The Dearly Departed

Rating:
Summary: not the great elinor lipman i know
Review: I agree totally with the review of my fellow new yorker below. I love Elinor Lipman, but even the one other book of hers I didnt care for was better than this. It's as though she got another good idea, but wasnt really paying attention when writing the story. There are too many bit players in too many subplots that go nowhere. The main character is almost a complete blank. All we really know about her is she plays golf and seemed to have a rough time socially in high school. The main plot is also neglected. About halfway through I was asking myself, where is this going? What's the point? The usual snappy dialogue and feisty characters seemed to be watered down also. This is NOT typical Lipman. I found five of her other books to be excellent. If this is the first one you read, try one of the others. Even if you think this book is good, youll see how much better she can be. I'll try for better luck with her next one.

Rating:
Summary: I liked it, even though it was very light reading.
Review: I agree with the other reviews, in that this book didn't pack as big a punch as the rest of Lipman's work... but I really liked it anyways.

She writes the best characters with the best dialogue, and that's good enough for me.

The story revolves around the character's, Sunny's, mother's death, and the plot then spins out to involve everyone in this NH town with every character having their own fun quirks and mini-plot.

Wait for paperback if you must, but it's a must read for Lipman fans. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: One of the better ones.............
Review: I have read many Elinor Lipman books and I found this to be one of the better ones. The characters were interesting and I found my self wishing there was more history on each of them. I wanted the book to go back 20 years and start the story there. I was very dissapointed with end and the revelations about Margaret - really didn't think it was necessary and did not add anything to the book or to the character.

Rating:
Summary: One of the better ones.............
Review: I have read many Elinor Lipman books and I found this to be one of the better ones. The characters were interesting and I found my self wishing there was more history on each of them. I wanted the book to go back 20 years and start the story there. I was very dissapointed with end and the revelations about Margaret - really didn't think it was necessary and did not add anything to the book or to the character.

Rating:
Summary: another winner from Elinor
Review: I really liked this book. I know other reviewers have mentioned that it is not as good as her other books and maybe it's not. However, the worst Elinor Lipman book is better than most other author's best book. When I'm looking for light, smart, fast moving, funny books she's the author I turn to. Her books are not literary masterpieces just good fun reads filled with quirky characters.

Rating:
Summary: Light but delectable, like Key Lime Pie
Review: Seems like a lot of light fiction I've read of late contains better plot and character development than the "serious literature" out there. This is a great example: it won't make you ponder the meaning of life, but it sure is fun to read. Plus, if you're an aspiring writer you could do worse than study the economy and grace with which Lipman sketches characters and scenes. If (as I expect) someone turns it into a "chick flick" I for one won't hesitate to cross gender barriers to see it. Pick this one up for your next airline flight; I guarantee you'll enjoy it, even if you finish it before you get up to the ticket counter.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting story: but the book on tape reader was HORRIBLE
Review: This was my first Elinor Lipman book and I am currently reading a second one. I enjoyed this book very much. Nothing too deep or dark, just a cast of interesting and nice people dealing with the quirks of life. I am always excited to find a good woman author, and some of the previous reviewers said this book is not her best, so I must be in for even better reads in the future. I plan on reading all of her books.

Rating:
Summary: Death lite
Review: This was my first Elinor Lipman book, and compared to the others I've read since then (How Men Act, The Ladies' Man), my least favorite. But obviously, I liked it enough to check out her other stuff, so I certainly think it's worth reading if you're looking for fun, depthless entertainment.

Lipman's characters in this book are likeable, if not well developed, and the small town charm appealing. The emotions that Sunny, the main character, goes through in dealing with her mother's death are believable but not often mentioned. Her romance with the town cop is pat but sweet.

Rating:
Summary: Not sure what the author was trying to depict.
Review: When Sunny Batten received the phone call that her mother and her mother's fiancee, Miles Finn, were found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning due to a faulty furnace, Sunny returns to King George, the small town where she grew up. At the funeral, she meets Mile's son, who takes one look at her and claims that they have to be related because they have the same fine, fly-away hair with gray flecks in it. That just about sums up the book. From there, it's like the author didn't know in which direction to take them, so they just kind of drifted along day to day accepting this new knowledge and trying to figure out where to go from there. It was a very low-key, nondescript story with no particular aim to it.

Rating:
Summary: A bit flat.
Review: When Sunny Batten's mother, Margaret, is found dead, Sunny returns home to the funeral.

Miles Finn, Margaret's long-time, part-time lover also died in the same accident. When Sunny returns home to attend the funeral, she learns that Miles was actually her father, and that she now has a half-brother, Fletcher.

This is the fourth Lipman novel I've read, and it is the worst. The book didn't become interesting until about 2/3 of the way through. The author picked up all sorts of side stories but then never followed through with them (the Dr and his wife, Margaret's former love life, Emily Ann and the local actors,).

I thought the book picked up pace--and interest for me--when Fletcher and Sunny started their relationship. The dialogue between the two characters sparkled! But the book was mainly uninteresting and dull. Many reviews said that the book was funny, and the other Lipman books I've read range from laugh-out-loud funny to mildly amusing. "The Dearly Departed" didn't even make me smile!

I can't recommend this book, but if you enjoyed her other novels, you will, no doubt, want to read it for yourself anyway. I can heartily recommend "The Ladies' Man" also by Lipman--I think it is her best.