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Jun. 27th, 2007
Closer to half
Jun. 27th, 2007 06:05 pmAll He Ever Wanted, Anita Shreve
( Publisher's Weekly review )
At times pansy-assed, this is a story of refined obsession. As more of Van Tassel's character is revealed, I found myself feeling more and more sorry for him. I boo'ed at Etna's agreement to marry him, but cheered when her secret cottage was revealed (though, to be clear, that whole storyline could have used about 50 more pages of development).
The book is written almost as one of the early 1900s and successfully comes off as a tribute to that time--the language, the affectations, the ideas. There are some inconsistencies, but they aren't glaringly obvious.
Since the story is written as Van Tassel's memoir (composed en route to a funeral in Florida), the timeline shifts inconsistently and it often becomes unclear just what is happening when. Van Tassel speculates much too much on his wife's activities and those passages read more like pseudo-Victorian porn than anything else.
Overall, a decent read, especially if you've got nothing else to do. I biked home with this book in my pack a couple of nights and read it before drifting off to la-la land.
( Publisher's Weekly review )
At times pansy-assed, this is a story of refined obsession. As more of Van Tassel's character is revealed, I found myself feeling more and more sorry for him. I boo'ed at Etna's agreement to marry him, but cheered when her secret cottage was revealed (though, to be clear, that whole storyline could have used about 50 more pages of development).
The book is written almost as one of the early 1900s and successfully comes off as a tribute to that time--the language, the affectations, the ideas. There are some inconsistencies, but they aren't glaringly obvious.
Since the story is written as Van Tassel's memoir (composed en route to a funeral in Florida), the timeline shifts inconsistently and it often becomes unclear just what is happening when. Van Tassel speculates much too much on his wife's activities and those passages read more like pseudo-Victorian porn than anything else.
Overall, a decent read, especially if you've got nothing else to do. I biked home with this book in my pack a couple of nights and read it before drifting off to la-la land.