After a smoky fire at a pharmaceutical factory, the panic-stricken townspeople of Clarence fall under the spell of a strange and powerful drug that...
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Nov 14, 2008
Kelly
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Dec 21, 2008
Jacki
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Eh. I thought that the premise of this book was a good one: a drug company has a fire, thus exposing the members of the community to a chemical that opens up all kinds of memories in their brains.
The follow-through was just poor. I felt like the writing was weak and the story wasn't really 'full' enough. The characters were sort of cliche and there were story lines that didn't need to exist and some that weren't really followed up on.
I feel like this book could have co More...
The follow-through was just poor. I felt like the writing was weak and the story wasn't really 'full' enough. The characters were sort of cliche and there were story lines that didn't need to exist and some that weren't really followed up on.
I feel like this book could have co More...
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Jan 11, 2009
Jaemi
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Clarence, Minnesota is a unique place. A small town, even with its University and Psychopharmaceutical Factory. Lives follow a fairly regular routine---for some it might even be a rut. But an enjoyable one. For most.
Bennie Singer and his daughter Sophie share a Friday ritual: a visit to Davis & Dean, the giant bookstore which sees Clarence as an experiment. Bennie loves to watch Sophie poor through the books, memorizing more facts than he can get his mind around. He's occupied in jus More...
Bennie Singer and his daughter Sophie share a Friday ritual: a visit to Davis & Dean, the giant bookstore which sees Clarence as an experiment. Bennie loves to watch Sophie poor through the books, memorizing more facts than he can get his mind around. He's occupied in jus More...
Dec 06, 2008
Jared
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The town of Clarence lives in the shadow of a psychotropic drug factory. The factory burns down, leading to the release of some potent memory-stimulating drugs. The book deals with a number of people in the nearby town and how they are affected by the inability to shield their memories -- from the World War II veteran who was among the first into Dachau to a widower father and his author mother.
It's interesting how the author weaves together the personal stories and psychological t More...
It's interesting how the author weaves together the personal stories and psychological t More...
Mar 08, 2009
Elizabeth
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Once upon a time in the land of the Minnesota Twins there lived a blogger named Batgirl who created a baseball world populated with mythological players. In her real world Batgirl was known as Anne Ursu and she wrote (and still writes) books – Spilling Clarence, The Disapparition of James, and for children The Chronus Chronicles (The Shadow Thieves, The Siren Song, and coming in the summer of 2009, The Immortal Flame). Ms. Ursu received the 2003 Minnesota New Voice Award and was recognized as
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Jan 08, 2012
Vinathi
rated it:
About 1/3 through the book:
So far it's good. I've been a fan of Ursu for a while, so I guess I'm a little bias about all this (okay, maybe a lot), but so far there's nothing I don't like. Ursu has a cute way of describing things. I like all the characters and how they were written to fit the small town of Clarence. I love Bennie, who is a total Mama's boy and loves Sophie to death. I love Sophie, who sits in the bookstory buried in knowledge. The exposition is taking a while, but it's not More...
So far it's good. I've been a fan of Ursu for a while, so I guess I'm a little bias about all this (okay, maybe a lot), but so far there's nothing I don't like. Ursu has a cute way of describing things. I like all the characters and how they were written to fit the small town of Clarence. I love Bennie, who is a total Mama's boy and loves Sophie to death. I love Sophie, who sits in the bookstory buried in knowledge. The exposition is taking a while, but it's not More...
Sep 10, 2009
Melwyk
rated it:
I picked up this one on a bit of a whim: nice cover, it's about memory, writing seems ok... and I am glad I did! The premise is that the town of Clarence, a quiet, peaceful place that depends on the local college and the local pharmaceutical plant for employment, suffers a chemical spill. The airborne chemical is deletrium, which has the capability of unlocking all the parts of the brain which hold memory. It acts randomly, causing differing reactions;we get to know each of the characters throug
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Aug 14, 2011
John
rated it:
I can’t remember if this is my 3rd or 4th read of this book. I love it. I have insisted that family and friends who are readers read it.
I love the characters.
I love the story.
I love the topic of memory
I love the writing style and all the various lists Ursu frequently includes.
I love the progression and resolution (or lack there of) for each character.
I remember the first time I read it, crying at the scene at the end between Suzanne and Madeline. I More...
I love the characters.
I love the story.
I love the topic of memory
I love the writing style and all the various lists Ursu frequently includes.
I love the progression and resolution (or lack there of) for each character.
I remember the first time I read it, crying at the scene at the end between Suzanne and Madeline. I More...
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Mar 08, 2010
April
rated it: 
My favorite quote from this book is:
"I want you to know that no matter what happens, no matter how helpless you feel, no matter where the tide of life takes you, you always have a choice. You can always take action." - Madline Singer pg. 254
This book is an excellent reflection on the power and affect of memory. Of course, this book is an exaggeration - but there are still lessons to be learned and things to ponder. How much do our memories and pasts effect how w More...
"I want you to know that no matter what happens, no matter how helpless you feel, no matter where the tide of life takes you, you always have a choice. You can always take action." - Madline Singer pg. 254
This book is an excellent reflection on the power and affect of memory. Of course, this book is an exaggeration - but there are still lessons to be learned and things to ponder. How much do our memories and pasts effect how w More...
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Jul 20, 2011
Susan
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The residents of a small college town are exposed to a powerful drug due to an accident at a local factory. The drug unlocks memories- good memories, bad memories and sometimes faulty memories.(Not a spoiler - the book jacket tells you that much.)
The author focuses on the effects this has on a small, inter-related group of people. For a first-time author, Anne Ursu has an amazing ability to reproduce voices. Her characters seem like people you know, or would like to know.
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The author focuses on the effects this has on a small, inter-related group of people. For a first-time author, Anne Ursu has an amazing ability to reproduce voices. Her characters seem like people you know, or would like to know.
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Apr 10, 2009
Cate
rated it:
Interesting use of authorial voice joined to clever and well executed premise. Small Minnesota town is home to a psychopharmacology plant. Due to bad maintenance, a drug-laden vapor is released into the air, and we see various members of the town as they are forced to relive their memories. Kids are the least affected, the elderly the most. Even so, false memories are recovered, some people are traumatized by what they remember, some are afraid to forget again.
Confident writing a More...
Confident writing a More...
Oct 05, 2009
Jen
rated it:
This book was a quick read and fairly fascinating. I loved the parts where it talked about association. Funny because as I was reading it, memories would come up and I'd get distracted. Like when the book mentioned a character remembering the smell of transparencies and suddenly I was thinking about my senior year in high school when my cardiologist was changing up my meds and I was nauseous during math class and puked cactus cooler into the transparency tote tray. Anyway, the subject was fairly
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Mar 08, 2011
Amanda
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I liked this book a lot. The basic premise is that there's a spill at the pharmaceutical factory in Clarence of a drug called deletrium (or something like that) which causes the residents of the town to have access to all their memories. The effects affect people differently--some are happy to have access to memory, some are disturbed, frightened or confused by what's happening to them. The story focuses on Bennie, a professor of psych at the local college who lost his wife a few years ago, and
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Jul 25, 2009
Anna
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In the small town of Clarence a tragedy is about to happen. The town local factory is about to burn down and psychiatric drugs in gas form is about to leak into the air contaminating the town. Yet everyone comes out of this unharmed.
No the tragedy isn't in the lives lost it is in the lives remembered. Suddenly the drugs are suddenly making people remember long lost memories that have been lost in time. The people of Clarence are going through a super nova, breaking into themselves u More...
No the tragedy isn't in the lives lost it is in the lives remembered. Suddenly the drugs are suddenly making people remember long lost memories that have been lost in time. The people of Clarence are going through a super nova, breaking into themselves u More...
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Oct 09, 2007
hadashi
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This is a delightful, magical tale of life as we know it, full of longing and regret and love and laughter. Simple things weave themselves into the complex, and out of it comes sharp, gorgeous insights into human character and one’s own heart. Clarence is an unremarkable town somewhere in the Midwest that has a university, a progressive Kendal-type senior citizens’ home, and a large pharmaceutical factory. One day the factory has an explosion and leaks deletrium into the air, which causes the
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Jan 24, 2011
Jennifer
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Clarence is a small (fictional) town in Minnesota. Clarence's local pharmaceutical factory has a big accident one day, and the accident releases a drug called deletorium into the air. Deletorium makes you remember every memory you hadn't known that you'd forgotten. Every single one. Some people lose their minds even as they are in effect gaining them, and others find surprising comfort from reawakened pain.
I liked this book a lot. Clarence felt real/familiar to me. Ursu thoughtfully More...
I liked this book a lot. Clarence felt real/familiar to me. Ursu thoughtfully More...
Dec 05, 2007
Stephanie
rated it:
I remember exactly when I was reading this book because of what was going on in my mind and the country. That said, it was a wonderful read and memorable all on its own - without personal or profound tie ins.
In some ironic way, the book is about a chemical spill that has the effect of invoking memories in all of the townspeople. It grips some people so massively that they become stuck in the past and unable to function on the day to day.
Sections of the book were so instinctual, lik More...
In some ironic way, the book is about a chemical spill that has the effect of invoking memories in all of the townspeople. It grips some people so massively that they become stuck in the past and unable to function on the day to day.
Sections of the book were so instinctual, lik More...
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Oct 25, 2011
Laura
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With such an interesting premise, I'd hoped for more out of this. Unfortuantely, the author doesn't delve as deep into the concept as I was expecting. She scratches the surface fairly deeply, bringing up some interesting ideas, but that's about it. The characters are pretty one-dimensional and some I just flat out didn't buy, especially the little girl. The writing is uninspired and occasionally the author uses a strange device: she specifically reminds the reader that they are reading a book. S
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Jan 04, 2009
Chris
rated it:
This was a strange book. I thought it sounded interesting and someone had suggested it to me. It turned out not to be much...but it had redeeming qualities. I liked the characters and there were touching parts. It wasn't bad...just not what I think it could have been. I did enjoy reading it.
Aug 08, 2009
Brenda
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A Couple of years ago I read a review for this book. I thought the story sounded really interesting. The pace of the book moved slower then I wanted, but I did stick to it and I finished reading the book. The characters were interesting. I am glad I took the time to read this book.
Feb 23, 2009
I started this book on 02/19/2009. Okay...It's 02/23/2009 and I'm offically giving up on this book. I got to about page 35 and I'm still just waiting for it to make me want to read it but it hasn't so I'm putting it on the Try Again Later list and maybe I will someday...
May 09, 2010
Michelle
rated it:
A superb idea and superbly executed. What would happen if you never forgot any of your memories, from your whole life? Would you be awash in regret, overcome with joy, and would you want to escape them or enjoy them? Stellar all around.
Oct 22, 2007
Julie
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I had very high hopes for this book because I really, really like her Cronus Chronicles, but I have to say that this did not provide me with as much enjoyment. Of course, it's a different kind of book, not being YA or based in Greek myth. When a chemical spill releases a psychotropic drug into the air, all the citizens of tiny Clarence, MN are thrown into confusion as their memories are unlocked. It appears that most of them have some hidden traumas (some truly tragic, others more mundanely u
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Nov 04, 2010
LeAnne
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Strange book that I found at a library sale. Pharmaceutical manufacturing accident causes locals to remember everything that happened to them in their life. Interesting concept, but the middle of the book lost me.
Apr 17, 2009
Katie
rated it:
Interesting ideas and "what if's" throughout the novel, but ultimately too many questions are left unanswered. The most satisfying voices were those of the grandmother, Katherine, and her precocious granddaughter. Perhaps a more focused narrative from either (or both) of their perspectives would have been a better read.
Jul 21, 2009
A cool and distanced story that examines the effects of memory, memories lost, misremembered, regained. There are truths here and humans in pain here, reminding me that we do survive.
Aug 04, 2011
Amy
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Not a great book but good food for thought. The ability to forget really is a blessing.
Jul 05, 2009
Nyssa
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One of my faves. One which inspires me to write more than most other books.
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