Object Lessons

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorites . . .
Review: Every now and again, we may come across an author whose writing style really touches us. And, every now and again, we may come across a story that stirs in us some indescribable, inexplicable, deep emotion within the core of our very soul. I believe I have found that author and that book. Anna Quindlen would be that author, and Object Lessons would be that book.

The first book I had read by Anna Quindlen was Black and Blue, which I had borrowed from my sister. Black and Blue was a highly captivating book because there was a lot going on with the plot of the book, but it was a bit sad at the same time. Black and Blue dealt with an abused woman who ran away with her son, and changed her identity so her husband wouldn't find her. As a result, that book was a bit on the darker side. Object Lessons has a total different feel to it. In this book, it's about an Irish-Italian family named the Scanlan's. This book centers mostly around Tommy Scanlan, and his Italian wife, Connie, and their 12-year-old daughter, Maggie. The couple has three other boys who are mentioned, but only in passing. The other three children are just background characters. Many a time, there's too many characters in a book, and in this case, it's very obvious that Anna Quindlen had an objective to focus on only a few main characters.

Tommy had married Connie when she became pregnant, and his Irish family -- his father, John Scanlan, in particular -- didn't approve. Since then, Connie had felt like an outsider with the other wives, and more than put out by her controlling father-in-law. John Scanlan was one of those larger-than-life characters, as he made a drama about most everything, and felt he had to control his sons, and only daughter, Margaret. Margaret escaped by going into the convent, but Tommy, as well as his brothers, found that John would take control of their lives by putting them in the family business, or buying a house, or sending their children to private school. John had such control over Mark, one of Tommy's brothers, that he prevented him and his wife from adopting children, as Mark had difficulty getting his wife pregnant. John Scanlan even had control over his wife, Mary Frances, making her drift into the background like faded wallpaper. Without much warning, John Scanlan became gravely ill one day when he had a stroke, and the family started changing. Maggie, Tommy's and Connie's daughter (and John Scanlan's favorite grandchild), was going through a tough growing-pain period. She was about to enter her teen years, and she was having a hard time coping with the things that were happening around her. Her relationship with her best friend, Debbie, was changing when Debbie started hanging around other kids who had a negative influence on her. Maggie's parents always seem to be distant or fighting, and now her grandfather was sick and she was seeing how her family was changing. This wonderful story takes you though this family's life, the Scanlan's, in such a realistic and creative way.

One of Anna Quindlen's best talents as a writer is her characterization. This is only the second book I've read of hers (One True Thing is another book I have put aside to read in the future), but I can safely say that her characters are so three-dimensional, and full of depth. They are so human. You don't only get a peek into the minds of her characters, but you also get a glimpse of what is in their hearts. Feelings are what Anna Quindlen is all about. I especially had a kinship with Connie and Maggie Scanlan. I could relate to the feelings of this mother-daughter pair, and I loved getting to know them with such intimacy.

I cannot rave enough about this book, because there are no accurate words to describe how good it really is. To experience it, you would have to read it for yourself.

I do know that this is one of my favorite books, and I do know that Anna Quindlen is one of my favorite authors. She's right up there with other favorites of mine: Connie May Fowler, Pearl Cleage, Alice Hoffman, , and Wally Lamb. Each of these authors are special in his/her own way, and Anna Quindlen has her own voice, and it's a strong one that you can't help but listen to.

Object Lessons was truly an enjoyable experience to read, and it's a book I'm going to have to purchase for myself (since I borrowed it from the library). It's one of those books you would want to go back to for seconds.

Rating:
Summary: Not her best, but not bad either.
Review: Having read One True Thing and Black and Blue, I knew I could rely on Quindlen to teach me new things about myself and my family--that she does, quite well. However, Object Lessons is much more weighed down by direct narrative than the other two books--at times, I found myself wishing the characters would talk to each other and quit thinking so much. I also found Maggie's age implausible--even the most precocious 12 and 13 year olds do not possess her incredible depth.

Connie's relationship with Tommy and subsequent realizations about what marriage is are the most powerful points in the book, and I credit Quindlen with another "perfect" ending--she is one author who does not leave her readers confused or disappointed on the final page.

Rating:
Summary: And the Object of the Lesson is??
Review: I read Anna Quindlen's essays in Newsweek with passion and devotion. In picking up one of her books, I expected to see the same richness of language and depth of expression and thought that draws me to her exposition.

Unfortunatly, I was disappointed. One of the best things that a novelist can do for his/her book is to pare down the number of characters and then give them each many dimensions and depth...make them real, make them matter.

I felt as though there were way too many characters in the book to really become attached to any of them. 12 year old Maggie occupies most of the story, but her conflicts are not well examined. Why does she care so much about losing her ditzy friend? Why is she drawn to fire? What is her *feeling* about fire? Why does she cling to a grandfather that alienates her mother? Why does her ex-best friend's much adored older sister favor her so much and vice versa? Either the character has limited feelings, or the depth of her emotion is only slightly alluded to on the page. There are about five or six other characters that are given significant portions, but at a scant 261 pages, the reader doesn't get to know or love them well. You wonder what makes Monica so mean, why Connie considers cheating, why Tommy won't partner with his brother, why Celeste is in the book at all.

I felt that the end dragged on, and was riddled with cliches. Every other line seems to begin with, "And she knew..." ...[the voice in her head] was her grandfather's voice. ...that 20 years from now she would still hear all those voices ...that as long as they stayed there sheould be able to do all the things she had to do ...that even a week from now things would be different.

It is an interesting look into changes in the lives of the Catholic community in the 60's. The portrait of this family, while lacking in engaging detail, is heartwarming. There are some blatant and irritating clichés, but Anna Quindlen really does have a gift for the language. She is able to inflect ethnicity into dialogue without a lot of weird misspellings and apostrophes. It is an accurate picture of how much your course and destination can change based on your choices wherever you are in life, as well as some touching and truthful conculsions about marriage, love, and growing up.

For the flaws I've listed, it is still a strong literary work. Pick up a used copy from a vendor here for the next time you're headed out to your hammock or easy chair. It's a light and fun read, and I look forward to finding more of Anna Quindlen's novels in the amazon.com marketplace.

Rating:
Summary: Silly pointless book
Review: I've been meaning to read some of Anna Quindlan's work, and this one was at the libary, so I thought, why not? Well, all I can say is that if Quindlen wasn't a well known writer, this is the type of manuscript that an editor would toss into the trash.

Too many characters, too many POV, to the point where you really got them confused. No plot, no story. The cliches were enough to make you cry, as were the stereotyped characters. The mean and demanding family patriarch, the family feud because a member married someone who wasn't their own kind, the precocious 13 year old girl. None of these characters are really explained, or have any depth. For example, why does Connie start seeing another man? Why is Maggie intrigued with fire? Why is her cousin so mean? And what's with the nun, who was reading Jane Eyre? Whatever was that about?

I couldn't wait to return this trash to the library. I seriously thought about just telling the library I had lost it, so no one else would mistakenly take this out, thinking that the Quindlen name means its a decent read.

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat Typical Girl "Coming of Age" Story
Review: Yes, it's "that summer" for the young preteen girl when everything seems to change. She muddles through changing friendships, her parents' possible marriage problems, her grandfather's death (he's the controlling family patriarch) and her own feelings of right and wrong/morality. This was not a bad book, but I don't think it is Anna Quindlen's best book. I kept hoping for a great revelation or something to kind of wrap the story up, towards the end it just seemed to drift to a conclusion. Unfortunately, not much sets it apart from many other young girl "coming of age" stories out there.