Sign in with FacebookMike (the Paladin)'s Reviews > Practical Magic
Practical Magic
by Alice Hoffman
by Alice Hoffman
I was a little hesitant about the rating to give this book. There are what I would call, good moments. Mostly I don't care for it. There is an odd streak of amorality underlying it (I can just hear someone asking "who's morals are you talking about"). You have the two old ladies referred to as "the aunts" who raise a young girl to be selfish, obstinate, and rebellious (treating these as the best of good desirable traits) and then wondering that tragedy follows. There are shifting personalities in the characters and twisting attitudes about right and wrong.
As always I felt it incumbent on me to mention that some love this book, but I find it terribly flawed and almost went all the way down to 1 star. It is saved by a few odd plot points and it's readability. In my "chauvinistic" way, I'd say this book will be far more popular with women than with men, but I found it readable. The author is known for writing YA books...which gave me some concern for a while.
The book is somewhat like a romantic ghost story, with a sort of mystery tacked on at the end. This was needed to give the romance finality.
I could go into a lot of problems in the book...even the understanding of love it puts forth. It's basically the common view confusing infatuation/desire with actual love. This view partially accounts for the high divorce rate. The type of love that makes a relationship last requires more than the "wow he/she's hot and I want him/her" we find here. The book also drops the "F" bomb now and again for no real apparent reason other than to impress us with the teenage rebellion it signals and possibly the book's daring.
Well, (I'd say "in short" here, but it's too late) I didn't hate the book, but I didn't like it ether. 1.5 stars I suppose, rounded up to 2.
As always I felt it incumbent on me to mention that some love this book, but I find it terribly flawed and almost went all the way down to 1 star. It is saved by a few odd plot points and it's readability. In my "chauvinistic" way, I'd say this book will be far more popular with women than with men, but I found it readable. The author is known for writing YA books...which gave me some concern for a while.
The book is somewhat like a romantic ghost story, with a sort of mystery tacked on at the end. This was needed to give the romance finality.
I could go into a lot of problems in the book...even the understanding of love it puts forth. It's basically the common view confusing infatuation/desire with actual love. This view partially accounts for the high divorce rate. The type of love that makes a relationship last requires more than the "wow he/she's hot and I want him/her" we find here. The book also drops the "F" bomb now and again for no real apparent reason other than to impress us with the teenage rebellion it signals and possibly the book's daring.
Well, (I'd say "in short" here, but it's too late) I didn't hate the book, but I didn't like it ether. 1.5 stars I suppose, rounded up to 2.
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I see you love this book, and I am not saying you shouldn't. My statement on love doesn't have to do with any sexual situations portrayed but with the underlying attitude that love is something that sort of sweeps over you and overpowers you. That is infatuation and it is a part of a lasting relationship. Most relationships "start" that way. My point here is that the kind of love that lasts and allows things like life long relationships requires a mental and emotional commitment that says, "I will love this person, even when I'm so angry I can't stand it I realize it will pass and we will fall in love again." Now as I said I know you like the book, maybe even love it, and that's great. We all have our favorite books. You first paragraph is an emotional response and misrepresents what I said. I never said that books can't show moral ambiguity or conflict...but they can approach it in different ways.
Look I don't care for the book, find it flawed and would advise that parents be sure their youth readers are mature enough for it.
People can read what I think about it above and what you think in your review and then decide for themselves what they think. To each their own, you like the book, I don't care for it. We will simply have to agree to disagree.
I totally agree with your review I am choking through the last few pages and not liking this book. It started out good and I liked the cute magic tips but then the middle just wanders around and bounces from character and then about 3/4 of the way you finally sort of get back to the main story. This book is full of beautiful descriptions but again agreeing wholeheartedly with you the dropping of the F bomb is so ridiculous it really does mar the book and the way she always has to use it to refer to any sexual interaction even the good ones just ruined it for me and I am not prudish!
Mike- I actually had the same reaction as you about her message regarding love. Glad I'm not the only one who felt that way!
I would have to disagree about the message Hoffman sends about love as well. We are actually taught the exact opposite. Hoffman shows us this in Gillian, who has multiple affairs with men and realizes that these do not constitute love. We also see the destructive forces some types of sex have when she is with the man she eventually [accidentally:] kills. To say sex doesn't fully constitute love is true; but to say it doesn't play any part in relationships that involve love, as it does for the two sisters depicted, is naive and ridiculous.
Also, please don't be mistaken: Hoffman has published many books, and is known for both her adult and young adult fiction-- the former of which she has published much more than young adult literature.