The Dive From Clausen's Pier

Rating:
Summary: I'm as confused as Carrie...
Review: First of all, I have to say that I found it difficult to put this book down. It also raised many of the important questions in my head that I'm sure it was supposed to. And, at times, I even found myself identifying with the main character, Carrie Bell. That being said, I should explain why I only gave this book 3 stars.

My problem with the book started off with my impression that Ann Packer has never actually been to Madison, Wisconsin. Sure, she knows street names, and she never lets you forget the fact that there are 2 lakes, and that Picnic Point juts out into one of them. But Carrie is supposed to be merely 23, and has lived in Madison her entire life--even going to UW. She should at least know some simple things like the fact that there are 2 student unions, more than 10 university operated libraries, and that NO ONE calls Mifflin St. "Miffland" anymore--no one probably has since the 60s. I was offended, also, by the enormous stereotypes that Ms. Packer put all of her characters into, be it those who were born and bred in WI, or those in NY. Believe it or not, not everyone in Madison is dowdy, sunny-dispositioned, and simple. Especially living near the university. There are plenty of transplants--primarily from the east coast--that diversify the city. Ms. Packer should actually visit Madison sometime. She might be surprised.

I bought this book after a year of debating with myself whether or not I should. The main reason was because it was finally in paperback and on sale. I'm glad I didn't pay full price. For while I can say that it was a page-turning "beach read", I can't say that I am interested in reading any more of Ms. Packer's offerings.

Rating:
Summary: Hit Close to Home
Review: This book hit very close to home for me. I am the same age as Carrie, and I too have sometimes felt that maybe my boyfriend and I shouldn't be together anymore.

The Dive From Clausen's Pier is the story of 23-year-old Carrie, who is in a long-term relationship with a man she can't imagine herself with forever. He is not a bad man, just not right for her. In the very first chapter, her boyfriend is involved in an accident that leaves him paralyzed. The question posed by the book is "How much do we owe the people we love?" This is an important question. Mike after all, is not a bad guy. Her decision would be easy if he hit her or were otherwise abusive.

All of this happens very early in the book. The remainder is Carrie's journey to discover herself and make a decision as to how to live the rest of her life. How much does she owe Mike? Some readers have called some of her actions selfish - they are right. But what 23 year old hasn't made a selfish decision? And imagine being in her position - I know for me I see many possibilities for my future and none involve taking care of a quadriplegic. Selfish? Maybe. Real? Yes.

For the time I was reading this book I became very emotionally attached to the story, perhaps because I could see so many parallels between my life and Carrie's. I had several nightmares where my boyfriend became paralyzed, and he couldn't wait for me to finish it since it was all I could talk about! Any book that draws me in like that and hits me on such a personal level is worth reading. But as with any book, I am sure not everyone will have the same reaction.

There were some flaws. As some readers have mentioned, there are a few annoying characters, and a few awkward scenes (I do not have a problem with sex in books, but these scenes seems out of place and almost silly.) But all in all, I enjoyed the experience.

Rating:
Summary: Was expecting more
Review: I bought the book because I liked the story idea-girl falls out of love with fiance, he becomes paralyzed before they break up, she has to ask herself does she stay or go?
I gave the book two stars because even though it took me a while to get through it (at the end I was skimming the pages), I managed to finish it. I did not like the character Carrie, the main character, at all. She seemed selfish, lazy, and at times mean. The best part was when her mom chastised her for not coming home for Christmas-I thought "finally someone told her".
She just up and leaves her family and friends, and none of them seem to bothered by it. I know my friend's would be, especially my mom if she was like Carrie's mom with just me in her life. The Kilroy character who is her boyfriend in New York was just as bad-I thought of him as equally selfish, no wonder they got along. And then she has the gall to come back to Madison and act like she really didn't hurt anyone that much? This character was too unbelievable and I wish her friends had dissed her.
And why mention stuff like Ms. Wolf's book, Carrie's father, Jamie's mom and sister etc. without fully developing them? Why didn't she get a job? Did she ever laugh in the book? I pictured her as always having a frown on her face.
Why bring up that nightgown and robe Carrie made out of silk and not have her do anything with it? It was mentioned constantly and I thought maybe the direction it was going was that she would get back with Mike and wear it for him but no it just gets stuffed in a drawer.
I felt proud of myself for getting through the book.

Rating:
Summary: Strong start turns soap-opera-fluff; dazzling prose though
Review: I don't want to sound like the blurb. But...how much do we owe the people who love us? Where do we draw the line between sacrifice and selfishness? These are the entangling issues that baffled Carrie Bell, our protagonist in Ann Packer's debut novel The Dive from the Clausen's Pier.

Carrie Bell was born and bred in Wisconsin in all her 23 years. Life seemed to have treated her well-blessed her with her high school sweetheart Mike, to whom she had engaged. To her family and many of her friends in town, what was deemed as the perfect relationship was prone to some low-lying tension, at least to Carrie. Her love for Mike had waned and the love spell was no longer there. While Carrie contemplated at the most possible euphemistic way to presage her fiancé the end of their relationship, Mike dived off from Clausen's Pier into the shallows and broke his neck on Memorial Day holiday. She decided to stay and looked after Mike out of guilt and obligation though she was on the verge of leaving Wisconsin. At the end of summer, Carrie was seized with a surge of excitement and left for New York in search of the life she riveted.

This is the point where the flaw comes in. I understand how much Carrie was going through-with the pressure, the expectation (from both her family and Mike's parents), the fed-up suffocating life that she tired of. But why would she all a sudden throw herself into the open arms of Kilroy, who lived in midtown New York? Wouldn't that make her more guilty? This just didn't make sense to me and was not at all realistic (maybe it was reasonable by soap opera standard). The most consternated was yet to come when she threw herself into an affair with this older man. I knew she was seized with a pang of regret, guilt, fear, and indecisiveness. But what was the point of such concupiscence? Was she using this man to embark on a fashion design career? Beat me. Even after she left home, she deliberately allowed others make decisions for her-it really struck me that Carrie could not follow her heart and take her stand.

The prose is dazzling and eloquent in spite of the many flaws (of the plot) that blemishes the book. This flaw is caused by the underdevelopment of Carrie Bell's character. She somehow left the readers hanging. If I have to rate this book on the sole basis of writing, it will be at least 4 stars. The unrealistic scenes and unreasonable (questionable) turns inevitably ruin the rating. Honestly, when I got to the point where Carrie made the jaunt to New York and hooked up with the older man, I just skimmed through the rest of the book for the ending (or her comeuppance). I didn't care or how she reached the end because the book was a total letdown. It was especially disappointing after all the hype and rave of the book that welled up such high anticipation and all I got was some soap-opera-like type of fluff. 3.0 stars.

Rating:
Summary: this book is so unfair
Review: Where was Ms.Packer during the feminist revolution? Rooster is to be read as a saint because he takes his ol' pal out to lunch once a week while Carrie is supposed to give up her life and career to take care of a guy that she didn't want to marry when he was healthy. I think that Ms.Packer lost her nerve. As soon as her heroine began to individuate she literally ran home to mama. It could have been a good book if the last hundred pages weren't such a lie to the first 300.

Rating:
Summary: Unsympathetic main character
Review: The beginning of the book was so well written, I couldn't put it down. But then, suddenly, about 1/2 way through, I realized that not only didn't I like the main character, I truly couldn't even sympathize with her. I didn't understand her relationship with Mr. moody NY and each time I read the name Kilroy I wanted to skip ahead and get on with it...
I had trouble finishing this book and skipped many, many pages for a payoff that didn't come...
There are better books out there.

Rating:
Summary: What would you do if you were Carrie?
Review: My mother reccomended this book to me and while I was a little hesitant since her selections are a little different than mine, once I started reading it, I was hooked. The story gets right into the mind of Carrie and her doubts of her relationship with her high school sweetheart Mike. As their traditional memorial day trip to the lake ended in a total tragity leaving Mike paralized after trying to impress the girl he loved so much who was slowly slipping away, the author takes you on an emotional rollercoaster with Carrie and all the thoughts and obsticals she had to overcome. There were a few times when I wanted to cry, times when I was so upset I had to put the book down, and times when I was holding on to the small glimmer of hope that was left for Carrie and Mike. Once the fact that he was never going to walk again sunk into Carrie's mind, it scared her even more. Since the relationship was already on the outs, and everyone around them could see it, Carrie makes a break, otherwise known as running away, to New York to try and discover herself once again. (Even though that really frustrated me, I kept reading.) While trying to rid herself of her Madison memories and what life was like in the "dull" town, Carrie finally realizes that her heart, family, and everything she knows is back in Madison. You're taken on a ride with her emotions, how indecisive she becomes when faced to choose between love and lust. Should she stay in NY or go back to Madison, WI? I never wanted to put the book down. Always cheering for Carrie to come to her senses, I often asked myself what I would do if someone I loved became paralized. The author provokes the reader to really think about what they would do in Carrie's situation, yet having Carrie choose the selfish answer we read about the emotional consiquences she suffers. I definitely would not let one's review persuade you one way or the other. The best way to find out if you like this book is to read it yourself. So, Bravo to the author's excellent first novel, and bravo to Carrie for being selfish yet selfless.

Rating:
Summary: A Question of Bravery
Review: The Dive From Clausen's Pier is a book about bravery, although exactly who is being brave is open for debate. Carrie Bell alienates her friends and disgusts herself when she flees from Wisconsin shortly after her longtime boyfriend/fiance renders himself quadraplegic in an ill-fated dive from a pier. Carrie winds up in New York City, and allows the crescendo that is New York to wash over her in waves. An accomplished seamstress, Carries runs up fabulous creations for herself that she doesn't wear -- as they represent alter-egos that she keeps waiting in the wings. Carrie begins a whole new life, but must ultimately decide whether she can completely shake her midwest roots and hometown attachments. Only by surviving a personal mortification can Carrie choose a path that she'll find both comfortable and fulfilling.

Rating:
Summary: Kept my interest but main character underdeveloped
Review: I realized that the main character was going through a complete reassessment of her life and what she wanted out of it, and she was doing it during an emotional crisis, but I could not bring myself to believe or like her character. She was unrealistically self-involved and detached from everyone in her life and it did not make sense. I was frustrated that her friends in Madison accepted her when she went back home and that her friends in New York cared whether or not she returned.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book!!!
Review: This was a great book, especially for a first novel. The author really explores the nature of relationships and the extent to which people owe each other something and owe something to themselves. I was a little surprised, and maybe disappointed at the ending, but I thought it was a very honest, real way to end the book. I think we are a little spoiled by Hollywood endings, and expect them all the time. Definitely a good read, and well worth the time.