Rating: 
Summary: Odd, enchanting
Review: Aimee Bender's poetic style is perfectly suited to this strange but transfixing novel about an obsessive compulsive teacher's and her journey toward emerging from her self-imposed emotional cocoon. I wouldn't call it an enjoyable read per se, but I certainly enjoyed this novel and its bizarre protagonist. I was never sure whether to laugh, cry, or be disgusted, especially during the unforgettable axe scene. I have rarely found books so imaginative and relishsome as this one.
Rating:
Summary: Poetry.
Review: An Invisible Sign of My Own is filled with a rare poetry. Aimee Bender has a talent for seeing moments through the most interesting lenses, and capturing them in plain, beautiful language. The story is odd and minimal, but very real (real even though perhaps implausible -- does that make any sense?), very touching.
Rating:
Summary: Most beautiful, powerful book I've read in years
Review: Based on the wide variety of ratings for this book, it's clear that you'll either love it or hate it. If you like Alice Hoffman books and David Lynch movies (the ones with heart, not the ones just designed to shock), you'll be one of the former. The heroine, Mona Gray, an emotionally stunted obsessive compulsive, has made herself quit everything she loves ever since her father withdrew from the world 10 years ago. She takes refuge in the world of numbers, where everything is safe, ordered and predictable. But when Mona almost accidentally becomes an elementary school math teacher, she is brought out of her strange world by a young girl whose mother is dying and a fellow teacher who, thankfully, breaks through her barriers. The writing is so beautiful that you want to go back and read each sentence twice, and the lessons about learning to live with your own mortality, and that of those you love, are powerful. Overall a very weird but life-affirming book. Surely not for everyone, but definitely the perfect book for some.
Rating:
Summary: knock on wood
Review: Bender's quirky novel is absolutely captivating. If you're a fan of the band Soul Coughing read this book-- the whole time I was reading it reminded me of their music-- rhythmic and beautiful.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but it's missing something
Review: I had heard a great deal about An Invisible Sign of My Own and was eager to read it. I have to say that I left it with mixed feelings. For one thing, this book was too short. It was extremely engaging and entertaining, in words it is a fable. But to tell the truth, the end seemed unbelievable and farfetched and overall disappointing. Things just didn't add up. The main plot of the story evolves around the trials and tribualtions of Mona Gray an obsessive compulsive math addict who believes that every time she gets good at something, she has to quit. A strange illness has plagued her father for most of her life. But numbers mean more to Mona Gray than they should. She knocks wood, multiplies people against each other, and loves to eat soap. But on ehr 19th birthday, she is ejected from her house by her mother. Getting a job teaching second grade math, she is shocked to find out how enthuastic young children can be. But at the arrival of a new science teacher, Mona realizes that her firm bubble of life may be popped by love- the supreme destroyer. The premise of this book is wonderful, but the ending is only second best. It didn't make me like the book any less, its just reducing from my 5 star rating.
Rating: 
Summary: Lacks Verisimilitude, Even For a Story That's Bizarre
Review: I had very mixed feelings about AN INVISIBLE SIGN OF MY OWN. There's no doubt that it's marvelously original or that Aimee Bender writes dark, but very fluid, pitch-perfect prose. On the other hand, a novel has to have verisimilitude even if it is as bizarre and almost surreal as AN INVISIBLE SIGN OF MY OWN. I found that verisimilitude lacking in this book. For one thing, the protagonist/narrator, Mona Gray, is just twenty years old, yet she manages to rent an apartment with no funds and no job. Then, she's hired to teach math at the local school despite the fact that she has absolutely no credentials at all other than a love of numbers. And there's the offbeat way she teaches math: telling the children that numbers are everywhere, in hatchets, in dead leaves, etc. Since the age of ten, Mona's life has been overshadowed by her father's hypochondria and fear of death. He doesn't have any identifiable illness; he's just sort of "fading away." (Again, not quite believable.) In an effort to save her father, to pull him back from whatever forces are pulling him away from her, Mona begins bargaining with the universe by giving up almost all of the things she loves: running, dancing, the piano, films, egg salad, even sex. The only thing Mona can't seem to give up is math. Her love for numbers and the order they bring to her disordered world overrides her desire to bargain with the universe for the sake of her father's health. AN INVISIBLE SIGN OF MY OWN is peopled with characters who are every bit as quirky and offbeat as are Mona and her father. There's Mr. Jones, Mona's former math teacher who lets the world know the state of his emotional health by wearing a number on a string around his neck; there's science fiction teacher, Benjamin Smith, who teaches his students health by having them act out the symptoms of various diseases. And, this isn't Smith's only quirk. His arms are covered with burn marks, causing us to wonder just what it is that he's been acting out himself. The quirky characters aren't all adults. Mona's math class is made up of little tyrants, mini-monsters, children who are simply too observant for their own good. Bender's theme, that love can overcome death, has been done many times before, and, truthfully, it's been done better than Bender does it here, but to her credit, she does give it a fresh and original spin. There's certainly nothing wrong with Bender's prose; it's witty, graceful and it's gently nuanced. And, even though it's dark, it's never ponderous or heavy. Bender has written this book with a light touch despite its sad, and sometimes, complex, subject matter. A lack of verisimilitude is the main reason I gave this book two stars instead of three (should be two and one half, really). Whether we create an entirely new universe or stay firmly rooted in this one, we have to let our readers know the boundaries and criteria of that universe and Bender simply didn't do that. The story and the characters just weren't as "fleshed out" as they should have been and the ending was too contrived and not at all believable. There is a lot to like in AN INVISIBLE SIGN OF MY OWN, but, unfortunately, there are some things not to like as well. I think Bender is a fresh and funny writer who is highly original, but I think she has to work on the art and craft of novel writing a bit more. Right now, I think she does quite a bit better with the short story.
Rating: 
Summary: ocd, axes and kindergarten=fantastic
Review: I have personally suffered ocd. Having read a brief synopsis of the novel (which I just finished reading) I can say that Bender has truly grasped the feeling of ritualistic behavior. Not that this fact alone, either commends or degrades a novel, is a moot point. Subjective response is something novelists long ago ignored. What sets Bender's novel far apart from others is its love of human life and all of its idiosyncracies. Purchasing an axe, could well be considered a deviant desire to subvert the existing status quo. In Bender, it simply "IS". Sometimes the most severe of human obsessions can be over analyized. Bender understands this and goes with the flow.
Many people will ridicule this novel as being non-authentic (i.e. the second grade characters don't "speak" like second graders.
Why should novels purport to be anything but unreality? As real as characters may seem in your mind, that doesn't mean that the logical flow of life should assume such straight-jacketed roles. Novels are (in essence) fiction! Bender has simply illuminated the unknown. Those strange crevices that miners are too afraid to burrow in to. If you love DeLillo, you should equally love Bender. Remember...Novels are an alternate reality. A reality that will soon be surpassed by other novelists. Her writing is so journalistic in essence, that it is difficult to divorce fiction from reality. Drown...Float within the words, except her world. Life is much better with it.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Story
Review: I picked up this book after reading a review about it in a magazine - the title and cover hinted at a story that would be odd yet appealing. I wasn't disappointed. The story is a character study as much as anything else, centered around Mona Gray, a 20-year old woman who is going through the motions - without much direction or ambition in her life. She stumbles into a job as an elementary school math teacher and has an near-romance with a young science teacher. However, her insecurities about herself and her life hold her back from going (and growing) forward. She quits at anything and everything before she even starts. Mona is also obsessive compulsive which manifests itself by often knocking several times on wood (for good luck/security) and eating soap (as behavior modification). Added to the mix is an eclectic assortment of supporting characters: her loving mother, physician father (who is suffering from some unnamed and mysterious disease), and a next-door neighbor who wears a number on a chain around his neck to indicate his daily mood (the higher the number, the better the day). Due to an unfortunate accident at school, Mona must take the scary first step and become her own person. Mona's journey is especially sweet and poignant. A little gem of a book!
Rating:
Summary: A search for emotional truth through the veil of OCD
Review: I see they improved the cover for the tpb edition. The hardcover version gave me the heebs! Mona teaches second-grade math and enjoys the ordered world of numbers as she wrestles with the chaos of her feelings about her family and her life. She tries to exert some control though knocking on wood and other obsessive-compulsive behaviors. Occasionally the intricacy or cleverness of the words gets in the way of the story and the character development, but overall this is an enjoyable, well-written book. The characters are fascinating and we get to know both the details of their lives and the emotional landscapes that either shore them up or undermine them. The author places special emphasis on people who are able to notice the truth beyond someone's facade. As the characters develop they are able to see through each other's facades to the "invisible sign"s of the title. Mona's love of numbers gives the book an intriguing framework, but it is the emotional truths that the characters bring out in each other that makes this such a rewarding novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Definitely over-hyped
Review: I'm presently in the middle of this book and can't help but stumble over little details. For instance, Mona is 19 years old, and moves out, but doesn't yet have a job. What place will rent to her w/o her having a work history, or money? And she immediately gets a job as a math teacher, without any kind of degree or credential. In most places in the US, one must have a credential to teach, except in some private schools. In addition, except in some private or alternative schools, grammar school generally consists of one teacher, one room, one grade, until one reaches middle school. And while multiple classes with multiple teachers *does* happen [I went to such a school], this is the exception, not the rule. So why isn't it mentioned Mona teaches in a private school? I know I'm picking nits, but little reality issues like this irk me and keep me from otherwise enjoying an otherwise enjoyable story...
|
