Rating: 
Summary: The Height of Confusion
Review: The novel introduces us to two lovers whose lives are far from ordinary: we have to begin with, two poets, one a beautiful female, the other a dashing male. The male, Thomas is married, unhappily,and the female, Linda, is widowed. We are told with endless description,although it is well-done, about the times (three) they meet beginning when Linda was seventeen. Linda, of course, was abused sexually,so that supposedly makes her sensitive-it's a modern, overdone theme. Thomas has a scar which Linda fingers lovingly during their love scenes.
The love scenes can be read by thirteen-year-olds with impunity, which makes them only tantalizing and frustrating to the adult readers.
Speaking of frustrating, the reader awaits anxiously and interestingly, after plodding through scenes in Kenya and tedious teenage sex, to reach the last chapter where it is hoped the author will explain the unknowns-the automobile accident; Linda's abuse; the hope that the lovers will have a life together; only to read an ending that not only fails to be a denouement; but, instead, kills off Linda when she was seventeen and proceeds to list all of the events that could have occurred in her life if she had not died at a young age. Thomas, of course, kills himself. Thus, everything that happened in the beginning of the book didn't happen? If the reader was supposed to read another of Shreve's books first, for explanation, he should have been made aware,somehow, so that he may not have been caught in "The Height of Confusion."
Rating:
Summary: d isappointed
Review: I found this book to be too contrived. As Shreve kept shifting back and forth in time she kept hinting about deep secrets that would be revealed as the book evolved. The anticipated hidden facts were really not worth waiting for. I found the characters selfish and self-involved. The fact that they were "artistic" and thus more sensitive (for themselves) allowed them to hurt others. The ending disproved the entire premise of this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Romeo and Juliet with a difference
Review: "The Last Time They Met" is about the endurance of first love, guilt, and dreams of what might have been. It's a hard book to review without revealing the ending, because so much of what the book is about changes suddenly in the last pages. A number of reviewers have complained about the author's abrupt switch of direction. To them, the ending was contrived and not much more believable than the infamous Bobby Ewing shower scene in "Dallas." I'm not one of these readers. The ending totally blind-sided me, hitting like a bolt out of the blue and transforming an ok-but-not-great book into something much better. As I write this, I'm still going back through the narrative in my mind, picking up various strands and seeing them in new ways, reinterpreting what I thought I knew.
The story focuses on a love affair between two poets, Linda Fallon and Thomas Janes. Most of the story is told through Linda's perspective. It begins when the two former lovers, now middle-aged and single, unexpectedly encounter each other at a literary meeting. The novel then backtracks to a time decades earlier when they carried on an adulterous love affair when both were in Africa. It finally concludes with a description of their earliest days as high school sweethearts. Looming over the story are the shadows of disastrous events--a teenage car accident in which a drunken Thomas was the driver, the death of his daughter by drowning, and an unthinkable act committed by Linda in Africa. As Shreve takes her readers back in time, it's obvious that the hand of fate will not let her lovers be, even though the form fate will take isn't altogether clear.
Shreve's prose is very deliberate, and her descriptions have an obsessive quality about them. At times this can make the book drag--the first part, for example starts verrry slowly--but overall it's highly effective. There's an emotional intensity to her writing that can be moving, but also suffocating at times. It's almost as if the characters are living in a dream. There are inconsistencies in Shreve's characterizations and places where you wonder why the characters acted the way they did. In the end, however, it all makes a tragic kind of sense.
"The Last Time We Met" is a truly moving book. It's not for those who want a cut-and-dried linear romance. But most people have elements of Thomas' and Linda's "might have been" story in their past. This is a book to reread in memory after the final paragraph.
Rating:
Summary: I have to say this....
Review: ....yes, there is a surprise ending, and, no I shan't reveal it. BUT - and this is point that many of your reviewers seem to have missed entirely, all the apparent anomalies of plot, all the apparent inconsistencies of character (especially Linda's), all Thomas and Linda's puzzling behaviours and all the questions like 'but WHY didn't they just...?' ALL of them are EXPLAINED by the final plot twist. So, no it isn't a cheap, plug-in cop-out ending, it's the whole fulcrum of the book even it does come on the last page.
Anyone struggling with the ending could try reading "Pincher Martin" by William Golding. Again, I don't want to spoil the plot twist but Golding's tour de force shows both that Shreve's device is not absolutely original (ok) and also that others have explored the idea that the human imagination can conjour up whole worlds, other consciousnesses and so on in the right circumstances, especially under conditions of great stress. In a sense of course, this is what authors do all the time ! Paul Gallico explores some of the same themes, and also uses a similar final device in the wonderful "Jennie".
I know in clumsy hands this sort of thing can seem crass - I'm thinking of Bobby's year-long 'Dream' in "Dallas" - but in the hands of Shreve, and the others mentioned, it adds a layer of psychological depth to a story which has its own merit anyhow as a straight-forward tale. It's the tension between the 'truth' of the basic plot and the 'revealed truth' of the twist that disturbs - and how !
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant plot and superb writing....
Review: I just finished this book and it's the 4th of Shreve's novels that I've read. All of them have been page turners, which I simply can't put down once I begin.
I'm blown away by the cleverness with which she weaved the entire plot! I can't ever remember reading a book where my jaw was actually hanging with the last few paragraphs. As soon as I began to read them, I understood and began shaking my head with the shock and surprise. Some readers have mentioned feeling "cheated" or that she used a "gimmick." I say this author has only proved once again why she is my favorite. This is brilliant writing at it's best and I'll be thinking about it for a long time. I didn't realize that "Weight of Water" was connected to this book and I now look forward to reading that one. But reading this one first in no way will diminish my feelings.
I've already read Shreve's latest, Light on Snow....another superb novel! I just hope she'll have another one out for her devoted readers before I finish the 5 or 6 already written that I'll be reading in the next couple months.....because if not, I just might have to start reading some of her books all over again. And with an author like Anita Shreve, I'm sure a second reading will bring me even more pleasure.
Rating:
Summary: Worth it
Review: I just finished this book. My first Anita Shreve. Worthwhile and meaningful. I loved it.
Rating: 
Summary: Commercial
Review: I loved "Weight of Water" and "Eden Close", but I think Shreve is feeling the pressure to pop out novels like rabbits with "The Pilot's Wife" and "The Last Time They Met". The prose was not as terse and powerful in the latter, and, as I read, I felt the writing was from a male point of view throughout--even in the first section. There was too much gratuitous sexual obsession and attention to sexual detail. That should have been a hint to me that the whole book indeed was written by Thomas.
Whereas Barbara Kingsolver in "The Poisonwood Bible" successfully spoke with individual voices of each sister, I felt that Shreve's voices of Linda at three stages in here life were contrived. The image I formed of her as a 52 year old had no connection with the way she was as a 26, and again a 17 year old.
I also don't think the book needed to throw every vegetable into the pot: homosexual son, molestation, drowned daughter, etc.
Getting back to the prose--Anita Shreve CAN write magnificently. She proved that in Eden Close (her first novel) and certainly in "The Weight of Water." I just don't feel that this book was beautifully written (as I find Margaret Atwood's novels to be). There was too much formula in the writing: one sentence connected with "and"; the next, with a comma and a gerund phrase.
I also am suspicious about the commercialization of books recently wherein they have a section for book discussions. This one even went further with the synopsis of her next book. I can just imagine the editors smacking their lips over these tricks to boost sales.
Rating:
Summary: Still thinking about it.
Review: I was "SHOCKED" to say the least after reading the last page of the book. I reread it about 5 times to see if I read it properly, and to make sure I was understanding the words. I felt like I was reading the last page in a foreign language that I wasn't too confident in. I thought that maybe I wasn't comprehending the ending because it was so unbelievable. I couldn't believe that Thomas could make up all these events in his life. As the other readers mentioned some of the story was told in Linda's narrative. Thomas really had some imagination. I thought the first half of the book was TOO slow and the writing style was excruciatingly descriptive. I had to put down the book and then pick it up the next day hoping it would get better. The second half of the book did get a little better until the end of the book. I thought the love story between Linda and Thomas was beautiful (if it really had happened). But to happen just Thomas' imagination - now that's just scary.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing ending
Review: I won't spoil the ending for those who have not yet read the book (beware: some other reviewers do give it away), but suffice to say it was extremely disappointing. This was the first Anita Shreve book I read and had been looking forward to it based on her reviews. The book was about two star crossed lovers who meet again. Much is hinted at what happened when they were kids, but is not revealed until the final chapters. On the final page, the story is wrapped up in a way that made my jaw drop. I actually had to read it twice to make sure I hadn't mistaken it. It made the whole rest of the book, which I had enjoyed up until that time, seem like a total waste of time.
Rating: 
Summary: Ignore the hype about the ending.......
Review: If you read any of these online reviews, you will undoubtedly discover that the ending has a "surprise". Having said that, PLEASE do not read the ending first. The ending, though important in the overal scheme of things, does not the novel make. Please don't sell yourself short on the rest of the book. I knew nothing of the book, other than the short paragraph on the back cover, which tells very little. In the end, when I was finished reading, I was very impressed with the novel.What I suggest is this: Understand the basics of the book (not the ending!) before you read. It is told backwards; the two main characters have met only three times in their lives- at ages 17, 26 and 52. The book is divided into three sections, one for each meeting. The first section, at age 52, is very slow. It is also filled with numerous references to the past. Several people have commented that this is the worst section of the book, which unfortunately is the first impression Ms. Shreve makes on her readers. However, keep reading, because the middle section, or Twenty-Six, is the jewel of the book. I think she could have written an entire book of this section, and she probably would have gotten better reviews! Also, this section makes sense of most of the past references of Fifty-Two. The third section, Seventeen, is perhaps the most important of the book, because it lays the foundation for making the story believable and understandable. I have read other reviews, and I am disappointed that most readers were unhappy with the book. I was taught that the purpose of literature, besides entertainment, is to make people think and take them out of their comfort zones. This book did that for me. The fact the ending lacks a concrete, definitive explanation is irrelevant, as is sadness in the chain of events that plague these characters throughout their lives, because this book never promises to be the stereotypical romance novel. If that is what you want, there are a thousand cookie-cutter paperbacks, with Fabio on the cover, at your public library. The Last Time They Met does not necessarily have a happy ending, but the ending should make you happy in that you have just experienced truly distinguished (and clever) literature.
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