Larry’s Party is the third novel I’ve read by Carol Shields; it won the Orange Prize in 1998. Having loved the previous two, The Stone Diaries and (especially) Unless, I had high hopes for this one as well. However, it didn’t really live up to my expectations.
Over the course of his life, Larry Weller goes from flower arranger at a flower store to a master designer of landscape mazes. I’m not that into botany, so that part was only marginally interesting to me; however, I would definitely like to visit some of the mazes described in the book, particularly in Europe. More interesting to me was the progression in Larry’s thought life and love life over the course of the book. He starts out not knowing much about himself or what he wants in his twenties and of course knowing himself infinitely better by the time he’s in his late forties. Youth is so wasted on the young, right? (Not that there aren’t exceptions to you youngsters out there!) Being in my early forties, I definitely related to that aspect of the book.
“He (Larry) is recovering; in a sense he’s spent his whole life in a state of recovery, but has only begun, at age forty-five, to breathe in the vital foreknowledge of what will become of the sovereign self inside him, that luxurious ornament. He’d like that self to be more musical and better lit, he’d like to possess a more meticulous sense of curiosity, and mostly he’d like someone, some thing to love. He’s getting close. He feels it. He’s halfway awake now, and about to wake up fully.”
Some of the aspects I didn’t like about the book are that it was a little boring in places, i.e. the botany and the fact that Larry is just a regular Joe with not much in the way of personality. I think that was supposed to be the point, though. There is even a chapter dedicated to his name and what the stereotypes of “Larrys” are. Another aspect is that in quite a few places she repeats details that we already know about characters or events. I know that was by design, but I’m not sure I liked it. Also, it is a bit raunchy in places. There’s a chapter called “Larry’s P#n*s” that goes on and on in very descriptive detail about that specific body part and all the different names for it that people use. Some people would find that extremely funny, I’m sure, but I could have done without the more graphic parts of that chapter.
The last chapter is called “Larry’s Party,” and that chapter and the dinner party itself wrapped up everything in Larry’s life to that point very nicely. I really liked the metaphor that our lives are mazes. Sometimes there’s only one way in and one way out. Sometimes there are four exits. But always, there is the ‘goal’ in the center. Honestly, the last chapter made me lift my rating from 3 1/2 stars to 4. It was very cleverly done. And although this book was my least favorite of Shields’ books so far, I still plan on reading many more if not all of her works. I really do think she was an amazing writer.
This was my first Sarah Waters book, and I must say I do enjoy her writing style.
Hundreds Hall. Haunted or not? Ghost, poltergeist, or murderer?
Minor spoilers ahead.
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Hundreds Hall, once a grand estate, has fallen into decline with the decline of its family’s fortune. The narrator, Dr. Faraday, first knew of the house as a small child when his mother was a maid there. After a 30 year absence, he is called back to the house because of a maid’s illness and is taken aback by the condition of the house and the family.
Over time he becomes sort of a family friend to Mrs. Ayres and her adult children Roderick and Caroline, though perhaps the friendship is more on his side than theirs due to class differences. All the while, strange happenings are afoot. Strange burn marks, footsteps in empty rooms and the like are witnessed by each occupant. The story is cleverly told, and the ending is left for the reader to decide. I’m one who actually likes this type of ending because I end up thinking about all the possibilities for days! The mood of the book was sufficiently creepy without being gory and was an excellent choice for the RIP Challenge, too.
The Little Stranger is shortlisted for the 2009 Man Booker Prize.
2009, 480 pp.
[Disclaimer: This book was obtained from my public library.]
When Cat returns home after a 10 year absence because of her mother’s suicide, this is the note she finds. There are several possible ‘he’s’ in Cat’s life that this note could refer to, so we are kept guessing until near the end who her mother means. As she stays for her mother’s funeral, several ghosts from her past come back to haunt her. Domestic violence and alcoholism are prominent themes in the book.
I didn’t really care for this one. There seemed to me to be some plot holes in the story, or at least some unexplained events. For instance, Cat had an extremely happy childhood until age 5 or 6, but we are never told why at age 7 everything changed. She remembers her parents as loving before that time, but definitely not afterwards. Also, I had a hard time believing that the older Jared was so beloved by both of Cat’s parents. The circumstances between he and the rest of the family didn’t seem to warrant this. I just didn’t understand it. I also wanted to feel more sorry for Cat than I did, and normally I would for a character that has suffered such tragic events. I wonder if I would have felt more sympathy for Cat if the book had been written in 3rd person instead of 1st. Her voice seemed to ‘tell and not ‘show’ throughout the book. Third person narration may have been able to correct this. For instance, although I know alcoholism was one of the themes of the book, it just got irritating to hear something to the effect of ”I need a drink’ on every other page when 3rd person narration could have shown her alcoholic side a little better. These are just my own thoughts, though. Several people on librarything and Amazon have loved the book, so be sure to check out their reviews for a balanced opinion.
I listened to Life As We Knew It on audio cd with my 15 year old son. He wasn’t impressed with Miranda’s cutesy character at first, but I told him to hang in there, and he ended up being glad he did. We plan on listening to Pfeffer’s The Dead and the Gone if it comes out on audio at our library.
In the story, an asteroid has struck the moon with catastrophic consequences for Earth. Tsunamis, floods, volcanoes, and electrical and food shortages ensue. The book sort of reminded me of a teen version of The Road. Miranda struggles along with her mother and brothers just to survive. She also struggles with the typical teenage problems of today. It made for a few good discussions with my son.
He and I are looking forward to the ‘boy version’ of events in The Dead and the Gone. The second book is also in a different setting (New York vs. rural Pennsylvania), so that element should be interesting as well.
As a medical term, gigantism can refer to “pituitary gigantism”, which is due to prepubertal growth hormone excess. This is sometimes equated with acromegaly, but more precisely, an excess of growth hormone leads to “pituitary gigantism” (vertical growth) if the epiphyseal plates have not yet closed, but it leads to “acromegaly” (lateral growth) if they have closed.
Even before I emerged from my mother’s womb in 1953, people began warning my mother that the infant she carried was going to be huge.
I really enjoyed this debut novel — particularly the first 3/4 of it. Tiffany Baker has created a very extraordinary character in Truly Plaice. First called a ‘little giant’ by her teacher Miss Sparrow, Truly is the exact opposite of her very petite, pretty, and perfect sister Serena Jane. Teased and humiliated by her classmates and community, Truly actually copes fairly well with her large size. Her genetics have treated Truly unfairly, but there are some positives in her life as well. She has the love of three very special people in her life, and she is thus able to tune out the mean-spirited ones who torment her. Not afraid of hard work either, Truly only sometimes feels sorry for herself and tries to make the best of every situation she’s in. (I always think it’s best not to know too many plot points before reading a book so I’ll stop there to avoid spoilers.)
The book covers the first 35-40 or so years of Truly’s life, and as said previously, I very much enjoyed the first 3/4 of the book. I actually read through the first part very quickly, but I did feel that the last 1/4 of the novel dragged a bit. There are also some ethical decisions made by the characters that are quite controversial, and I’m not quite sure how I stand on those issues myself so my thoughts about the ending are mixed. However, I’ll definitely be looking out for Tiffany Baker’s next book. She is a promising new novelist who knows how to craft unique characters and a unique story.
A special thanks goes to Hachette Book Group for sending me this book for review. The Little Giant of Aberdeen County is being released today (January 8th).
There’s no denying that Nabokov is a great writer. In fact, I’d love to read more by him — just on a different subject. I had a hard time rating this book as the subject matter is so despicable, but settled on 3 stars because of Nabokov’s writing ability. A large part of the rating also goes to the excellence in Jeremy Irons’ narration. I absolutely love his voice, but then again, he was almost too good as the narrator for Humbert Humbert. I have not seen the movie with Irons in the starring role.
I won’t repeat the storyline here, as everyone should know the basic outline of it. My question is, why did Nabokov even feel the need to write this story? I’ve heard one reviewer say that Nabokov makes us root for Humbert Humbert over Lolita. Not so. Not with me, anyway. A great writer Nabokov is. A great character Humbert Humbert is not.
"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!" (1 Kings 8:27, ESV)
This was my first Sarah Waters book, and I must say I do enjoy her writing style.
Cat,
From 
There’s no denying that Nabokov is a great writer. In fact, I’d love to read more by him — just on a different subject. I had a hard time rating this book as the subject matter is so despicable, but settled on 3 stars because of Nabokov’s writing ability. A large part of the rating also goes to the excellence in Jeremy Irons’ narration. I absolutely love his voice, but then again, he was almost too good as the narrator for Humbert Humbert. I have not seen the movie with Irons in the starring role.
