We Were the Mulvaneys (Oprah Selection)

Rating:
Summary: An engrossing, powerful book with complex, vivid characters
Review: When I finally finished We Were the Mulvaneys -- this is a long novel -- I put the book down, closed my eyes and spent a good half-hour just processing what I had read. In my opinion this is Oates' best work; it's funny, heartbreaking, unnerving and uplifting all in one. She paints each member of this family as a vivid, multi-faceted character; I could picture each one as I followed their story, not just physically, but emotionally as well. Although the book is generally depressing, it has a certain redemptive aspect to it; I would receommend it to everyone.

Rating:
Summary: ICY OATES GIVES AN UNEXPECTEDLY WARM EMBRACE
Review: The Mulvaneys' cups ranneth over for a short, enchanted while. Until "it" happened. How many high school girls go to a dance, drink too much alcohol, and find themselves, perhaps only half realizing, a victim of date-rape? A LOT. Happens every day, in America, everywhere. When it happens in the charmed Mulvaney family, a family genuinely - almost sickeningly - happy, the fallout continues for years. Each family member is crushed, in his or her own way, under the weight of the snowballing pain and disintegration. This is the saddest book I think I've ever read, and I loved it beyond what I can express within the confines of the English language. We see here an uncharacteristically loving, forgiving Joyce Carol Oates. Her quirky use of repetition is reined in and so made more effective than ever here. She sees how tragic are the patterns we make as we stumble into each day just trying to get through. We poor silly stupid arrogant humans don't see our own "patterns" until the end, when it's too late to do anything about them but grieve for our mistakes, our clumsy, unfully-lived lives. I actually give 4-and-a-half out of 5 stars, but I'll go for the full 5 since 4-and-a-half isn't an option.

Rating:
Summary: Good book-liked it
Review: I'd like to say that reading through many of these reviews I think some of the people either did not read the book or completely missed the point of it. JCO wrote this book and made extremely realistic and believable. I do not know how some of you can write and say the book is unrealistic and this couldn't happen in real life. Just because Marianne Mulvaney's parents made a bad decision, this does not mean that it's unrealistic. Parents MAKE those bad decisions. You must also take into account Michael Mulvaneys trouble with his parents. Unintentionally he will do the same thing. The only reason some people are giving this book a low rating is because they didn't agree with certain decisions made by the children or parents. This is wrong because if it made them feel strongly about it, it means this is a pretty darn good piece of writing. JCO has once again proved herself to be a terrific writer.

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Summary: When a toxic Dad is removed, the family regroups
Review: Dad is the most tragic figure in this engrossing story. Oates evolves him from the proud, enviable father to the defeated man on his death bed. The date rape of his beloved daughter enrages him, brings him down and drastically disrupts every member of his family. Dad claims that it is his love for his beautiful daughter that makes it impossible to look at her after her 'fall'. First this daughter then the 3 sons are driven from his home. I despise his actions and give little sympathy that he was bearing the curse of his own rejecting father. I could not wait for his persona to be removed and to see the Mulvaney family regroup with affection.

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Summary: A very detailed book-Good memorization skills required
Review: This was my first Oates book, but not my last. I choose this book to read as my junior research novel, and I am satisfied with my decision to an extent. Her method of writing is very enthrolling, while at the same time you needed to have a large enough mental capacity to be able to memorize the WHOLE thing. She did so much flashback in her novel, that if you forget one event, you have to go back and search for the event to be able to continue the story! And, 8 PAGES OF HOW TO GET TO AN IMAGINARY FARM?!?!?! Geez, get a clue! I was not overly impressed with Mrs. Oates, but I am willing to give her another chance. First impressions can be misleading.

Rating:
Summary: WOW--Intensely Absorbing
Review: This book is one that I had a hard time putting down. I think I found it so engaging because its characters are people we all know well--the stereotypical "perfect" family (and let's face it, every community has one). It looks beyond the veneer of this perfection into some very real, imperfect situations. When things go spinning out of control, it shows how pride and reputation can override sanity and better judgement. The characters are rich, their individual plights absorbing, and their survival instincts amazing. A dark tale, I wasn't depressed by the story. I focused on Marianne's strength, and used her resiliance as the metaphor for what the other characters strived to be.

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Summary: Disturbing truth of what can happen in a family
Review: This could be called the foreshadow of some of the events that happen around us in the news today. Having lived through some of the things that Ms Oates describes in her book I was awash in a flood of emotion. It is hard to assign a level of belief or disbelief unless you have walked a mile in there shoes. Was happy to see some clousure brought the end of the family story. Very glad I read the book, but it brought to the surface many of the reasons that life is so diffcult to live sometimes.

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Summary: Made for excellent bookclub discussion
Review: Our all-women's bookclub found much to discuss about the Mulvaneys, their life events, and Oate's writing. The use of animals as metaphor, themes, foreshadowing, and even as a means of communication among the humans was fascinating. One can also talk about Darwin & science juxtaposed with religion, symbolism of the antiques/junk, life in small towns, notions of revenge, etc. The book is interesting to compare to other family plots with a "perfect" family before tragedy and dissolution afterwards, e.g. The Deep End of the Ocean, Ordinary People and Before and After. Some of us concurred that Michael Sr.'s reaction to this family tragedy was all about power (and himself), and the act itself was more about power than sex, obviously. Even Patrick's act of vindication was much about power -- his act was all about him and not Marianne after all. Michael Sr. was somewhat easier to understand than Corrine -- although we were reminded that she felt her self lucky to have married such a handsome, sexy man. She also fairly easily convinced herself that Marianne was better off away. Much fascinating about the children and their adult lives and choices, too. Some of the detail in JCO's writing was wonderful -- some played with the reader (e.g.Sable's deliberately ambiguous gender for several pages), and some became tedious. Definitely a worthwhile read.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant!
Review: Even if you didn't like this book, and it was an emotionally draining story, how anyone can belittle Oates' writing is beyond me. She is the best. Someone noted that these characters had no depth. Are you kidding?? They had so much depth that it was sometimes difficult to take in. For anyone who is not afraid of serious fiction and doesn't insist on happily-ever-after, this is a must-read!

Rating:
Summary: My first Oates book, and my last Oates book....
Review: I was amazed that some of what I read in the dustcover blurbs compared this writing to Dickens and James. If this was representative of Oates' writing I won't be reading her again. The characters were without depth. The situations were created without subtlety. And I found the shifting point of view irritating: if the youngest son would have been the consistent storyteller the telling of the story might have been improved. Had I seen "Day-glo" once more I'd have thrown the book away!

Maybe it would have been less tedious if it had been around 150 pages shorter.