Scan barcode
thrilled's review
3.0
once was my fiction professor. wanted to love it, but couldn't take the sentimental overload.
willowbiblio's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
"This tableau ... constituted part of the same choreography of punishment and encouragement that defined each of Maggie's visits over the next few weeks, and raised in William's mind questions about what inventive stupidities people were capable of when wounded and confused, no matter their native intelligence."
----------------
There was nothing that particularly made me dislike this book, I just didn't feel much for it. I think David, the protagonist, was so emotionally flat that despite being declaratively head over heels for Maggie, he was seemingly content to drift along in limbo until she told him what to do. That's why her vocal/memo/letter to him was so apt, and yet it didn't spur him to action.
Generally, I didn't really believe any of it. There was no depth to the emotion that was being written and so it didn't make me as a reader care much for the characters or the outcome. It was also deeply confusing because David didn't actually cheat on Maggie, yet seemed content to let her believe it was true, or at least ambivalent. That's basically how I felt about this book: ambivalent.
Norman did a good job with the constantly shifting timeline, so it made it easy to follow the plot. William's own actual infidelity made his tolerance of David in his space and as a caretaker believable. Overall I think this just felt fairly mediocre to me.
----------------
There was nothing that particularly made me dislike this book, I just didn't feel much for it. I think David, the protagonist, was so emotionally flat that despite being declaratively head over heels for Maggie, he was seemingly content to drift along in limbo until she told him what to do. That's why her vocal/memo/letter to him was so apt, and yet it didn't spur him to action.
Generally, I didn't really believe any of it. There was no depth to the emotion that was being written and so it didn't make me as a reader care much for the characters or the outcome. It was also deeply confusing because David didn't actually cheat on Maggie, yet seemed content to let her believe it was true, or at least ambivalent. That's basically how I felt about this book: ambivalent.
Norman did a good job with the constantly shifting timeline, so it made it easy to follow the plot. William's own actual infidelity made his tolerance of David in his space and as a caretaker believable. Overall I think this just felt fairly mediocre to me.
wordnerdy's review against another edition
4.0
This book has a really interesting premise--a man and his father-in-law get into a fistfight just after the honeymoon, and the book tells the story of the aftermath of said fight and how and why it occurred. I liked it a lot, but there were occasions of very clumsy exposition, i.e., "Who will be your maid of honor?" "Francie So-and-so." "Ah, your best friend since you were 11." Um . . . ok. Anyway, B+.
nakedsteve's review
2.0
The story of a pair of people who have treated each other badly, and now have to deal with the repercussions. Not my cup of tea.
2 of 5 stars.
2 of 5 stars.
kathleenitpdx's review
4.0
I liked it, but I am having a difficult time formulating why. It is a quiet story in spite of the two main characters ending up hospitalized after fights. I like the theme of devotion--expressed in so many different relationships. Norman doesn't seem to know how to write realistic dialogue and fortunately steers clear of it most of the time. I am flummoxed by some of the characters' motivations but then again so is David whose story it is.
More...