I'm not really sure how to review this book. It was exactly what I'd expected it to be - a quick, light read of little significance. Nothing blew me away in the book, but I enjoyed the mental vacation while actually on vacation (spring break!)
Revenge picks up 10 years after we first met the "devil," Andy, and Emily. Although so much time has passed, Andy is still haunted by her experience at Runway magazine as Editor-in-Chief Miranda Priestly's second assistant. I've no idea why she's still plagued after so much time has elapsed. Her successful career as the Editor and owner of a bridal magazine should have been enough of an f-you to the past to empower Andy, but it looms and eventually gets right in her face when Runway's publishing company (and essential Miranda herself) want to acquire Andy's magazine.
There's more drama in the book, some that's simply in Andy's head, some in reality, with an unsurprising twist at the end that's meant to be a jaw dropper. The one thing that just didn't make sense through, throughout all the goings on is Andy herself. She hems and haws between a woman who gets the job done, who is capable, confident, and successful and a self-doubting, afraid-to-speak-up, passive person. It's almost like she's two different people and unfortunately turns off her confident self when it would do her the most good (except maybe at the end.)
But, like I said, even with its flaws, this book is exactly what it claims to be and was a much enjoyed break from the classic literature I spent the previous four months reading. I wasn't upset I took the time to read it, I just wish the lead character was a better version of a female. That Andy had a stronger voice through all the crazy situations she found herself in in the book.
If you're looking to read anything else by Weisberger, check out my review of Chasing Harry Winston, a fun beach read.
It has been a long time since I've read a book that takes place solely in reality. No alternate, distopian futures, no supernatural creatures, no fairy tales come to life - just people doing nothing more than living. This simple act though is complicated enough and Wolitzer easily takes us through the maze of going from adolescent to middle-aged through the lives of a small group of friends who, of course, came together at summer camp. The great equalizer - summer camp - where you're all the same as long as you're there. And, if the bonds are strong enough, what makes you different once you're back on the outside isn't enough to break the friendship apart. I'm a camp girl myself and just have to note it's an amazingly strong bond - camper to camper, camper to staffer - doesn't matter. You are there together so you're connected and it was great to see this as a universal truth through this book.
The lives of a small group of friends, each with their own complicated histories, meet at camp in 1974 as clueless teens who think they have it all figured out. Ash and Goodman are the gorgeous, high-society siblings. Julie or Jules as she becomes by the end of that first summer is essentially an outsider at this creative arts camp, yet finds her way into this tight group of friends. Ethan Figman, whose attraction lies with this talent as an animator and not his physical appearance knows what he wants out of life and is just talented enough to get it. Jonah is the child of a famous folk singer who is holding on to a bitter dose of reality slapped across him early on in life. And finally, Cathy Kiplinger the one member whose body just doesn't align with her dancing talent. They all come together in a tepee at Spirit-in-the-Woods and so begins their stories and the inherent connection they'll all have to each other.
Everyone starts off at the same spot - optimistic for the future - yet everyone's life turns out a little bit differently than the rest. Subsequent events test loyalties and try to dive wedges between friends that never succeed in making a clean break. A few characters grow up and stick with their passion for the arts while other face the harsh reality that you need talent to succeed so go on to less artistic careers. Through all the stuff that makes up growing up, love, heartbreak, marriage, kids, trauma, betrayal, death, success, and failure our characters connect to lean on each other constantly showing what it means to be a friend for life.
The Interestings is simply a wonderful story. Time passes fluidly as Wolitzer moves around between characters' stories. Telling it in the third person keeps the tone even as the action shifts and really lets you connect on some level with everyone. Whether you like them or not (and you won't like everyone) nobody's life is stale nor does anything that happen feel improbable. It's not easy to get a good dose of reality in fiction, but here it is between the pages of this colorful cover.
I loved this book. It's a great summer read - it's a great anytime read, but people just seem to have more time to read in the summer and you're not going to want to put this book down. I finished it feeling like I was given a complete story to experience and I closed the book at the end satisfied.
2013 Reread #8
I think I will always love this book. Where else can you find so many intriguing elements mixed into one story that will pretty much always feel relevant? This book focuses on art, religion, history, the power of love, the power of enlightenment and self-awareness, and the ability of inanimate objects to grow consciousness and locomote across the country and across the world. Beyond all the strange characters and philosophizing typical of any Robbins book the heart of this story is what I've always connected with - live in the moment if you can and don't let the past dictate who you are nor the future influence who you will be. Just be you, right now.
It takes a very long time to get to this epiphany and on the journey a lot goes on for our main characters Ellen Cherry Charles and her husband, Boomer Petway. They encounter a wide range of strange characters who are all obsessed in one way or another with the same thing, the Middle East. Some characters believe the world is nearing its end and the third temple should be rebuilt at any cost, some just feel a change on the wind and want to be in Israel, and others want to set an example of how an Arab and Jew can actually get along in the hopes it will lessen the conflicts going on in that part of the world. The funny thing is though, Ellen Cherry and Boomer don't know anything about the Middle East. They come into the story totally ignorant and yet ride this wave because of random associations. And, it's really the two of them that essentially figure everything out Boomer finds the unity between Arabs and Jews through art and Ellen Cherry comes to understand the conflict through the enlightenment brought on by a very salacious dance of the seven veils.
My favorite element of this story is the inanimate objects - a spoon, a dirty sock, a can of beans, a conch shell, and a painted stick journey from the mid-west to New York City then over to Israel. Conch Shell and Painted Stick are artifacts from before the first temple in Israel who have somehow managed to survive. Robbins uses them to fill in the gaps in history since, of course, Can o' Beans is so interested in learning how the Middle Eastern conflict really got started. These characters move without a real concept of time or sense of urgency, but with a level of determination that goes beyond anything a human could muster. Eventually, Conch Shell floats across the ocean from New York to Israel with Can o' Beans riding on her. The patience and determination to accomplish that is just mind-blowing. I love the idea that the pull toward Israel is so strong, even inanimate objects feel it and gravitate toward it. It's a feeling I myself experienced when I was there visiting. There's just something about that part of the world - you feel the origins of life, of your story in the air. After visiting the country I had this residual compulsion for a few months to return and find a way to live there. Being in Israel gave me this sense of calm that I haven't had anywhere else in the world, which is a little odd when you think about it since that part of the world is anything but calm.
Using the Middle East and the long history of conflict there as the backdrop for this story was really a stroke of genius. The conflict has been going on for so long, it's not going to stop any time soon, so this book will always have a relevant element to it. The idea of peace as well is never going out of style, and a tandem theme to any conflict as long-going as this one. It's a way to talk about grudges and peace and learning to let go in a context that everyone can relate to. If you're not directly involved in the conflict or haven't been learning about it your whole life because you're either Arab or Jewish, you've watched the news, you've seen the craziness that goes on over there, you understand.
This is just a long, strange, trip of a book and an amazing read that I still, after letting it sit on my shelf for over a decade, would recommend to anyone looking for something a little off the beaten path of today's popular fiction.
I'm not really sure how to review this book. It was exactly what I'd expected it to be - a quick, light read of little significance. Nothing blew me away in the book, but I enjoyed the mental vacation while actually on vacation (spring break!)
