Three Junes

Rating:
Summary: Exquisite
Review: "Time plays like an accordion in the way it can stretch out and compress itself in a thousand melodic ways. Months on end may pass blindingly in a quick series of chords, open-shut, together-apart; and then a single melancholy week may seem like a year's pining, one long unfolding note."

In "Three Junes", first-time novelist Julia Glass paints a vivid landscape about life - the choices we make, the parts of ourselves that we dare to show, and the feelings we have - in a seamless portrait of beauty.

The tale revolves around three characters, each linked by a specific event in their past. Paul McLeod is a recent widower hoping to find a new life in the Greek islands; Fenno McLeod is a New York bookstore owner dealing with the death of a close friend, and Fern is a pregnant dreamer unsure of her future. Each character is forced to make choices in the wake of grief and new love, and each responds differently.

This is by no means an action story. It is more about the characters and the relationships that they have than any dramatic tale. However, Glass's exquisite prose (as seen in the leading quotation) keeps the reader engrossed and evaluating his or her own life.

Rating:
Summary: Could Not Get Through It
Review: Honestly this book was so slow moving I never ended up fisihing it. I read over half of it and could not bring my self to waste any more time. Just getting through what I did took me for ever because I had to make my self pick up the book and read it. I would not recommend this book. It is just to slow.

Rating:
Summary: Could Not Get Into It
Review: I has read the reviews before I bought this book and thought I would enjoy it. I really had a hard time getting through it. It was very slow moving. I wish I could get my money back.

Rating:
Summary: Not perfect, but good
Review: The book is divided into three parts, each following the life of a different character, but all three characters are connected in one way or another. Personally, the first and third parts weren't too terribly interesting to me. But the second part was rivetting, I sped through it, I never wanted to put it down. Read it simply so you can read that, it'll be worth it.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: With so many excellent reviews, I thought this book would be a slam-dunk. Unfortunately, the story wasn't even compelling enough to finish.

I agree with another Reviewer who was not able to get involved with the characters or care anough to see how the story ended (even trapped on an airplane for 3 hours). I felt no compassion for any character, and kept hoping some event would draw me in. So many deaths should have been interesting enough to keep me reading, but the author was so detached from the characters that I really couldn't find my way to caring.

It was just too dull and cold of a book for my taste.


Rating:
Summary: Kind of a downbeat Maeve Binchey.
Review: Very ok. I just don't understand what all the hoopla is about.The story was just interesting enough to keep me reading, but barely. None of the charactars were well developed or likeable enough to make me care what happened to them. The Fenno charactar was ok, but the story really didn't let you get into his head. Just when you were starting to get interested, the book would switch directions. This book was recommended to me by several people, but obviously they don't read many books.

Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: In "Three Junes", Glass explores the intricacies of relationships among family, friends and lovers. Paul is the patriarch of the McLeod family, a Scottish clan consisting of three sons; Fenno, the eldest, and twins Dennis and David. The story begins in Greece where Paul is vacationing after the death of his wife. Through shifting scenes and flashbacks, Glass reveals the lives of her characters and their relationship to each other with meticulous detail and artistry. Fenno leaves Scotland after college and settles in New York where he tries to negotiate life and relationships during the AIDS crisis of the eighties. While in New York, Fenno befriends a host of people who teach him about love and loss in ways quite unlike the detached manner he's experienced in his family. After Paul dies, the brothers gather in Scotland for his funeral. During their time in Scotland, the brothers learn how each of their lives was shaped by their parent's relationship. In this section of the novel, Glass does a superb job of depicting how siblings raised in the same household by the same parents can have vastly different experiences.

In addition to the storyline that explores the McLeod family relationships, are the storylines that examine relationships of the non-familial sort; the love with which Fenno cares for a dying friend and his pets. The love of life as expressed by Tony who finds it easier to love life and freedom than commit to the day-to-day challenges of loving people.

"Three Junes" was an enjoyable read overall although at time it moved a bit slowly for my liking. Glass's writing and imaginative abilities are on point. Each character, no matter how minimal, is flushed out in sufficient detail to make him/her real and endearing. The story is a complex and layered study in love - its hardships and rewards. My favorite line from the novel: "Mind what you love. For that matter, mind how you are loved." The novel was well worth the time spent reading it.


Rating:
Summary: Pretty good, but a National Book Award winner?
Review: I bought this book expecting great things based on the award. From that point of view I must admit to being more than a little dissapointed. There were several other books I read this year, like The Kite Runner for example, that I fel were much more deserving of this recognition. That being said it is worth the read. I found the character development to be very good and the story to be interesting. I would buy another novel from Ms. Glass.