From the Bookshelf of Constant Reader…

The Dutch House

Ann Patchett

Start date: February 15, 2020

Finish date: March 1, 2020

Discussion: Reading List

Discussion leader: Gina Whitlock

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Reading List

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What Members Thought

Jan 14, 2020 Jane rated it it was amazing

Shelves: womans-story, fairytale, family-story, geographical, coming-of-age-novel, marriage, grief, friendship

I was not at all impressed as I read the first third. The characters seemed cold, the house (the setting seemed cold). I ached for the children. And. I was determined to continue because so many people I know loved it and it's the next book for one of the book clubs I belong to. I ended up enthralled. I love Ann Patchett's wizardry. It's unlike anything of hers I've read. And the issues of cruelty and forgiveness are so woven into my own life that I was humbled by how Patchett handled them. I li I was not at all impressed as I read the first third. The characters seemed cold, the house (the setting seemed cold). I ached for the children. And. I was determined to continue because so many people I know loved it and it's the next book for one of the book clubs I belong to. I ended up enthralled. I love Ann Patchett's wizardry. It's unlike anything of hers I've read. And the issues of cruelty and forgiveness are so woven into my own life that I was humbled by how Patchett handled them. I live right up the road from Elkins Park, in Wyncote, which is also next to Jenkintown, where I taught for 37 years. The geographical setting fascinated me. It's my home. But I haven't seen any houses quite like this one, although many of the houses in this area are fancy, far more than our home. I'm curious about how she settled on this place and what home she imagined there. The people are so clueless as they marry and choose careers. That's actually not the thing that struck me most...it was how so few people told the ones they married or the people in their families what they wanted...in a house, in a relationship. Andrea is the clear villain. And yet some might say that Danny and Maeve's mother is the villain for leaving them to go to India. If you are confused yet still fascinated, read this book. I wasn't sure, but I ended up realizing how much it enchanted me, and taught me...about my own flaws, about families and families' flaws and how much kindness can survive in spite of the way we hurt each other.

Later I found out that the impetus was that Patchett wanted to explore the "evil stepmother" through the eyes of her step-children. So we experience Andrea through Maeve and Danny's experience of her. Also, there were her thoughts about wealth, about how, often, it can cause a life to turn in on itself in a really horrible way, controlling the person's psyche and therefore their life. What if someone decided to walk away from wealth, to ground one's life in simplicity and kindness...Of course, that leaves your children stranded. The setting was chosen, because Elkins Park, a long walk from my neighborhood of Wyncote...the same old mansions from the early twentieth century...was a place she visited often. Her college room mate's family lived there...not in quite so fancy a house, but similar. The landmarks are all familiar to me...I live three blocks from the Jenkintown train station, and Jenkintown is where I taught. So I can picture where Maeve lived.

The house is definitely an important character in the book. My childhood home in Mt. Airy, a Philadelphia neighborhood, is certainly a character in my life. For a while all eight of us kids lived in this house with our parents...until my brother went off to college. So many memories. Our house was always filled with our friends, my parents' friends. The house is haunted by the mother's absence and then contagious with the step mother's power. It's very different from most books I read. I think the setting drew me in so thoroughly...also, it was a book group choice ...more

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Mar 25, 2021 Laurel Bradshaw rated it really liked it

Shelves: 20th-century, pulitzer-prize, daytimers-book-club, audiobook, family-saga, pennsylvania, color-rating-red

I'm giving this 4 red stars purely on the strength of Tom Hanks' acquiescent and dispassionate reading of the hapless Danny Conroy telling the story of his life. At no point whatsoever does Danny exert any attempt to influence the direction of his life, letting his sister choose his career and even his wife. The story told is highly improbable, but also rather mesmerizing. It is almost a modern retelling of Hansel and Gretel - two children turned out by the wicked stepmother. The Gingerbread Hou I'm giving this 4 red stars purely on the strength of Tom Hanks' acquiescent and dispassionate reading of the hapless Danny Conroy telling the story of his life. At no point whatsoever does Danny exert any attempt to influence the direction of his life, letting his sister choose his career and even his wife. The story told is highly improbable, but also rather mesmerizing. It is almost a modern retelling of Hansel and Gretel - two children turned out by the wicked stepmother. The Gingerbread House is both the home they can't return to, and the source of temptation that will end up consuming them. Maybe this book is awful, and maybe it is brilliant. I can't decide.

Description: At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another. It is this unshakable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures. Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they’re together. Throughout their lives, they return to the well-worn story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally tested. ...more

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Nov 06, 2019 Debra rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobooks

I enjoy her writing, but not so much her storytelling.

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Dec 24, 2020 Carra rated it it was ok

A book narrated by Tom Hanks?! Don’t mind if I do!!

I don’t know how I feel about this one - I think the main thing I liked was that Tom Hanks was reading it. I think if I had read it myself, I would be highly irritated. Pretty flat story line and honestly, doesn’t end well.

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