Pamela Harvey

Not The Chris Bohjalian I Thought I Knew

Revisado: 12-21-23

Perhaps the branding of this writer has shifted, and that’s to be expected in lean times. This book started as a spy novel but then morphed into longer passages that verged on maudlin.
Waiting for the Bohjalian brand to return!

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Detailed progression of ALS.

Revisado: 12-19-23

Richard’s story was so compelling, I didn’t want to hear about his ex-wife’s life.

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This actually happened!

Revisado: 11-15-23

A few years ago, in the news, there was someone who had this experience, or something like it, followed by a very short media frenzy. It was a much simpler story, but I didn't have to suspend disbelief in order to love "Whalefall".

I connected with so much about this story. The setting, the location, the water, the town of Monterey. It's just about the only book I've listened to in my nearly forty years of audible listening, where I didn't love the narrator, but I proceeded anyway. If I had listened to a sample, I might not have continued reading, but the reviews were so enthusiastic that I jumped into that ocean anyway!

I don't think I'll wait much longer to read it again. I love re-reading books. Just like listening to a piece of beautiful music, I love to listen multiple times, because my expectation of what's coming only adds to the pleasure.

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15 out of 15 stars!

Revisado: 09-28-23

Sue Miller's novels have always been a good fit for me because she explores and defines a layered reality, giving the reader something that's not just a story. She brings location and weather, life circumstances, introspection, emotional intimacy, approachable characters with flaws as well as assets. What's not to like?

Her novels are busy living "their best lives" and I will always download one of her novels without even listening to a sample. She is just that good, and I'd venture to say that when I encounter new Sue Miller novel I'm instantly on board, sight unseen. But of course, she has to actually write it and I get to read it.When the tennis champion Roger Federer, is named by a commentator, as a towering figure amongst the other players, and amongst humans in general because of his detached poise and awards Federer the GOAT prize, i.e. "greatest of all time",

But then this is followed by the statement "but he'll have to play the match anyway."

In the work of Sue Miller, I frequently encounter characters and their inner lives that resonate, and this novel is no exception, Commonalities are combined with brilliantly detailed and sensitive writing and are a resource to which I return frequently, like the experience of one of the other reviewers.

Her works are gifts that keep on giving, and I wait for her next novel anticipate her next novel, even if that means a long wait, Miller's body of work can be mined repeatedly for connection and insight and each reading reveals a different emotional landscape. I wonder if this is a litmus test for literary value, with multi-dimensional characters and their lives, that keep on giving.

People who never consider reading a particular novel a second or third time, because they've "already read that" and they have no idea what they are missing.

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Stepdad No. 1

Revisado: 02-11-23

I have read and reread these essays, with long enough time intervals between readings to let go of, not the stories themselves, which are very rich and, as they say "nuanced", but my reactions to Ann's voice, her physical voice, not her emotional "voice", the character "Ann Patchett". I love her essays just as much as her novels, but as audiobooks I prefer her novels read by other readers.

I think it's the overtones of privilege and narcissism that exude from her renderings of life situations, and as we are now in 2023, such qualities are more frequently noticed and going out of fashion. I am from a similar background as Ann, but now I dislike the sound of it played back to me.

But my most recent reading of one of these essays has demonstrated how much her Stepdad No. 1, "Mike", who entered her life when she was 5, and who occupied the longest chronological time in her life of the three, resembles her Husband No. 2, "Carl". (I hope I spelled his name correctly with a "C" and not a "K" because I have only encountered him in the audiobook versions of Patchett's work.)

What is most interesting about this double appearance of Mike/Carl in her life is that of course she notices it, and you'd have to be a non-sentient being not to notice, but she does not comment on it. It addition to Patchett's background I can also relate to the lifestyles of Mike and Carl, because I was once married to a version of "Carl", and I now seek a lifestyle more grounded in peace and equanimity, with less interest in external surprises and "fun" but disruptive adventures.

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Slime Flux

Revisado: 10-16-19

Wow. A crack in an old tree offends the author by its resemblance to an “old crone’s vagina” and its oversized wooden labia threaten to open up and suck Augusten into the slime flux contained within.

I’ve been entertained, enlightened, edified and educated, (OMG 5 E’s) but never shamed by a body part. Augusten, what a pu$$y hater you turned out to be!

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esto le resultó útil a 14 personas

Both/And™

Revisado: 06-27-19

Nora, you are brilliant. I am a huge fan of every thing you create and produce, because you have that same "both/and" perspective that I developed and embraced ever since I was old enough to think, old enough to notice and then embrace, the ambiguities that are required in order to survive on the planet.

And I was a temporary glamazon (glamorous tall person - you might want to use that moniker) fourth grade when I was 5'7", but rapidly lost that advantage when everyone else started catching up. I am still 5'7' but I'm no longer "tall".

Your title, "No More Happy Endings" is a perfect example of the both/and balance. "Happy endings" vs. "no more"? Perfect example. "Hot Young Widows Club"? Even better. Conventional thinking suggests widows cannot be "hot" is , but reality, or my limited concept of it, says anyone or anything can be both hot and widowed.

If there was a "Steve Jobs Prize" for original and authentic thinking, you've won the prize. So keep on thinking different.

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esto le resultó útil a 17 personas

Anna Quindlen and Hope Davis? What’s not to like?

Revisado: 06-26-19

Without spoiling, Quindlen takes an angled view of the main incident and it works. This kind of situation is usually handled in one of two ways, and she finds a third way. Excellent choice!
I do have an issue of her portrayal of one of the characters, the 16-yr-old son of the protagonist. My grandson is around that age right now and I can tell you Hope’s voice is way too juvenile! I don’t know if she has kids near that age, but they do not sound like a six-year-old.
Other than that this book is perfect! It’s one of those books that you keep reading every so often and learn more each time.

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This narrator? Not a fan.

Revisado: 06-17-18

I am giving this book a 5/5 because of its genre: memoir in a medical/science setting. My favorites! Medical and psych details of this book are thoroughly presented, though at times seeming a bit "dumbed down". I would guess this is to simplify the story and give non-medical readers a handle on the brain and all its vast capabilities. Plus it helps to move the story fast without dwelling on small or technical details. I am part of that "non-medical" audience, but I am also an armchair medical geek, and would have enjoyed a more technical focus.

The choice of the narrator doesn't make sense to me, due to her voice, which sounds too old for this protagonist. She has quite a well-defined British tonality and speech cadence and I don't get the reason for driving the story using such a colloquial accent. Compare this narrator to the contemporary professional voice from "Still Alice" and "Every Note Played", where the voice is calm, straightforward, professional and appropriate for a skilled neuroscientist.

But I did manage to accustom my ears to this sound, so that after a certain point I could ignore it.

I especially could not buy this character sounding like a children's book reader. Very juvenile and almost like she is talking down to her audience, not realistic in my view.

I do recommend this book with my five stars, but with the warning that the voice is not consistent with the story and the sing song dialog requires a huge suspension of disbelief.

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Good Enough

Revisado: 10-28-15

Although this novel's initial setup is an unthinkable tragedy, and for that reason a credit-worthy original beginning, the consequent backstories and forward-stories of the characters involved, both major and minor, fail to deliver. There are too many marginal figures, too many incidents and intrigues spanning both coasts, for the reader to become involved with and/or relate to, any one or two figures. At one point I thought I needed a notebook to jot down everyone's situation and relationship to the central events.

The writing is tender, detailed, layered and perceptive - an aspect of the novel worthy of commendation. At least it kept me reading, and to his credit, Bill Clegg delivers no cardboard characters here! I like the author's writing - the musical cadence, poetic at times - his "style" - whatever that may mean, and look forward to more from him.

However, the complete package seems too global in scope, with just too much going on, in both the past and present, for this reader to really become immersed. And of course there is the annoying fast-forward and rewind that is required of such constant past/present multi-character writing.

I know this book is extremely popular for its surgical insights into tragedy and aftermath, but for me it misses the mark, if only slightly.

I think it was a huge mistake to have the author read this particular work. Perhaps cost-cutting was a factor, who knows. If a female narrator could have been cast, my star ratings might have increased by at least 2. There is too much emotion to be contained in an extended rough-sounding male performance. Not a voice that creates peace, contemplation and serenity.

I would not hesitate to recommend this work, though, and will probably re-read to fill in any details I might have missed. I would also suggest reading a hard copy so that the individual voices might resolve and clarify.

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