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Cargando... This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! (2015 original; edición 2015)por Jonathan Evison
Información de la obraThis Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! por Jonathan Evison (2015)
Cargando...
Inscríbete en LibraryThing para averiguar si este libro te gustará. Actualmente no hay Conversaciones sobre este libro. Rape ( ) I almost put this down after the first three chapters but then I went back and read the whole thing. Can't make up my mind, was it good or just weird? Very short chapters jumped back and forth through various periods of Harriet Changes life from age 1 to age 78, mostly age 78. Age 78 may or may not be the last year of her life. Her deceased husband Bernard keeps appearing. I would have given it 3 stars but since I am still thinking about it as I write this it gets 4 for making me ponder. How to describe this book? Entertaining. Unusual. Read it with a bit of suspended belief and liberal tolerance for slow reveals. The book's unknown narrator alternates between omniscient third person and direct address to Harriet as various events and dates in her life are examined at age 78. Says the narrator: "While the days unfold, one after the other, and the numbers all move in one direction, our lives are not linear, Harriet. We are the sum of moments and reflections, actions and decisions, triumphs, failures, and yearnings, all of it held together, inexplicably, miraculously, really, by memory and association." So true! All of this reflection occurs in the space of about 2 weeks while Harriet is preparing for and embarking on an Alaskan cruise. Her husband, Bernard, dead a little less than a year had won the trip in a silent auction -- unbeknownst to Harriet. Now she is faced with 2 tickets on a cruise she never intended to take. When her friend, Mildred backs out at the last minute, Harriet's daughter Caroline shows up -- though not until the first port. This has been Harriet's "difficult" child, unlike her son Skip -- her favorite. However both are worried about her and her mental state of grief -- Harriet's parish priest has called Skip to report that Harriet thinks she sees Bernard's ghost (she does!) So now Harriet is stuck at sea with her problem child and all the ghosts and failings of her past, and the ghost of her dead husband. While this could all be maudlin or morbid, the narrator's tone and detachment saves the day and the book is actually quite humorous. It is meant to be a farce, but there are deep truths here. Revealing much else would really be a spoiler. A cross in style and tone between Where'd You Go Bernadette and The Book Thief. Go figure.
Evison writes humanely and with good humor of his characters, who, like the rest of us, muddle through, too often without giving ourselves much of a break. A lovely, forgiving character study that’s a pleasure to read. PremiosListas de sobresalientes
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HTML:??Insightful, richly entertaining . . . Evison writes humanely and with good humor of his characters, who, like the rest of us, muddle through, too often without giving ourselves much of a break. A lovely, forgiving character study that??s a pleasure to read.? ??Kirkus Reviews, starred review With Bernard, her husband of fifty-five years, now in the grave, seventy-eight-year-old Harriet Chance impulsively sets sail on an ill-conceived Alaskan cruise that her late husband had planned. But what she hoped would be a voyage leading to a new lease on life becomes a surprising and revelatory journey into Harriet??s past. Jonathan Evison has crafted a bighearted novel with an endearing heroine at the helm. Part dysfunctional love story, part poignant exploration of the mother-daughter relationship, nothing is what it seems in this tale of acceptance, reexamination, and forgiveness. ??A terrific novel, funny and moving, wistful and wise. Jonathan Evison??s writing crackles on the page.? ??Jess Walter, author of Beautiful Ruins ??This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! is as sweet as it is inventive, profound as it is hilarious, unflinching as it is bighearted.? ??Maria Semple, author of Where??d You Go, Bernadette ??[An] irresistible, inventive novel full of important ideas about how we live our lives as parents, children, partners, and human beings . . . Evison is a ridiculously gifted storyteller.? ??Jami Attenberg, author of The Middlesteins ??A generous and wise tale, told with Evison??s trademark verve and charisma, This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! is a deeply felt and deeply comforting novel.? ??Patrick deWitt, author of The Sisters Brothers ??This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! has all the wonderful snap and sizzle we??ve come to expect from Jonathan Evison??s work, and as much heart as any novel I??ve read in recent years.? ??Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn??s Long Halftime Walk ??Both uplifting and melancholy, funny and thought-provoking, this entertaining read speaks No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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