Monsters of Templeton (Paperback) by Lauren Groff - Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists

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The Next Best Boo...: * What are you reading?	19696	19946	1 hour, 10 min ago

Feb 14, 2008

Chuckell added it (review of isbn 1401322255)

Read in February, 2008

Does this ever happen to you? When I read something, I generally hear the words pretty much spoken inside my head as I read them. Mostly . . . though sometimes, when I'm reading a truly great book, I start to feel that what I'm hearing inside my skull is more akin to music, almost, like some sort of lovely concerto version of the words on the page.

But then, sometimes, with not-so-great books, what I start to hear after I've been reading for a while is more of an irksome whine or a g...more Does this ever happen to you? When I read something, I generally hear the words pretty much spoken inside my head as I read them. Mostly . . . though sometimes, when I'm reading a truly great book, I start to feel that what I'm hearing inside my skull is more akin to music, almost, like some sort of lovely concerto version of the words on the page.

But then, sometimes, with not-so-great books, what I start to hear after I've been reading for a while is more of an irksome whine or a grating rumble, like the sound of a car being driven on a flat tire. And reading The Monsters of Templeton, I found my head filled with an ongoing screech, loudly interrupted by repeated painful jarring clanks as, every couple of pages, my eye was dragged across yet another brutally inapt metaphor or wince-inducing misuse of the poor English language.

This book has all the usual hallmarks of bad pretentious fiction--characters that the reader is told repeatedly are wickedly funny, though we're never so blessed as to hear one of them say anything witty. Modern-day characters with names like Primus Dwyer, Aristabulus Mudge, Zeke Felcher. Yes, Felcher. Oh, and Reverend John Melkovitch. Yes, John Melkovitch. Overlarded sentences. Obscure and utterly unpersuasive similes. Misused words. Patent absurdities given as plot points.

"She patted my hand, leaving cheese flakes on my fingers." Cheese . . . flakes?

". . . the streets, as familiar to us as the whorls in our own fingertips." I don't believe I have the slightest f. clue what my fingerprints look like. Do you?

Clarissa, who "could quote Nietszsche . . . was the most puntastic person I'd ever met," comes down with lupus, and they discuss "famous people who'd had it: Flannery O'Connor (A good disease is not hard to find, Clarissa had punned then. . . ." WHAT? That is not a pun.

"I looked into the mirror and saw that the pen I was chewing had exploded over my face, even dripping under my chin and onto my neck, and my teeth and tongue were stained, and that I, in my ignorance, had smeared black ink all over my cheeks and forehead." WHAT?!? Come on. Really. Could that happen?

The author seems not to know that there is kind of a big difference between a cross and a crucifix, and that the two words really can't be used interchangeably when the person wearing the cross is a protestant. She thinks that someone "dressed in a pink Polo shirt underneath a yellow sweater" would look "as yuppie as a person who was not a yuppie but wanted to look like a yuppie could look." Yuppie? Maybe it's been so long since anyone's heard that word that we've forgotten that yuppie and preppie are not the same thing? She thinks it's possible to punch someone and "split one of his teeth in two." Split? She thinks storms have epicenters. She thinks that "I called Clarissa for hours" is the same as "I talked on the phone with Clarissa for hours." She thinks the phrase "He began to write and write, with a promiscuity that's surprising. . . ." is somehow sensible. Her narrator repeatedly--repetitively, even--tells us what a tough smart cookie she is, yet she somehow never manages to question her mother's assertion that she was born after ten and a half months in the womb.

Oh, sheesh, I could go on and on. But I'll cut myself short and give out this advice: Don't read it. (less)

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Jan 30, 2010

karen rated it:

(review of isbn 0434017841)

bookshelves: littry-fiction, sshh-family-secrets, table

yay!! my suspicions have been confirmed - i am officially not a book snob! i oscillate between thinking i might be a little bit of one, and that any forays i may make into teen fiction or silly bodice rippers that involve byron in some way are just accidents; flaws... on goodreads.com, i feel mostly like the dummy of the bunch, which is a totally comfortable and understandable place for me to be. but then at work, and in my readers advisory class, i feel like the biggest book elitist of all tim...more yay!! my suspicions have been confirmed - i am officially not a book snob! i oscillate between thinking i might be a little bit of one, and that any forays i may make into teen fiction or silly bodice rippers that involve byron in some way are just accidents; flaws... on goodreads.com, i feel mostly like the dummy of the bunch, which is a totally comfortable and understandable place for me to be. but then at work, and in my readers advisory class, i feel like the biggest book elitist of all time. because they are all talking about their romance novelists and their chick-lit and cozy mysteries and COME ON!! these are future librarians!! one of the biggest no-nos in librarian school is to respect the patron and not look down on their reading choices, but it doesn't say anything about not judging your peers. so i do. and i felt like an asshole when they asked what i was reading, and i mumbled "oh the third part in this really complicated norwegian trilogy about television and what makes up the catalog of a life, told without a linear narrative, and no, it's good - it's like proust". blank faces.

but this book i really loved, and i was reading the reviews of it today here on goodreads.com, and so many people hated it for its lack of characterization or weak narrative but i honestly didn't notice anything like that in this. i noticed it big time in under the dome, but i thought this book was really fun, and had something interesting to say, which i did not think w/r/t mr. king. sorry, dude. i am very basic - i want a story told to me. do it whatever way you need to - be as roundabout as kjaerstad or proust, be as straightforward as steinbeck, but tell me a story and make it unique.

and i thought this story was great. it's about a woman unexpectedly pregnant by a man not her own, who returns to her hometown to figure out what to do about it, and then becomes preoccupied with her own family history (i.e. - who's her daddy?). did i mention her town has a lake monster? well, it does. and that is awesome.

i thought, when i was reading it, that it was a wonderful book, particularly a wonderful woman's-book, that covers motherhood, yes, but also the mother-daughter dynamic, sexual complications, nostalgia and rage. all good lady-feelings. dunno, i liked it, but i also like some zombie books - make your choices.

so officially not a snob, but still will never read harry potter...(less)

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Mar 08, 2008

Libby rated it:

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bookshelves: 2008-misses

Read in March, 2008

Oops, I forgot to add this to "Currently Reading" while I was reading it. That is my fatal Goodreads flaw.

Anyway, I breezed through this book in a couple of days; it is a very quick, smooth read, heavy on plotting, which keeps the pages turning. However, I think its self-seriousness undermines its credibility, oddly. In the end, I found the book awfully pretentious. The pretense in question? Pretending to be "serious literature."

The novel revolves aro...more Oops, I forgot to add this to "Currently Reading" while I was reading it. That is my fatal Goodreads flaw.

Anyway, I breezed through this book in a couple of days; it is a very quick, smooth read, heavy on plotting, which keeps the pages turning. However, I think its self-seriousness undermines its credibility, oddly. In the end, I found the book awfully pretentious. The pretense in question? Pretending to be "serious literature."

The novel revolves around grad-student-gone-wild Willie Upton, who has slunk back to her ancestral home, Templeton, disgraced and in shame. Once at home she sets off on a geneaological quest to establish her own paternity. And, oh yeah, on the day she arrives, a giant "monster" surfaces, dead, on the lake of her hometown. Groff models Templeton on Cooperstown, NY, and appropriates many of James Fenimore Cooper's characters for her novel--so all us one-time English majors can geek out to our hearts' delight (first sign of a serious work of fiction, right? Intertextuality!). The novel deals with the big themes: family, history, the "ghosts" of the past, secrets, shame, what it means to be an adult, mortality, loss, etc. Or at least it tries to.

The book is packaged and billed as serious literature, and it's clear that the author sees her work this way, too. The writing is filled with purple adjectives and extreme hyperbole vis a vis the most mundane of emotions and events. The novel wants to explore the meaningfulness of everyday life, and it relies heavily on bloated metaphors (see the title) to convey this. Groff (the author) uses a lot of telescoping, as well--too much, in fact--to underscore the reach of history across time, and it is grating and begins to feel self-conscious. Every other word in this novel seems to be "glory" or "glorious", and every chapter ends on a suitably "haunting" and lyrical note. There are about seven hundred descriptions of Lake Glimmerglass, and these especially indicate the limits of Groff's reach. I feel for the lady; clearly there are only so many ways to describe a lake, right? But here's the thing: when your shit gets repetitive, find a new way or QUIT.

The narrative consists of multiple perspectives and voices, almost all of which I found totally unconvincing. (The Running Buds? C'mon.) At novel's end, when the resolution to the plot reveals itself to be highly anticlimactic, I looked back on the various narrative elements and couldn't help but feel that much of it was filler. These aren't human beings populating the pages, but very convincing paper dolls. Yawn.

My feeling is that this book offers up a lot of what much contemporary lit. is missing: fun. It has a sexy premise, as well as, as I said, a plot-centric narrative, and because it's written in an (overly) lyrical prose-style, smart people can feel unembarrassed to read it. Apparently, this is the new criterion for a starred Publishers Weekly review.(less)

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Dec 06, 2007

Peggy rated it:

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God, sometimes I love my job! I commute two hours to and from work every day, and given current traffic conditions in the Austin area, you can go ahead and add at least another half hour to my drive home. I'll sometimes stop and grab a burger for dinner, going through the drive-through and then sitting in the parking lot to eat. I always have a book in the car, so this gives me a little uninterrupted reading time while I finish my burger.

Most times, this takes 20-30 minutes. But ever...more

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May 27, 2008

Jamie rated it:

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Read in June, 2008

I won't lie. I'm reluctant to give this book four stars...but, you see, I have to, because I DID get up early to read it and I did stay up until two a.m. on a weeknight. Heck, if I'm being honest, while I did not stay home specifically FOR finishing this book, it made what would have been a pretty crap day enjoyable.
But still, I'm hesitant to recommend it. I have this suspicion most of my friends wouldn't get through it. It was, at different points, many things: novice, tricky to follo...more I won't lie. I'm reluctant to give this book four stars...but, you see, I have to, because I DID get up early to read it and I did stay up until two a.m. on a weeknight. Heck, if I'm being honest, while I did not stay home specifically FOR finishing this book, it made what would have been a pretty crap day enjoyable.
But still, I'm hesitant to recommend it. I have this suspicion most of my friends wouldn't get through it. It was, at different points, many things: novice, tricky to follow, going, plot-wise, in a million directions--Sometiems I had to flip back to remember who the hell was who, and, above all, it was kind of unbelievable...well, truly unbelievable. BUT, I didn't get it to be believable, I got it to be entertaining, and so it was...in the same way those Lifetime movies draw you in. It's not real life--there's an EDGE of real, and in a few years, this lady might really, really be something.
And, don't get me wrong: it's not that she employed the weird tactic of having a real monster in her book. I dug the monster, it was that she employed a lot of little faulty tactics to keep things chuggin': the pictures of family members on each chapter's cover page (which, I would flip back to look at, so it wasn't pointless, BUT, I did think, serveral times "why do I keep looking? These are just flea market photos this chick found at Alameda or something." So, the tactic worked and didn't. Hard to say, huh?
I also feel compelled to mention, I am and nearly always have been, a huge history dork. Like, for instance, history tests weren't so much annoying to study for, but fun, because I like periods, dresses, goings-ons, etc. So it's quite possible this book might just be trash to someone who's not so dorky about the civil war and/or community museums. Because...this was a little like walking through the Elizabeth Roszier gallery (which is, ahem, the local community gallery in my home town in Missouri.)
I also hated that Willie's name was something as unusual as Wilhilmina, and nobody said where here American, exhippie mom had yanked it from. There were also parts that read more like short stories I wrote when i was in middle school (but, I couldn't write a four hundred page novel that makes someone get up early in the morning, and she did, so maybe I ought to shut up).
Oh, boo. I'm such a black and white kind of gal, it's hard for me to say that this book was good and awful, but that's all I can do. It's quite an accomplishement, it is--it was a fun read, interesting, but I would be lying if I said I found the chracters and/or relationships feesible, or that I didn't spend a LOT of time with my brow furrowed thinking, "really? This many characters or THAT name seemed unworthy of some explaination?"
It was quite an well woven story though. It was, it was. I mean, it all checked out like a good episode of Matlock, but...it also was kind of like reading something self-published...a little pedantic, sort of overly ambitious for what I assume to be a first full length novel...A little Crash topics in Calamity Physics--good, but...not with out room for improvement.
**To borrow this authors tactic, I am leaving a side: By comparing to CTiCP I hope it is noted that this book is NOT as good as the latter. Just has some similarities and flights of whimsy.(less)

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Mar 28, 2008

Eileen Tomarchio rated it:

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Read in January, 2008

This book has gotten plenty of glowing reviews, most undeserved. Yes, the history-based chapters are vivid and often riveting--I was especially left wanting more of the epistolary psychological thriller involving friends-turned-enemies Cinammon Averell and Charlotte Franklin Temple. Indeed, it might have been wiser for Groff to write a fully historical novel, as her contemporary characters and the contrived, wouldn't-this-make-a-quirky-independent-movie subplots (a conveniently-placed hysterical...more

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Feb 01, 2008

Maggie rated it:

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Read in March, 2008

Wilhelmina ("Willie") Upton - a promising graduate student at Standford University - has fled back to her small, historic hometown of Templeton, New York "steeped in disgrace." The affair with her married grad school mentor has been found out, and, now pregnant with his illegitimate child, she hopes to find solace in her mother, Vivian ("Vi") Upton - a woman whose footsteps Willie has unwittingly fallen into. Herself a child of the free-loving 1960s, Vi had always t...more Wilhelmina ("Willie") Upton - a promising graduate student at Standford University - has fled back to her small, historic hometown of Templeton, New York "steeped in disgrace." The affair with her married grad school mentor has been found out, and, now pregnant with his illegitimate child, she hopes to find solace in her mother, Vivian ("Vi") Upton - a woman whose footsteps Willie has unwittingly fallen into. Herself a child of the free-loving 1960s, Vi had always told Willie that she is the product of one of the many lovers she took while living in a San Francisco hippie commune, but when Willie returns home Vi thinks it best that she finally tell her daughter the truth about her parentage. In an attempt to take her mind off of her own unraveling life, Vi partially lets Willie in on the long-kept secret of her heritage - that she is not a result of "any one of three random hippies in a San Francisco commune," but rather the illegitimate daughter of some "random Templeton man." Thinking it best that Willie have a task to keep her occupied in her time of emotional duress, Vi refuses to reveal this man's identity, but instead insists that Willie solve the mystery for herself. The novel that follows is made up of the random snatches of genealogical research, generational family rumors and gossip, and historical documents Willie digs up to help piece together the epic story that is her family's history, and - most importantly - to discover the true identify of the father who shared her hometown but whom she never knew.

The "monsters" in The Monsters of Templeton are numerous and varied. The day of Willie's homecoming also happens to be the day when the fabled lake monster of the town's Lake Glimmerglass dies, its fifty-foot fish corpse rising to the surface to finally end the several-hundred-year-long debate over its existence. There is an actual ghost that haunts Willie's bedroom, and who occasionally emerges to help her in her quest. And, of course, there are various human monsters who are unmasked as Willie unravels the thread of her family history to reveal betrayal, murder, rape, countless affairs and loads of intrigue. As a whole, the novel is part mystery, part historical fiction, part magical realism, and only partly successful.

Obviously, when you pick up a book knowing that one of its characters is a giant lake monster, you don't really go into it expecting absolute realism, but even still one of my criticisms of the novel is that some of the twists in the plot are too easily arrived at. For instance, when Willie reaches a dead-end in her search, her mother - *tada!* - suddenly remembers owning a sealed envelop of old letters written by the very same relatives Willie is researching at that particular moment. Or, when she's not sure what path to travel down next - *tada!* - a ghost emerges and tell her. There aren't many moments like these, but when they happened I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

Next, is the language. Time and time again, Groff's sentences felt like they were trying way too hard. I wouldn't call it pretentious exactly, but with characters named Marmaduke, Cinnamon, Primus Dwyer, and Ezekiel Flecher; and with ridiculous sentences like, "He slept, openmouthed like a boy, blissfully naked, his smooth rear exposed trustfully to the sky" she is definitely risking absurdity on more than one occasion.

But despite all of this, I couldn't help but enjoy reading this book. The story - although often unbelievable - was engrossing, and the language - while often grating - was also often beautiful, allowing the terrible spots to be quickly and easily laughed away. It's been a long time since I've felt so conflicted by a story, and that alone is reason enough to make me glad to have read it.(less)

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Mar 25, 2008

Sean rated it:

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Read in April, 2008

I had fairly high hopes for this being a fun, quality read. Nuh-uh. It has more than a slight whiff of 'chick lit fluff' about it unfortunately. While her descriptions have visual flair, the overall tone of this novel is cutesy and contrived. The multiple narrative perspectives seem forced, with several just feeling like tacked-on filler (ex: the running group. hello/why?) The main character is ultimately confronted (gently, of course!) as being the self-absorbed, spoiled brat/snob that she cl...more

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Apr 26, 2008

Trin rated it:

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bookshelves: american-lit, fiction, historicalfiction

Read in April, 2008

Willie Upton returns in disgrace to her hometown of Templeton, New York (a very thinly disguised Cooperstown) and starts trying to unravel a family mystery that, seeing as Willie is a descendant of Marmaduke Temple, the founder of the town, is intimately intertwined with the history of the entire community.

I really thought I was going to like this book. History and mystery and research! Weird, magical realism touches like the discovery of a monster in the lake! Multiple points of vie...more Willie Upton returns in disgrace to her hometown of Templeton, New York (a very thinly disguised Cooperstown) and starts trying to unravel a family mystery that, seeing as Willie is a descendant of Marmaduke Temple, the founder of the town, is intimately intertwined with the history of the entire community.

I really thought I was going to like this book. History and mystery and research! Weird, magical realism touches like the discovery of a monster in the lake! Multiple points of view, including samples of “historical documents”! And yet—I never believed in it: not the community, and not the characters. We’re told Willie is brilliant, and yet she not only goes about her investigation in a frustratingly slow way, she fails at basic math. (Not to mention becomes convinced she’s pregnant and yet NEVER GOES TO A DOCTOR OR TAKES A PREGNANCY TEST.) There are a slew of other ridiculous details the reader is expected to swallow, too: I mean, I will accept a prehistoric sea monster living in upstate New York (Champ is TOTALLY REAL, yo), but I simply cannot believe in a character named Ezekiel Felcher. Yes, FELCHER.

There’s also just something about the narrative that simply…lacks energy. Unlike the similarly-constructed The Rotters’ Club, which practically cracks and sparks off its pages, The Monsters of Templeton just sort of lies there. I felt no zip, no kineticism—no joy. Groff says in the forward that she’s in a sense writing a love letter to her town, but I never really felt that love. I can all-too-easily get caught up in small-town nostalgia—I grew up in one, and the right combination of words or sounds or smells can instantly make me forget all the bad things and remember instead some Ray Bradbury-esque version of the village green, the waterfall over the river, the old mill buildings, the big white church spire. But none of that was here. I got no sense of the layout or the character of the town at all.

Instead, I got Ezekiel Felcher. Yes, FELCHER. Excuse me while I fail to get over that.(less)

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Mar 15, 2008

Eva rated it:

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Read in March, 2008

Maybe it helps to read mediocre books so you truly appreciate a good book when it crosses your path. 1 star=unreadable, 2 stars=sorry to have wasted the time but did actually finish it, 3 stars is a notch above that and hey, that's not bad for a first-time author.

My complaints include: a plot that is driven by an only mildly compelling question, tons of subplots that have nothing to do with the main question and are boring distractions, poorly written fictional historical docum...more

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Feb 06, 2008

Jennifer rated it:

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Read in March, 2008

recommended to Jennifer by: Entertainment Weekly (& Borders)
recommends it for: Anyone who has returned to their hometown

"The day I returned to Templeton steeped in disgrace, the fifty-foot corpse of a monster surfaced in Lake Glimmerglass." A great opening line for an interesting book, a love letter to a town in New York that curiously resembles Cooperstown.

The story begins as Willie (Wilhemina) Upton returns home with her tail between her legs and a fetus in her belly. She is running from a disasterous affair with her graduate school professor and dissertation advisor (one that starts o...more

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Dec 01, 2008

Mary Crabtree rated it:

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Read in January, 2009

Ugh...This was a struggle to get through and I really tried to give Groff a chance. I like family sagas and historical fiction but for me I have to be rewarded with characters (at least one or two) that bond me with the process of keeping track of family trees, scandals and secrets that almost always go with the territory. The "Monsters of Templeton" is definitely not a "Gone with the Wind" or "The Thorn Birds" variety of family saga. You might want to throw in a...more

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Jul 03, 2008

Debra rated it:

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bookshelves: fiction, on-memory, sense-of-place

Read in July, 2008

On the same day that Wilhemina "Willie" Upton ...more On the same day that Wilhemina "Willie" Upton returns to her home town of Templeton after a romantic relationship with one of her college professors ends badly, a dying 50 ft "monster" (long the source of local myths and stories) surfaces on nearby Lake Glimmerglass. Willie soon finds herself digging through layers of her own family's myths and stories after her mother Vi admits that Willie's father is not who she always thought he has been.

On her website, author Lauren Groff reveals that she wrote four full drafts ofThe Monsters of Templeton and her main character, Willie, only showed up in the last one. Maybe that is why this is a book of uneven strength. Told in a chorus of voices which includes a host of Willie's ancestors, the "Running Buds" (an endearing group of middle-aged men who have shared early morning runs through the town together for thirty years), fictional characters from other 19th century novels set in the region, and even the monster itself, this book is an ambitious effort that doesn't always work. Although the chapters often begin with lighthearted genealogical charts that Willie keeps revising as she learns more about her family and the secrets of the town itself, I sometimes found the historical twists and turns hard to follow, and often felt that they were a bit inconsequential as well . But the good news is that I also read much of the story with a great sense of delight. In the end, the parts that didn't work as well as they might have didn't matter much to me because other parts of the story were so much fun. I enjoyed Willie's voice and I I liked that the fictional Templeton was an homage to Groff's real-life home town of Cooperstown, New York. I definitely look forward to reading more by this interesting and original new author. I ended this novel with a smile.(less)

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Jul 01, 2008

Rita rated it:

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bookshelves: didn-t-finish, hated, most-recent

Read in July, 2008

I started this book twice and just couldn't get into it either time. The first time was ON vacation and I figured there was just so much going on in my real life that I couldn't be sucked into the plot of this book.

The second time was right after I finished reading The Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which isn't really fair because anything would pale in comparison to that.

But, while Oscar Wao was a book about tragic characters chained to their ancestral past, which branched...more

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Mar 26, 2008

Jason rated it:

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Read in March, 2008

Lauren Groff whisks us away - quite brilliantly I might add - to Templeton, New York on the heels of a scandalous affair. Wille Upton, the main character, has recently undergone a series of shameful events which ultimately lead to her pilgrimage home. Upon her arrival the reader is swept gracefully into a small, historic town whose attributes and secrets are long and numerous. As the fabric of her family's life unfolds, the true history of her ancestral past is revealed. Through her family's ric...more Lauren Groff whisks us away - quite brilliantly I might add - to Templeton, New York on the heels of a scandalous affair. Wille Upton, the main character, has recently undergone a series of shameful events which ultimately lead to her pilgrimage home. Upon her arrival the reader is swept gracefully into a small, historic town whose attributes and secrets are long and numerous. As the fabric of her family's life unfolds, the true history of her ancestral past is revealed. Through her family's rich history the story shapes itself, each page glimmering of depth and reality. The flowing prose gently places the reader into both a far-away time, and a drama-filled present. Both seamlessly blend to create a novel worthy of publication and merit. Although this is Groff's first novel, you would be hard-pressed to find evidence of it.

The storytelling is not unlike that of Lost, whose script often moves back and forth between past, present, and future. It's nature is mysterious, sometimes dark in tone. As the plot moves forward, the Templeton family's heritage becomes straightened from its askew placement. Someone once said, "the whole point of writing history, is to cover up the truth", such it is with "The Monsters of Templeton". Lying dormant for years on end, secrets waiting in the both the obvious and obscure, only to be pulled from the earth ages later by Wille Upton. She acts as the unifying force throughout the book, employing her skills as a studying archaeologist in her small hometown. Recovery and redemption are two themes equally prevalent throughout. Characters are viewed on a journey of sorts, culminating with the revelations and surprises scattered like leaves in the wind within the novel. A clear, set plot makes this novel one of the best.

Though the summery touts a lake monster, this book is far removed from Science Fiction genre. (The monster is conveyed as the spirit of the town, being itself a part of the cataclysmic event which marks Wille's homecoming. It's death becomes the landmark event, proclaiming the end of an old age, and the beginning of a new.) Reading more like a faux historical document teeming with mystery, intrigue, and love - both lost and found - this novel is sure to shock and awe. Daily life in Templeton is as unexpected as it is interesting. Groff's characters are both vivid and lovable. A gem of a book, a timeless treasure is what this novel is sure to become. Templeton is a town naught to be forgot. It's story will grip you until the last page is read. Indeed, if you read only one book this month, let it be The Monsters of Templeton.(less)

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Mar 25, 2008

Benjamin rated it:

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Read in March, 2008

My first impressions of this book were very mixed. Initially, I enjoyed the narrative, but I found the dialogue very amateur. That is, every time a character spoke, it just sounded somewhat ... I don't know, written? Quickly enough, however, even the narrative seemed relatively ho-hum. It's clear that the writer is trying to sound like a good writer, and sadly the effort is too often apparent, which gives the book a forced feel. Adding to the somewhat immature tone of the book is the main c...more

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Feb 08, 2008

Holbrook rated it:

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Read in February, 2008

A lot of fun if a bit amateurly written. I'm beginning to realize you can hide a lot of novice prose by putting the story in the first person. Is it the author or the character making lame philosophical statements? Blame the character, spare the author. I felt that way about Special Topics In Calamaty Physics too.
Monsters had a nice historical research/uncovering secrets thing going on which I always enjoy (think Possession but not as good, of course).
Anyway, congratulations ...more

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Jan 12, 2009

Ben rated it:

(review of isbn 1401322255)

Read in January, 2009

The idea here is interesting, but it's ambitious--and Groff is not (yet) a very good writer. The text attempts a high literary style, but is also surprisingly crude, as in this passage from early in the novel: "Her shoulders were slumped, and the zipper in the back of her skirt was open, revealing a swatch of red cotton underwear and a muffin-top of flesh above it. From my position in the kitchen door, my mother looked old. If I weren't already holding the pieces together with both squeeze...more

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May 31, 2009

L rated it:

(review of isbn 0434017841)

Read in June, 2009

I had great fun with this book and I'm not really sure why. There is a bit of a mystery here . . . who really did impregnate Willie's mother? . . . but that's not the point.

There is also a real, traditional "sea" monster in the lake, though the role this creature plays in the novel is hard to pinpoint, more symbolic than factual, if you will. There are murder, mayhem, and scum-bags aplenty, as well. What's not to like?

But at heart this is mainstream fiction, a ...more I had great fun with this book and I'm not really sure why. There is a bit of a mystery here . . . who really did impregnate Willie's mother? . . . but that's not the point.

There is also a real, traditional "sea" monster in the lake, though the role this creature plays in the novel is hard to pinpoint, more symbolic than factual, if you will. There are murder, mayhem, and scum-bags aplenty, as well. What's not to like?

But at heart this is mainstream fiction, a story about a mother and daughter, two best friends, family history, and small-town life. I mean, Mom was once a hippie who came home from San Fran, pregnant by heaven only knows whom (at least, officially). She's now a born-again Jesus-freak. Daughter comes home pregnant, knowing exactly by whom (and who's wife she tried to run down with a bush plane), while her best friend is suffering with, maybe dying of, lupus back in San Fran.

Could be totally sappy, right? Or so over the top you want to gag. But no. The book is warm and there is plenty of love. But it it saved by such interactions as:

(Mother to Willie & Willie's reflection): " 'I knew you were in there somewhere.' She gazed at me with tenderlovingkindness. There was the stink of burning martyr in the air."

and this one between Willie and Mom's Jesus-freak boyfriend/pastor: " I just said 'Huh,' for the sake of my tired mother . . . And that's all we could find to say to each other--the Bible-beater, the prodigal harlot daughter--until Vi returned with the platter in her hands."

How could you not like such writing? And that's all without getting into the ancestors! Then there is the lake monster. This is great stuff! The family trees were making me nuts until I realized I didn't have to follow them all that closely; they're a huge part of the point, but then again, they really aren't.

If there are huge points being made here, I don't really know what they are. No matter. This doesn't strike me as an "important" book, but it really is just a wonderful story in a low-key, laid-back sort of way.

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Mar 02, 2009

Lisa rated it:

(review of isbn 0434017841)

Read in March, 2009

I don't know if I'm going to be able to finish this. The dialog hurts.

Update: I finished it. Learn a lesson from me. Do not make seeing how much more a book can possibly irritate you be your motivation for finishing it. It is not healthy.

See any of the other wonderful one and two star reviews of this book to get an idea of the many ways it which it is bad. What I haven't seen anyone mention is the issue with the name calling. I refer here not only to the fact tha...more