Member Profile
| Name : | Mary Ann G. |
My Reviews
This book tells the story of the first settler's to Union, Maine. We follow several characters but Mima Robbins is the central character.The optimism she feels as she helps to forge a new life on the rugged and beautiful land. There is comedy and tragedy but mixed with it all is love. This book is great for those who love history and I would strongly urge any Maine book groups to give it a try.
The book was enjoyable and the characters were strong. I always enjoy books with different characters who are presented as individuals and as part of a whole. I can see why so many groups are reading it but I think there are stronger books out there.
I think we all enjoyed the book but found that we enjoyed the background of the main character more than the actual "mystery."
This was definitely a character driven novel. Our groups first comments were "the characters just stay with you." There were moments of tension, followed by moments of humor- making this a roller coaster of a read!
The book is an interesting insight into how we as "Americans" treat other cultures in time of crisis. Our biggest question of the evening was: do we do the same thing in today's society? How did we treat 'outsiders' after 9/11? How do we treat them today? A question that should prompt great conversation.
Though it was decided the prose of the writing was done well there were too many other things that didn't work for this novel. The transitions were far from smooth, the ending was a bit confusing, and there was no character that we got to care enough about.
We all agreed that we enjoyed the book. We were all fascinated by the language that we can convey with flowers. Thought our discussion was fun we also agreed that it wasn't a great choice for book club. It's a book to be savored though.
The book created lots of discussion about the time period, Hemingway, and the artistic society in general. We would definitely reccomend this novel for any book group. It also made many of us want to pick up "The Sun Also Rises."
Our book group was split on this one. Some just couldn't get into and wondered about the point of the entire thing. Others found lots of layers to talk about and as one who had not enjoyed the book- I did enjoy the convesration!
There is definitely material here for book club discussion. Our book club had two out of six people who didn't finish the book.I think out discussion mainly focused on why Irving wrote this book and why he wrote it the way he did. One member did say the characters lingered with her after reading.
What made this book work for us was the fact that we were watching the Olympics as we were reading the book. The storyline generated a lot of discussions and the relationships were key. There was a little disappointment that we didn't actually get to the Olympics, as everything takes place before the London event. Many of us also felt that the ending wasn't quite believable. It will spark some great conversations.
Our book group had mixed reviews but we all agreed that the book was sensual, bringing out all the senses. The shift in time was confusing at times. There was no doubt that we had a lot to talk about and we all got to create our own ten!t
We felt that the book captured many themes including, romance, redemption, and forgiveness. The characters were likable. There some unexpected events that always add to a book.
This book wasn't for everyone. If you don't like the fantastical and are in to straight realism- this is not the book for you. My book group compared it to other books like "Life of Pi." Most of the discussion centered around whether the actual story was real or only one young person's perception of it.
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