Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining with a great finish
Review: This novel is about Pauline and Michael, who met on the day of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. They, like so many other young couples, got caught up in the excitement and frenzy and were married when Michael returned early from the war. They are two different people, and had they met at another time and place, they probably would not have wound up together. The essential lesson here is the old proverb, marry in haste, repent at your leisure.This book is a page-turner from the beginning, but really took off for me about 1/2 way through. It takes us through the various stages of the marriage between Michael and Pauline, as well as through events of the late 20th century. And Michael and Pauline are very real and complicated characters...your opinion of them will vary from page to page. I am giving this book 5 stars, because I thought the ending was so terrific, and I was left thinking about this book for hours (days) after finishing. I strongly recommend this novel for bookkclubs...there will be much to discuss.
Rating:
Summary: Can you say...INCREDIBLE??
Review: I have read almost all of Anne Tyler's books, and this one is the most powerful. With a sure hand at humor and the painful aspects of marraige, Tyler delivers the world of the Antons. I was not aware that I was actually reading a book until the sad moment when I turned the last page.
ENJOY.
Rating: 
Summary: Insightful and Entertaining
Review: Anne Tyler is a terrific writer. She explores humanity unlike so many other authors on the market today. She explores the human's craziness, happiness and everything in between. She is insightful and witty with her characters. I was entertained throughout this novel. The Amateur Marriage explores her insightfulness and grabs a hold of the things that husbands and wives can do to each other over the years of a marriage. You will certainly be able to relate to this book on many different levels. This book can be used not only for entertainment, but as a tool for your own marriage. The Amateur Marriage can't really compare to the most riveting (yet STILL somewhat unknown)novel I have read in recent years, Lucky Monkeys In The Sky by Michele Geraldi, but it is definitely a novel worth reading. I give it four stars. Very good book.
Rating:
Summary: May I Please Give it SIX Starts? Ten? A Thousand?
Review: Anne Tyler is a genius. If you think her books are "easy" or her stories are "simple" then you aren't "getting her". Many times her characters do shocking things, but they are NEVER out of character; if you think so, then you aren't reading the character deeply enough. And she is slavishly true to her characters and that's just one of the things that make her a genius and the best living writer we have today. That's not hyperbole...and I'm not the only one who thinks so. The Amateur Marriage is another Tyler masterpiece. It's a perfect rendering of a marriage mistake. Trust me. If "Breathing Lessons" gave us a day in the life of a marriage, then "The Amateur Marriage" gives us the whole of two people's (Michael and Pauline) adult lives, and in so telling, gives us the social history of the last half of the 20th century. If I was put on that proverbial desert island with only one author's works, it would be Anne Tyler's...may she write for a hundred years.
Rating: 
Summary: Unimaginative Storyline, Shallow/Cliche Characters
Review: Thank goodness this book was given to me; I would not have wanted to waste my money on it. Tyler's characters are shallow stereotypes with little emotional development. Her glib treatment of the controversial issues surrounding WWII shows how little she was concerned with a "thinking" reader and simply geared this book to people who want a fast read that won't tax their minds. I didn't even care what happened to the characters by the end of the story. After the first 50-100 pages, I could see exactly where the plot would end up; very unimaginative. No one is happy. Characters do things for no apparent reason. I could go on, but don't want to waste any more time thinking about this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointingly simplistic view of marriage
Review: As an Anne Tyler fan, I was deeply disappointed by the missteps in this one. The language was ordinary, the ideas were nothing new, there were many jarring flaws that relate -- in a way -- to point of view, which made me think this was intended as a young adult novel. A kind of gee whiz breathlessness on the part of the supposedly omniscient narrator that didn't seem to fit, to my eyes and ears. Overall, this isn't sophisticated or demanding in the least. She tells us how different these two people are rather than showing us.
Rating:
Summary: The Amateur Marriage
Review: Anne Tyler has a special gift, that of looking into the human heart, seeing past a person's dysfunctions, quirkiness and irratic behavior and capturing what makes a person who they are.
In her latest novel, The Amateur Marriage, Tyler once again proves her insightfulness into human nature and captures the things that husbands and wives can do to each other over the years of marriage and beyond. Most people will be able to see something in Pauline and Michael Anton's marriage mirror in some small way their own marriage. As in her previous works, Tyler slowly leads you to care for her quirky, dysfunctional characters and feel like a part of their family. As a long time fan of Anne Tyler, The Amateur Marriage does not disappoint.
Rating:
Summary: Not a disappointment.
Review: Anne Tyler is by far my favorite author of all time. I have been waiting for this book to come out for years and years; now that I finally own it and have read it twice over, I have differing opinions. The Amateur Marriage is indeed a "safe and comfy" novel. The first half or so of the book is engaging and very definitely stamped with Anne Tyler's profound perception and all of the other wonderful things her readers and, as in my case, fanatics have come to love and expect from every book of hers. However, I found myself getting slightly bored as the book went on, and it most certainly didn't keep my interest as almost all of Tyler's fifteen other novels can every time. Don't get me wrong -- her incredible gifts in the character development and storytelling areas are evident as always. I wasn't disappointed with the book, and her talents are still going strong.... Perhaps I would have enjoyed it significantly more if I had never read another Tyler novel before. However, that is not the case -- I own every single one, and have read some of them more than five times over. In short, don't head into this one with expectations of the greatness of Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, Saint Maybe, Searching for Caleb or The Accidental Tourist. But it's very much worth getting if you're a Tyler fan.
Rating:
Summary: A cozy night's read
Review: This book was an effortless read; I read the entire book one cold winter's night. The setting is Baltimore, 1941. Tyler captures well the excitement and enticement of the dangers of war and how young men and women are caught up in the passion of patriotic fervor. This novel is written alternately from the point of view of a young woman named Pauline who finds herself without a boyfriend to weep over as he leaves for boot camp; a young man, Michael, captivated by this same girl who is nothing like the familiar Polish girls in his own neighborhood, and an occasional cast of other characters related to the couple. Michael, seems to recognize what it would do to make this girl love him, so he enlists. Eventually, after his discharge, they marry and become a family. Tyler captures the humor and the horror of the life two such people manage to create and share with one another and their three children. The book is a wonderful story, although I still do not think it begins to compare with Tyler's Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, Accidental Tourist, or Saint Maybe which are my personal favorites. However, it is a warm book, full of laughter and Tyler's beguiling, lovable characters. I am grateful for the privilege of reading yet another book by Anne Tyler. I hope that she never retires from writing.
Rating:
Summary: Anne Tyler's best . . . and that's saying something.
Review: The real genius of Anne Tyler is how she can write so gently, and still make you care intensely about the characters in her books. I thought her previous book "Back When We Were Grownups' was her best, but "The Amateur Marriage" is even better.
The writing is nostalgic, sensitive, funny, enlightening and sad - sometimes even heartbreaking.
Stick with this book, but don't get too complacent - out of nowhere - BAM! Anne Tyler knocks you out of your chair.
I read this book in one sitting, and feel like I should have slowed down and savored it more, which I will do when I re-read it (a rarity for me).
|
