Greg’s Comments (group member since Jul 02, 2014)

Greg’s comments from the All About Books group.

Lauren wrote: "Y’all I did not like this book. I thought there were some beautiful moments, an impressive use of language, and a wonderful exploration of mother daughter relationships, as well as explorations of ..."

I definitely get what you mean by the choppiness Lauren, and I did find a lot of the first Nell section boring because I didn't have much interest in her horrible boyfriend (or by her obsession with her horrible boyfriend).

But yes, there were some beautiful moments, particularly in the Carmel section, and I was quite moved by Carmel's difficult relationships with her parents, sibling, and daughter.

I'm not sure what I'll think yet though because I'm only at 40% and still have a long way to go!

******** SPOILERS for the first "Carmel" part ******************

Nidhi, I also found the Carmel POV much better!

I was really moved by the description of the mother's death as well as the dispute and the strained relationship between the daughters that culminates in that petty fight at the mother's former home. Enright handles it without any sentimentality, but I found it still heartbreaking in the details, beautifully done.

One comment about Carmel's father's poetry embedded in the story:

The poems themselves don't seem extraordinary to me as poetry, but perhaps, it's just a matter of my personal taste? The cadence of them doesn't strike me as particularly lyric or beautiful, and sometimes, it feels almost like a satire of bad poetry, such as the poem supposedly translated from an ancient poem with a clunky rhyme at the end. These poems contain so many uninspired lists, such as long lists of names of flowers.

I wonder if this is intentional? Is Enright poking fun at the grandfather and his poetical standing with these poems? Or am I just being overly critical as a poetry-lover and over-thinking this? Or maybe these poems embedded in the book are just in a style or tradition that I'm not meshing with and don't fully understand?

I'm enjoying the "Carmel" part much better than I did the first "Nell" part. I blew through the "Carmel" part today and am back to the second "Nell" part for tomorrow. About 40% done.

I'll add some thoughts on the first "Carmel" part on the spoiler thread when I get a chance.

I do plan to join this one. I enjoyed both My Ántonia and Death Comes for the Archbishop when I read those, but I haven't read O Pioneers! yet.

Nidhi wrote: "Carmel 's POV is better."

Good to hear, I will be dipping into that soon!

Nidhi wrote: "The conversation is confusing, disconnected and seemingly out of context."

Ah, I see Nidhi. It was already doing some of that in the first section.

LauraT wrote: "I'm 1/3 through and finding it difficoult to follow; a bit confusing..."

I'm only at 20%, but it is does follow her stream of consciousness somewhat, where it drifts with her thoughts and timeframes can get a little jumbled. And she throws her surface thoughts, like comparisons to bird sounds, into the text. I wonder if that's what makes it confusing for you Laura? Or maybe I will find out later as I get further?

Nidhi wrote: "Greg, I am also on the same point and can't see any future of this relationship, may be the book is about some other relations, its too early to guess."

Yes, as the next section is from another point of view, I'm hoping it will be a nice change!

Finished the first "Nell" section and at about 20%.

Felim is just the worst. Completely uninteresting and unredeeming at the same time. I can't imagine what Nell sees in this man!

I started yesterday, and I'm halfway through the first Nell section. It's interesting and I'm engaged, but nothing had struck me too strongly yet. Though as I'm less than 10% done, there's a long time for things to change.

Nell's idea of "empathy" vs "translation" in bridging the gaps between people is interesting. I'm not sure if it's true though. I feel like empathy comes first; otherwise there's no motivation to cross the gap at all . . . though in the second step after the motivation is there, I guess some understanding is required.

It's true that feeling without understanding can't do it alone. And understanding does sometimes involve a bit of translation of experience, culturally, personally.

So I suppose I think that it can't be one or the other but must be both. Without empathy there's no urge to understand, and without understanding there's no way to reach across.

I'll definitely be joining this read in July

Jade wrote: "Looking forward to this one."

Are you still planning to join us Jade?

LauraT wrote: "I've started listening to it yesterday... strange. I have to go on a little longer to decide if I like it or not"

I'm starting tomorrow Laura - I hope you ended up liking it!

Nidhi wrote: "Actually Greg, I read that book 5 years ago when I used to be influenced by the plot very much, but as I aged I began to look for other literary devices which authors use and not just story, I hope..."

No worries Nidhi, no one is going to like everything! And there are books which I'm sure are masterfully written that personally do not care for. When I rate books, I know that I'm rating them based on my personal experience of them rather than objective quality. Sometimes I'm sure I must be missing something, but that's ok.

And I think it's great that you are expanding to enjoy different things as you have gotten older. I think I have too!

Lauren wrote: "I’m super excited for this one! It’s been on my tbr for a few months now. I’m picking my copy up from the library today and then I’ll be starting it soon!"

Glad you're joining us Lauren. I'm going to start tomorrow!

Tom wrote: "I have! It mostly is. Where changes happened it was to heighten drama. But nothing extreme."

Sounds good - I'll check it out!

Tom wrote: "I just finished Shogun. An entertaining read."

Glad you enjoyed it Tom!

Have you seen the new TV series based on it? I'm curious if it was faithful.

Nidhi wrote: "I started reading today, language is good.

I have read The Gathering but didn't like it, much to my surprise, I took it granted that prize winners are good reads without exception, I am wiser now,..."

Hope you lile this one better Nidhi, and I hope you enjoy it as you get further Laura!

I plan to start reading later this week.

Erica wrote: "From a commentary about society perspective I don't think it adds much. I thought Middlemarch by George Elliot was much more interesting in that way."

Completely agree with all your comments Erica. Hardy does seem to be thinking of women as silly or in stereotypical old-fashioned ways as weaker and in need of guidance. And I think in this book, his prejudices or obsessions got in his own way and muddled what he was trying to do. I don't see any coherent social commentary in Madding either.

But Tess has a really strong social commentary, or at least it felt that way to me. And Hardy himself receded into the background enough that he didn't get in his own way in Tess.

The character Tess' predicament has much to do with her culture's social assumptions, with class distinctions, and with Victorian ideas about gender. But here in Madding, what happens seems more happenstance or fate or even just weakness of character than anything else.

I agree that Middlemarch is a wonderful book with such sharp social commentary! And I do think if you liked that, you would probably like Tess much better than Madding.

I still want to read Jude the Obscure - as it is another of his late novels, I'm hoping it will be more like Tess.

I'll definitely join this one!