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Lark Benobi's Reviews > The Women
The Women
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I have a beautiful big paper arc written by a writer whom I've never read before, but I know she is a NYT bestselling author, and that her books are deeply loved.
I open the book.
The first sentence is: The walled and gated MacGrath estate was a world unto itself, protected and private.
And I think: Gosh, isn't this a slightly uninspired way to begin a book, I mean, couldn't she have tried a little harder than to call something "a world unto itself," which was probably a little on the clichéd side even before the first time anyone wrote it down?
Ok, moving on, the next two sentences are: On this twilit evening, the Tudor-style home's mullioned windows glowed jewel-like amid the lush, landscaped grounds. Palm fronds swayed overhead... and okay okay that's enough, because my brain is saying: "On this twilit evening?" "windows glowed?"..."Palm fronds swayed?"
I'm just talking about my own experience, here.
Speaking solely from my own point of view, this writing makes me feel bored and irritable at the same time. It feels so bland. It's as if someone is slapping me with wet cardboard. It's not exactly hurting me but I want to get away from it.
But: Should I care so much about the prose style? Because, maybe it's a good story.
But I do care. I want to read a story that is written with care.
So, most people would keep reading for several more pages at least, even if they felt the same way about these first sentences--I mean, can you really tell anything at all from two or three sentences?--but for me I'm already thinking that, if this is how a book begins--if the beginning is, indeed, the place where a writer must capture my attention--then I'm done.
And this is normally where I would put a book down.
But this time, because I've heard so much about this writer's books, I open a few pages at random, just to see if I can find just one sentence to fall in love with, anywhere, or some phrase, at least, that catches my eye.
And I read:
Frankie felt a heaviness in her heart, a sorrow that she knew would stay with her...
Jamie was there instantly, holding her steady. She reached for his hand, held it, not daring to look at him...
She looked up in surprise...
He shrugged, as unable to find the words as he'd been to process the grief...
He looked at her a long moment...
That's all I have to say about this book, except to add that clearly I am way, way an outlier on why I read, which is at least 90% for the sound of the language, for the jolt of reading a sentence that is both describing something completely familiar to my human experience and at the same time is said in a completely new and revelatory way, and whenever I begin a book that does not do these things, both of them simultaneously, I think of all the books waiting to be read, and I move on.
I open the book.
The first sentence is: The walled and gated MacGrath estate was a world unto itself, protected and private.
And I think: Gosh, isn't this a slightly uninspired way to begin a book, I mean, couldn't she have tried a little harder than to call something "a world unto itself," which was probably a little on the clichéd side even before the first time anyone wrote it down?
Ok, moving on, the next two sentences are: On this twilit evening, the Tudor-style home's mullioned windows glowed jewel-like amid the lush, landscaped grounds. Palm fronds swayed overhead... and okay okay that's enough, because my brain is saying: "On this twilit evening?" "windows glowed?"..."Palm fronds swayed?"
I'm just talking about my own experience, here.
Speaking solely from my own point of view, this writing makes me feel bored and irritable at the same time. It feels so bland. It's as if someone is slapping me with wet cardboard. It's not exactly hurting me but I want to get away from it.
But: Should I care so much about the prose style? Because, maybe it's a good story.
But I do care. I want to read a story that is written with care.
So, most people would keep reading for several more pages at least, even if they felt the same way about these first sentences--I mean, can you really tell anything at all from two or three sentences?--but for me I'm already thinking that, if this is how a book begins--if the beginning is, indeed, the place where a writer must capture my attention--then I'm done.
And this is normally where I would put a book down.
But this time, because I've heard so much about this writer's books, I open a few pages at random, just to see if I can find just one sentence to fall in love with, anywhere, or some phrase, at least, that catches my eye.
And I read:
Frankie felt a heaviness in her heart, a sorrow that she knew would stay with her...
Jamie was there instantly, holding her steady. She reached for his hand, held it, not daring to look at him...
She looked up in surprise...
He shrugged, as unable to find the words as he'd been to process the grief...
He looked at her a long moment...
That's all I have to say about this book, except to add that clearly I am way, way an outlier on why I read, which is at least 90% for the sound of the language, for the jolt of reading a sentence that is both describing something completely familiar to my human experience and at the same time is said in a completely new and revelatory way, and whenever I begin a book that does not do these things, both of them simultaneously, I think of all the books waiting to be read, and I move on.
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Comments Showing 1-50 of 98 (98 new)
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David
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Oct 04, 2023 10:03PM
This has a shockingly high number of reviews for a book that's five months out from publication. I haven't heard of this author but she seems to have quite a following.
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The promotion for this novel is relentless and I think it's probably a good investment for St. Martin's because Hannah's other books have done very well. I got the ARC at a conference where it was being given out to all of what I estimate were ~800-1000 participants. It's a big book with a big budget.
Now I see that I recognize other books she's written (The Four Winds, etc.). Judging from other reviews for this new one, the promotion seems to be on target.
I work at a library where Hannah's books are heavily circulated. I have read only one, and I couldn't be more in agreement with you. Irritable and cross are good words to describe how her writing makes me feel. But we are obviously in the minority.
David wrote: "Now I see that I recognize other books she's written (The Four Winds, etc.). Judging from other reviews for this new one, the promotion seems to be on target."David, given your recent review of Mobility and what bothered you about it I'm fairly certain you'd not appreciate this book as much as others do.
I can tell this one isn't for me. But if it's a bestseller, popular at the library, and gets people reading, that's a good thing.
Kim wrote: "we are obviously in the minority..."Kim, I've come to believe that it's not just a certain reading preference that causes people to have different opinions about books. I think we actually read differently from one another. That the act of reading is different for different people, and that we're reading at different, frequently incompatible registers of diction, and that we're using different parts of our brains as our eyes scan the pages...and that's why we disagree. Maybe reading appreciation is a "blind men and the elephant" kind of thing. This is my explanation for why some of my goodreads friends can swoon over this novel and I get hung up by the third sentence. Our brains are reading different books.
I think I read similarly to you Lark. This kind of writing bores me, because I need to get lost in the language. I also think you're right about people reading differently. Some people need plot and are lost without it, some need a character they can identify with, and some don't want to think too much about what they're reading. There's also a huge contingent of readers who just assume that if it's a bestseller, it has to be good, right?
Jodi I’m not feeling my reaction as a quality judgment in any way. Obviously this language and story speak to a lot of people. I do like to think about it carefully, the why of it, when my opinion veers off from so many of my friends and fellow bibliophiles and I think it does have something to do with how I feel a barrier between me and any given story if it’s written in a language I’ve read before. It’s like that part of my attention has been used up.
I’ve only read one of her books. I’ve avoided her ever since. While I had other complaints about the story, her writing grated on my nerves. I was particularly perturbed to find she explained metaphors, which defeated the purpose of the metaphor. Perhaps that aspect has improved in her newer novels, but I do not feel lured in by the aspects you shared, either. I make plenty of exceptions regarding writing style if I find the story enticing enough, but I also often crave the exact thing you described in your last paragraph.
Cynthia wrote: "I was particularly perturbed to find she explained metaphors, which defeated the purpose of the metaphor. ..."Such an interesting observation! Yes, you need to trust your instincts when you write a metaphor, it needs no propping up.
Cynthia wrote: "I also often crave the exact thing you described in your last paragraph..."
For me it's gotten to be a necessity, in the books I read, that something about the language itself surprises and delights me. Maybe I feel that way because of all the books in my bookcase that I haven't read yet, that I know will give me this feeling exactly! For the last several years I've subscribed to small presses, where such writing lives, and I'm way behind.
Some authors really think they're Daphne du Maurier. Anyway, this is an author I've avoided because she grossly misrepresented historical periods for feefees. Also, there are many of us who will eviscerate a book for being poorly written. Welcome, we have t-shirts and tea.
This is why I love your reviews, my reading preferences are very similar to how you describe your own and I've found your opinions to be a pretty good guide as to whether or not I'll like a book. I felt the same way as this recently when reading Octavia Butler's Kindred - yes the plot was good(ish) but the writing was just unbearably bland. Interestingly my preferences are the exact opposite for films and tv - I find high-brow films a bit tedious but love a fast-paced, plot-driven thriller. Maybe the people who enjoy this kind of book are very discerning about some other kind of craft but just not bothered about writing as an artform?
I know exactly what you mean. I really thrive off of prose that is surprising, that makes me wriggle down further into the hollow of the couch or, conversely, get up and walk around the room. I don't need every sentence to be surprising, of course, but there needs to be something there, beyond plot or characterization or theme.I'm really interested by IC's comment above. I don't like "bestseller" TV either but with art I'm not remotely highbrow. I have friends who are very responsive to art but not to fiction, so I think we all have our little areas we can't compromise on. My mother thinks I'm a dreadful snob about books, and I believe she thinks I do it on purpose, to be pretentious.
Thank you so much for this review Lark! I’m sure most of your friends here are on the same page with you on the reasons to read. There are more books than can be read, we have to chose, and what a mediocre experience without the art of story telling. I won’t lie, I read an occasional mystery with escapist intent but even there the writing should be sharp to be entertaining. I sometimes feel guilty for assuming that very popular books will not be well enough written to be enjoyable reading, but I tend to avoid testing the theory as you have done, so one does wonder if one might be wrong. Glad I can cross these off with a big “nope”!
Jenna wrote: "I read an occasional mystery with escapist intent but even there the writing should be sharp to be entertaining. ..."yes, I read a lot of schlocky stuff so I'm not sure always what keeps me engaged, and what not. Sometimes I go on a Harlequin Romance binge. Well, I"m still thinking a lot about this book and my experience with it. Maybe it was a case that I had different expectations from what I got and it's just that simple.
I relentlessly relate (I know, a lazy expression but I’m not a bestselling author)! Excellent review!
Kaisu wrote: "I relentlessly relate (I know, a lazy expression but I’m not a bestselling author)! Excellent review!"One thing I love about Goodreads is the way we get to see the views of so many careful readers on any given book, people we get to know over the years, and for me at least it gives me a framework where I begin to understand my own preferences (and also, my blind spots).
Sometimes books that others think are literary masterpieces also give me this "what the heck?" feeling so it's not really a quality judgment that I'm talking about at all. Sometimes the prose-brain barrier is impermeable. Sometimes the messages zing right through from the page to my inner soul. I'm still trying to figure it out.
I am one of those who loved the book. Sometimes it’s not the language the author uses but the way she handles the issues. Many times the books I read wind up on my book club list. While language is important, a great deal of discussion revolves around the characters, their flaws and misgivings, the relevant issues and how it affects the characters in the time period of the book.I agree that we each bring our own experiences into a book and that we read things differently but that allows us to talk and learn from other perspectives without judging. That is key. I loved your comments, Lark.
Ricki, thanks for not getting mad at me. I'm thinking it's one of those times when my preformed expectation of what the book should be wasn't met and instead of revising my expectation I stubbornly blamed the book for not meeting it. It could also be that the unadorned style is exactly what allows the humanity of the characters to take center stage. This feels like one I should revisit.
I totally agree with you! I’ll read any book written by Ann Patchett, Barbara Kingsolver, Ann Tyler, Elizabeth Strout, Louise Erdrich, Elizabeth Berg—authors who have a gift for using language to draw me in and leave me feeling totally satiated yet still yearning for more. These writers consistently surprise and delight me with their witty and original descriptions of ideas, actions and events.
I truly appreciate your saying books are read differently by people and I’d also say that at different times in one’s life the book may mean more or less to them. I tend to get so wrapped up in the story that sometimes I don’t pay attention to the way it is told. Liked this honest review from you even though I’ve really enjoyed most of her books, including this one, although it did take me a bit longer to get into.
Would you recommend a novel ? I lived this story. But I would live to read a book with characteristics you are describing... TIA
Lynn wrote: "I tend to get so wrapped up in the story that sometimes I don’t pay attention to the way it is told. ..."This can definitely happen to me! But it tends to happen with something that is truly genre, like Lois McMaster Bujold's space operas or Louise Penny's cozy mysteries. When it's a book that is "general fiction" I tend to demand more from it, somehow.
Tass (lovemyreading) wrote: "Would you recommend a novel ? I lived this story. But I would live to read a book with characteristics you are describing... TIA"I have such a range of reasons I give a book 5 stars here on goodreads but if I were to narrow it down to recommendations of books that
1) I think would appeal to people who love The Women, and yet,
2) also have an element that was missing for me, in The Women, of what I'd call a literary awareness, with care given to the writing itself, and
3) are also what i would call 'feel-good' stories, that end in hope and not despair, and
4) are about relatable people you want to root for, and
5) are a pleasure to read, in that they get the job done without imposing a lot of taxing poetic challenges, or complex literary storytelling techniques...
Here are some recommendations that come to mind:
A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean
The Member Of The Wedding by Carson McCullers
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
The Book of Harlan by Bernice McFadden
Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea
The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
The Past by Tessa Hadley
Plainsong by Kent Haruf
Wow this is a very weird list! Anyway, they all do something that elevated them for me, even though for the most part they tell their stories in straightforward prose, about ordinary people.
Spot on.
Don’t be so hard on yourself!I find that Kristin can be a bit saccharine at times, but for me, she is an easy read. And I did enjoy this novel.
Sally wrote: "Don’t be so hard on yourself!I find that Kristin can be a bit saccharine at times, but for me, she is an easy read. And I did enjoy this novel."
Thanks, Sally. I love sappy movies about teen love or dance competitions but for some reason I can't give myself a break when reading. My value system changes drastically from medium to medium.
What a heartfelt, pensive, honest review. Often I strongly dislike the language in a book (especially if it is cliched and flowery) and am sometimes too grumpy to continue, but I would have been hard pressed to analyze it as perfectly as you did. Sometimes, if the plot grabs me, I can ignore the bad language though (you’re a purist who can’t, and I love that). Your last paragraph is pure gold! Thanks for helping me see what it is that I don’t like!
I've read the Prologue for Nightingale, the most popular of her books, and gave up. I gelt almost nauseous after going through so many saccharine filled cliches about the French countryside. I am totally on your side here.
Oh gawd, like we all live like that here in SoCal ( where btw, it’s currently raining & not a palmy paradise for many of the people who are struggling to get by here; but oh yeah this book is set in the 1960’’when as Neil Diamond it was a place all California Dreeamin’ & “Palm Trees Blow & Rents Are Low” So basically it’s “Gidget Goes To Nam” & Omigawd; The Humanity. Uh, I’ve liked Kristin Hannah’s pervious books but I wouldn’t say she’s a great writer so Dk if I’ll check this one out or not..
P.S. I thought “The Four Winds” was the best-written of Hannah’s books ; that one actually had some great writing in it. ( I apologize for my rambling reply above but I wrote this on my IPhone SE ,which has a v.small screen,instead of my IPad.
Robyn, The Women is the only Kristin Hannah novel I've read.
I have to read this for a book club. But, although I have found Kristin Hannah’s stories to be good (often great) her writing is (to me) like nails on a chalkboard. So bad. Just awful.
Jenifer wrote: "I have to read this for a book club. But, although I have found Kristin Hannah’s stories to be good (often great) her writing is (to me) like nails on a chalkboard. So bad. Just awful."Isn't it strange (it's strange to me, anyway) how some big readers have no problem with phone-it-in writing, if the story is interesting enough? For me if the writing isn't trying to say something precisely in words, then I'd rather watch the movie.
I could maybe get through this if I thought of "Frankie" as my dog since that is my dog's name.
Lark wrote: "Tass (lovemyreading) wrote: "Would you recommend a novel ? I lived this story. But I would live to read a book with characteristics you are describing... TIA"I have such a range of reasons I give..."
What a great response & list! Will be especially useful in my ongoing quest to find books my sister & I can enjoy together :-)
I am 75% through this book and feel the exact same as you. I have loved other books by this author but this one is not working. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Hope you are loving the book you’re reading now! 😊
I completely agree. I do not want to offend the author. As a nurse (34 years OR and PACU) and an avid reader I really wanted to like this book. Sadly I could not finish it.
Try her book The Nightingale. You might enjoy that one.
thanks for this review. i 100% concur about prose being required to do something to delight me in order for me to bring a book into my body. if the writing is great and the plotting is great, i am happy. i can even roll with pretty mediocre plotting if the writing is phenomenal, but even the most brilliant, twisty, surprising plotting will mean nothing if the writing is poor.as a AuDHD reader, i have an abundance of attention, but trouble with memory and keeping characters straight. which is why i love short story collections. i will struggle over my neuro-hurdles for a long read if i am rewarded by the writing and plotting; "Birnam Wood" was a worthy cause. i had little interest in "The Women" before reading your review, and now have none at all. thank you again.
I appreciate this review very much. Similarly to you, I picked up The Nightingale because I’d heard nothing but rave reviews about it, and I couldn’t stomach the clichés, shallowness, and just plain lazy writing—especially grating when it came to describing something as weighty as the horrors of war. WWII was reduced to lots of screaming and bones sticking out of bodies. “Wet cardboard,” indeed.
I agree entirely. The prose alone was enough to make me put it down. My first DNF of the year. Absolutely not.
I’m a bit into it and just can’t with the cliche’d language and simple sentence structure. Seems like something we would’ve picked up at the grocery store years ago. So many book club picks have this issue and some don’t friends seem to mind but for me yes - like fingernails on a chalkboard.
Respectfully, what other word would you choose to describe a plant moving other than swayed?
Becky wrote: "Respectfully, what other word would you choose to describe a plant moving other than swayed?"Becky, you don’t need to respect my opinion! I’m fascinated by how many people have no problem with how this book was written. But to answer your question: exactly. The go-to word would be “swayed” but I expect more from a book than the obvious word because in fact palm fronds don’t sway. Some kinds of palms are so stiff they don’t move much. Others move chaotically in the wind where the branches/fronds are all doing different motions, never in unison like the word ‘sway’ implies. But as I’ve said a few times now so many readers read differently from me and aren’t bothered by this lack of precision.
e wrote: as a AuDHD reader, i have an abundance of attention, but trouble with memory and keeping characters straight. ..."Thanks for sharing this insight. Im autistic and I sometimes think of my reading differences as a ‘disability.’ It does mean that some books that a lot of people enjoy are inaccessible to me. There is so little written about these reading differences in neurodivergent people, beyond dyslexia, which is not something I have.
The fact that people read differently and for different reasons and have different practices of reading and also different points of reference based on what they have and haven't read before... all is so important. Some people even skim (the horror!) I have come to believe, though, finally, that many people *want* the books they read to be written in this way. The want their palm fronds to sway, even though, as you so rightly point out, palm fronds do not, in fact, sway. And so, naturally, it is good that some writers like to write this way. But there's no need for me to read them!
