The Pull of the Moon [Paperback]

 

 

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I was ready for a fast reading book and this definitely fit the bill. I don't regret reading it, I enjoyed it but can't rate it too highly. As others have said, the main character in this book, Nan, is a bit whiny but it was in sort of a regretful way. I enjoyed some of her insights that I felt epitomize half the regrets women verbalize while I sit quietly, wanting to wring their necks. It bothers me when people whine about their husbands holding them back and not being "supportive". So if that is the type of person you are, this book serves as an inspirational writing. Start doing the things you have always wanted to do or stop whining about it. If you like driving the back roads, then do it now and then so you don't get to a crisis stage in your life. So, this book is primarily about a woman who breaks down in order to take more charge in her life. Let it inspire you!

This book, is an amazing read. I first read it when I was 40 and then some of it was 'me' and some i thought, never!. Now having read it again at age 66, I relate to all of it!! it is a book that could have been written by most women about us and our feelings as we go through different stages of life. now i have it in hard copy and have bought 5 for gifts, s I know it will be sooo appreciated by the recipients. All women should read it, men should also, it would give them a glimpse into how we fell as we age and live longer in our relationships and maybe both would benefit greatly form the experience.

(Apologies up front; my scattershot review will stand in stark contrast to Ms Berg's casual cogency.)

-I'm always more fascinated by the background of a situation than the actual event itself. So; why someone commits the crime rather than the dastardly deed. Or, the Comments section rather than the article the posters are responding to...or the product being discussed. I was not disappointed when I took a look around here, for 'The Pull of the Moon'. Good Lord! There are some incredibly bitchy, dissatisfied, ornery, mean-spirited people out there. (Enough for a novel in itself, especially one dealing with the notion that it's virtually impossible to have a strong reaction evoked within us by someone or something without there being something we're identifying in ourselves (on a subconscious level) that brings on this stridency.)

-Recently, I wrote an essay entitled 'The Laws of Film Attraction'. In a nutshell, it addresses why 'genre' flicks can garner accolades from lovers of that genre that seem to be unwarranted to the casual observer...or conversely, why some reviewers simply shouldn't review some products: they're inordinately biased against particular genres. Though I went into a lot more detail, the essay suggested this: that if you're inclined towards a genre, your review might be as much as 2.5/10 higher than if you weren't. And of course, if you can't stand a genre, then the same might apply...to the negative. The gamut the review scores run here is proof of my theory...especially if you take a look at the comments. Those who loved 'Moon' were already on-board. Those who hated it...weren't. (But you know, the same can be said for just about any element of Life. From entertainment to politics to sports to health...to the kind of transportation you prefer. Sometimes our biases are so profound that it's actually quite silly proffering an opinion at all.)

-Ms Berg's book isn't really a 'novel'. It's a hybrid 'memoir/letters to a spouse' affair. It's a meditation on aging...on identity...on regret...on Love.

-I've offered up 'Moon' to a friend who's endeavouring to become a more adept writer. Not because the book is some shining example of superb literature. It's not. (Because it's not a 'novel', and hardly even a 'story'; beyond what I suggested above, it's a series of snapshots lovingly taken.) What it *is*, is a simply-crafted, unpretentious effort that is marvellously illuminating...dispensing 'wisdom', if you will...while somehow managing to retain its humility as it unfolds. There's a wonderful mix of hard-earned knowledge and stuff she's straining to grasp and stuff she admits is beyond her for the moment...but she holds out hope she'll be able to embrace eventually.

-I'm a male. About the same age as the narrator. My emotional, psychic and social sensibilities run to the 'female' end of the scale; I consistently score more as a 'gal' than I do as a 'guy' in psychological tests. This novel reinforced long-held beliefs about my wiring; I haven't had Nan's experiences, I never will, but almost everything she wrote rang true for me. I laughed when she said something funny, I cried when she related something sad...and I got angry at some of the standard 'life in a patriarchy' references. (Because they're *true*, not because she was off on a tangent and needed to get a clue, the way some of the naysaying-reviewers would have you believe. Idjits.)

-There's an 'incomplete' element to the tale. It's not a perfectly-concluded tale of a perfectly-executed Hollywood road-trip-providing-transformation premise. I have no idea why Ms Berg took this tack. Not that I'm complaining. The Virgo-rising in me might have preferred something with more of a resolution...and yet... And yet there's something apropos about how this not-a-350-page-novel tastes. Yes, there's so much more that could have been explored. Yes, it might have been nice to have seen Nan's husband's side of things. But even as anal-retentive as I can be, I was charmed by the fact that loose ends were not tied up at the conclusion, that this adventure is not thorough, that it's not fashioned as a conventional novel constructed within the same premise might be. That I'm a writer, that this isn't the way I would have written this effort and yet I still came away affected and enriched...speaks volumes.

-People might disagree with Nan's behaviour. They may disagree with how she sees her life, her marriage, the world. But I can't imagine this book not having value to just about any open-minded reader wanting some confirmation of their own experiences, wanting to understand their spouse's, their mother's, their sister's, their aunt's. It might not be 'War and Peace', but in its own way, it deserves to be read. The world needs the kind of insight Ms Berg provides in 'The Pull of the Moon'; as much as it might enrage and dumbfound, it's bound to satisfy, comfort...and embolden.

Personal rating: 8/10

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5.0 out of 5 stars Elizabeth Berg can write a book!
As an avid reader, I find that EB books really keep my attention. This one was no exception! Nan takes off on a "finding" road trip and finds herself everywhere and... Read more

Published on July 14 2004

1.0 out of 5 stars Get a life, Nan!
This is the story of a bored, rich housewife with too much time and money on her hands. She feels unsatisfied with her life at fifty--like all of her best years have passed her... Read more

Published on July 7 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars It pulled me in and wouldn't let go!
I finished reading "The Pull of the Moon" in only a few hours. It's not a very long book, nothing much happens, but I couldn't put it down. Read more

Published on Jun 17 2004 by The Feisty Curmudgeon

1.0 out of 5 stars Read any Berg novel but this
Drivel! I love Elizabeth Berg's writing and recommend almost any other of her novels, but no one should bother to read this one. Read more

Published on May 10 2004

4.0 out of 5 stars see "Martin's Letter to Nan" in "Ordinary Life"
Epistolary/journal novel about a 50-year-old woman in the midst of a change-of-life crisis, her one daughter away at college and her husband, whom she really does love, having... Read more

Published on April 9 2004 by Ellen Etc.

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book...if you like this type of thing...
This was the first Elizabeth Berg book I ever read. A friend of my mothers loaned it to her and she didnt read it but ended up keeping it. Read more

Published on Mar 11 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Keepers of the flame
Inspirational and moving, clever and entertaining, and vibrant and warm. All of this describes THE PULL OF THE MOON. Read more

Published on Feb 8 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars No beating Elizabeth...
for beauty of prose, for insights into human hearts, for stories that draw you into the book and don't let you go. I highly recommend all of her books. Read more

Published on Feb 1 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars could definitely relate
This book spoke to me many times. I thought it was GREAT

Published on Nov 26 2003 by Terrie Sherrow

1.0 out of 5 stars OK, this lady has some nerve
Even if Nan was exeriencing a mid-life crisis there is no excuse for her behavior. I found it sad that there were so many 5-star reviews of this novel. Read more

Published on Jun 15 2003

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