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Summary: Tyler does it again.
Review: I loved this book and as always with Ann Tyler's novels, I really fell head-over-heels with the main character. In the Gaitlin quest for angels, it seems that the one true angel is Barnaby!
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Summary: A simply beautiful story
Review: Though part of a wealthy family, Barnaby Gaitlin, as he approaches thirty, has not been a model citizen. He has never been able to live up to the high expectations that his extended family has placed on him. Especially difficult to Barnaby's mind is that everyone knows that his sibling is the perfect human being and he pales in comparison. When Barnaby sees Sophia Maynard for the first time, he becomes determined to enter her life. He does everything he can to gain her trust even as the composed, beautiful young lady is a difficult target for him to reach. A PATCHWORK PLANET is a poignant novel from one of the great writers of the last decade, Anne Tyler. A previous Pulitzer Prize winner, Ms. Tyler may have written her best novel to date with its theme that Earth has plenty of room for all types of people if we learn to trust one another. Barnaby is a complex character, who stretches the reader's emotions between his humor and angst. Anyone who enjoys a incredibly well-written relationship tale needs to peruse Ms. Tyler's classy story. Harriet Klausner
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Summary: A quirky book about an unusual young man.
Review: In Anne Tyler's "A Patchwork Planet," we meet thirty-year-old Barnaby Gaitlin, a man who has never fit into polite society. He was a juvenile delinquent as a boy. He later married and divorced, and he has a daughter whom he sees now and then. Barnaby has very little money, he dresses shabbily, and he lives in a rundown apartment. Barnaby works for "Rent-a-Back," a company that specializes in doing odd jobs for elderly people who cannot manage by themselves. Since his divorce, Barnaby has never seriously dated anyone. However, one day he meets a genteel and proper woman named Sophia, and it appears that Barnaby may settle down at last. In many ways, Barnaby appears to be a consummate loser, but he connects deeply with his elderly clients and he always goes the extra mile for them. Since he is an outsider himself, Barnaby understands people who no longer feel useful or wanted. In this novel, Anne Tyler shows an appreciation of and a deep compassion for those who live on the fringes of life. With rare eloquence, Tyler expresses the idea that there is a place on our "patchwork planet" for everyone, including those who are a little odd or slightly out of step. How much better our world would be if we opened up our hearts to those people whom society has forgotten. "A Patchwork Planet" is an original and engrossing look at life, love, death and loneliness.
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Summary: Anne Tyler sets a remarkable stage of ordinary life.
Review: More of my favorites this time! Even though these are older novels, they are new to me and went on my favorites list the first read through. When I covered "The Accidental Tourist" by Anne Tyler, her other books were still unknown to me. Since then, I've read several, more than half, and am looking forward to the remaining titles, which I expect to love just as much. All are deeply moving and engrossing stories, but "A Patchwork Planet" keeps surfacing as this chapter unfolds, so that's where we'll go this week. How do men create such delightful female characters, and women males? It's not as common as you might think, but a few do this remarkably well. Anne Tyler is a master at creating believable, faulty, lovable men, with all the blundering endearment you might recognize in a close friend or family member. With Macon Leary, her "tourist," she personified the quiet closed men we all know, but with remarkable insight. In "A Patchwork Planet " we meet very different man who is growing up in his 30's. Barnaby Gaitlan is a man complete with childhood demons and neurotic lapses of thought, but so rich with a simple honor, that he's unforgettable. Barnaby is the younger of two sons, the "black sheep" of an industrially successful family living on the ends of an early fortune. In his teens, he found the same trouble to get into that many boys find, pilfering in their neighborhoods, but while his friends raided the liquor cabinets, Barnaby was irresistably drawn to the photo albums and personal momentos of strangers. Finally bearing the brunt of one such caper, Barnaby is sent to a private school for light reform, and guilt follows him for years after. From his continually harping mother to his own personal reparations, Barnaby pays for his deeds long past any reasonable amends. Working for a simple service oriented company that provides physical help for elderly people, he thrives in the mundane realism that everyday life brings. From the depths of her heart, Tyler seems to pull the best of her characters through the muck of baggage we all have, and the result is as shiny and bright as the tin man's armor when he attends Ozma's birthday celebration.
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Summary: More Memorable Characters
Review: I have been an Anne Tyler fan since a friend introduced me to "Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant" years ago. I savor every minute I am reading one of her books. This novel came to my attention when it was advertised in a popular book club flier. I didn't even know she had published a new book (too busy to pay attention these days). Barnaby was not as "real" to me as were some other of her characters, but the descriptions of the elderly clients of Rent-A-Back were right on target. As usual, Tyler makes you feel grateful for the calm and sanity of your own life. In my case, a life free of food-related disasters like the Thanksgiving dinner of only sweet foods. It's a lovely day-long read at the lake or beach house.
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Summary: Enjoyable, quick read
Review: This is my fifth Anne Tyler book. While "Saint Maybe" remains my favorite, this one beats out "Celestial Navigation" which was my number two favorite. Barnaby is an interesting character because you read the story through his eyes yet you disagree with the way he views himself. He believes himself to be a bad person when he is anything but. He has made mistakes but is now doing the best he can to overcome them and be a positive influence on others lives. It is a frustrating book to read at times because we (the audience), Sophia, Mrs. Dibble, and all the clients of Rent-A-Back see Barnaby as a decent human but he refuses to see this side of himself until the end. When I finished this novel, I was happy to see that Barnaby had started to realize what a good person he really is. The only disappointment is the end. Do Sophia and Barnaby stay together? While it is a trite concern in the overall theme of the book, it is still an important issue...at least to me! :-)
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Summary: Another great Tyler read.
Review: Tyler always let's you wallow in the gray areas of the vivid characters she paints, which let's us all choose sides. For me, the protagonist Barnaby was too shady and weird to be as lovable as some readers have reported here in their reviews. I was rooting for Sophia to be free of him and not get hurt. And unlike a lot of other readers opinions, I liked Sophia, and found her to be someone I cared about in the story. Meanwhile, I thought his mother Margo-Mar gott, had every reason to be up in arms with his senseless behavior. Overall I loved the book, but I wish there was another chapter to resolve the love relationship issue. I'm not sure I got it? Or is that the point? Having said that, I've read (in many reviews) how others thought it ended perfectly. Interesting.
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Summary: Memorable Characters
Review: Another fabulous, unforgettable novel by Anne Tyler, who never disappoints me. As in most of her books, the main characters are very real and flawed and life doesn't go quite as planned. But because they have good hearts, things turn out all right in the end. Her themes often revolve around the choices people make, as does this novel. I couldn't put down "A Patchwork Planet" and read the entire thing in a day and a half. Now I'm recommending it to my book club. Perhaps my favorite Anne Tyler so far.
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Summary: My First Anne Tyler, Too
Review: This was my first Anne Tyler book (if you don't count "Morgan's Crossing," which I couldn't finish). I enjoyed this book and the characters Anne developed. Probably what I liked most about the book was that I could not see what was coming in the end.
Bottom line: Great character development, funny, and definitely NOT predictable. I will read her again.
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Summary: A Patchwork of Unique People
Review: Anne Tyler paints the most engaging characters - they are so real, you feel like you could call them up and tell them what is on your mind. For example, I'd love to call up Barnaby's mother and tell her to "Get a Life and see what an incredible person Barnaby is!" I agree with one reviewer who sees the irony in what Barnaby does and what his brother does. Barnaby has for eleven years helped the people that most of us won't help - (for most of us, our philosophy is -it's easier to give money than time) - yet his mother cannot see the goodness in her own son! Anne Tyler's books are great on character - if you are looking for exciting, gripping plot, as one critic seemed to be - you might look elsewhere. But, if you are looking for a delightful look at real people, Tyler is great. I enjoyed this book.
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