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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “When I first requested this book I foolishly thought it was about three generations of women and, pooh-poohing the idea as nothing new, didn’t rush to read it. I couldn’t have been more wrong. |
Didn’t Like It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “Another book that has a lot going on it with not much resolution at the end. I couldn't really understand what the author was trying to accomplish with it. I didn't not like it, but at the same time I didn't really like it either. It was just okay, not something I'd bother to read again. Like I...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
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“tremendous”
Caroline T wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“very well written and very moving”
Sally W wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I didn't really "finish" it, I mostly gave up on it. I couldnt get into it, maybe I'll try again some other time.”
Marie T wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Complicated characters, complicated structure--but some beautiful writing. The characters seemed very real in their complexity, and situations that resolved or didn't resolve also seemed much like real life.”
Steve wrote this review Sunday, October 25 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“A fine read -- not superb but almost satisfying. I would recommend it to a woman. It is an introspective story. I cared about the characters, and I wanted to hear their story and understand them.”
Mary M wrote this review Sunday, October 25 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Characters have stayed with me -- very well told stories of different people in one family.”
Carolyn M wrote this review Sunday, October 18 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“3.5 stars perhaps. Long, long, long. A frustrating book in that it had promise dashed by too many flaws. Description of this as a tryptich is true - the first and third parts are weak and look towards the middle part - author should have scrapped the other parts as they were trifles. Only thing I got out of the 3rd part was a different perspective on Fenno - he didn't seem such a closed, self-involved character through the eyes of others as through his own eyes in the middle part, which was quite interesting. I agree with the critics that it wasn't worthy of a prize (it won the National Book Award) even though it had its good moments.”
Lesley B wrote this review Thursday, October 8 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“I actually listened to - didn't read - this on CD and loved it. The reader had a real Scottish brogue (or whatever it's called in Scotland), adding to the authenticity and charm of the book. Wonderful character studies, well-woven plot, with all loose ends smoothly and unobtrusively woven in by the end. ”
Leslie Z wrote this review Tuesday, September 22 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Been on my shelf for a while.”
Kelly D wrote this review Thursday, September 17 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No1 of 1 members found this review helpful“When I first requested this book I foolishly thought it was about three generations of women and, pooh-poohing the idea as nothing new, didn’t rush to read it. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Betsy Ellis wrote this review Tuesday, September 15 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
This is an epic book about a family, and the three Junes it refers to are the three sections of the book, three Junes in this family’s life that spans ten years from beginning to end. It begins with the patriarch of a Scottish family taking a trip to Greece after his wife has died, and through his musings you learn about his sons and their families, his marriage, and the circumstances before and after his wife’s death.
The next section focuses on one of his sons who lives in New York and trying to come to terms with his homosexuality and his feelings of isolation. With the money left to him when his father dies, he opens a unique book store below his apartment. He also forms a relationship with a neighbor across the street, a well-known opera critic, and reluctantly becomes this man’s caretaker as he succumbs to AIDS. Periodically he goes back to Scotland to deal with his siblings and his father’s possessions. Here he learns more about his parents true relationship, and is approached by his sister-in-law with the proposal that he become a sperm donor for the children they cannot have.
The third section brings this son together with a woman whom his father was briefly involved with on the Greek island, and we learn the story of her marriage and her husband’s sudden and mysterious death. Now pregnant, she is struggling with her feelings for her new husband while taking time for herself at a house in the Hamptons, to which the son has been invited by a friend of hers.
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