Most helpful customer reviews
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Well written but ultimately disappointing, Aug 18 2009
[This review is cross-posted on LibraryThing and LivingSocial]
What happens when a Mormon housewife from Utah (who doesnt drink, swear, or watch anything R-rated) meets her number one movie star crush (who does all of these things, and then some)? According to Shannon Hale, they become besties!
I wanted to love this book and I read so many good things about it that I was sure I would. Ultimately, maybe thats why I ended up so disappointed by it. Well, not only that. Also the fact that even after you manage convince yourself that such a friendship would actually form and last as long as it does in this book (though Hale never really explains just WHY these two are so attached to each other. She just keeps insisting that they are.), the main character is incredibly annoying and the story gets repetitive after a while.
As mentioned, Becky is a Mormon housewife and mother of four who doesnt drink, doesnt swear, doesnt watch anything R-rated, and Hale never lets us forget it; she hits us over the head with these facts constantly, to the point where it starts to feel a little preachy. In addition, Hale seems to equate Stay at Home Mom with Overweight and Frumpy, which I found myself taking offense to even though Im not even close to being a SAHM. Its the principle of the thing.
The repetition was also really irritating. Becky was constantly ruminating on how she either A) SHOULD feel a particular way, but doesnt or B) SHOULDNT feel a particular way, but does, mostly when it comes to Felix, the actor. She SHOULD feel weird about the whole thing, but it just feels natural. She SHOULDNT miss him so much when theyre apart, but she cant help it. Lather, rinse, repeat ad nauseum.
I do have to give Hale some credit, she is not a bad writer at all. And thats what gets me about this book: for the most part, its well written, it just annoys the heck out of me. Theres a good chunk of the novel towards the end where something very sad happens and that one part of the book, on its own, is worth a 4 star rating. Hale writes that one part beautifully and its the most sincere, heartfelt, believable, non-obnoxious part of the book. That one part really moved me and actually made me feel for Becky. If the whole book had been that real (not sad, just much more honest), it would have been great. But with all the other stuff in the mix, it was a let down.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
At the risk of insulting some..., May 3 2009
...there's a strong stylistic similarity between this novel and 'The Princess Bride'.
And as a huge William Goldman fan, I don't make that statement frivolously.
More on that tack in a moment.
During this novel I cried, I laughed out loud...even in public. It is one of the most charming, most delightful, most unique (!!!) books I've ever read. The author has a real way with a ton of stuff, enough to make for a wonderful experience. So much so that I blogged about it twice before I'd even finished it.
And yet...
And yet 'The Actor and The Housewife' is hardly perfect. In fact, in the end, I was let down. Disappointed. And I've been trying to figure out just what wasn't quite right about it.
Clearly, Ms Hale has a great sense of humour. And a nice way with repartée. But... But...
But as a great storytelling adventure, the novel fizzles at its conclusion. (Actually, I'm being kind; the last 100 pages falters.)
Plot construction aside, maybe it comes down to this: whereas 'The Princess Bride' (see, I managed to navigate back to here) has a commanding narrator, 'Actor' does not. In fact, there's something off-putting about the way the exposition is presented; it reminds me of bad narration used in movies, in the sense of it being a shortfall in execution, creating an effective barrier between the audience and the story being told. Indeed, there's a consistently wishy-washy patina to the narrative voice that lessens its effectiveness. In fact, the contrast between what Ms Hale does well she gives great dialogue, injects large doses of energy into character exchanges and what she doesn't she's a little hamfisted at times with the 'other stuff' can be a little off-putting. (I have to add that the Mormon aspect got to be a bit too much. Even if there wasn't any preaching, the underlying tone rubbed me the wrong way. Though it's not laid on thick, the value system's presence seemed not that far off what you'd find in a Christ-lit offering. A better novelist could have shown more dexterity here...but then, maybe this was the author's intent, to have the faith's constructs inform the tale's 'message'.)
There's a lot in 'The Actor and the Housewife' to bring on smiles, and it's a good read...but not a great one.
(And I have to say that I'm very curious about the screen adaptation that's sure to result.)
P.S. I'd have given it three and a half stars, were that a choice.
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