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The Schedule for July through Dec. 2025
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Bailey's Fiction Prize for Women
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The Schedule -- July through December 2015
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What Members Thought
I decided to finish this after it got selected for the Man Booker Prize shortlist; I had started it and felt ambivalent after 50 pages.
In the end I liked but didn't LOVE the book. Tyler makes some decisions that I understand are probably intentional but took away from my enjoyment of the reading process - I didn't feel like I understood why the characters were acting the way they did until maybe page 150. I never fully understood Danny. She moves backwards in time after spending 2/3 of the book ...more
In the end I liked but didn't LOVE the book. Tyler makes some decisions that I understand are probably intentional but took away from my enjoyment of the reading process - I didn't feel like I understood why the characters were acting the way they did until maybe page 150. I never fully understood Danny. She moves backwards in time after spending 2/3 of the book ...more
Anne Tyler understands human nature on a cellular level. She understands that any family’s stories are worth telling and that there is no such thing as an ordinary family. A Spool of Blue Thread immerses us into the life of the Whitshank family, Abby and Red and their four children. They are in their early 70s and live in a house built by Red’s father, lovingly. The house is a major character. J.R. Whitshank, called Junior, built the house for his client, but he was really building it for himsel
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I was disappointed in this book. I just felt like I wanted more. And I realize the story revolves around the home and the family that occupied it, but the focus is on one family for two-thirds of the book with a slapdash of the parents towards the end. And the ending left me wanting. I don't know. I normally love Anne Tyler's books. I don't know what else to say except it was disappointing.
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Very much enjoyed this novel. I felt that reading through the sequence of the four generations was much like walking through the rooms of a house. It is this feeling of walking through the house and stopping into rooms to talk with whoever is there; Merrick entertaining on the porch or Linnie Mae in the kitchen. We get to know Stem and Denny better than their sisters, Amanda and Jeannie, as the brothers move back into the house.
Some of the personalities stand out more, Junior being one of them. ...more
Some of the personalities stand out more, Junior being one of them. ...more
I loved it. The story of the family wound back and forwards in a beautiful way- revealing more about each character. Thoroughly enjoyed the construction of the story as well as the story itself.
Great dialogues. Strong scenes. Sharp focus.
It could have been titled “Swedish Blue Swing”. Glad it wasn’t.
It could have been titled “Swedish Blue Swing”. Glad it wasn’t.
Still the master of revealing layers of characters. But overall a 3.5.
One of those books that seemed to be unfolding well but never made a point.
Dec 15, 2014
Lisa
marked it as to-read
Mar 04, 2015
Robert
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Mar 06, 2015
Natalya
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Apr 19, 2015
Rose
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Aug 02, 2015
Jade17
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Aug 08, 2015
Leslie
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May 27, 2016
Debbie
marked it as to-read
