Rating: 
Summary: An Elegant Portrait of a Difficult Marriage
Review: THE AMATEUR MARRIAGE by Anne Tyler is a beautiful book about the lifetimes of two people after they meet around the time of Pearl Harbor. Michael is a diligent, handsome, considered young man, who works in his mother's grocery in the St. Cassian's neighborhood of Baltimore. Pauline is a beguiling, lively stranger (who lives just 20 minutes away), who's cut her head in a small mix-up in the crowd swell building around the declaration of war. They are instantly taken with each other; the story begins there and continues for their lifetimes, as they marry, have children, and experience their relationship in various iterations.
I love the title of the book, the idea that people can be amateurs at marriage, and it comes from a character's reflections that the marriage of Michael and Pauline does not seem to get smoother or more in tune or more successful as the years go by. While others develop the ability to understand and grow closer, the two of them remain amateurs in a difficult and exhausting union. Pauline believes that everyone fights, and, anyway, it can be made better in the future. Michael is frustrated and saddened over the state of their lives together. They both wonder if they made a mistake in marrying in the first place.
The book runs from the time of Pearl Harbor until after the destruction of the Trade Towers and tells a long story of this family, but it ingeniously does so through short snippets, almost individual short stories, snapshots taken at various points of the couple's lives from both their view points (as well as from the viewpoints of their children). Through this technique, Tyler communicates the sense that neither is to blame, that it is not the fault of one partner, that the marriage is unhappy. At each intersection the reader has with their lives, one gets to see a different and/or evolving vantage point. I came to the sad conclusion that the two had no empathy for each other, though they had, at times, genuine affection.The thing I think I liked most about this book and the aspect with which I was most impressed from a writing viewpoint was the way that Tyler tells the story in these breaks over a lifetime. Through this method she is able to give appropriate weight to the drama-ramas that occur. Of course, things happen that are HUGE to the characters at the time (and many leave indelible marks), but through this method of setting, Tyler imparts that the incidents are moments in a long chain of linked incidents. There is a sense of real history of this couple here, a sense of real time passing. In some ways, it is as if their lives become the reader's memories. I felt real love for the characters, as well as anger, frustration, and hope.
This book was expertly written, beautifully constructed, an elegant work. I absolutely recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Fiction that is a pleasure to read!
Review: Anne Tyler zeroes in on the elemental matter that comprises most lives. Will Pauline be brave enough to venture downstairs to restart the pilot light on the hot water heater? Or will she turn her day upside-down to avoid her basement phobia? How can Michael possibly decide which impressionist print to mount on his empty walls? Such is the daily torture of a life filled with the mundane business of maintaining a marriage, raising kids, entertaining friends and relatives, running a small business, driving through look-a-like suburban streets, keeping a house running, feeding everyone and dressing correctly. Michael and Pauline Anton struggle through this life together, completely mismatched for each other, as a result of an impetuous, romantic wartime sendoff. Tyler sketches their struggles through six decades from their early days in an ethnic Baltimore neighborhood to the present. In this way, the novel loosely chronicles an evolving nation: Pearl Harbor and World War II, the post-war flight from the city to the 'burbs, Kerouac and Haight-Asbury, and the aging of baby-boomers into lawyers, financiers and college professors. But the book is about the characters: Michael and Pauline, their children Lindy, George and Karen, and another generation behind them. By the book's end we see Michael's and Pauline's genes at work in their children, differentiating them as much as Michael and Pauline. "The Amateur Marriage" is a marvelous portrait of family life in America, good light reading, and just the right length. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing and Depressing
Review: To me, this was a depressing picture of two mismatched people trying to make a marriage work. A lot people who marry young find out later on that they are mismatched, but I was worn out by Pauline's unrelenting determination to make everyone around her upset. Everything had to be her way. Everything that wasn't her way had an underlying message. Pauline is a scatter-brained fool who never grows up and never learns from her mistakes. After a while, I felt that I was re-reading "Breathing Lessons" by this same author, about another marriage where the wife was a controlling crazy person who keeps everyone walking on eggshells around. The story follows three generations from Pauline and Michael to their grandchildren and how their choices managed to mess up all three generations. In this respect, I guess you could call this a "deeply perceptive novel." It's a novel where entire lives are condensed onto a few pages and it becomes painfully obvious how, even with the best of intentions, we pass on our best and worst traits to the next generation, and how they must deal with what they have been given, just as we all deal with what we have been given. It never ends and it's a part of life. But I don't really see the point of dwelling on it and exaggerating it and making it seem worse than it is. Pauline was a shrew! Poor Michael, having to put up with her tantrums, pick, pick, picking at every word out of his mouth, name-calling and criticizing. Never knowing whether or not she would be loving or blow up in his face. Their poor children, trying to keep things peaceful so that Mom and Dad won't fight. And it marches unrelentingly on and on, from their dating and marriage during World War II through to the present, during which time they finally obtain the relief of a divorce and move on to different phases of their lives. I didn't find the book dull, but it was unrelentingly depressing. I kept hoping that they would resolve their problems and turn out to be a happy old couple, but they don't. I give this book points for a good writing style and a story line that might make a good discussion for a book group. But I have to subtract for the depressing subject matter and the fact that this author has already written almost the exact same story in "Breathing Lessons."
Rating:
Summary: Not since . . .
Review: Not since "The Time Traveler's Wife" and "The Bark of the Dogwood" have I so enjoyed a book. Ms. Tyler takes us on a journey through the marriage of Michael and Pauline Anton. Each chapter is a glimpse into a certain time period of their lives together. We discover how they met and the circumstances of their wartime marriage, how they adjust as a young married couple with small children and a live-in relative, later we see them deal with the thorny problems of the teenage years and so on and on. As a backdrop Ms. Tyler also deals with the doubts faced by both Michael and Pauline about whether they were ever really suited to one another in the first place. The answer is not a happy one but given the problems with their relationship over the years it is an honest and realistic one.
Rating:
Summary: First Time Reader of Tylers Opinion
Review: This is the first book I've read by Anne Tyler. It has inspired me to pick up a few more of her books, anxious to read the other stories she's woven.
The Amateur Marriage was pretty much what I'd expected: A story of a family, a marriage. Their ups and downs. Some lessons along the way. Characters with many sides to them. Pauline and Michael are the married couple, with their 3 children Lindy, George and Karen.
The funny thing was, that even though it's about a "marriage"- it's just as much, if not more, about a Family! It's about meeting someone and struggling to make a life together, learning to live together. It's about raising children in rough times, during the fights and the spats, as each of you grows older and less patient. It's about watching the children grow and the affect a marriage can leave on a family. The affects that any one member can leave on the family- for the entire existence of the family.
I enjoyed the story, the characters. I did have a hard time at first relating to George and Pauline, just because it was hard to see where they were coming from. However, I read along, anxious to see where the future would take them. Hoping that Pauline would learn a lesson, or George would soften up a bit. And of course I had my hopes for the children as well, but I don't want to spoil anything here.
All I can say is, I'll be picking up more of her books soon!
Rating:
Summary: Domestic Tale
Review: I enjoyed reading this book a lot for two reasons. First, I found it very well written. The author's use of language is superb. Secondly, the characters are well drawn and believable. I personally enjoyed reading about them and found myself caring for them, even if their lives were middle-of-the road. What I also enjoyed were the time-shifts Tyler used, it brings an interesting twist to the plot. I would highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: This is the first book I've read by Anne Tyler. I enjoyed it immensely. I read it in 2 days, as I couldn't put it down.
This family, the Antons, seem so normal. They are involved in real situations and dilemmas. It reminded me alot of The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. A very dysfunctional family trying to get down the path of life.
I'm not sure I liked any of the characters that much, but was hoping to like one of them by the end of the book. They are just people that sometimes make the wrong decisions that affect everyone around them. I don't think they realize this though.
There are also characters that don't learn anything from previous mistakes they've made.
I was really disappointed by the fate of the oldest daughter, Lindy. I really wanted her to turn out differently than she was.
I think I wanted everyone in the novel to turn out differently. Maybe that's the whole puzzle to this novel. Why aren't the characters all that loveable? How come there aren't miraculously happy endings?
In the end, I am glad that the book ended the way it did. It definitely was a book that I'd recommend to others.
Rating: 
Summary: poignantly volatile
Review: Not being a fan of contemporary, popular fiction, this is not a book I would normally have selected. An Amateur Marriage is a tale spanning several decades, jumping forward in time throughout the book, from the beginning, with volatile young lovers one cannot discourage from making the biggest mistake of their lives (marrying each other) to the trials of their family life and marital woes, to the regrets and difficulties inherent in the choices they have made. The story is nothing groundbreaking; unhappy marriage that people stick with because they have invested too much and can justify all the problems one way or another and make excuses for the misery in which they live. The strength of the book in this case, in fact what differentiates it from every other book that might handle the subject matter less adeptly, is the writer's ability to make the reader connect with the characters, particularly the two main characters. The reader feels each of their wounds, doubts and can understand the devotion to each other despite the volatile and argumentive nature of their long relationship. The greatest skill Tyler employs is being able to give each character a level of humanity that enables the reader to see each person's point of view/perspective. It is not, therefore, possible to blame or judge either of the main characters, but the reader is able to see each of the characters through the other's eyes. When the family reunites at the end, the story takes a bittersweet, reflective tone, which I found rather sad and fitting.
Rating:
Summary: Scenes from a Marriage
Review: Amateur Marriage is the story of the marriage of Michael and Pauline Anton, two young people from Baltimore who meet in the early 1940s and marry shortly thereafter. The marriage is not a cordial one, but there is clearly something that draws them together, something that forces them to endure their endless bickering. Michael and Pauline were caught up in a moment and perhaps should not have gotten married. Nevertheless, they have three children, and, through unexpected circumstances wind up raising the three-year old son of one of their children. This novel is really the story of a family that is the product of that marriage; its ups, its downs. Amateur Marriage is an enjoyable read, one that covers the highlights of the family, and does not tell us what happens every year, thankfully. I have to say that this is one of Tyler's novels that I have enjoyed the most. A pleasant read. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: LESS THAN LUSTROUS TYLER
Review: Perhaps someone for whom "The Amateur Marriage" will be an introduction to Anne Tyler will find her latest novel far more compelling than I. But readers like myself who count her among their favorite contemporary authors are bound to be disappointed by this study of a decades-long relationship between two people who appear to be trapped in their personalities, never evolving in a world that is changing constantly.
Tyler has a gift for writing about realistic situations peopled with vivid characters about whom the reader truly cares. I have read all her novels - and reread several, more than once - and never before have I put down one of her books and let as much time elapse between readings as I did with this. I never felt compelled to return quickly to a story in which the main players simply didn't capture and hold my attention - in fact, long before the final chapter, they had become as annoying and exasperating to me as they were to each other.
Tyler has written well about troubled marriages in the past - "The Accidental Tourist" is one of her best exploring this theme - but here she has faltered and stumbled and never quite regained her footing. Definitely the least interesting of her prolific output, "The Accidental Marriage" should not be the work by which a new reader judges her. I urge you to select any one of her many other titles to discover how joyous an experience reading Tyler can be.
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