Rating: 
Summary: Endings Do Not Have to Come in Nice Tidy Happy Packages
Review: I loved this book. It was beautifully written in Shreve's very distinctive style. The ending, rather that annoying me as it did some other readers, fascinated and delighted me as it put into perspective the unimagineable depths of Thomas's sadness. I highly recommend the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed--Like So Many Others
Review: When I finished this book, I felt like I had been slapped across the face. I had thought it so very good, beautifully written and cleverly structured. The sections on Africa were truly well-done and enlightening. And then came the end. I don't believe I have ever been so angry with a book--with an author. My face actually burned. To me, the ending cheapened the entire work. It was NOT clever. And no, it is not that we always have to have a happy ending. I wept at the end of Cold Mountain but know that book could not have ended any other way. I would love to hear what must have been some very interesting discussions between the author and her editor. It takes so long to write a book. You care about it, you're with the characters and the story every single day. And then to do this? As if it has all been a trick, a joke? While reading this book, I was excited about it and had planned to rave about it to all my friends. Not now.
Rating:
Summary: What If?
Review: What a story! I haven't read a book this well-written and thought provoking in a long time. Shreve's complex characters and unique story telling sequence keep the reader's interest peaked from cover to cover. The novel begins with the story of a middle-aged woman meeting her long-lost love at a literary celebration party. From there, Shreve takes us on a ride backward through time, detailing the lives of Linda and Thomas, two characters that we can all identify with at some point or another throughout the story. We learn of shocking secrets, and intimate details, and experience the pain of grief and loss right through to the last page. Most readers are left staring at the last paragraphs for some time, before turning back to the beginning to start over. Shreve forces us to reflect on our own lives and wonder the ever-rhetorical question: "What if?"
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: When I finished this book I felt annoyed. Of course, now I understood why the age-17 section necessarily came last, in that it WAS the end. Nevertheless I felt that I had been tricked, & this seemed shabby somehow. Worse, I continue to feel disappointed that characters that I'd invested in, cared about, had been ghosts. If I'd had an inkling of the ending, would I have read the book anyway? Maybe; there are certainly artistic rewards. But I would read it only as an intellectual exercise.
Rating: 
Summary: Stick with it...
Review: The first part of this book, as pointed out by other reviewers, was absolute torture. The scenes in the hotel were boring and drawn out. The book continued to get progressively better as the story moved along, with my favorite parts occurring during their time in Africa. I was, of course, blown away by the ending- but I loved it. Looking back everything seems to fit into place- it was hard for me to accept that Thomas would not have tried to track down Linda at college or after his divorce from Regina and/or Jean. Their love for each other was so vivid it was hard for me to imagine that he would not have sought her out. I've also read Pilot's Wife by Shreve, although I enjoyed this book even more (once it got rolling..) If only she could combine the feeling at the beginning of Pilot's Wife with the intensity of the middle and ending of this book she would have a phenomenal hit on her hands.
Rating:
Summary: Dallas deja vu....
Review: After finishing The Last Time They Met, I felt I had been tricked
just as the viewers of the old horse opera, Dallas, felt when Pam
Ewing WOKE UP, and had dreamed the whole past season! I did NOT pick up on the foreshadowing because I was riding right along with the unfolding of the tale of old lovers actually meeting. After all the book jacket talks about Thomas deliberately tracking down Linda at this literary event. Her dialogue with her son, etc was so "in the moment". An author doesn't have to hit the reader on the head with foreshadowing, but I felt there was a dishonesty with the reader in this book.The only hit on the
head I felt was me hitting myself for being taken in!There were so many words between Thomas and Linda: what is the ONE word reviews keep referring to? I don't feel like going back to look for IT! This did not compare to Weight of Water!
Rating:
Summary: We've been had
Review: Dear Readers, I throughly love Anita Shreve's other novels. She gets to the core of the human condition - our strengths and weaknesses. I always learn so much from her stories. They twine around our passions, our thoughts, our dreams. This book, crossed the line. It is not fair to the reader to short change them. We care for the characters in a book. They become living people while we are engaged in the story. The best of novelists creates characters that live on far beyond the actual reading of the story ends. To have Linda's life, her life's work,her family her thoughts, words, dreams be but a drawing-paper mock up is a travesty of justice. No one else knows the many paths another one's life 'might' take. This book is a sham, perpetrated on a loyal, trusting audience. I, for one, will never trust Anita Shreve again. Do not get me wrong, I love fantasy stories, tales about 'what might have been'. I also thoroughly enjoy this author's style of writing - convoluted, yes; but challenging and interesting. Her descriptive style is not redundant or superfluous; but rather makes for a rich, full picture. I reread the book, found places where clues may or may not have been laid. The scattered stardust-like logo at the top each chapter heading should have been taken as suspicious. The italics rather than quotes, also gave pause. Given all that, I did feel it was a waste of time to invest time, worry, love (yes, love) into any of the characters because it was like investing in air. To any reader who troubles themselves with this book - I say, "There is a sucker born every minute. Remember?"
Rating:
Summary: Didn't Enjoy
Review: I didn't enjoy this book - it was a chore to get through and then when I got to the ending, I groaned.
Rating:
Summary: The first time --probably the last time
Review: The book was weird! The fact that it went backwards was strange enough, but I had to read the last page three times just to figure it all out. This book requires time to read slowly and think. All in all, ok. Just not so sure I want to read it again. Buy the paperback! Not worth the hardcover price.
Rating:
Summary: SHREVE FAN DISAPPOINTED
Review: I have read every Anita Shreve book and loved them all -- until this one. After leading us through a twisting path back into the past, all intriguing and beguiling, the author lands with a thud on the most hackneyed, cheap shot ending I've ever read! I won't give it away but I couldn't believe it! It was like something from a mini-series or a Sidney Sheldon novel! Please Anita, tell me you were trying to meet a deadline? This novel is no match for The Weight of Water or Resistance, that's for sure! Shreve fans should read the book and STOP at page 312...make up your own ending.
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