<![CDATA[The Uses of Enchantment: A Novel]]>

false <![CDATA[The Uses of Enchantment: A Novel]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170621016m/64104.jpg 64104 7 In late afternoon on November 7, 1985, sixteen-year-old Mary Veal was abducted after field hockey practice at her all-girls New England prep school. Or was she? A few weeks later an unharmed Mary reappears as suddenly and mysteriously as she disappeared, claiming to have little memory of what happened to her. Her socially ambitious mother, a compelling if frosty woman descended from a Salem witch, is concerned that Mary has somehow been sullied by the experience and sends her to therapy with a psychologist named Dr. Hammer. Mary turns out to be a cagey and difficult patient. Dr. Hammer begins to suspect thatMary concocted her tale of abduction when he discovers its parallels with a seventeenth-century narrative of a girl who was abducted by Indians and who caused her rescuer to be hanged as a witch. Hammer, eager to further his professional reputation, decides to write a book about Mary’s faked abduction, a project her mother sanctions, because she'd rather her daughter be a liar than a rape victim. Fifteen years later, Mary has returned to Boston for her mother's funeral. Her abduction—real or imagined—has tainted many lives, including her own. When Mary finds a suggestive letter sent to her mother, she suspects her mother planned a reconciliation before her death. Thus begins a quest that requires Mary to revisit the people and places in her past. The Uses of Enchantment weaves a spell in which the reader sees how the extraordinary power of a young woman’s sexuality, and the desire to wield it, have a devastating effect on all involved. The riveting cat-and-mouse power games between doctor and patient, and between abductor and abductee, are gradually, dreamily revealed, along with the truth about what actually happened in 1985. Heidi Julavits is in full command of her considerable gifts and has crafted a dazzling narrative sure to garner her further acclaim as one of the best novelists working today. 62247 2001 The Uses of Enchantment: A Novel total:472|5:44|4:123|3:169|2:93|1:43| 472 1448 734 134 3 5 false false Mon Jan 19 06:18:29 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 31 06:21:28 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 5 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 09 13:03:09 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 09 13:03:25 -0700 2007
Okay, I admit it; that the subject of today's review was not scheduled to be read for another three or four books now in my queue list (i.e. the pile of library ...more...]]> 4 3 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Mar 26 13:54:06 -0700 2008 Wed Mar 26 14:02:18 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 26 14:53:24 -0800 2008 Sun Mar 02 09:06:34 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon May 28 06:53:56 -0700 2007 Mon May 28 06:54:32 -0700 2007 more...]]> 0 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Wed May 13 13:14:58 -0700 2009 Wed May 13 13:15:17 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Mar 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 21 07:39:19 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 21 08:12:52 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Feb 05 09:49:53 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 09:49:53 -0800 2009 There is varied critical reaction to Heidi Julavits's third novel, which addresses memory, psychological subversion, hysteria, and mother-daughter relationships, but reviewers liked it better than her previous work, The Effect of Living Backwards (**1/2 Sept/Oct 2003). The novel takes its title from...

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I think, in the end, the entire book i...more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Dec 28 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 01 14:25:42 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 29 21:01:15 -0800 2008
Heidi Julavits demonstrates how one can avoid using quotation marks to indicate dialogue without confusing the reader, a lesson Ali Smith could stand to learn. The Uses of Enchant...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 07 09:54:28 -0800 2009 Thu Apr 02 07:39:19 -0700 2009
The book unfolds in three alternating sections. The thirtyish protagonist, Mary, visits her hometown for her mother's funeral, in the company of her fami...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 19 22:33:05 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 19 22:47:12 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Mar 06 21:29:08 -0800 2008 Thu Mar 06 21:40:17 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Jan 14 19:44:30 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 14 19:51:41 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 07 18:51:50 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 01 09:28:21 -0800 2008
The book has three timelines--the "present day" of 1999, the 1986 post-retur...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Mar 07 19:37:53 -0800 2008 Tue Mar 25 10:18:06 -0700 2008
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ok, maybe it was just my frame of mind, but I decided after listening to 6 of the 9 discs that I just didn't care about the ending and felt the dialogue was...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon May 21 15:26:33 -0700 2007 Mon May 21 15:39:27 -0700 2007
I recently read The Life of Pi and The Uses of Enchantment ended the same way for me. Where I'm still sort ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun May 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 19 11:06:49 -0700 2009 Tue May 12 04:49:18 -0700 2009
Michael Chabon and Elizabeth Stout liked it, so maybe I am missing something. I mean, I liked it well enough but it didn't come together like I kept hoping it would. All the pieces were great in theory: witches, a potenti...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jun 05 07:34:03 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 05 07:34:10 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=64104