Spartina

Reviewer rating: 

3

Pros: 

A course in Northeastern USA Commercial Fishing and waterside communities c. 1985, Authentic characters and rich setting.

Cons: 

The steady flow of the plot is often disturbed or even stopped short by what can only be described as narrative that feels like transcribed therapy sessions. Some stiffness to major characters, also.

I'm a Northeasterner by choice. Coming up on forty years. I'm also a bit of a water rat.  I first heard of this book, back in the early nineties when it won the National Book Award for fiction. One of the first rave reviews, this one from the NY Times, was "Probably the best American novel... since The Old Man and the Sea, maybe Moby Dick." The fact that it dealt in depth with an area I consider home waters yet had never read it weighed on me. So I bought it two weeks ago.

Family Album

Reviewer rating: 

2

Pros: 

A few good observations about family dynamics

Cons: 

Multi-perspective form weakens the narrative. One dimensional characters. Lack of drama.

Outwardly, the family of this story - mother, father, six children and the long-standing au pair - have an idyllic life in their rambling Victorian house and garden. The inside - predictably - tells another story: the manic career mother, the aloof writer father, the disgruntled siblings never quite getting their fair share of parental affection and, for good measure, the Big Family Secret.