Last Time They Met, The

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Summary: Unmet Promises
Review: I did find this book very well written and I truly felt engaged in the torrid love affair which had endured over the years for the 2 main characters.....but, I too felt "let down" by the ending. I have thought alot about it over the past few days since finishing the book - I looked back through the book to see if the author had planted any "clues" along the way that I hadn't noticed which might have explained the confusing, unexpected finale - especially since this book moves backward through the characters' lives rather than forward. I would be interested in reading an interview with the author to find out if there was any "literary device" that she utilized in determining the outcome of this book. At any rate, I think all the publicity about the "surprise" ending of this book will continue to fuel increased book sales - save your money and wait until it comes out in paperback!

Rating:
Summary: A Shocker
Review: I was so shocked when I read the last few pages of this wonderful book. I cannot believe that an author could write such a wonderful thriller as this.... Somebody tell me how she could think of such a precious story.. I'm so sorry for the characters..............

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Summary: This book will leave you thinking for days...
Review: The Last Time They Met starts a bit slowly but builds in intensity somewhat like a storm observed on the horizon. The reader is carried along on an ever rising level of intrigue which becomes a raging current half way through the book. I found it easy to put down early, but half way through, I needed to read until the end. There, the river turns sharply and delivers you head first down the falls, leaving you gasping for air. While some may accuse the author of using a cheap trick, the ending made perfect sense to me and I found myself immediately turning back to the beginning looking for clues.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I've read all of Anita Shreve's books and found this one to be very disappointing. It certainly isn't up to her usual standards. The ending makes no sense and is just a device to fool the reader. Read "The Pilot's Wife" or "The Weight of Water".

Rating:
Summary: Stunning and breathtaking
Review: Like most of those who reviewed this book, I, too, was shocked by the ending of this book. I knew something was coming, and I tried to predict it, but I was way off the mark, and left stunned by the end. However, unlike most others (it seems), I loved this plot twist. It was believable and heart-wrenching. This is undoubtedly due to the way Shreve writes her characters, as multi-faceted and fallible. I found the love affair of Thomas and Linda to be too painful to turn away from, a fact made all the more powerful by the ending.

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Summary: A Story of Love, Loss and Mystery...
Review: Poet, Linda Fallon is in Toronto to give a reading of her works at a literary festival. There, she once again meets, Thomas Janes, tormented poet, literary legend and the great love of her life. This unrivaled passion has spanned thirty-five years, from their high-school romance at seventeen, to their chance meeting in Africa ten years later. And though they last met twenty-seven years ago, the emotional connection and memories have always been there, close to the surface..... Anita Shreve's latest novel, The Last Time They Met, is an intense and eloquently written story full of atmosphere and vivid scenes. Though very compelling at times, this novel tends toward melodrama and at times appears more like a movie of the week than good literature. But my biggest criticism is the unconvincing and contrived ending. After 312 pages detailing and exploring Linda and Thomas' choices...their great love, losses, tragedies and timing, Ms Shreve wraps up her novel with an unworthy, gimmicky ending that leaves the reader feeling cheated and looking for answers. The Last Time They Met is not Anita Shreve at her best.

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Summary: An Author's Betrayal
Review: I feel disappointed in and betrayed by Anita Shreve's latest novel, The Last Time They Met, because she involves me in the story of two believable and likable characters, she encourages me to sympathize and empathize with their often thwarted relationship, and then, like a novice writer who doesn't really know how to end a story, she tries for a surprise ending that hugely disappoints. Shreve has written many novels (I've read them all) and although I applaud her attempt to try something different for a finale (the last paragraph is actually beautifully written), I can't help but feel that I've been manipulated and ultimately, let down. A relationship of trust exists between a writer and her reader. The writer trusts that the reader will give her a chance to tell a story, and the reader trusts that the writer will respect the good faith with which the reader approaches discovering that story. With this novel's ending, Shreve has broken my trust.

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Summary: very good on tape...
Review: I'm not sure this is available via audiobook for sale at ... I think the audio book of this novel is terrific! Blair Brown reads beautifully, and I found it easy to keep track of what was happening...as other readers have said they were confused by the "reverse chronology" of this book. I think one of the problems some readers may have is that though Thomas and Linda are very deeply in love, there is something out there blocking their relationship. Those who define a satisfying romantic novel by a typical at the altar ending, or even a satisfying get-together in the middle, are going to be disappointed. I loved the (admittedly surprising) ending. Found it a satisfactory answer to the whys of the book as well as very, very moving.

Rating:
Summary: Romantic but frustrating
Review: The marketing for this book completely hooked me. I was equally hooked on the book. I read the entire book in two nights. The story and the characters simply came alive for me. At the close of the second night and the end of the book, though, I found myself throwing the book against the wall. I was so upset with the way the book ended - so upset in fact I thought I had read the ending incorrectly and went back and re-read it just to make sure...I feel most readers would want to know just what Anita Shreve was thinking when she wrote the ending. That being said, however, any time a writer can evoke the emotions of the reader in the fashion that Ms. Shreve did, it must be a great book.

Rating:
Summary: Engrossing, nonstop read
Review: Two star crossed lovers become the subject of this breathtaking new novel by Anita Shreve. When the story opens, the fomer lovers unexpectedly run into each other at a writers' festival. Both are now middle-aged and both accomplished poets. He is the famous poet, she a minor one. Perhaps they have a chance finally to be together happily after the tragedies that surrounded their past. The last time they met was 27 years earlier, again an unexpected meeting, this time in Africa. Each was married to someone else. A tragic love affair ensued. The third and final part of the novel goes back to the beginnings of their relationship at age 17 in a South Shore working class neighborhood of Boston, where the last secrets are peeled away, including an unanticipated surprise ending that might shock or enrage some, but proves once again that Shreve is a master storyteller. Whatever your feelings about the book, it is well worth the read and ranks up there with Shreve's other novels, including The Weight of Water, whose story line fits partly into this one.