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Title: The Amateur Marriage: A Novel by ANNE TYLER ISBN: 1-4000-4207-0 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 06 January, 2004 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (92 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: The Amateur Novel
Comment: First of all, this book was written on such an elementary level in its prose and format. There was absolutely NO character development. You see no discussion of how Pauline or how Michael and Pauline's marriage impacted their kids lives. Why didn't Karen marry, isn't it ironic or not that Sally (George's wife) is so much like Pauline. What was it exactly that led Lindy to leave? If Michael's second marriage was a dessert and the first one was a missed entree, what was the lesson?
This book was so underdeveloped in every way. The reading level, the characters. I kept hanging on thinking that Anne Tyler would tie it all together in some fabulous way. It was pedestrian at best. If this book was written by a newcomer and a first time novelist, then fine. What a huge waste of my time.
Rating: 4
Summary: Scenes from a Marriage
Comment: Even a writer as talented as Anne Tyler has trouble making the "Amateur Marriage" of Michael and Pauline Anton interesting for 300 pages; though as always some of her insights are first rate: "Pauline must think that words were like dust or scuff marks, or spilled milk, easily wiped away and leaving no trace. She must think a mere apology-or not even that, just a change in her mood-could erase from a person's mind the fact that she's called him stuffy and pompous and boring and self-righteous."
Veritable opposites, Michael and Pauline seem so carried away by the romance of their first meeting and Michael's subsequent entry into the Army that they don't realize how unsuited for each other they are. Pauline: "...(Pauline always) gave the rouge and lipsticked version of things...(she's only) concerned with the looks of things, even within the family." Michael: "...like blotting paper-just dense and matt-surfaced, absorbing all that came his way and giving nothing back."
When the children come, they become the mirror, the reflection back of all that is wrong with the Anton's marriage. As son George reflects: "His mother had not been a fluffy-headed dingbat; she'd been...scared, scary, angry, bitter, remorseful unhappy, jealous, bewildered, at a loss."
"Amateur Marriage" is flawed, not Tyler's best work but always readable: filled with Tyler's insightful and gorgeous prose. And as such, it is a must read for all those interested in contemporary American writing.
Rating: 4
Summary: I Found the Ending Redeeming
Comment: This was a hard book to like for awhile. The main characters, a married couple Michael and Pauline Anton, just weren't all that likeable. The story begins with the couple meeting immediately after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in working-class Baltimore neighborhood.
It's a tough read because the marriage is not only amatuerish, it just doesn't work and we get to see glimpses of its dysfunction over a number of decades, through marriage, children and aging. While this relationship could not be termed tragic in terms of abuse, it just didn't generate a lot of happiness.
As I was getting to the 3/4ths point of the book, I started to question the point of it. Why did Anne Tyler write this book and why was I reading it?
Without giving away the story I think the ending tied up the loose ends for me and gave me some comfort for reading the book. Any reader can take away a number of messages from the book, but in it's own goofy way, I think this book reaffirms love and marriage. I say that because there is no textbook "perfect" family. We all find a way to get through life and our relationships adapt (or fall apart) in response to what happens to us. Stronger people with stronger relationships react and adapt well, while others don't.
This book provides an informative glimpse into relationships both strong and not-so-strong. It's quirky and you will read it even as it makes you uncomfortable. It will make you think about your relationships too.
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Title: The Namesake : A Novel by Jhumpa Lahiri ISBN: 0395927218 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 16 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: The Time Traveler's Wife (Today Show Book Club #15) by Audrey Niffenegger ISBN: 1931561648 Publisher: MacAdam/Cage Publishing Pub. Date: 17 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters: A Novel by Elisabeth Robinson ISBN: 0316735027 Publisher: Little Brown & Company Pub. Date: 07 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier ISBN: 0525947671 Publisher: E P Dutton Pub. Date: 29 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: The Last Juror by John Grisham ISBN: 0385510438 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 03 February, 2004 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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