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118th out of 323 books
—
236 voters
The Center of Winter
The luminous first novel by Marya Hornbacher, the acclaimed author of Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia, is a moving and passionate story of a death from despair -- and a stricken family's passage through grief toward the hope, solace, and understanding that waits for them somewhere beyond the center of winter.
Paperback, 352 pages
Published
January 31st 2006
by Harper Perennial
(first published February 1st 2005)
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This book has been near and dear to my heart. I am unhappy to have finished it. It both warms you and breaks your heart. Davey and Kate are six yrs old and the best of friends. Esau is Kate's twelve yr old brother who seems to have Bipolar Disorder. He has his "darks" and is hospitalized, institutionalized and eventually brought home and stabilizes. His mother says he has the "sick-sads" that he quite possibly inherited from his father who eventually kills himself. Kate and Davey are inseparable...more
The Center of Winter is the story of a father's suicide and the way it reverberates through his family for the next year. Told from the perspective of all the ones left behind (his wife, son, and young daughter), the novel is by turns excruciatingly sad, dull, painful, and joyful. It's the story of a family coming back to life after the unthinkable has happened, and not just surviving but eventually thriving.
I found myself falling in love with every character in the book, even the man who did th...more
I found myself falling in love with every character in the book, even the man who did th...more
I'm not sure how much I really liked this book. I couldn't put it down, but I ended it feeling ambivalent. I think my expectations may have been unrealistically high since I liked Hornbacher's memoir so much. This book was interesting, and sometimes it was incredible, but it was also uncomfortably bleak at some points, and the writing was sometimes awkward and thick (there's no need for someone to shriek on every page) and a few of the characters got on my nerves. Despite those complaints, still...more
If you read Marya Horbacher, don't expect it to be all sunshine and roses. I adore her writing. She's a person who has experienced a lot of pain in her life through her battles with eating disorders, addiction, and mental illness. When she writes about these subjects, it comes from a place of true personal understanding and that brings so much more reality to her words.
The other two books of hers I have read are Wasted and Madness. Both are excellent memoirs. This is her first venture into ficti...more
The other two books of hers I have read are Wasted and Madness. Both are excellent memoirs. This is her first venture into ficti...more
This is a story about how one family copes with death and grief within the family. Told from the mother, the daughter, and the sons' point of view.
I thought it was a little boring at times...
Quote:
"When you're six, you don't know about what happens at the end. Because the world revolves around you when you're six, you assume the end must be catastrophic, because it would be catastrophic to you. The end would be dramatic and loud.
But what really happens at the end is that you sit down and have...more
I thought it was a little boring at times...
Quote:
"When you're six, you don't know about what happens at the end. Because the world revolves around you when you're six, you assume the end must be catastrophic, because it would be catastrophic to you. The end would be dramatic and loud.
But what really happens at the end is that you sit down and have...more
This is not the book to read if you’re looking for a happy story. Which isn’t to say that it doesn’t end well, but it’s not going to leave you feeling uplifted and light.
Set in small town Minnesota, this is the story of a family. A mother who never quite wanted to be, a father who can’t quite get it right, and isn’t happy enough with what he has, a son who gets lost inside himself, and a daughter just trying to keep up. The story is told from ever side, each looking a little different.
Claire spe...more
Set in small town Minnesota, this is the story of a family. A mother who never quite wanted to be, a father who can’t quite get it right, and isn’t happy enough with what he has, a son who gets lost inside himself, and a daughter just trying to keep up. The story is told from ever side, each looking a little different.
Claire spe...more
This book is pitch-perfect and utterly charming. The novel is narrated in the voices of the children and wife of a suicide, which would seem like a dismal subject. But Marya Hornbacher is a master story-teller, who has great insight into family dynamics and who is more interested in the internal lives of her characters and the redemptive power of love than she is in judgement. She finds the the good, the beautiful, the loving, and the comic in every scene, no matter how dire the circumstances. I...more
Since the only other work Marya Hornbacher has put out has been along the memoir vein, I was very curious as to what her novel would be like. I was not disappointed. Though I was skeptical at first about the tsory having multiple narrators, my skepticism quickly faded. The characters are finely sculpted in terms of both personality and development. The setting is cast and retained remarkably well. Everything about this novel and how it unfolds is believable and brilliant.
I sincerely envy Hornba...more
I sincerely envy Hornba...more
I picked this book up on a whim because I had read Wasted and enjoyed it; I'm glad I did. I always like books that have multiple narrators; I like being able to get different perspectives on the same story. The parts told through the eyes of the children, particularly 12-year-old Esau suffering from bi-polar, are the best. This is a fairly quick read but it definitely packs a bunch. Hornbacher does a great job of painting a picture of what small-town life in Minnesota is like.
If you liked Hornb...more
If you liked Hornb...more
As a Hornbacher fan, I read The 'Centre of Winter' because I loved Hornbacher's memoirs 'Wasted' and 'Madness'. The novel shows Hornbacher's continued brilliance in describing events and characters so you feel as though you are there. The pace of the novel is much slower than that of the memoirs and includes a lot of dialogue. Characters in her own life seem to emerge as fictional characters in the novel. I wonder whether the two children Kate and Esau represent the two sides of Hornbacher as a...more
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Oh, this is hard. First of all, I went into this book biased by Wasted. When someone's autobiography is that uncomfortable, and I come out the end kind of not liking her a whole lot, but just maybe, still a bit fascinated, that's a tough place to be in when reading a debut novel. I'm deeply ambivalent about Marya Hornbacher, and I'm equally deeply ambivalent about The Center of Winter.
I'm a total sucker for precocious kids in tough situations. And I did love the children, the ultra-precocious si...more
I'm a total sucker for precocious kids in tough situations. And I did love the children, the ultra-precocious si...more
I thought this book was just okay. It started off faster and then just got slower and slower for me from then on. I felt like there wasn't any giant climax. Sure the Dad comitted suicide but we knew that from reading the back of the book. I also thought it was strange how Kate seemed to go from speaking from a child's perspective to an adults within a chapter. Kate and Davey seemed much more mature than 6 year olds as well. They didn't seem young enough or something. On a postivie note, I the wr...more
Damn. This is such a well written novel and engaging story. It centers around a father's suicide-but thorugh her writing talent, Hornbacher makes the novel incredibly wonderful and not at all depressing. The story is told from 3 different viewpoints--the spunky 6-year-old daughter's, the mentally ill 12-year-old son's, and the widow's. The construction of the narratives moves the story along and makes you feel like you are a part of their family. It's the best novel I've read in a REALLY long ti...more
It took me a long time to get into this book (about halfway through!) but I quite enjoyed it when I did. I think the way it is written, narrated by the three main characters is good, but the first three chapters were long - about 60 pages each. I would have liked it to move quicker than this. This is more of an emotional book; nothing much really happens other than the 'main event'. Finished, but wouldn't read again.
I read a little over 30 pages of this book and could not continue despite my best efforts. The protagonist was a child and the author was unable to write in the authentic voice of a child. I found the dialogue between the six year-old protagonist and her twelve-year old brother completely phony. There was not enough other depth to the narrative to sustain my interest and I realized my mind had wandered too many times.
I have NO idea why it took me so long to read this book! It's gooooood. I suspect that it is one of those books that people either like or just flat out don't like as it seems as though all the books I feel this way about are in that polarizing catagory. I LOVED the characters! All of them had such personality and they all seemed to fit together well. There were just enough characters (not too many and not too few) that you got a sense of a community in the book - where you felt like you were in...more
I appreciated the depth of the characters in this book. The story is told from three different perspectives throughout (divided into chapters by name) and you really get to know each as an individual and how they perceived many of the same events. 3 stars is kind of an arbitrary rating. It's a good book. A great way to think and learn about mental illness through fiction.
Before I read this book, I saw a review stating that this book was a huge disappointment when compared to Hornbacher's first book, Wasted. The reviewer went so far as to say that she couldn't even get through this book. So based on that, my expectations weren't too high. And maybe because of that, I enjoyed this book and thought it was a quick read. But I do have to warn anyone reading this book that it's pretty heavy at times - it's about how the remaining members of a family deal with the fath...more
Nov 03, 2010
Jessica
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
everyone, mental illness, suicide, family, hope, enduring love, patience
Recommended to Jessica by:
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For a book that is one of my favorites, I feel the simplest review will do it the most justice. It is a beautiful book with perfect balance. To me, a work of art. From the characters, to the topics and how she handles them, Marya Hornbacher gives you the perfect vantage point... not too much, but just enough. It feels so real. An exceptional book about family, love, death, grief, change, hope, and understanding.
Not too sure what to think of this book.
A good read as far as it goes but nothing spectacular; having read 'Wasted' first perhaps I expected a bit more so was partially biased.
All in all I didn't mind it too much!
I managed to get to the end so I shan't complain too much.
A good read as far as it goes but nothing spectacular; having read 'Wasted' first perhaps I expected a bit more so was partially biased.
All in all I didn't mind it too much!
I managed to get to the end so I shan't complain too much.
I was most impressed by the author's ability to make me really know these characters on a very in depth level. Wonderful character development, moved me to tears on a few occasions, and explored mental illness in a very honest manner. I really enjoyed reading this!
I liked the book a lot. It was good in the emotional pull it had alone but more so as it develops the story of those around the suicidal and branches out into other issues as well. It was enjoyable (as I usually find) to read from different perspectives, it really ties the characters together and clearly defines them as individuals.
The Center of Winter is about grief, loss, and the year in which a woman becomes a widow, and her two children become fatherless. From all three perspectives, the suicide of a man and the aftermath are observed; his wife who was preparing to leave him because he had become the ghost of the man she had married; his son who was recently committed to a mental institution, and his daughter who was present in the house at the moment that changed their lives. Endearing and eloquently told, this story...more
An emotional story and not something I would recommend if you're looking for an uplifting book! I really enjoyed the characters and I thought the writer did an excellent job of really letting you get to know them. Definitely an excellent read, just keep in mind that it is a very serious storyline.
Excellent breakdown of a dysfunctional family. Heartbreaking in Hornbacher's portrayal of pain but jubilant in her portrayal of love. She brought the act of living as a family into full light.
This is another disturbing book - I would have rated it three and a half stars - just not quite four. Well written - characters deal with mental illness and suicide -- not exactly happy material.
Marya's first fictional story -- again, very well-written and honest. For me, not quite as powerful as her biographical work, but still very good. Definitely worth checking out.
Gorgeous prose by a person I've been blessed to have grazed my existence in person.
My admiration for the Author is a challenge to convey via script.
My admiration for the Author is a challenge to convey via script.
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11284564
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11284564
very compelling right from the beginning, but I'm not sure that I can explain why. It was a just a good read on the dynamics of families.
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Marya Hornbacher published her first book, Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia (HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.), in 1998, when she was twenty-three. What started as a crazy idea suggested by a writer friend became the classic book that has been published in fourteen languages, is taught in universities and writing programs all over the world, and has, according to the thousands of letters Mar...more
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“We were at another funeral party. I wasn’t sure who had died this time, but it was a suicide, and upsetting because it was completely out of season. No on killed themselves in summertime. It was rude.”
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