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cythera15's review against another edition
5.0
Such a strange book! I have mixed feelings about it but I definitely enjoyed reading it. The first half is very different from the second half -- the first is shorter, more episodic, while the second half is longer and interconnected with one another. Both parts were enjoyable. Reading the first two parts were like watching an episodic TV series. But the last two parts felt like one of those long, wrap-up episodes to a crime TV series, where you become emotionally invested in the characters. I was really nervous reading the last few parts because I got a feeling that Henry's mother will die waiting for him and for God knows what reason, he would not rush back to Switzerland. At least he made it before she was gone but it was still quite sad.
I enjoy the strong presence of female figures in the novel, even though I suspect they only function as a symbol for Henry's "development." I love Meret, a funny child-witch character, and how the story of how her portraits came to be. I love Judith for her independence, strength, and brains, even though she colonized the US (at least she outwitted the men in doing so). I love Dorothea for her free spirits and her carelessness. And of course, Henry's mother is an amazing figure that also really broke my heart with her frugality and an attempt to make a life for her son. Her dreams about walking together with her husband again also were very moving. I really wished she could've been happy. But I knew from the beginning that she could not be.
I would love to read more about how the book came to describe the Swiss soul as different from its German or French counterparts.
I enjoy the strong presence of female figures in the novel, even though I suspect they only function as a symbol for Henry's "development." I love Meret, a funny child-witch character, and how the story of how her portraits came to be. I love Judith for her independence, strength, and brains, even though she colonized the US (at least she outwitted the men in doing so). I love Dorothea for her free spirits and her carelessness. And of course, Henry's mother is an amazing figure that also really broke my heart with her frugality and an attempt to make a life for her son. Her dreams about walking together with her husband again also were very moving. I really wished she could've been happy. But I knew from the beginning that she could not be.
I would love to read more about how the book came to describe the Swiss soul as different from its German or French counterparts.
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