Rating: 
Summary: Sad begining, but so many wonderful observations about life
Review: All of Elizabeth Berg's books are deeply satisfying and this one is no exception. I'm surprised that Oprah chose it, it is very uplifting. My only complaint is that it was too short, you like a good book to linger.
Rating: 
Summary: pretty shallow, mildly amusing
Review: This story, while it kept my attention, did not get real deep or moving. Most of Oprah's choices really make you think...this one was superficial enough to read quickly, but with no real substance. The main player, Sam, seemed too flighty to be taken seriously (wait until you see how much and what she eats). She pines for her ex-husband for months, then when totally out of the blue he wants to come back to her, she says no. What purpose did her miscarriage serve to the story? I guess I'm not unhappy I read it, but would not care to read it again, nor would I recommend it to a friend.
Rating: 
Summary: predictable
Review: This was a fun, easy, quick read, but did not leave a big impact on me. It was the stereotypical middle aged woman who gets dumped by her husband for a younger woman. She pines and yearns for him to return, meanwhile learning to become independent and "find's herself", at which time the aformentioned man returns. Very predictable and unfulfilling.
Rating: 
Summary: Predictable but charming story
Review: "Open House" is a fun interesting read about a woman who is going through a major change in her life-divorce. I really enjoyed the character of King and the boarder "Lavender Blue", as well as a definitely different Thanksgiving celebration! This book makes us believe that things really can be ok and even better after ending a relationship.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome Read
Review: I LOVE THIS BOOK! THIS STORY IS ABOUT A WOMEN WHO HAS FOUND HERSELF, QUITE BY SURPRISE; DEALING WITH DIVORCE. NORMALLY A VERY UNPLEASANT SUBJECT, I FOUND THIS NOVEL FULL OF HUMOR. THE AUTHOR WROTE THIS IN A DIFFERENT ANGLE THEN MOST WOULD. A LOT OF IT WAS HILAROUS, BUT STILL REMAINED SENITIVE. I LAUGH AND FELT LIKE CRYING DURING THIS READ. WHAT AN IMAGINATION BERG SHOWS, DEVELOPING HER CHARACTERS. SAMANTHA STARTS OUT DEALING WITH THIS NEW DEVELOPMENT IN HER LIFE AS AN INFERIOR HOUSEWIFE, BELIEVING SHE CAN DO NOTHING. IT IS A PLEASURE TO WATCH HER GROW INTO HERSELF, AND MAKE IT WORK. I WILL DEFINITELY READ THIS NOVEL AGAIN, WHICH IS SOMETHING I DON'T NORMALLY DO. GREAT!
Rating:
Summary: A great Saturday afternoon read
Review: Elizabeth Berg has been a capturer of everything sentimental, instinctual, and powerful in everyday life since her first novel, Durable Goods, which centers on a twelve-year-old girl dealing with the oncoming of puberty, the abuse of her father, and the death of her mother in a rural Texas town. Only Joy School, the self-contained sequel to Durable Goods deals with another young character, which is in fact Katie, a few years older. The characters of all her other novels are grown women, dealing with just as pressing issues, such as cancer, death, abandonment, divorce, or other hardships. Seeing this pattern, one may be tempted to think that all this sentimentality could get slightly sickening, and that it is one thing to deal with a twelve-year-old's problems from such a simple emotional basis, but quite different to treat a forty-two year old's problems the same way. This did seem to be a slight problem in some of Berg's earlier novels, notably Range of Motion and Pull of the Moon. The observations tended to reach the point of cliché, and the reader begins to wonder how many deep emotional feelings the author can write about. However, it is easy to forget that adults are simply grown-up children, and sometimes there is little difference between their feelings and reactions. Sometimes adults need to be babied and to be treated like they have a right to explore all their feelings, no matter how corny or clichéd. The difficulty is finding the perfect balance: exploring the emotions and reactions of an adult in crises without getting overly sentimental or clichéd. And, finally, Elizabeth Berg achieves this with Open House, an extremely personal novel that mixes the simple with the unexplainable, the pain and the joy of life, the ups and downs of a relationship.Open House is the story of forty-two year old Samantha, whose husband leaves her after twenty-some years of marriage, to pick up the pieces of her life and that of her eleven-year-old son, Travis. This is the classic lose-a-loved-one-find-yourself story, in that Sam eventually realizes she has missed out on so much of life by marrying her husband David right out of college instead of pursuing a career or any other aspect of life apart from him. To ease the heartache and to receive more financial support after he leaves, she opens her house to a series of boarders who show her new viewpoints on life. There is Lydia, an eighty-year-old woman with a close and caring boyfriend, Elaine, a young student who renames herself "Lavender Moon" and holes herself up in the basement being depressed all day, every day, and Edward, a gay hairstylist who teaches Sam the importance of having fun and being herself. Samantha also becomes close friends with the moving man who helped Lydia load her stuff into Sam's house, and he teaches Sam what a real relationship really consists of, which is not the self-sacrificing, never-able-to-measure up love she had with David. And, throughout the period following her divorce, Sam begins to understand her mother's life better, as well as see through her best friend Rita's relationship to her husband, which she had formally always thought was perfect. One of the most important messages the book brings to the reader is the need for women to love themselves and their bodies, at all stages during their life. Sam discovers the importance of this while talking to her eighty-year-old roommate Lydia about trying to find the kind of men in the personal ads at a real live beach. "'[At the beach] there were just families yelling at their kids not to drown and teenagers walking around like billboards, acting as if their bodies would never change. They're so oblivious to the fact that they'll get older. Sometimes I want to grab them and say, 'Hey! I used to look just like you! Ha-ha-HA!!' 'Yes,' Lydia says. 'That's what I want to say to you sometimes.' She sips her tea. 'My God. Of course that must be true. Of course it must! What's a little cellulite next to a face full of deep wrinkles? What's a face full of deep wrinkles next to infirmity? When does the time come when you stand in front of your grown-up woman's mirror and feel contentment for what you see? Ever?" The novel carries important messages in a simplistic and fast-moving style. It is a Saturday afternoon kind of read, one that can be read in one exciting sitting, every word being pondered over and saved up. Berg writes about ordinary experiences and feelings that everyone can relate to, so that the reader can read along and nod, thinking, "Yes, that's so true." She does falteringly resort back to some cringe-causing clichés and oversimplifications, but the observations in this book are much more original and truly thought-provoking than in her former books, which are good but lack the sophistication of Open House. After many good books full of some over-done phrases and sentences, Berg finally polishes everything up in Open House, and in doing so shows that such over-treated subjects as divorce and middle age can really be dealt with refreshingly and enjoyably.
Rating:
Summary: Life goes on after Divorce....
Review: OPEN HOUSE is a story of a 40-something woman going through divorce. Sam (Samantha) and her young son Travis learn to deal with life without David and they dont' find it easy. Travis seems to do ok but doesnt' quite adjust to living with new roommates. And Sam is always thinking about David, either hating him or missing him. Between bouts of crying and feeling lonely, Sam learns to survive emotionally (and financially) without the man she had depended on for almost 20 years. Sam learns to cope with divorce with the help of some new friends - Lydia, an elderly lady who becomes her first new boarder; King, a large over weight but gentle man who becomes her best friend; and Edward, her third boarder who happens to be gay and helps Sam with one final push towards happiness and new found love. I enjoyed this book, which was the second Elizabeth Berg novel I've read so far. Despite the theme of divorce, I felt it was a much lighter book than the first book of hers I read, WHAT WE KEEP. Ms Berg knows how to bring alive her characters, and she makes me care about what happens to each of them. I would definitely recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: A Story Of Personal Struggle Worth Reading
Review: I read this novel about 3 weeks ago. The novel is about a middle aged woman, dealing with divorce and trying to keep her sanity through it all. She is trying to hold a job, and also her pre-teenager son's heart. Beautifully written by Elizabeth Berg. Excellent portrayal of a real woman. This novel is worth your time. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: A quick but decent read.
Review: I liked this book a lot - couldn't put it down and read it easily over a weekend. The characters were all diverse but what I enjoyed most of all was the transformation of Sam from a lost soul to someone who gained her own autonomy. I always appreciate a novel that can show a character go through a catharsis and then come out to be a better person at the final page. Despite the divorce theme, the lightest Oprah pick in a long time. Loved the return phone call from Martha Stewart - such sound advice too!
Rating:
Summary: Wanted to like it, but just couldn't get there!
Review: I wanted to like this story a lot because of all the hype on Oprah. The story was entertaining and Sam was a neat person, but it just didn't get it for me. The book was sweet and innocent, but it really didn't depict the life of a divorced woman. I really thought we would have heard more about the transformation of a divorcee to an independent woman, aka Mom, daughter, professional worker, friend, lover and roommate. Overall, the book was short and really didn't cover the emotions of a divorce. It was well written and entertaining.
|
