“The story is very easy to read and my daughter read it in a night. However, as I was reading there was so much I had to think about that it took me a much longer time to get through with it.
This book is a little lighter than Russo's usual fare, but his character a late middle aged man whose balding head and lack of interest in his work is similar to the various men who have peopled his books. However, there is a much different take on the story and you can feel yourself getting sucked into the lives on the pages. For me, this is a good thing, because it puts you almost on a conveyer belt to the end of the story.
The writing is sharp and clear and the story evolves almost as if you were on a teter totter balancing yourself to keep even. It is also the deconstruction of marriage and what it takes to keep two people together these days. In many ways, though, the story is about love and the various ways that love manifests itself between two people.
Since it is written in only one point of view, Jack Griffin's called Griffin in the story, you are getting only his idea of the action and at times it might seem like the narrator is not as reliable as you thought he would be. Then after you read the book you start thinking about how he viewed the events and you wonder yourself did any of these experiences play out differently with other people?
I would highly recommend that you read this book, especially if you are a Richard Russo fan. I think it is his best book since Empire Falls, which I loved. This one is similar to that one only in the sense that it is parts of New England that are glorified here. If nothing else the book makes you want to go to Cape Cod and experience all that Griffin and his family do.”
lionmother wrote this review Thursday, September 10 2009.
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