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The Book Borrower A Novel Alice Mattison 9780688177867 Books

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The Book Borrower A Novel Alice Mattison 9780688177867 Books

Ouch! Not only does this book get rave Editorial Reviews, but on the cover it is compared to the abilities of Margaret Atwood, a ridiculous ploy. To my disappointment, I believed the Editorial Reviews, bypassing the Customer Reviews. Never again.
The two women friends, who never achieve any depth in their relationship, are cardboard cutouts. The book within a book, "Trolley Girl", tempts the reader at first, promising historical nuance. Unfortunately, "Trolley Girl" doesn't hold up past the first few entries, a duplicitous "teaser" that falls as flat as the rest of the book.
Maybe it takes a woman who has true long-term friendships to see the vacancies in this novel. Certainly Alice Mattison should have. Only two-thirds finished, I am unwilling to continue, even though Jessie, the real "Trolley Girl" (now in her dottage) enters the story to comfort Toby Ruben after friend Deborah dies. (I'm not giving the plot away. The reader can see it coming.)
I have to say that the cover is truly enticing to a book lover, all the more disappointing as the story disintegrates page by page.


Tags : The Book Borrower: A Novel [Alice Mattison] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. On the first page of <em>The Book Borrower, </em> Toby Ruben and Deborah Laidlaw meet in 1975 in a New York City playground,Alice Mattison,The Book Borrower: A Novel,Harper Perennial,0688177867,Reading Group Guide,FICTION General,FICTION Literary,Fiction,Fiction - General,Literary,Modern fiction,Popular American Fiction,General & Literary Fiction,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

The Book Borrower A Novel Alice Mattison 9780688177867 Books Reviews

It's clear from the start that this book is intriguingly off-balance and challenging. Its style reflects the main character's uncomfortable relationship with herself, and may explain why some reviewers were uncomfortable with the book. Toby Ruben is just one of the puzzling people in the book that make you want to read on, and the way that the narrative moves in and out of fantasy keeps you wondering what the author will do next. In fact, Ruben has many unappealing qualities, with her "kindness deficit" and tendency to undermine people close to her. But simple views of morality, like many other things in the world, are questioned in this novel. Some obvious ties between contemporary characters and the novel within a novel about a fictional 1920s strike are joined by numerous echoes, such as the sisterlike relationship between Ruben and her best friend. We do not know till the end what is resolved and what is left hanging.
If you like rapidly jumping from one person's thoughts to another's it's a great read. I just couldn't keep up. Perhaps if I read it slower it would help.
I finished it. I would not have bothered to finish it but it was our book groups choice for this month. I found the writing confusing and difficult initially to sort out.
One of best books! Great characters, extraordinary ear for dialog, a novel within the novel which is about a strike in the 1920s. The interactions between the two are masterful. It is amazingly realistic at the same time that it's artful.
VERY WELL WRITTEN. A VERY CREATIVE STYLE
Deborah Laidlaw meets Toby Ruben while at a playground with her children and lends Ruben a favorite book of her husbands the Trolley Girl. Thus begins a friendship which will last for years. Interwoven in the story are excerpts from the Trolley Girl a story of two sisters in the 1920's, one of whom was an anarchist involved in a trolley strike.
Deborah and Toby become not only friends but colleagues. Teachers who first teach child care workers high school equivalency and then work as adjunct instructors in an English department of a college. There teaching philosophies vary and therein lies much of their conflict. Deborah believes in kindness and giving people what they seem to want at the moment and Toby is idealistic and truly "wants to teach." The book leads you gently to its lesson in life between the two friends.
Not a terribly heavy book, but it was an enjoyable read. It was interesting to me because the friendship they first had seem so similar to friendships I had in the 70's. Also as a person who has worked among teachers for many years their professional rivalry, seemed true to form. The taste of a historical novel added by the Trolley girl made the book all the more interesting.
Toby Rubin and Deborah Laidlaw met when their children were small and remained friends throughout life’s changes. Deborah loaned Toby a book but Toby never finished it because she felt the story was going to take an upsetting turn. Years went by, their children grew but Toby had no idea the tragedy she would face in her own life. Ultimately, she would finish that book in order to better understand the elderly woman who has become a strong presence in her life.
Ouch! Not only does this book get rave Editorial Reviews, but on the cover it is compared to the abilities of Margaret Atwood, a ridiculous ploy. To my disappointment, I believed the Editorial Reviews, bypassing the Customer Reviews. Never again.
The two women friends, who never achieve any depth in their relationship, are cardboard cutouts. The book within a book, "Trolley Girl", tempts the reader at first, promising historical nuance. Unfortunately, "Trolley Girl" doesn't hold up past the first few entries, a duplicitous "teaser" that falls as flat as the rest of the book.
Maybe it takes a woman who has true long-term friendships to see the vacancies in this novel. Certainly Alice Mattison should have. Only two-thirds finished, I am unwilling to continue, even though Jessie, the real "Trolley Girl" (now in her dottage) enters the story to comfort Toby Ruben after friend Deborah dies. (I'm not giving the plot away. The reader can see it coming.)
I have to say that the cover is truly enticing to a book lover, all the more disappointing as the story disintegrates page by page.