Rating: 
Summary: Two and1/2 stars
Review: I have red the readers' revews first and tried to pay attention to all the details from the beginning, and yet there was no surprise at the end of this book for me. Besides, in The Weight of Water, I really disliked Thomas' charecter, and now I dislike him even more even though he is supposed to be a positive character in this book. I really do like the way the book was written, but I wish the story itself was more interesting.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great "Shocker" of a Novel...
Review: This was a book I took on a recent trip to Hawaii. I was so shocked by the end, I wanted to start over and read it all again! A definite keeper, regardless of what else you may read here. Grant it, I do work in the mental health profession, so I am always intrigued by characters who suffer from disorders of thought or mood. Such a good book by a great author....especially while spending time on the beach!
Rating: 
Summary: Ghastly
Review: I usually (but not always) scrupuously avoid "pop" fiction and this book is one of the prime examples of why.Outwardly, the plot of this book is nothing special but nothing really terrible, either. Two middle-aged poets, Thomas Janes, a major poet, and Linda Fallon, a rather minor one, meet after many years at a Canadian writers' conference. Janes and Fallon, we learn, were once lovers, but apparently their lives took very different paths and each married and made a home with another. Now, however, both Janes and Fallon are free of romantic entanglements and free to be together. But will they take advantage of their freedom? Can they? These questions are pivotal because nothing in this book is what it seems to be. "The Last Time They Met" is divided into three sections: "Fifty-Two," "Twenty-Six," and "Seventeen," representing the ages at which Janes and Fallon meet. The narrative, in terms of linear time, runs backwards...for a very good reason. I found much of the prose in this book to be melodramic, cliched or simply bad. In any event, there's nothing about it to lift
it above the very, very ordinary. Combined with the ho-hum storyline and cliched characters this doesn't leave us with much of anything. As a frequent visitor to Africa, I found the African section to be very poorly written. And the letters; they all sound as though they were written by the very same person...Shreve. A lot of reviewers have complained about the ending of this book and, in my opinion, their complaints are more than justified. Like some of the other readers, I could see the ending coming as soon as I began the book...the italicization, the backward timeline and the peculiar phrasing of some of the dialogue were all huge giveaways. Those readers who didn't see the end coming, however, have every right to feel cheated and used. Literary "gimmicks" rarely work (and they certainly aren't a substitute for good writing) and the one used in this book was a particularly cheap one. Anita Shreve certainly didn't make a fan out of me with this book and I won't be giving her another chance. In fact, she may have scared me away from "pop" literature (even the good stuff) for good.
Rating:
Summary: You won't "love" it, until it's over...
Review: I'm generally one of those annoying types who guesses everything, but this book was so spectacular that I am still marveling over the ending. It's one of those endings you read and then re-read.... Shreve definitely delivers the final blow in this one. I can agree that it was slow at times, but this is the one book you don't want to half-read and not finish!
Rating:
Summary: The ultimate "what-if".
Review: This was the first novel I had read in many years, and I found it to be magnetic from the first to the last (or the last to the first). The end was just the beginning; the beginning was the ultimate "what-if". So much has been written in previous reviews about the disappointing ending, the clues throughout or the magnificent ending, but I was enthralled over the eight continuous hours I set aside to read it by every aspect. The single thread that was woven from the first page to the last was beautifully illustrated by evocative prose and hinted thoughts. I will read and reread this book again and again.
Rating:
Summary: not happy
Review: The beginning was tedious and the middle just dragged on too long. It wasn't until the third section that I felt the story was coming together - and then the ending. It was as though the author just couldn't come up with a plausible ending - so chose to wind things up the way she did. I enjoyed The Pilot's Wife, but I can assure you I won't be buying another one of Ms. Shreve's books again. I'm giving the book a two instead of a one because it did manage to keep me reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Almost Didn't Finish It, BUT...
Review: My first (and only) Shreeve book up until now was "The Pilots Wife", which I read in two days (and recommended to everyone). I was looking forward to reading this one, being so impressed with her other book. Alas, excitement turned to disappointment, which turned to boredom, until Part 3. I almost closed the book for good before that, yet kept hearing about the "surprise" ending; which didn't surprise me much at all (pay attention to how parts 1 and 2 are written distinctively different from part 3), but did in fact delight me. Shreeve writes the final ending so beautifully, you end up forgiving her for dragging you through this book for 300+ pages.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting...
Review: I picked up this novel after years of not reading a book, hoping that this would not be a cliché "Bridges of Madison County" styled novel. I was pleasantly surprised. The reverse chronological order forced me to pay close attention to the details and drew me into the story. I was shocked by the end. I re-read that page twenty times, trying to get myself to accept what the author had hinted at all along. When I could not get the characters out of my mind, haunted by the beauty and melancholy of the story, I searched for answers in reviews. One small review urged the readers of this novel to read "The Weight of Water" and then re-read "The Last time They Met." This was great advice because the central character in this novel is the husband of the narrator in the other. Many events resonated through the novels and allowed the reader to have two distinct perceptions of the same event, one of the husband in this novel, and the wife in the other. In the "Weight of Water" the character asked "What would a woman do when pushed to the very edge?" I think that both novels deal beautifully with this question about how humans cope with disasters, personal tragedies, love lost, passion found and the sub-text of a marriage. I highly recommend this novel to any reader searching for a story that pulls you in, turns your entire perspective upside down in the end, and forces you to think about the novel. I am pleased that Ms. Shreve does not spoon-feed her audience with the obvious answers and endings. Rather, she forces us to pay attention, to hoard the tiny crumbs of information, until the last piece completes the mosaic. This is one of the best novels she has written, and certainly one of the best I have read.
Rating:
Summary: ZOWIE!!!!!
Review: Ok, I admit, I'm still confused. But, unlike many reviewers, I'm not angry about it. I'm titilated. Afterall, not every author could blow your socks off on the last page. I'll even admit that after I finished the book, I went back and reread the first chapter again, picking up on things I'd missed before. I definitely feel this book could keep a reading group debating for hours. And, that is what makes for a great read--something that haunts you, makes you think, even curse, question your sanity, or question the author's sanity. But anyone who reads this completely through and comes away with a "ho hum" attitude is either brain dead or decieving his/herself. You'll either love it or hate it, there isn't much room for complacency in this novel. It did remind me a little of the movie Momento in terms of starting at the end and working backwards and finally wondering what actually happened. Writing in reverse order (from ending to beginning) like Shreve did cannot be easy and for this alone I applaud her. Don't listen to the naysayers. Give this book a chance. And if you're convinced you understand it completely, drop me a line! You're someone worth talking to....
Rating:
Summary: Amazing...
Review: To say that I am frustrated with the other reviewers for not having the intelligence to understand why the majority of the dialogue is in italics is an understatement. Not ALL of the dialogue is in this form, for good reason. This is a book that could easily be used for educational purposes in a lit. class, and the readers should be prepared to think while reading. This is not a no-brainer, Danielle Steele, romance novel; but rather, a deep story full of symbolism and hidden messages. I will read it again, because there is so much I am sure I missed and and so many minute details I would pay closer attention to. I think it's fabulous. I love the characters and the mystery of them. I would urge all of my friends to read it, and then give my copy back so that I can read it again...but for the time being, I need to rest...you will not believe the ending!
| 
