The Wife: A Wrap up

The Wife by Meg Wolitzer was great. I couldn't put it down. There is not normally a ton of suspense to be found in a forty year marriage, but Wolitzer invented some. I couldn't figure out why this woman had been married to her disgusting, arrogant husband for so many years. Why? Why? Why? had she stuck around? He cheated, he was unattractive, unloveable.

So I read and read, using every minute I could spare. I got to the end, late one evening, and was outraged!! Why? Why? Why? How could this happen? Gross. Argh! I am so frustrated and outraged at this character.

Wolitzer gives us a lot to chew on in terms of feminism, love, marriage, self worth, family...phew. Plus, she's funny.

I want y'all to read this book and report back. If I have any local readers, I will happily lend you the book.

An Assignment

I had finished reading everything I had laying around my house that looked interesting, and serendipitously, a package arrived in the mail from my aunt. It contained a slim volume and a note "L- Have you read this? If not please read and tell me what you think- love you Aunt"

I had a mission.

Because I felt that this was a pressing and urgent mission, a few nights later I took the book into the bath with me. It did not follow the same fate as Prep and stayed dry. (sorry again Stimey--it's karmic retribution for your abnormally long vacations)

Aren't you dying to know what book it was????

The Wife by Meg Wolitzer. It is a thin novel, with a big W and inverted W (m) on the cover. (W on top.) Great cover, a fun play on man/woman, also Meg Wolitzer. Great.

I have only read the first fifty pages or so, but I laughed three times in the first few pages. Wolitzer can be heartfelt and honest at the same time as she is cutting and hysterical. I can't wait to finish this book.

Whoops. Its about a woman married to a famous author for forty years who decides to leave him. I have only read the decision to leave, and the beginning of their relationship, so I can't tell you anymore.

Olive Kitteridge

I LOVE Olive Kitteridge! This is one of the best books I have read in a long, long time. Maybe that's why Strout won the Pulitzer. The stories are well drawn and realistic; the characters suffer quietly or publicly but all in a true to life manner. Ms. Strout reveals so much about human nature and how people get through life as best they can. Olive herself is bizarre but fascinating.

I am only maybe three quarters of the way through, but this book was worth every penny of the 8.99 I paid for it at Costco. Run out to the bookstore and buy it right away!

Spending Time with Elizabeth

I've been reading Olive Kitteridge for a few days, and am really enjoying it. I like the structure of the linked short stories because if you put the book down, and can't remember where you were, it doesn't matter because there is no full length plot. You just pick up and read. Convenient.

So, I was skimming the Washington Post online today and saw this article about the author, Elizabeth Strout, with whom I feel I could be best friends. I also learned that the super prize she received was in fact the Pulitzer Prize. I then followed a link to a Jonathan Yardley review of Pride and Prejudice, and then on to a retrospective ode to my own beloved Laurie Colwin.

The point of all this article reading is that I like to read in units, like in high school history-- so I will watch a version of P&P and then re-read the book and then drink some tea. Now I have learned a little about Strout; and I want to go to the library and check out her other works so I can be absorbed into her imagination for a few days. It's like a mini-vacation, you can immerse yourself in someone else's world while conveniently living your own life.

I hope to report back from Stroutland soon.