the words wash over you so that you can absorb the wisdom within these pages.  It is reflective and pensive and peaceful, and I found myself re-reading many passages in order to appreciate them fully.  And while it is religious, in a sense, it is also universal and I feel that anyone from any background can appreciate the beauty in the words written here.

Read this, take your time, and re-read the lines so that you, too, can love this book as I do.

 

A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

16158535

Lily has always felt as if she were in the shadow of Budgie, the worldly one in the center of all the attention.  Having spent summers together on the small peninsula of Seaview, RI, although she’s grown and at Smith College, she still feels inferior to Budgie who is able to navigate the world of men so smoothly – or at least, that is what is feels like.  As Lily begins her romance with a football star from Dartmouth, Nick, she learns gradually, as we do, that things are not exactly as they appear to be.

The author utilizes a back and forth, between time periods 7 years apart, which tells the story from 2 sides and maintains a great aura of suspense. The characters are beautiful, the writing is elegant and the story whips into a twisted plot and a stormy ending.

Another beautiful story by Beatriz Williams!

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling)

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

CareerOfEvil_large

Once again, JK Rowling as Robert Galbraith, has written a suspenseful and dark — in truth, absolutely gruesome! – novel that was as fun to read as the first two.  This is the third in this detective series starring Cormoran Strike, the very imperfect, one-legged war hero turned PI.  His assistant/partner, Robin, an equally likable character, receives a woman’s severed leg delivered by courier to her at their shared office, and so this murder mystery begins.

The story is told from the perspectives of Cormoran, Robin and the killer (whose identity is not revealed until the end, but whose intentions and very psychotic way of thinking builds more and more suspense) and each of them brings a very dynamic and very human quality to the story.  You really care about each of them (well, not the killer of course) and you can’t stop reading until you know what happens to each of them.  And in this book, we learn more about both Cormoran’s and Robin’s pasts, which are both tragic in their own ways and really create that much more depth to their characters.

There of course is also an underlying attraction/tension between Cormoran and Robin, who are both determined to keep their relationship purely professional.  They clearly have a mutual respect for each other’s intelligence and finesse and they are a great team.  You can’t help wanting them to get together!

So while this book is not for anyone with a weak stomach, most will enjoy the ride!

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

Posted on by marjorieseidenfeld

infinite_jest

It is difficult to start to write about a book that has consumed me for the past 2 months.

This 1079 page book (about 100 pages are footnotes) takes place in a futuristic country which is a conglomerate of the US, Canada and Mexico.  There has been a restructuring and a Canadian faction is secretly trying to win back independence.  We meet 2 spies, each for the “other side” during a conversation they are having about their philosophical and political views.  We meet Hal, a student at a private tennis academy which happens to be the one his recently deceased father established.  We meet Gately, a former drug addict who is a counselor at a residential drug rehab facility that happens to be near the tennis academy.  And so on.   Gradually, what starts as a series of random-seeming vignettes is verbally knit into a fabric of intense and dense story.

The writing in this book is both brilliant and poorly edited, in my opinion.  The author has an encyclopedic knowledge of the world and his vocabulary, both real and invented, is extraordinary.   Scenes that he creates with his words become so tangible you feel you can touch and even smell the characters in them.  At times he changes the writing style to fit a character so drastically you wonder if you’re reading the same book.   And each character, whether tangential or not, is given a full description and many have their own minor “word-binge” about an event that sort of defines them as a character.  What detracts from this, though, is that sometimes these word binges are too long, too dreary or just too repetitive.  There are many times I felt that details could have been edited out.  More might have been relegated to the footnotes, although those were complicated enough as it was (the footnotes have additional story lines – not just explanations of the terms and abbreviations use, although some did).

And while there are some very funny and clever scenes, the tone of the book is pretty sad.  Most of the characters are depicted as having come from families with bizarre or abusive issues, who are trying to live their lives but who end up spinning their wheels and never get where they want to go.  Almost no one is happy, almost no one is fulfilled.  Most are searching and working to move ahead and are thwarted in some way.  Drugs and sexual abuse are pervasive and there is a feeling of hopelessness underlying much of the action in the story.

The inspiration for my reading this book stemmed both from the movie, The End of the Tour, which depicted the true story of the author’s book tour to promote this book in the mid-1990’s.  A young writer for Rolling Stone Magazine decided to follow him and write an article about the experience and the movie is about the philosophical conversations the 2 writers have about everything and the relationship that develops between the 2 of them.  It is a very touching movie and extremely well-acted and aroused an interest in the book, which got enormous critical acclaim.  The other factor was that my son proposed that we read it together so that we could discuss it along the way.  It was really his persistence that kept me honest and reading it till the end.  (Thanks Michael!)

So while this is not a “fun” read or a “light” read, or even a short read, it is an intense, educational, and literarily broadening read for anyone with a lot of time!

I challenge you!