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My Name Is Lucy Barton (Amgash, #1)

Elizabeth Strout

Start date: July 16, 2017

Finish date: July 19, 2017

Discussion: July 2017: Award Winners

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July 2017: Award Winners

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By Anita · 1 post · 27 views

last updated Jul 01, 2017 03:06AM

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins 4 + stars again.
By Karin · 4 posts · 18 views

last updated Aug 07, 2017 12:41PM

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What Members Thought

Apr 10, 2016 Anita Pomerantz rated it it was amazing

A very quiet novella that is extremely moving.

Honestly, this book spoke to me personally on a lot of levels. Others may relate to it differently though I felt that the way it is written, perhaps the reader fills in the blanks with their own experiences. Or one may relate to certain aspects more than others.

Lucy is ill in a New York City hospital, and her recovery necessitates a rather lengthy stay. Her estranged mother comes to stay with her. Lucy reveals herself through her interactions and dis ...more

17 likes · Like · see review

Apr 24, 2017 Book Concierge rated it it was amazing

Shelves: concierge, strong-women, library, audio, literary-fiction, family, relationships, new-york, writing, illinois

Book on CD performed by Kimberly Farr

Excerpt from the book jacket: Lucy Barton is recovering from what should have been a simple operation. Her mother, to whom she hasn’t spoken for many years, comes to see her. Gentle gossip about people from Lucy’s childhood seems to reconnect them, but just below the surface lie the tension and longing that have informed every aspect ofr Lucy’s life.

My Reaction:
I love character-driven novels such as this one. Strout writes beautifully, with prose that reveals ...more

14 likes · Like · see review

Jan 16, 2016 Nadine in NY Jones rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, wouldnt-normally-read, memoir-and-autobiographical-essays, literary-schmiterary, lotsa-buzz, r2016-in-2016

This book, the text of this book, has a certain self-consciousness to it. It feels like it is busy paying too much attention to itself, and wondering what the reader is thinking of it, is what I'm saying. Which is funny, since it is a book about a self-conscious daughter and a self-conscious mother, both very very fragile and worried about being judged and dismissed by others. And if that's accidental, then that's an ironic thing. But if it is purposeful, then that is a thing of beauty.

The self- ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Feb 10, 2017 Kristel rated it really liked it

Shelves: family, writing, tob, marriage

This is a novella length book by Elizabeth Strout that is on the short list of the Tournament of Books 2017. This is the second book by the author that I've read. I liked Olive Kitteridge quite a bit. This is similar in that it is a lot of inner thoughts of the women. Olive Kitteridge being an older woman and Lucy Barton a middle aged mother and author. The story is short little segments of thoughts that reveal little bits about Lucy and her life but not all. Lucy is recovering in a hospital of ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Nov 22, 2016 Lynn L rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Beautiful. This book is gently written. Relationships-marriage, family, and friends figure throughout.

3 likes · Like · see review

Oct 27, 2017 Charlie Ravioli rated it it was ok

I listened to this one and maybe that’s a contributing factor to my low rating or maybe it was my overall frame of mind or maybe I’m not a sophisticated reader, but this one just didn’t click for me. I hesitate to blame it on me being a male because it makes me sound like a pig (and it further supports a comment my aunt once made looking at my library (albeit over 20 years ago) - “wow, what a bunch of man books”). Anyway, I found some of it interesting but overall I was just like “huh?” It’s a r ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Sep 02, 2015 Robin rated it really liked it

Shelves: yybest-of-2016

Strout is an amazing writer. Fans of her earlier book, OLIVE KITTERIDGE, will love this beautifully written short novel with lots of meat for discussion.

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Dec 31, 2016 Jennifer Pope rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2016, female-authors, audio

This book is different from others I've read. It's not plot driven. There isn't really an overarching story or progression. It's kind of an exploration of one person, Lucy Barton, and how life experiences and her family have shaped her. There are vignettes throughout that go back and forth in time some are about her and some you learn something about her based on her interpretation of the event. These are all very well done and interesting. I enjoyed this kind of haphazard way of a "story" unfol ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Dec 06, 2017 Tamie rated it it was amazing

(bookclub) I loved, loved, loved this book. Weirdly, I loved that the chapters were short and that there was so much white space on many pages. It made it feel like she had said so much more without really saying it. It gave the reader space to process what she had said. Just beautiful. It also made the reading of the book so much easier because one didn't have to make a huge commitment to finish a long chapter. It made the reading go almost too fast (who wants a good book to end?). I loved how ...more

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Feb 27, 2017 Dolly rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: new-england, audiobook, education-school, pets, 2017, other-usa, germany-german, france-french, relationships

Ode to the dysfunctional family by a middle aged mom.

interesting quotes:

"Artists are different people." (p.)

Lowest part of who we are - feeling superior...

...more

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Apr 08, 2023 Hannah Peterson rated it it was amazing

Shelves: aty-2023

I read this for the first time a couple years ago and while I enjoyed it, it took me some time to really "get" what Elizabeth Strout was doing. The end result was that I read it over the course of a week at my parents' house, rated it four stars, and didn't think that much more about it.

This year, I picked up a copy of Olive Kitteridge from my local little free library and read it a couple of months ago. I LOVED it. Then I listened to a podcast where Charlotte Wood, the author of Stone Yard Dev ...more

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Jan 15, 2023 Tea73 rated it liked it

Spare, quiet, understated. All that and more. I understand why Strout wrote this frustrating book this way about the love between a mother and daughter that they can't express except with vague memories, but it's incredibly frustrating. We know that Lucy's childhood was impoverished, that there was abuse, sexual abuse of some sort that everyone shies away from naming. We get a series of blurry snapshots, with only the occasional one in focus.

...more

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