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a_morrill's review
4.0
Interesting enough to make me look into Emily Dickinson's life. Not interesting enough to make me choke down poetry.
book_concierge's review
1.0
Oh dear. My husband won this book and was asked to review it. He passed it on to me. It was torture to read. I just could not get interested in the characters at all. The beginning showed a bit of promise, but Emily (as imagined by Charyn) was emotionally stunted and never matured. She was constantly pining for men she barely knew. I was just bored. I do not understand the great reviews this is getting.
lsparrow's review
2.0
especially with historic or other well known characters it can be difficult to enjoy a book when the author sees the character so differently. I don't feel it was just that aspect that made me dislike the book - I felt that despite some of detail and depth I was not left with an understanding of the characters motivation or inner life. It felt like a collect of pages of a diary - descriptive and slightly secretive but not able to fully explain the person behind the words.
anna_c_13's review
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
2.0
It’s kind of interesting but pretty clearly very innacurate to Emily’s life and personality, even as a historical fiction.
amymo73's review
2.0
I have been a huge fan of Emily Dickinson since high school. In fact, I rejoiced when the poem given for interpretation on the advanced placement exam was one of hers. Easy money on that test. So I was intrigued to read this fictionalized account of Emily's life . Charyn spent much time studying Dickinson's poems and writings and did a wonderful job recreating her pattern of speech to create a glimpse into her wild mind. She was fearless and playoff and prone to grief and anxiety. Her relationship with her family members, particularly the repressive relationship with her father, is teased out and terribly interesting.
But there are things I really don't like about this book. Charyn introduces fictional characters Tom the handyman and Zilpah Marsh, both of whom play a role throughout the novel. They constantly show up in more and more improbably situations. Tom and Zilpah make Emily seem wholly unbalanced and naive. She may have been nutty, but she was wise and witty and this story line merely brings out a delusional Emily.
I would have liked Charyn to bring out more of the writer Emily than the childish lovelorn Emily. None of her poems are included and her work as a poetess seems to always be couched in self-doubt. While she wasn't public with her writing, she did share it often in correspondence. This is the woman who coined one of my all-time favorite phrases, one in which I live by: "Dwell in Possibility." That part of Emily's personality is missing from this reading of her life. And that left me wanting a heck of a lot more.
But there are things I really don't like about this book. Charyn introduces fictional characters Tom the handyman and Zilpah Marsh, both of whom play a role throughout the novel. They constantly show up in more and more improbably situations. Tom and Zilpah make Emily seem wholly unbalanced and naive. She may have been nutty, but she was wise and witty and this story line merely brings out a delusional Emily.
I would have liked Charyn to bring out more of the writer Emily than the childish lovelorn Emily. None of her poems are included and her work as a poetess seems to always be couched in self-doubt. While she wasn't public with her writing, she did share it often in correspondence. This is the woman who coined one of my all-time favorite phrases, one in which I live by: "Dwell in Possibility." That part of Emily's personality is missing from this reading of her life. And that left me wanting a heck of a lot more.
scurvytown's review
1.0
Hated it.
I enjoyed the first few chapters, and thought it set a nice tone, but the deeper I got into the novel, the more I loathed and disagreed with the author's choices for Emily's voice. The fictional elements felt all wrong as well, and if I told myself this was just a story about anyone from this era, rather than a bad imagining of Emily's life, well, that didn't really help me get through the stupid stuff any quicker.
I enjoyed the first few chapters, and thought it set a nice tone, but the deeper I got into the novel, the more I loathed and disagreed with the author's choices for Emily's voice. The fictional elements felt all wrong as well, and if I told myself this was just a story about anyone from this era, rather than a bad imagining of Emily's life, well, that didn't really help me get through the stupid stuff any quicker.
sofm's review against another edition
1.0
I was not into this at all. I thought it was boring and I kinda wish I hadn’t made myself finish it. Although historically accurate at times, the Emily Dickinson voice I’ve come to known and love was nowhere to be found. Super disappointed
fadeintodawn's review
4.0
I've read a lot of "Secret Life of [insert historical figure here]" books, and thoroughly enjoyed this one. While I would have preferred more about her writing and less passages about her fantasy crushes on the men around her, the writing style was wonderful and I loved the voice that Charyn gave Dickinson.
naomiha's review
2.0
Another book that I really wanted to like, but that didn't reach expectation. Charyn wrote beautifully, and captured some of Dickinson's language and imagery, but he wasn't as precise or purposeful with her voice as she was. This novel felt like a creative writing experiment gone awry.
inconceivably's review
3.0
First of all, I have to admit some things up front. I have never been the world's biggest poetry fan, and I know next to nothing about Emily Dickinson's poetry. I know absolutely nothing about her life. So, I definitely did not open this book with the POV that I would in any way critique or chime in on whether or not the details of the story (or even the overall picture) are historically accurate.
The one thing I do know about her life is that as she aged, she grew increasingly eccentric without proper outlets to express herself. The prose of the book deteriorated along with Emily and I thought that was awesome. I'm not in any way saying the writing was ever bad (because it was gorgeous), but that the writing evolved along with the story.
Like I said, the writing was gorgeous. I think it was my favorite part of the book. One of my favorite things were the descriptions. I bookmarked a few examples:
Tom does not belong to the population of readers.
...Satan sings. Foul, with sulfer as his perfume, Satan is still a Poet.
I'm in too much of a tempest to taste a morsel. I haven't relinquished all the poison in my well. The venom courses through my veins.
I just love the lyrical voice of the language, fitting of a poet. Instead of simply stating "Tom couldn't read" or "I was still mad," the language paints a picture.
There were several points that I thought the story was dragging, but again, if I'd been more of an Emily fan I don't think I'd have ever been bored. Overall, I enjoyed seeing her from an angle I'd never have experienced from a study at school. Another thing I enjoyed was the historical context that I was literate enough to appreciate...the piece that sticks out the most being a debate on whether Currer Bell was a woman or a man. I loved seeing Jane Eyre discussed, especially since it was new at the time - I've never seen it discussed as anything but a classic.
Anyway, overall I recommend reading this as a solid historical novel with beautifully written language. Even though it was slow at times, it was never enough to make me want to set it aside. If you're at all a fan of Emily Dickinson and her poetry, I definitely thing you'll enjoy seeing her from a new perspective.
The one thing I do know about her life is that as she aged, she grew increasingly eccentric without proper outlets to express herself. The prose of the book deteriorated along with Emily and I thought that was awesome. I'm not in any way saying the writing was ever bad (because it was gorgeous), but that the writing evolved along with the story.
Like I said, the writing was gorgeous. I think it was my favorite part of the book. One of my favorite things were the descriptions. I bookmarked a few examples:
Tom does not belong to the population of readers.
...Satan sings. Foul, with sulfer as his perfume, Satan is still a Poet.
I'm in too much of a tempest to taste a morsel. I haven't relinquished all the poison in my well. The venom courses through my veins.
I just love the lyrical voice of the language, fitting of a poet. Instead of simply stating "Tom couldn't read" or "I was still mad," the language paints a picture.
There were several points that I thought the story was dragging, but again, if I'd been more of an Emily fan I don't think I'd have ever been bored. Overall, I enjoyed seeing her from an angle I'd never have experienced from a study at school. Another thing I enjoyed was the historical context that I was literate enough to appreciate...the piece that sticks out the most being a debate on whether Currer Bell was a woman or a man. I loved seeing Jane Eyre discussed, especially since it was new at the time - I've never seen it discussed as anything but a classic.
Anyway, overall I recommend reading this as a solid historical novel with beautifully written language. Even though it was slow at times, it was never enough to make me want to set it aside. If you're at all a fan of Emily Dickinson and her poetry, I definitely thing you'll enjoy seeing her from a new perspective.