![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Amy and Isabelle, Elizabeth Strout
This story could have ended halfway through and I would have been content with that. Instead, it went on, way past where I would have expected it to end, and each additional page felt like some secret reward. Strout writes deliberately and without trite language. She's able to masterfully capture the feel of both the single mother and her sordid past as well as the teenage daughter and her sexual awakenings. While predictable in spots (I knew that Isabelle would eventually reveal her past and that it would be somewhat identical to that of her daughter's present), there were a number of twists that were not foreseen (or, rather, a number of false predictions). The final scene between Amy and Mr. Robertson was typical, yet still (I typed stiff, LOL) fresh enough that I had to read it twice before deciding to read it once more. And while teacher-student relationships are wrong, I still found myself hoping that this one would be different, sort of similiar to Amy's slight obsession.
Strout incorporates the New England summer well, presenting it almost as its own character, alongside the small town snobs and busybodies that surround the tangibly difficult relationship between mother and daughter. Amy, in high school, is already at odds with her mother, as well as the world. It isn't until the new teacher takes a special interest in her that Amy blooms (trite as that may sound, it's true). Isabelle grapples with wanting to destroy her daughter, thus ending the possibilities of continually repeating the same pattern, and embracing the child she can still see in her daughter.
Things that I expected to happen but didn't:
Amy and her pregnant friend experimenting sexually.
Mr. Robertson being the local killer.
Amy and Paul driving off in search of Mr. Robertson.
Mrs. Robertson murdered by Amy or Mr. Robertson.
Isabelle to turn into Carrie's mom, or Sibyl's mom or Mommie Dearest.
Amy to commit suicide, Stacy to then take Amy's place with Isabelle.
As I read it, I tried to visualize the characters, cast the movie based-on-the-book, if you will. For Fat Bev, I imagined the housekeeper from Two and a half Men. Mr. Robertson would have been Ryan Gosling, Isabelle Toni Collette. I Googled the book (as I do for almost everything) and was briefly excited to find that a movie had already been made. Then I read the entry at IMDb and found myself awash with disappointment: Oprah Winfrey as executive producer? Elisabeth Shue as Isabelle? Some really old guy as the teacher--as if old teacher and young student isn't played out. I was tickled to find I'd appropriately cast Fat Bev, though. I would gladly read this again, but I'll pass on the made-for-TV movie.
Next up: Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams.
This story could have ended halfway through and I would have been content with that. Instead, it went on, way past where I would have expected it to end, and each additional page felt like some secret reward. Strout writes deliberately and without trite language. She's able to masterfully capture the feel of both the single mother and her sordid past as well as the teenage daughter and her sexual awakenings. While predictable in spots (I knew that Isabelle would eventually reveal her past and that it would be somewhat identical to that of her daughter's present), there were a number of twists that were not foreseen (or, rather, a number of false predictions). The final scene between Amy and Mr. Robertson was typical, yet still (I typed stiff, LOL) fresh enough that I had to read it twice before deciding to read it once more. And while teacher-student relationships are wrong, I still found myself hoping that this one would be different, sort of similiar to Amy's slight obsession.
Strout incorporates the New England summer well, presenting it almost as its own character, alongside the small town snobs and busybodies that surround the tangibly difficult relationship between mother and daughter. Amy, in high school, is already at odds with her mother, as well as the world. It isn't until the new teacher takes a special interest in her that Amy blooms (trite as that may sound, it's true). Isabelle grapples with wanting to destroy her daughter, thus ending the possibilities of continually repeating the same pattern, and embracing the child she can still see in her daughter.
Things that I expected to happen but didn't:
Amy and her pregnant friend experimenting sexually.
Mr. Robertson being the local killer.
Amy and Paul driving off in search of Mr. Robertson.
Mrs. Robertson murdered by Amy or Mr. Robertson.
Isabelle to turn into Carrie's mom, or Sibyl's mom or Mommie Dearest.
Amy to commit suicide, Stacy to then take Amy's place with Isabelle.
As I read it, I tried to visualize the characters, cast the movie based-on-the-book, if you will. For Fat Bev, I imagined the housekeeper from Two and a half Men. Mr. Robertson would have been Ryan Gosling, Isabelle Toni Collette. I Googled the book (as I do for almost everything) and was briefly excited to find that a movie had already been made. Then I read the entry at IMDb and found myself awash with disappointment: Oprah Winfrey as executive producer? Elisabeth Shue as Isabelle? Some really old guy as the teacher--as if old teacher and young student isn't played out. I was tickled to find I'd appropriately cast Fat Bev, though. I would gladly read this again, but I'll pass on the made-for-TV movie.
Next up: Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-02-17 05:46 pm (UTC)From:...think I've found it!
no subject
Date: 2007-02-17 05:48 pm (UTC)From: