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The Third Child
by
Marge Piercy
Under her mother's constant scrutiny and lost in the shadow of her famous senator father, Melissa is the third child in the politically prominent Dickenson family, where ambition comes first and Melissa often comes last. In college, she meets Blake, a man of mixed race and apparently unknown parentage. His adoptive parents are lawyers whose defense of death-row cases in th...more
Published
(first published December 4th 2007)
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I'm irritated reading this book, but I'll probably finish it. I so loved "Woman on the Edge of Time" when I read it in my early twenties, and now I am nearly always disappointed when I read something else by Piercy. I hesitate to reread "Woman ... " for fear of knocking it of the pedestal I put it on when I was so much younger and more idealistic (naive? same coin / different sides?) ... I don't find the voice of Melissa convinving and the other characters are all either flat or each have some e...more
Feb 11, 2009
Claire S
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Claire by:
Prior Piercy
This was back on the side of 'didn't like' of hers (I'm about half and half). It was uncomfortable the whole time, with the main struggling pretty much about to boil over the whole time.
And also the content about our US govt has bothered me ever since. And I've been thinking about it ever since, which is why I rated it as highly as I did.
The thing in particular is Piercy's content about our Senate, and how close they are to each other, and far removed from their constituencies, and how bad that...more
And also the content about our US govt has bothered me ever since. And I've been thinking about it ever since, which is why I rated it as highly as I did.
The thing in particular is Piercy's content about our Senate, and how close they are to each other, and far removed from their constituencies, and how bad that...more
This book had the worst font! It's the little things that bug me. The book was about the third child, Girl (of course), who is like lost in her little political family. She has two older sibs who are like her mothers pride and joy and then her and her brother who are kind of left out of everything. This book takes place in current times, even though sometimes I got all confused and thought it took place in the 60's or something, but then the mother emails her children, so I knew it was more curr...more
I love Marge Piercy, I am a huge fan. I've loved many of her novels and her poetry. That's why I was surprised to find this book at a library book sale - a Marge Piercy novel I'd never heard of? After reading it, I know why. The main character of the book is incredibly naive, so the plot "twists" that rock her world are pretty obvious to the readers, chapters before they actually happen. It's kind a train wreck. I was quite disappointed.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I wanted to read this book because in the past, I have read some of Marge Piercy's poetry and loved it. However, this book I did not. While it kept my attention, it didn't hook me in. The main character, Melissa, was a girl who was just too plain and naive.
With Melissa being the third child, and her father a senator, no one pays attention to her. Instead, the family is focused on having a good reputation in front of America. When Melissa finally moves away to college, she is able to be her self...more
With Melissa being the third child, and her father a senator, no one pays attention to her. Instead, the family is focused on having a good reputation in front of America. When Melissa finally moves away to college, she is able to be her self...more
I give this book a four because I wanted it to go deeper. However I think the point of the book was to give the reader room to interpret the characters motives on their own, so the writer created that space. I see the value of the technique, but was left wanting more.
Blark. I found certain parts of this story kind of offensive to my sensibilities and other parts just plain not believable. About a spoiled Washington political brat and her struggles to go to college and grow up. Marge, what happened here?
The writing style of this book was pretty terrible in my opinion. This author has ignored the basic 'show don't tell' advice when it comes to fiction writing - at least for this novel. You are spoon-fed everything, often repeatedly. The story was a good idea. The characters had the potential to be great characters. But the whole plot relied on the main character being a total moron and not seeing the obvious truth. I read it all the way through, because I very rarely give up on a book I've start...more
The whole book was like a car crash. It was messy, bloody, and horrible, but I couldn't look away. Supposedly to be like a modern day Romeo and Juliet, I was highly disappointed. Everything was predictable and boring. From the very beginning, Blake's motives were so apparent but Melissa is too much of an idiot to see it. Blake was a character that really got on my nerves. Maybe it's just me, but his excessive use of "babe" irritated me. He said it just over ten times, but I was already pulling m...more
I loved Marge Piercy when I was in high school and college; I'm not sure whether my tastes have changed, or if this book is inferior to her earlier work. In any case, it was so trite and painfully stereotyped that I couldn't finish it. Also, the college scenes seem incredibly dated, even though they're supposed to be set in 2003 or so.
A politically-ambitious family is portrayed in this tale of ambition gone rogue. The author paints a layered picture of families caught up in the often ruthless plot to succeed in politics and the enemies that gather as a consequence. Intriguing and hard to put down and, inevitably, heart-breaking.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Aug 17, 2012
Mackenzie
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
for-children-and-teens
It was a good book. At points it was very predictable. It definitely captures what a teengage girl will do for someone who she loves and thinks loves her back, although in an extreme sense. It brought into perspective not everything is what they seem. I liked and it was quick
Pretty good read. Certainly didn't turn out like I thought it would. Kept me engaged until the end and gave several theories for the motivation of one of the characters. The reader has to draw his or her own conclusions on this one.
Depressing, but filled with excellent characterizations of political families, parenting styles, and the mental states of college freshmen.
I was frequently frustrated by the main character's naiveté and had trouble connecting with any of the others.
It was ok, not too hard to read, but also not something I was loving, yet I couldn't stop reading it because I wanted to see how it turned out.
I read it quickly-I like how she writes but didn't like the ending.
Oct 25, 2007
Rosanne
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
book clubs
My book club choose this book and I have to admit it was a good book for discussion. Their were no reading guide questions we could find; so we were on our own but that didn't present a problem. This read made me anxious. The character, Melissa, was so niave and dense at times I wanted to scream. Perhaps this is what the author wanted to portray, as the story is about a third child in a family that wasn't loved. Take a close look at Mom and Dad too while reading this book. Is everyone in politic...more
Wonderful! Marge Piercy does it again. I keep waiting for her novels to fall into a formula type writing but each one is a unique story! She is so talented!
A very strange book that was painful to read at times because of the main character's almost insistent naivetee. Why so painful? Reminded me of myself at 18, hell, at 20.
Such flat, stereotypical characters, such a totally predictable plot, and yet there was something that kept me reading. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this, but there was something redeemable- probably the way Piercy captures the doggone infuriating idealism of people in their early 20s.
Such flat, stereotypical characters, such a totally predictable plot, and yet there was something that kept me reading. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this, but there was something redeemable- probably the way Piercy captures the doggone infuriating idealism of people in their early 20s.
I was pretty disappointed in this book, the story was a good idea that had real potential and the author is someone who I would have expected to be able to really do it justice. But the problem was the central character was incredibly naive and resistant to reality and just was so frustrating to try and connect with. I almost gave up, but was curious to see if the ending I predicted in the middle of the book came to pass, yup.
I've read a lot by this author and liked all of it -- except this one. The people didn't interest me enough to pursue them past the first few chapters. My book list is too long and life is too short to spend time struggling to read a boring book.
I think that this is easily, totally, 100% my least favorite Marge Piercy novel. The most positive thing I can say about it is that it is the first time I'd ever seen emergency contraception used in a novel, which I liked.
Boring and predictable, yet mildly entertaining to keep me reading the whole thing anyway. It was kind of a waste of time.
Not the usual brilliance I have come to expect from Marge Piercy. Predictable yet unbelievable. Disappointing.
May 03, 2009
Mary
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
sad-bastard-books
Not as good as Gone to Soldiers. But interesting enough to read the whole way through.
Terrible!
yuk-
did not like the characters ... at all!
did not like the characters ... at all!
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Feb 03, 2009 04:45pm
Mar 14, 2009 04:31pm