Reading 1001 discussion

Rating: 2 Stars
Read: Nov. 2015-Aug. 2016 (yeah, it took me forever to get through)

I really wanted to like this, but it is just too ridiculous and poorly executed. It started out very slow, got promising, hit a weird climax half-way through, then became completely disorganized. During the first half of the novel, I would have told you that the book was about a young woman becoming a nanny for a (weird) couple who adopted a biracial child. (view spoiler)[This plot was completely abandoned halfway through the novel, however. The rest of the book chased a bunch of random sub-plots, and was all over the place. (hide spoiler)]. The remaining half of the book kept me thinking "where is this book even going?". The characters were not particularly likable, with the exception of Mary Emma, and were in large part poorly-developed or not developed at all. The book had some good witticisms, but for the most part, I felt the author sometimes tried too hard to be funny or insightful. The narrator's voice often did not fit with the character of the narrator, Tassie (the young woman), but instead felt more like omniscient interjections the author.

I have absolutely no idea why this book was on the 1001 list. It has no place there. I find this true about many of the other 2012 additions, as well. Did Boxall's group find it clever that she threw out all normal conventions of plot and character development out the window? Is that supposed to be considered experimental or is it just bad writing?

I read another book by Lorrie Moore this year which I liked. Too bad about this one.

My review:
This book is about a young woman who gets drawn into another family's drama when she takes a job as a nanny for their soon-to-be adopted new baby. There is unexplained tension between the husband and wife, but nothing really alarming, though the adoption process is not as straightforward as the couple initially suggests when they hire Tassie to be the nanny. And once they have their adopted child more or less in their custody, the truth behind their marital tension becomes the biggest obstacle to a happy ending for everyone.
As with other stories by this author, happy endings are rare, and complicated, resembling the messiness of real life and the ways real people adapt themselves to make their lives as happy as they can be despite all the major and minor setbacks that rob most of us of perfect happy endings. While this is not a happy book, or necessarily a hopeful book, it does demonstrate a sort of everyday resilience that makes coping with loss and disappointment easier. I found myself unable to really relate to any of the characters in this book, so for me it was not as fantastic a read as it could have been. Folks interested in reading books about adoption, mixed-race adoptions especially, life in the US Mid-West as a mixed-race family, nannying, or life as a teen/young adult in the Mid-West might particularly enjoy this book.
I was not convinced that this book belongs on the 1001 Books list either. It is at least as good as some of the YA 'genre' books I've read, and with a YA-type character this book could certainly find its way onto a YA shelf, and be well received as such. I'm guessing that the combination of small-town Mid-West, mixed-race adoption, and 'strong' female characters helped land this book on the list, but it makes me wonder yet again whether I've read more books than the list compilers, because I could have found better books than this one that touch on those topics. Lorrie Moore is a good writer, but I think she is better as a short story writer than as a novelist.
I didn't hate this book, but it is not a favorite either. I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads.

I actually really loved this book and gave it 5 stars. I said previously that I don't think there has been a truly Great Piece of media about 9/11 yet, I think I said this with regards to Falling man. however, I think this book may be the best so far out of what I've read and watched with capturing the essence of that era in recent history without being schmaltzy or coming across as myopic in hindsight.

I think the plot line of the parents wanting to be responsible for a girl from a tragic circumstance and of another ethnicity, but being unable to actually do so despite their, wealth and intentions, having a sense of condescension and superiority about the thing, and finding out they have a history where they have killed another child in similar circumstances and then have tried to push that under the rug oddly enough makes for a good domestic and removed metaphor for the involvement in Afghanistan and the US’s military track record.I thought the sense of paranoia that pervades this book and this notion of joining the Army as just the thing to do were also well done.

I also loved all of the parts about the main character trying to navigate life as someone from a rural working-class background who is now part of a higher class academic culture. I found that highly relatable. all of the parts about the parental Action Against Racism group we're also fantastic. I don't think the point was that they do deliver genuine insights I think the point was that it really Lampoon's all of these well-intentioned but white guilt influence things that affluent liberals often say without genuinely making any attempt to actually listen to people of colour and put their theories into action. I have met so many of these people in real life, and the contrast between how they talk versus the conversations I actually have with my afro-caribbean fiance and his friends would be hilarious if it wasn't kind of sad.

this book felt relevant to me at my experience in a lot of ways and guess that probably influenced how highly I considered it. I thought the satire elements were effective, and I could really feel the sense of just trying to get through add establish a life.

3 Stars

I really enjoyed most of this book the bit I didn’t enjoy? The ending which is a shame I can forgive a bad beginning if the book picks up but if the ending just fizzles out it makes the reading build up feel like it was in vain.

What I did enjoy the strange tension between husband and wife the reason for which is eventually revealed, the highlighting of casual racism from within the family and from outside, the idea of belonging and of place and time. The relationship between Tassie and Mary Emma is beautiful but the rest of the family unit are just weird.

Once the key event in the story happens (you will know what it is when you get there and it’s not the big reveal) the book kind of loses itself as if it doesn’t know what it wants to be it then meanders along before finally releasing the reader on a low note.

I found this book quite fascinating and awarded it four stars despite some misgivings. I foud the milieu confusing. The protagonist is a first year college student who has never ridden in a taxi or flown in a plane but she coud identify a Chablis, and had ordered Cabernet Sauvignon at a restaurant as a child! She also ate a "poor man's baklava" although she had never eaten other cuisines, such as Thai. Moore quietly satirises mid-Western cuisine along the way - icing between two crackers anyone!

The descriptions of the weather, particularly the unremitting cold of winter were beautifully realised. For example "the sun did not make it very high, but just kind of scooted along the side of the sky, pale and sheepish, like something ill" which sounds authentically how a university student might describe it.

The themes of inter-racial adoption, racism, coming-of-age, carelessness and prejudice are all slyly introduced and satirised. I found it an interesting read but am not sure what criteria made it a title in the 1001 list.

Reason Read: Reading 1001 Sept 2022 botm, ROOT
Lorrie Moore is an American author and is a professor at the University of Wisconsin. This is the first book by this author for me. This novel is a post 9/11 novel of a young woman coming of age in the Midwest. In the book she addresses such topics as race and class. It is a nice mix of humor and seriousness. Rating 3.8

I gave it 3.5 stars.
One reviewer used this phrase when referring to the book: "uninterested in narrative locomotion" and I agree with this. I found the beginning very slow going, much of the middle satire was too obvious and fell flat with me although parts of it caused me to laugh out loud. I found a number of the revelations to be totally predictable. I didn't feel that the book captured much of the impact that 9/11 had on this country, even in a mid-western town. I also didn't feel that it captured the complexity of mixed race issues very well. On the other hand, by the end I was much more appreciative of the writing style, Tassie's humor, and the depiction of the various ways that people experience deep grief.
I had never heard of Lorrie Moore before but I am sorry that the other books on the list were written before this one. I would prefer to read something that she has written since to see if she has adapted her style in any way.

Some quotes:
"Words for a tombstone: She didn't die of happiness".
"Well God should speak up. He mumbles."
"Except in this case I was all the parts: I was the lover on the platform, I was the lover on the train. And I was also the train."

I liked the book but did not love it, which is a shame as coming-of-age stories are usually big hits with me.

I thought it was very slow to start and too many of the plot developments were too heavily foreshadowed. There were no surprises. I did like the main character though even though she was very naive.

The portrayal of the subtleties racism can take and the satire of liberal beliefs in the form of the Wednesday gatherings were well done for me.

Her rejection of Edward indicates that she finally grew up.

From a post-9/11 view I did enjoy it more than Falling Man.

I think this book was very well written in terms of it's dialogue and prose and did a good job at capturing the post 9/11 confusion in the US and the re-emergence of social justice among the middle class. My favourite parts were the gentle ribbing of the middle class parents talking about their experiences of injustice.

The issue I had was that I did not feel there was a through plotline. It seemed like it at the start with the babysitting and adoption storyline but once this was resolved, I felt it was too late to add in the plotlines of the latter half of the book which hadn't really been given enough attention. It all felt a bit uneven. I can clearly see though that this is a talented author and would be interested in reading more from her.

***

I read this a few months ago and I should have written my review back then. Never mind, this novel is some sort of coming-of-age story in the US Midwest, with some post-9/11 aftermath elements in the background. I recognised one or two of my ex-girlfriends in the main character, Tassie, except that they were nowehere as naive as her. While she is the only constant thread throughout the story, the rest felt like a smorgasbord of ill-assorted themes and characters never fully developed, a little bit far-fetched (e.g. how can you mistake a sleeper cell member for a Brazilian with interests in sufism?) and sometimes suddenly aborted; it resembles the hedge I have just trimmed in front of my house after leaving it to grow for too long: I can make it look symmetrically and geometrically nice, but you see too many gaps bereft of foliage and full of cut branches. It's not unreadable, but it can leave you confused as to where Moore intended to go. Perhaps just like this review.