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Title: The Art of Mending : A Novel by ELIZABETH BERG ISBN: 1-4000-6159-8 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 13 April, 2004 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.2 (15 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Author stretches family fabric to patch a split
Comment: Berg delves into the lives of a dysfunctional family who appear quite normal on the surface. Yet as the children grow and live their lives, cracks develop in their normal-looking facade and each of them question why they live the lives they do. Caroline reaches the point that she cannot get out of bed unless she finds some answers.The center of the family was one self-absorbed mother with an oldest daughter following in her footsteps, plus a clueless disconnected son and a father who is the glue that holds the family together, yet has difficulty looking any of his children in the eye. Here is a complete family, yet, there is a leftover child, Caroline, who doesn't fit. The opening photograph shows only the tips of Caroline's shoes as she sits on the stairway waiting for someone to notice her. Yet by the end of the book, I really didn't feel like I had seen much more of Caroline than the tips of those shoes. The characters' motivations never came clear to me and the horrible things that were done to the children, didn't seem so awful. Perhaps I've read too many murder mysteries starring perverted serial killers.
What drew me out of the story was the author's portrayal of the adult Laura, the oldest daughter, as a fabric artist, quilt designer. I found it difficult to believe she set up her studio in a basement and couldn't believe she would work under florescent lighting. Plus the quilt design career didn't seem to be a metaphor for Laura's life. The cutting apart of something already made so she could make something new... wasn't really brought out in this novel. Many dots were not connected for me and I had to stretch a bit.
Yet, Berg's way with words and introspective look at this family kept me reading. This is the second of her novels I have read, the first being "Damaged Goods," a stronger work of fiction.
Rating: 3
Summary: Not quite a blue ribbon winner
Comment: If this were anyone else but Elizabeth Berg I would probably have found this book more satisfying. I know that Berg can deliver the goods, and frankly this book doesn't do it. I get the controlling metaphor of the quilt, but I agree with the reviewer who thought that the "secret" wasn't shocking enough(which may be a sad commentary on what I've become inured to.) Also, Berg clearly shows us in the vignettes that begin most chapters that Laura,too,is guilty of abusive behavior towards Caroline, yet this isn't really explored with the depth that could have made for something really interesting. There are many wonderful pieces to this patchwork story, but ultimately it falls short. It will, however, send many people (myself included) scurrying to find the episodic Lost Lake by Mark Slouka, despite the fact that its mention seemed as jarring as a toothpaste commercial during an episode of Law and Order:SVU.
Rating: 3
Summary: I still love Berg, anyhow
Comment: "The Art of Mending" did not have the same passion Berg usually gives to her books, not the same "Yea, I get it! I've been there. I understand."
Acually, it is the first book (and I've read all of them) that Berg does not give completely of herself, or at least I felt this.
But...even so, I absolutely still love her, still read every page, still enjoyed it.
Two sisters coming to terms with abuse in the family...one would think we would blame the mother, but Berg does not turn her into a monster--- instead gives her a face, a history, even a tender soul.
Berg's gift is making the reader see through the eyes of somebody we may hate under normal circumstances, but she turns everything around, helps us understand why they did what they did....shows us their sins and weaknesses and we forgive them, we must, in the end.
In the last 3 or 4 chapters...Berg is back to her insightful, delicious self...and this is why i give the book 3 and a half stars.
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Title: The Amateur Marriage: A Novel by ANNE TYLER ISBN: 1400042070 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 06 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Say When : A Novel by Elizabeth Berg ISBN: 0743411366 Publisher: Atria Books Pub. Date: 03 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Good Grief : A Novel by Lolly Winston ISBN: 0446533041 Publisher: Warner Books Pub. Date: 13 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: My Sister's Keeper : A Novel by Jodi Picoult ISBN: 0743454529 Publisher: Atria Books Pub. Date: 06 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: A Song I Knew by Heart : A Novel by BRET LOTT ISBN: 0375503773 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 13 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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