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A Secret Word : A Novel |
List Price: $13.00
Your Price: $9.75 |
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Product Info |
Reviews |
Rating: Summary: Poetry/Memoir/Fiction Review:
A SECRET WORD is more poetic than most poetry I read. Once, in New York, snow is described as "coming down like linen between the buildings." Then later, perhaps my favorite image: "I scrub the floor until the scars in the wood dissolve into beveled light." Pure poetry. But not pure poetry. There's the emotional depth and honesty of a well-written memoir that Paddock plumbs time and time again.
For example, here is Leigh, one of the three main characters, reflecting on the painful absence of her father from her life: "People sometimes ask if I've ever tried to find my father, but I haven't and don't want to. My mother is burden enough." How Paddock turns the pain back to the disappointment of Leigh's mother is no less than genius.
A SECRET WORD is such a surprising novel, especially how previous events relate to events occurring years later and how it's up to the reader, like a psychotherapist, to make note of the hints and clues, the secrets of one's life, which Paddock has skillfully laid out for us to find in order to connect the causes and effects or to observe the unhealthy tendencies, what the characters sometimes fail to see themselves no matter how honest they actually are.
Readers will have no problem identifying with these characters, that is, if they are as honest as these characters are about their own failings and selfish wants common to us all. And then the language is just so poetic and yet so simple, or conversational, or natural, like the best memoir writing.
You can't help thinking that what you are reading is your own diary, at times entertaining or gloriously inspired, and at times shocking or humiliating. Most of us wouldn't share such honesty, but Paddock never shies away from it, and that is soooo refreshing!
Rating: Summary: This Book is "Twit Lit"... Review: ...but I'm giving it three stars anyway to keep the ratings in proportion with my other 3-star, overly generous reviews. Now the real story:
"A Secret Word" follows the young adulthood years of three people, only one of whom shows any substance. The other two are country club prima donnas who fancy themselves as would-be tennis stars with all kinds of potential. In fact they are closet alcoholics with cast-iron stomachs, spending (wasting) Daddy's money while shedding their Arkansas roots and pretending to be sophisticated New Yorkers. Ever washed down a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a vodka tonic? It gets worse - imagine traveling to Italy and spending a full week sequestered in a hotel room ordering an assortment of mixed drinks with a bit of food on the side. And no, this isn't a honeymoon (don't even get me started on their relationships with men, ugh); it's just the fluff muffins wasting time, kind of like I did by reading this book. But I can be good-natured about it, since I'm retired and have all the time in the world, and won't wake up with a hangover. The average reader with less free time should find something better.
The best parts of the book are those from the point-of-view of Leigh, the twits' working-class friend. Here is where Ms. Paddock shows some promise as a writer, as I was actually moved by the relationship between Leigh and M/M Carey.
As for the rest of it, I finally got sick and tired of what outfits the other two were wearing, and what color their hair was this week. Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie, anyone?
Rating: Summary: A book that will stay with you Review: A SECRET WORD caught my eye in bookstores with its flashy cover, but it wasn't until I read a very poignant excerpt in the NEW YORK TIMES that I was compelled to buy it and read it, and I learned all over again why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Not that I don't like the cover, I just thought the book might only be fun and flashy and only for young girls. This book, though, is for anyone, and amazingly it's about everything--the burden of parents, the sadness of love, the necessity of art, and the fascinating dynamic of friendships, even those we don't realize we have. There's a wild, exhilarating unpredictability to this novel--with its structure of leaping time and alternating voices, and how the three heroines grow into very wise women who observe the world much more perceptively than most of us. A SECRET WORD is definitely a fun book, but it's also a thoughtful one. Actually, one I can't stop thinking about.
Rating: Summary: A Beautiful World Review: A Secret Word is a beautifully written novel that is both heartbreaking and uplifting. Jennifer Paddock shows us a world where salvation and comfort come from unlikely places and unlikely people.
Rating: Summary: Didn't Do It For Me Review: After seeing this book mentioned in several reviews for other books I had read, I was excited to read it. While it was easy to get through, it didn't have much else going for it. Bland, undeveloped characters, no plot to speak of, not to mention an event toward the beginning that supposedly ties these three characters together although they barely discuss it--sorry, but I just don't agree with the glowing reviews. After reading this and the relentless, excrutiatingly long The Time Traveler's Wife, both of which got rave reviews, I'm starting to wonder if I'll be able to pick out a truly good book again. I just bought The Kite Runner and The Memory of Running, so I'm cautiously optimistic.
Rating: Summary: A Moving Story Review: All you have to do is read the book to know what a moving story this is, and to read the interview with the author in the back to see that she is honestly trying to be open about very serious issues. I loved A Secret Word so much that I feel it necessary to defend it. I'll say this, if someone can read the chapters "And When I Should Feel Something" or "Floating" or "A Not Yet Shattered Bliss" and not be moved to tears, then that person can't be trusted.
Rating: Summary: READ THIS TODAY Review: As a non-fiction reader - I could not put this book down. I was drawn in completely by the characters and I want to know more about them. I laughed and cried all at the same time. I love Jennifer's writing style - from each character's point of view. Way to go and good luck!
Rating: Summary: GET READY FOR A GREAT READ Review: I have never taken the time to review any of the books I've read before, but this book was wonderful. You won't be able to put this book down. I can't wait for more from Paddock.
Rating: Summary: engrossing unique novel Review: I like A Secret Word a lot. It's not your typical novel, with three storytellers who are friends but, like most of us growing up and going on with our lives, they do drift apart. It's exactly this, how Paddock nevertheless links them and keeps them linked in important ways, in secret ways, that is completely amazing to me. I was engrossed more and more as I read on, and I know I won't forget these characters any time soon.
Another thing I liked was how it seems in the beginning that the opening death scene is the pivotal event of the book. No, it's only a tone setter for a surprising suicide later, and how that suicide affects the three and brings them closer, again in secret, or unknown, ways. This book focuses on the secrets of our lives with geniune insight. It's not overblown for commercial effect. The writing and the characters and the plot move along with truth and warmth and often with great humor. It made me look around and wonder which people around me, people even that I barely know or once knew really well, could be instrumental in changing my life.
Rating: Summary: Cool settings, unusual structure, great characters Review: I loved this book. It's set in Arkansas, New York, Washington, D.C., and Florence, Italy, and covers 15 years in the lives of three girls. The storylines of the three girls converge and break apart in magical and surprising ways. The characters are new and different, but still feel like someone you know, an older sister, a best friend, a girl you remember from high school.
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