Helpful Score: 4
I always love Tyler's writing - so breezy, effortless, but still sophisticated.
So I liked the writing. I also liked a lot of the book - I identified with her protagonist, Aaron, and I felt like his wife was very real. I could picture her perfectly.
But the narrative didn't feel real. This may feel like a spoiler, but it's really not, when I tell you that Aaron's dead wife appears in the book. It's not a spoiler because he says it flat out in the first sentence.
So anyway, narrative didn't feel real. Maybe she was intentionally doing an unreliable-narrator thing; if so, it didn't work with me. At the beginning of the book, he talked as if being with his wife was a constant and common occurrence, whether people were around or no. The rest of the book, his wife's appearances are furtive, brief, and people-shy. It didn't quite jell. I found myself wondering where in the narrative the scenes described in the first pages could have occurred - they didn't seem like they would fit in any part of the grieving process.
Also, and maybe this is a nitpick, but men just don't describe clothes at length, or nearly as specifically, as Tyler does. She does it in every book. In a first-person book with a male narrator, it's just got to get cut out. No man talks about the way a sweater gathers at the collar, or goes on about pencil-skirts and how often a particular woman wears that one.
So I liked the writing. I also liked a lot of the book - I identified with her protagonist, Aaron, and I felt like his wife was very real. I could picture her perfectly.
But the narrative didn't feel real. This may feel like a spoiler, but it's really not, when I tell you that Aaron's dead wife appears in the book. It's not a spoiler because he says it flat out in the first sentence.
So anyway, narrative didn't feel real. Maybe she was intentionally doing an unreliable-narrator thing; if so, it didn't work with me. At the beginning of the book, he talked as if being with his wife was a constant and common occurrence, whether people were around or no. The rest of the book, his wife's appearances are furtive, brief, and people-shy. It didn't quite jell. I found myself wondering where in the narrative the scenes described in the first pages could have occurred - they didn't seem like they would fit in any part of the grieving process.
Also, and maybe this is a nitpick, but men just don't describe clothes at length, or nearly as specifically, as Tyler does. She does it in every book. In a first-person book with a male narrator, it's just got to get cut out. No man talks about the way a sweater gathers at the collar, or goes on about pencil-skirts and how often a particular woman wears that one.
Helpful Score: 2
I'd forgotten just how much I love Tyler's quirky characters! This book made me laugh out loud and moved me to tears. It's a delight to be privy to this protagonist's thoughts on everything from his co-workers to marriage to "workmen who persist in saying 'Mr.' even after you've told them not to." My only complaint is that at 198 pages, it was over much too soon.
Finally a book, I really really liked! I would highly recommend it to anyone. Might be a comfort to someone who has lost a loved one. I can see why it won a Pulitzer and would like to read more books by this author.
No need to give you summary of the story, you have that already. Confessing to the world that this is the first Anne Tyler book I've read. A friend was astounded that I hadn't read all of her books by now, so picked up this one to see if I like Tyler's writing style. I did enjoy the informality of her style, but this book didn't have depth. While I enjoyed the premise of his dead wife returning from time to time, the ending was too neatly wrapped in a sweet bow...ugh. I'll give Tyler another chance to impress me as I have A Spool of Blue Thread in the TRB pile.
