Miriam

Not bad. I think, in the end, I liked this one somewhat better than The Calling, simply because I the ending was stronger. My one issue is a spoiler, so I won't bring it up, but I think the author has a tendency to go for easy plot devices. I really like Hazel, and the various supporting characters, but I would have liked more Wingate.

I read the first half of this book (Mary Gordon's unpublished stories) in October while I was living with my kids at my parents house (our house was being renovated). It was the perfect tone for a rather focused time. I put it aside when I reached the second half - her republished “Temporary Shelters” - I put it aside until just this week. When I picked it up this week the remainder of the book was a surprisingly quick read. I was glad I read this collection of stories but I did wish, by the end, for a few more grace notes. There was much I identified with with respect to the various women (despite note being either East coast or Catholic) - the first story of the collection included - but she often side steps those day to day events that can make living occasionally joyful.

I'm still letting this one settle, because although I enjoyed it greatly, I think it could have been sharper and I'm trying to figure out how. But I really like Endicott's examination of women's lives. She does it deliberately, and while she doesn't have Atwood's bite, she's willing to show the warts. This novels explores a 3 sister vaudeville act, who travel the mostly Canadian Vaudville scene (Winnipeg's Pantages, Orpheum and Walker theatre figure at one point). Women don't have it particularly easy in that world, but Endicott doesn't let us forget that the men have their own struggles.

3.5 stars, but bumped up because the writing is really strong. Bacon observes her characters beautifully. All kinds of lovely moments. The structure didn't work for me. It needed more than the initial conceit to move it forward (in my opinion). A shame really because the idea of “lost geography” is an intriguing one.

Livesey is exploring the disconnect the exists between our unstated private desires and feelings and the desires/feelings we choose to present to the world and the harm it does. Using four different characters (each one connected to a British author - Keats, Lewis Carroll, Charlotte Bronte/Virginia Woolf, and Charles Dickens - who know each other she explores the assumptions they (and we as readers) make and the consequences of those assumptions. I thought is was an extremely skillful book, that easily avoids pathos despite an incident that would lend itself to such a presentation. Now, all I have to do is figure out who I want to give the book to so I can talk to them about it!

4 stars for now, but I'm still dealing with the last 30 pages. I am increasingly bothered by Ondaatje's almost over-the-top romanticism. He writes beautifully, and his ability to create space with words reminds me how much he loves film (and I suspect would like to create some himself), but he's almost Spielbergian in his privileging of sentimentality, adventure and love. Plus I'm kind of pissed at a deus ex machina that is first excused by a “I couldn't help myself, I'm a writer” and then when he can make it work – doesn't. I'm sure he has his narrative reasons, which others will point out, but it sure pissed me off.

It was impossible to miss the plot wheels turning, the characters were almost non-existent and I figured out the ‘twist' within the first 100 pages, but I still enjoyed it. The Shakespeare conspiracy theory was fun - it is what I enjoyed about the book - but if you're not interested in that much literary history be warned because it overwhelms the very thin plot.

I was frequently blown away by Thomas' use of language and the books general smartness. Told almost entirely from Lily's point of view (there are a couple of sections that tell the story of her father's arrival in Canada that provide a break from Lily) I felt that the novel's energy was hampered by Lily's inability(?) to emotionally (and to a certain extent intellectually) engage with the people that surround her. Even the England section were Lily is seemingly happy is restrained. I wonder if maybe the control over the language and the ideas did in the overall development of the novel? Nonetheless, I thought it a stellar read, if for the language alone, and will recommend it to others.

I read this as we travelled up from Scottsdale through Flagstaff, by the Grand Canyon (we did stop to gawk), through Monument Valley and the Valley of the Gods, over the pass at Butte as it snowed (roads to Yellowstone were closed because of snow), and I finished it today as we drove around the edges of the Black Hills (Theodore Roosevelt National Park). A perfect read for a rather glorious car trip.

I can see the reviews are polarized. I'm only about 40 pages in, but suspect its my kind of book. I'm loving it. We're reading it for next month's book club and it will interesting to see how the group responds to it.

Finished it. I suspect not everyone in the book club will, but I thought it an very interesting book with the layering narrative.