The Condition
by Jennifer Haigh
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 598)
Read in July, 2008
I love all Jennifer Haigh's books. This one is a little different from my all-time favorite--Baker's Towers. Less emphasis on class divisions and working class lifeways but still a strong focus on intergenerational strife and the unfolding of a family's history over the decades. In this case it's a wealthy New England family's unmaking that Haigh focuses on spanning the 70s through the 90s. We gain access to all the voices of the McKotches -parents (Frank the geneticist and Paulette who remains ...more
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Read in August, 2008
This book involves a young girl (and her family) who is diagnosed with a condition called Turner’s Syndrome, which prevents her body from ever maturing into or beyond puberty. When I started reading this, I did so with the notion that girl with Turner’s was the center of the book, and that the rest of the story focused on how her family dealt with (or failed to deal with) her condition.
In some ways, I was right. In actuality, though, the book is not really about the condition of Turner...more
In some ways, I was right. In actuality, though, the book is not really about the condition of Turner...more
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Read in August, 2008
At the beginning of this book, we meet a fairly normal-looking family starting their summer vacation at the family house on Cape Cod. At the end of the prologue, we get the inkling that something bad is going to happen to this family, and that very soon the summer house will be sold and the parents divorce.
The story then jumps about 20 years, to a time when the children are adults, and whatever happened after that summer is old news. This is a perfectly good technique if the writer is more i...more
The story then jumps about 20 years, to a time when the children are adults, and whatever happened after that summer is old news. This is a perfectly good technique if the writer is more i...more
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Read in August, 2008
What a great read! This novel was a perfect family drama to get absorbed in. It's the story of the McKotch family, who tend to keep everything bottled up and simultaneously get upset when the others don't understand them. It is written in 3rd person, and each chapter covers the events/thoughts of a different character. The writing was perfect- not too wordy while beautifully conveying exactly how each person felt. Prudish, smothering mother, Paulette and the scientist/workaholic father, Frank ra...more
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Read in July, 2008
This novel is really wonderful in the same way that Pink Floyd is really wonderful... but you know how if you listen to Pink Floyd alone on a cloudy day, you'll spiral into a bone-chillingly real, suicidal depression? All the while consciously maintaining that it's fantastically beautiful music, and knowing somewhere deep down inside from the blackest of your darkness that you'd be completely fine if you'd just listened to Supertramp instead?
That's a powerful phenomenon, and you should resp...more
That's a powerful phenomenon, and you should resp...more
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Read in August, 2008
Since her first novel Mrs. Kimble, I’ve enjoyed Jennifer Haigh’s work. Her third novel, The Condition, is another very fast, interesting and thought provoking read. Told from the perspective of all five members of the McKotch family, it centers around the family relationships once the middle child, Gwen, is diagnosed with Turner’s Syndrome (a condition in which a girl does not go through puberty, her physical body staying trapped in a 13 year old body). Haigh captures the plight of each...more
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Jennifer Haigh is a wonderful, intelligent storyteller. I really enjoyed "Mrs. Kimble" and "Baker Towers," and was no less enthralled with "The Condition." Her characters are beautifully drawn and incredibly human.
The title suggests that the book is about a single "condition," but there are as many "conditions" in the novel as there are characters. Ultimately, I feel the title refers to the "human condition," the need to be needed
The title suggests that the book is about a single "condition," but there are as many "conditions" in the novel as there are characters. Ultimately, I feel the title refers to the "human condition," the need to be needed
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4 comments
Read in July, 2008
I've come to count Jennifer Haigh as an author whose next work I look forward to reading. I enjoyed both MRS. KIMBLE and BAKER TOWERS for the same reason: They both feature a compelling ensemble of characters. Here too, with THE CONDITION, Haigh has shown her strength. However, the book is less about the condition to which the title refers--Turner's Syndrome, afflicting one of the main characters--and more about some really fascinating family dynamics. A good book group choice, for sure. Plenty...more
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Read in August, 2008
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's a fascinating look at a family of flawed, but good people and the effect they have on each other's lives. Particularly powerful is the Mother who is perhaps the most flawed of all. Though well-meaning her issues are so great that the impact on the family is near-devastating. Yet you find yourself not hating her or angry at her, (unlike the mother in August:Osage County) but rather wishing you could sit her down and give her a good talking to and make her und...more
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Read in August, 2008
The "condition" in the title is daughter Gwen's Turner's Syndrome, but the whole novel is really about the condition, individually and collectively, of the entire McKotch family, Paulette (mom), Frank (dad), Billy (the oldest), Scott (the youngest), and, of course, Gwen. I really liked how Haigh lets you see the characters from both their own and other's perspectives...you think you know them, but you don't get the full picture until they begin to tell their stories from their own per...more
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Read in May, 2008
The Condition the title refers to is Turner's syndrome. A condition in which young girls never go through puberty,leaving them women, locked in girls bodies. The story can be summed up by one wonderful paragraph very late in the novel:
"She no longer wonders what is normal,whether she feels correctly. It is impossible to say.Her whole life she's known that her condition is untreatable. Now she understands that it requires no treatment. The difference is vast;you could fit a whole lif...more
"She no longer wonders what is normal,whether she feels correctly. It is impossible to say.Her whole life she's known that her condition is untreatable. Now she understands that it requires no treatment. The difference is vast;you could fit a whole lif...more
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Read in August, 2008
I wanted to love this book because I love Jennifer Haigh. What an amazingly talented author! I watch for her new books and got The Condition right away. I think that, as a whole, the story is very satisfying and I enjoyed the ending. I almost gave up on it, though. There's about 100 pages of backstory, which I suppose is important to getting the end, but I got tired of reading all this authorial explanation. I liked the scenes, which were prominent in the very beginning and at the end, much more...more
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Read in July, 2008
I loved Mrs. Kimble when it came out and had high hopes for The Condition.
This novel held my interest--I looked forward to returning to the McKotch family each night. But I never cared about the characters with the same force I do in my favorite books.
Ms. Haigh does an admirable job in handling the book's multiple points of view. But Frank McKotch, the patriarch, is established as immensely unlikable from the start, which creates a great challenge for both author and readers.
This novel held my interest--I looked forward to returning to the McKotch family each night. But I never cared about the characters with the same force I do in my favorite books.
Ms. Haigh does an admirable job in handling the book's multiple points of view. But Frank McKotch, the patriarch, is established as immensely unlikable from the start, which creates a great challenge for both author and readers.
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Read in July, 2008
A very touching novel, written with graceful and articulate prose. 'The Condition' is not so much about the literal condition (Turners Syndrome), but about a Family and about change and growth; the passing of time and the effects it has on an individual and on a family. Haigh successfully interweaves the characters, all of whom are dynamic and believable. I read this novel in two days -- it was almost impossible to put down. My only criticism is how Haigh neatly wraps up the ending.
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Read in June, 2008
recommended to Elisa by:
publisher
This book was completely character driven, which is good when the characters are as well thought out and developed as these are. The story is about a family who has one child with Turners, a disease the prevents puberty. The Condition centers around what this family does in the days and years following this discovery, made one fateful summer.
These characters felt to real to be 'characters' and this read more like a memoir than fiction...something that I truly enjoyed.
These characters felt to real to be 'characters' and this read more like a memoir than fiction...something that I truly enjoyed.
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Read in July, 2008
This book gets better towards the end, but the truth is I never felt like I cared about any of the characters. Also, not much happens until the end. You feel like you are just reading a whole lot of character development and not much else. All the members of this family have had to deal with the fact that their sister has Turner's syndrome (which means that her physical growth is stunted), but the truth is it never really seems like they should be that affected.
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Read in July, 2008
Gwen learns when she's 12 that she has a genetic condition called Turner's that will prevent her from reachig puberty. This fact along with the family's fragile dysfunctions causes everything to topple. It's amazing what we do to our kids, what we learn about ourselves when we grow up and the secrets this family keeps from each other.
This author is a great Jodi Picoult readalike!!
Condition
This author is a great Jodi Picoult readalike!!
Condition
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Read in August, 2008
recommended to Amy by:
One of my magazines did a review of itrecommends it for: everyone that enjoys a good book
I really enjoyed this book. It's about a girl with Turner's Disease (the condition the title is referring to) and how her family reacts to it, but more than that it is about the condition of everyone in her (highly disfunctional) family. Each chapter takes you deeper into the life of each family member, mom, dad, two brothers and sister. I wish I hadn't finished it so quickly, read it, you'll enjoy it too!
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Read in August, 2008
recommended to Laura by:
NY Times book review
What a beautiful book. I can't say enough good things about it and when I say "I can't," I mean " I don't have time." But I'm thinking lots of really good things about it and words like "moving," "intelligent," "honest to the bone," "brilliantly constructed," "characters you can believe in (with apologies to Barack,) and "I didn't want it to end," all figure in my thoughts.
Read this book.
Read this book.
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2 comments
The relationships and dynamics in this book seem familiar, maddeningly so. The way that these family members talk, but rarely listen, and almost never hear each other was heartbreaking and recognizable as what families do. I loved how the author was able to make each character accessible and at least somewhat sympathetic, while exposing their worst traits and irritating habits.
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