Book Review: Reunion by Hannah Pittard

I'll confess that this was the second time I checked out Hannah Pittard's Reunion from the library. The first time, I had to return it before I even had a chance to crack open the cover because someone else requested it (that two week loan period goes by quickly!). This time, I read it in a day and a half so yeah, you can say I liked it. 

Even though Reunion is a quick read, it's not full of levity.  The story takes place during a four-day period when Kate, our protagonist, and her two older siblings meet up in Atlanta to say goodbye to their father, who just committed suicide.  He was a difficult man and all three siblings, as well as many additional half-siblings and ex-wives on the periphery, have damaged or non-existent relationships with him.  His death comes at a time when everyone seems to be in some sort of turmoil and this added pressure causes all involved to reevaluate their own lives.

This book reminded me of why I dream of joining a really cool book club; as soon as I turned the last page, I wanted to call someone and to talk about it so I did the next best thing which is to scroll around online to read what other people thought.  Although the feedback was mostly positive, there were some negative reviews, and as it turns out, many of the things that those readers hated about the book were the things I liked the most. Kate isn't likeable and most of the time, I didn't really identify with her but ultimately, I'm not a reader who wants perfect characters or needs tied-up loose ends. True situations and messy relationships are what keep me interested.

If nothing else, Reunion reminds us that it's difficult to let go of the past, even if it's not really something you want to hold onto. It's hard to admit that sometimes it's easier to lie than to tell the truth, or that you can't always blame other people for your own mistakes. It's inevitable that we all will grow up, but no one ever said it's easy. That's a sentiment that Reunion definitely gets right.

Book Review: The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

 
Word of mouth is really an amazing thing. If it weren't for the recommendation that I received several times from the same librarian than I never would have checked out Sarah Waters' The Paying Guests and I never would have thoroughly enjoyed (and may I say raced through) this almost 600-page book just to be systematically crushed by the ending. 

Despite my disappointment in those last 100 pages, I really did enjoy The Paying Guests.  Waters' writing is really beautiful and since the story takes place in 1922 England, she obviously did meticulous research to make sure she was accurate to the time. There's a sense of longing in every sentence: first for normalcy (a majority of the young men have been killed in World War I, including the central family's two sons) and then a longing for passion and love mixed in with what seems like the eternal search for acceptance and belonging.  So little seems to happen (almost the entire book takes place in a big, creaky, falling-apart house) but then again, so much also happens.

The premise of the book is simple but intriguing.  When Frances and her mother run out of funds/realize their debts are larger than they believed, they take in boarders, or 'paying guests.'  There's a strange mixing of private and public lives here and class is a major issue too. Frances and her mother are old money and part of the upper class in a London suburb. Lillian and Leonard, the boarders, are of the rising middle class, ambitious twenty-somethings who are relative newlyweds.  When Frances and Lillian start an affair, everything is turned upside-down.

And from there, the story takes an unexpected twist, or at least it was unexpected for me. I don't normally read thrillers but this book was really suspenseful in the best way, and quite passionate without being graphic in the least.  Eventually, these ladies get themselves into a predicament which Waters takes about 250 pages to explain in detail, and then it resolves itself in about two pages. There was so little payoff to this great lead-up.

So, The Paying Guests is enjoyable, but undeniably long. The end just doesn't live up to the rest of the book.

Tonight in Random Netflix-watching...

I put Stuck in Love on my queue months ago, and couldn't even remember why, but if you're looking for 90 minutes of relatively predictable romantic comedy, I would definitely recommend it. It didn't hurt that Greg Kinnear, who plays a writer, quotes from Raymond Carver's What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, one of my favorite short stories. 

One of the commenters on Netflix said that she watches this movie at least three times a week.  That might be taking it a bit far but it's more than worth a watch (or two). And there are a few of those really vivid, heartbreaking moments that will make you pause, then feel lots of wonderful feelings.

Firsts

I want these Dutch ladies to be my friends. Based on this short video, I'd actually watch them do pretty much anything for the first time as long as they are together.



I think my favorite part is when An calls her husband after their flight lands. Oh, and when Ria and An both fall into the water at the beach. Adorable. xo


h/t to HelloGiggles

An Introvert's Heart Wants What It Wants

So perfect. I love the Bay of Magazines, always and forever.

 

Via Postsecret

Tuning In

At least twice a week, I find myself sitting in my car in front of my home or in my parking garage at work listening to the end of a story on NPR. And at least five times a week, I find myself tearing up at the reporting, whether it be about war or love or death or just a prime example of human kindness.

Yesterday's Ari Shapiro piece on Sarajevo was beautiful. It was short and plainly reported (I'd maybe call it unassuming), but that added to the impact of the subject's words. We were given a small glance into Ella Pinto's life, who, among other things, is a survivor of the Holocaust.  Last month, she traveled from Israel with her son and daughter-in-law to visit the place where she grew up, a bruised Sarajevo, and the words she spoke to Ari's translator at the end of the report struck a chord with me.

"We need to let them know what we lived through so they will understand why peace is important."

Pinto's life is full of moments that should be shared.  Such a perfect example of why public radio is so important.


P.S. I love when Ari Shapiro is reporting from faraway lands, but love it just as much when he's co-hosting All Things Considered.


Photo courtesy of Ari Shapiro's Instagram feed
Quote from NPR

Typecast much?

 
I watched Girl Most Likely over the weekend and even though I'd give it a solid B-, it wasn't as good as I expected. At first, I thought that I didn't love it because of the farcical ending.  But then I realized that I had a very similar reaction to the movie, Bridesmaids, which was a film that didn't thrill me even though it got rave reviews.  Kristen Wiig plays basically the same character is both of these movies: mid-thirties, failed career, failed love life, eventually winds up living in her mother's home with no end in sight.

Okay, so generally no real issue with that (how many times has Katherine Heigl or James Marsden played similar characters in subsequent movies?). My problem is that these films are toted as comedies when they clearly are not pure comedy. I think they toe the line of dramedy at best. Sure, all the ladies in Bridesmaids wind up pooping while in expensive bridal wear but there's never any mention of the mental breakdown of Kristen Wiig's character.  In Girl Most Likely, the main character fakes her own suicide to get her uninterested boyfriend back.  Just because Wiig is quirky and these movies are ironic doesn't mean that they should automatically be classified as comedies.  Perhaps people won't go to a movie starring Kristen Wiig unless it's a comedy.

That being said, there are some memorable moments in Girl Most Likely: Darren Criss as a Backstreet Boy impersonator is great as is Annette Bening in the typical 'mom' role, although I think she is great in pretty much anything.  Also, the scene where Kristen Wiig's character, Imogene, wakes up in a casino parking lot in Atlantic City, still dressed in her johnnycoat from the psych ward, and walks into said casino searching for her gambling mother was pretty entertaining.  As someone who grew up in a family of gamblers, this rang true to me.

I'm excited to see The Skeleton Twins with Wiig and Bill Hader coming out in September, although this serious movie has a semi-uplifting trailer. I think it's time to embrace Kristen Wiig's ability for dramatic roles--who's with me?