Define Books Conducive To Anywhere But Here (Mayan Stevenson #1)
| Original Title: | Anywhere But Here |
| ISBN: | 1843542161 (ISBN13: 9781843542162) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Mayan Stevenson #1 |
Mona Simpson
Paperback | Pages: 416 pages Rating: 3.54 | 2719 Users | 244 Reviews
Representaion As Books Anywhere But Here (Mayan Stevenson #1)
This is a wonderful novel. It is about the relationship between a mother and daughter -Adele and Ann. They journey together to California, to a life Adele is seeking but can never attain. She can never attain what she is seeking partly because she is unable to accept what she has, partly due to not recognizing what it is she is and is seeking, and partly due to her crazy longing for a self and way of life that is not embedded in reality.Adele is crazy, cruel, self-centered , almost sociopathic, yet she has a uniqueness and childlike quality that is almost endearing. ann has her mother's tendencies, but at the same time, the ability to recognize this and want to change herself and escape from her demons while there is still time. The reader views the gradual and almost total disintegration of the last vestiges of Adele's stability.
Adele takes Ann to California so that Ann can become a child star and yet, when Ann actually is able to make it, Adele tries to destroy this possibility. We watch Adele's zany and crazy actions - letting Ann off in the middle of highways, becoming obsessed with her psychiatrist (pretending he's marrying her), her lies, her cheating, and her deceit.
There is a telling paragraph - just a few lines - that let us know how Adele had Ann pose for pornographic photos when she was a young child. However, it's a short paragraph, of no tremendous significance in light of the reality of Adele and Ann's relationship. Taken alone, it might be abhorrent. In context, it's merely sad. Their relationship is cemented. Despite love, hate, anger, and all the other emotions that come into play, the reality is their eternal bond - the arc of continuity even in separation and isolation.
The enduring quality of love and the cement of family and relationships is the zeitgeist of this book. And it is a wonderful book indeed. Simpson can describe the ordinary in a visually poetic and profound way. Her imagery is new and jolts the reader with its visual beauty and power.
Particularize Out Of Books Anywhere But Here (Mayan Stevenson #1)
| Title | : | Anywhere But Here (Mayan Stevenson #1) |
| Author | : | Mona Simpson |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 416 pages |
| Published | : | 2004 by Atlantic Books (first published December 12th 1986) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Young Adult. Coming Of Age. Literature. Novels. Literary Fiction. Contemporary |
Rating Out Of Books Anywhere But Here (Mayan Stevenson #1)
Ratings: 3.54 From 2719 Users | 244 ReviewsArticle Out Of Books Anywhere But Here (Mayan Stevenson #1)
A masterpiece as far as I'm concerned. One of the great mother-daughter relationships I've found in literature. Also a terrific chronicle of not-so-long-ago Los Angeles. It's marvelous and masterful the way we float through time, rarely certain of Ann's age, oddly distanced from many key events by a dispassionate, unreliable narrator who's herself trying to sort through the story of her life. The subtle evolution of Ann's voice over the years is deft and exquisite, the abstracted innocence ofI picked up this book from the library where I work. Simpson's prose is lovely but the book ended up feeling like a slog to get through. There's no real plot, and one of the main characters is so infuriating I just got sick of reading about her doing the same annoying, narcissistic things over and over again. I much preferred the few, short sections from the older women's perspective that evoked the Midwest of the past where small towns were actually thriving and people appreciated the quiet
I recently reread this book and loved it. I think Simpson sets the stage for many of the disenchanted teenage girls who have since become so important in the cultural dialogue (I'm thinking about My So-Called Life and Daria, maybe even Buffy), or at least among Gen-Xers, and the mother Adele is a pitch-perfect description of someone sadly/hilariously on the brink of losing her sanity. I will never not love this book, sorry haters!
Jumps around a lot with out giving context so what is past and what is future seem blurred. But if the idea is just to see into life without the need for a chronological storyline it is a slice of life story. Really a child's persepctive that accepts the world without judging it as good or bad except in how you feel about yourself in the moment.
To start off there may or may not be spoilers in this review. This book was a push and pull between 2 and 3 stars for me. I had hope that this would be a story told from the mothers and the daughters point of view about Ann going up but the reader only hears from Ann and occasionally her Aunt. In the end, it felt like a rambling diary of a young adult remembering her life through grown up eyes. I have enjoyed some alternative non-linear storytelling and do not believe this is why I did not enjoy
F@$!#&* comma splices!! Reading this drove me crazy. I couldn't decide whether to be more annoyed by the sentences, the narrative (lack of) structure, or the celebrated assholery of the characters. Thematically, this book is right up my alley, and I wanted to like it, but it was so poorly executed. Don't even get me started on the wrong Great Lake...
I'm sort of undecided about this one. At first (and actually probably until about halfway through the book) I really liked it. I was ok with the meandering plot because I enjoyed her style of writing and her ability to make you empathize with the characters. I didn't mind reading the same event from different characters' perspectives. However, my enthusiasm dropped off after sticking with it and waiting for something monumental to happen. But I just finished the book, and here I am, still
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