∎ [PDF] Gratis Sisterland A Novel Curtis Sittenfeld 9781400068319 Books

Sisterland A Novel Curtis Sittenfeld 9781400068319 Books

Download As PDF : Sisterland A Novel Curtis Sittenfeld 9781400068319 Books

Sisterland A Novel Curtis Sittenfeld 9781400068319 Books

I loved Prep, I liked American Wife, but I was bored by this one. The book is full of aimless, useless detail. On page 79, for example, the author describes where each of several persons is sitting and how, in excruciating detal. The description was so particular I assumed it had some relevance to the scene. Nope! No relevance to the fact that the father "is sitting in a chair drinking from a clear glass mug", or the fact that Vi "is also drinking beer except out of the bottle and sitting in the recliner with her legs extended" or that the narrator is "standing next to the table" or that the temperature was in the mid-seventies earlier but was now in the high sixties. The book is filled with pointless detail of this nature. In fact pointlessness is the major flaw of the book. There is no point to the fact that the two sisters have psychic powers, or that one of them embraces and the other rejects this "gift." There is no point to the prediction of an earthquake that frames the book. There is no point to the brief celebrity of the one sister. It's the kind of book that makes me wonder why an author would decide to spend time and effort writing it. How did Curtis Sittenfeld manage to keep herself interested in this mundane yawn of a story? The main character is dull, dull, dull, and often unfathomably resistant to making sense. For example, she's convinced a major earthquake is coming, but when her husband suggests they take a plane to another place she says no because it's too difficult to fly with a baby and a toddler. Seriously? She's worried enough to take all the pictures off the wall in her house but won't leave the area because it's difficult to be in a plane with children! So if she was on the Titanic she would turn down a spot on a life raft because her toddler might annoy the other passengers? Two stars because there are a few scenes that were a joy to read -- the pivotal scene with Hank near the end is an example. But I'm done with this author.


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Sisterland A Novel Curtis Sittenfeld 9781400068319 Books Reviews

The plot of this book sounded interesting - twins (Kate and Vi) with "psychic abilities" struggle to reconcile it into their adult lives. Kate totally denies her "gift" while Vi uses it - to the point of national attention - when an earthquake hits near their home. We go through several weeks with the twins as they finally come to a place of dealing with their "gift" and how it has defined/derailed their lives. The "psychic abilities" is not treated in a cheesy way but is written honestly into the women's lives.

Unfortunately, the book is poorly written. Sittenfeld tells her story with little regard for a succinct timeline or really any rhyme or reason. She goes on binges of telling you about the girls' childhood or how the main character and her husband met their best couple friend. But none of it connects, really. She opens the book with a two page intro on a series of earthquakes that hit Louisiana in the 1800, but does nothing to connect it to what happens in the story (even that is told reflectively from Kate's POV so you assume it will come back to be relevant later).

This book could have been amazing if it was told chronologically. Start with the two girls growing up, be in the experiences with them (as opposed to some point in the future which isn't really clear until the last 20 pages). Don't tell us everything, we can assume some things (and if you do your job as a writer we can assume what you want us to without you having to tell us!) Stop with the cheesy, "I had no idea I was walking away from the last moments of my friendship with ---." Retrospective writing sucks because we are a fly looking at things through Kate's memories vs. being in the moment with her. And instead of creating tension (aka cheap ploys to get you to keep reading) Sittenfeld destroys it with Kate's reflections. And where is our landing point? Are we with Kate during the time of the earthquake reflecting on her life? Are we five years after it? And why do I care if the male in the best couple friend was holding a toy trombone the first time Kate saw him and his daughter or that he ordered a vanilla latte when they got coffee after bonding over Kate's not having a diaper for her daughter? I don't! This book could have been 150 pages and been better if Sittenfeld had more confidence in what she was trying to say.

1st person POV is hard. It is hard to write without making it sound like a laundry list of what is going on. But done well it can be amazing because we fully become the character. Fail at it and the last place the reader wants to be is stuck inside Kate's head.

"Then I cut the carrots. I usually did them in small circle cuts but tonight I did them in lines. I don't know why I did this, maybe I was feeling out of sync or just distracted. My mom always berated my cooking, but the best she could do was open a can of soup. It was always chicken noodle. Not the good chicken noodle with thick cuts of veggies but the stuff that barely looks better than sewer water. I dumped the carrots into the stew that already included (insert list of vegetables). I always hated celery. Unfortunately my son didn't so I had to learn to endure them. I tried to get him to eat cauliflower, but he said they looked like flowers..." You get the idea. And this is the ENTIRE book! WHO CARES!!! Get to the point of moving the plot forward. Don't set Kate making dinner if what we care about doesn't come until dessert. Drop us into the scene when Kate is clearing dinner and go from there. It's like watching a bad reality TV show that can't create drama with the mundane routine of Kate's life. And it can't even hook you in the last five minutes because the main character already told you what is happening doesn't matter.

I only finished this book because it was for book club. And while the plot was interesting at points, I could not get over the abhorrent writing, mismatched timelines and basic stupidity that filled the last third of the book. I feel like Sittenfeld didn't really know her characters (they were flat and clichéd) so just threw in every little detail about them without stopping to consider what SHE needed to know to make her characters interesting vs. what WE need to know to move about her story. I do not know what I missed, did the reviews on the back read the same book I did?

A well-intentioned attempt that just falls flat when it comes to execution. There are brief moments of brilliance in the story but Sittenfeld really needed some help with focus, conversation, how to do 1st person POV well and character development. Sorry sweetie, this book just doesn't work.
I thought this was an interesting storyline and I enjoyed Prep so I gave it a try. The characters are all unlikable and pathetic except perhaps the non speaking children. The decisions are repulsive and the whole ESP thing was so so unconvincing and poorly developed I wondered how this got past the publishers desk. The book rambled all over the place with more garbage storylines thrown in for good measure that I lost sleep being annoyed rather than because I wanted to stay up and finish it.
At first I liked the book, but then about half-way through, it became painfully, mind numbingly boring. The tantalizing prediction of the impending earthquake kept me reading, but at times it felt like punishment. The book is about oh so many things, sister relationships, psychic ability, the futile attempts to control someone we love, the attempt to run from one's identity and hide from one's past, and the "earthquakes" that shake the main character's life. Then there is the twist at the very end which makes an already droning pitiful main character even more dislikeable. I know it's fiction, but does it have to be so unbelievable? The media frenzy around one character's prediction was more extreme than what we experienced through Y2k or 12/21/2012. It was ridiculous. Kids get teased in junior high, but the fact that Kate just can't seem to get over it as an adult and carries the fear with her so religiously, makes it impossible for one to believe she could actually end up with such a well balanced husband. Then at the end when he joins her in the decision to deceive everyone about their unborn child's true father is so selfish it's disgusting. So it's not o.k. to have an abortion (giving the baby up for adoption was not discussed) but it's o.k. to lie to your kids and your best friend about the true identity of the child's father? Also, my last gripe - so many jump back in time memories/dialogues that seemed pointless made it hard to get through. The writing was well done in some places, but I would not recommend the book to anyone.
I loved Prep, I liked American Wife, but I was bored by this one. The book is full of aimless, useless detail. On page 79, for example, the author describes where each of several persons is sitting and how, in excruciating detal. The description was so particular I assumed it had some relevance to the scene. Nope! No relevance to the fact that the father "is sitting in a chair drinking from a clear glass mug", or the fact that Vi "is also drinking beer except out of the bottle and sitting in the recliner with her legs extended" or that the narrator is "standing next to the table" or that the temperature was in the mid-seventies earlier but was now in the high sixties. The book is filled with pointless detail of this nature. In fact pointlessness is the major flaw of the book. There is no point to the fact that the two sisters have psychic powers, or that one of them embraces and the other rejects this "gift." There is no point to the prediction of an earthquake that frames the book. There is no point to the brief celebrity of the one sister. It's the kind of book that makes me wonder why an author would decide to spend time and effort writing it. How did Curtis Sittenfeld manage to keep herself interested in this mundane yawn of a story? The main character is dull, dull, dull, and often unfathomably resistant to making sense. For example, she's convinced a major earthquake is coming, but when her husband suggests they take a plane to another place she says no because it's too difficult to fly with a baby and a toddler. Seriously? She's worried enough to take all the pictures off the wall in her house but won't leave the area because it's difficult to be in a plane with children! So if she was on the Titanic she would turn down a spot on a life raft because her toddler might annoy the other passengers? Two stars because there are a few scenes that were a joy to read -- the pivotal scene with Hank near the end is an example. But I'm done with this author.