|
|
|
Évaluation du client type
Partagez votre opinion avec les autres clients
|
|
|
Le commentaire favorable le plus utile
Le commentaire critique le plus utile
As only Anita Shreve can tell it!
Once again Shreve outdoes herself. I was very impressed with the telling of this story, as such things are often expressed from the victim's view, and this time, we get to hear the oppressor's story. The first chapter was difficult to read, as the language is a step back into another generation. But by the end of the first couple of chapters, the pompous and pendantic...
Publié le Jui 5 2004
|
› Voir plus de commentaires 5 étoiles, 4 étoiles |
 |
Why spend time with someone so thoroughly unpleasant?!
All He Ever Wanted begins with a hotel fire in the early 1900's. The narrator of the story (who is recounting his past while en route to his sister's funeral) bachelor Nicholas Van Tassel, a stuffy professor at a snotty boys' school, is inside the hotel when the blaze begins but leaves unscathed. During this tragedy where twenty people perish in a fiery death he meets...
Publié le Jui 15 2004 par DogsDeserveCompassion
|
› Voir plus de commentaires 3 étoiles, 2 étoiles, 1 étoiles |
|
|
Strong characters, good plot twists, Jui 22 2004
I've read all of Shreve's novels and this one is near the top of my list. The heroine, Etna, is a powerful figure, but in the tradition of the period in which Shreve writes, Etna must keep her power undercover and hidden from her husband, a boorish professor at a local New England college. The source of Etna's power -- perhaps the very power itself -- is her ability to hold a part of herself back from her husband and family. She keeps secrets, both of fact and of feeling, so that her integrity as a person can't be breached by a husband who feels entitled to know and own her totally. I identified deeply with Etna's need to do this, as I believe many women will who have been married to men who at first seemed innocuous but after a few years of marriage are revealed to be unbearably possessive. In self defense, Etna must keep her true self contained and hidden from her husband's impulse toward emotional rape. While that may sound a bit strong, it seems very legitimate to me. I found the fact that Etna creates a personal studio space for herself -- and keeps it secret from her husband -- a natural response to his overwhelming intrusiveness. It's a testament to Shreve's ability to finely draw her characters that a reader such as myself can so thoroughly identify with the heroine's emotions, as well as feel stifled by a fictional character such as the husband. Overall, this is a very good novel with enough depth and action to entertain readers without being shallow.
Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles
Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?
 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Why spend time with someone so thoroughly unpleasant?!, Jui 15 2004
All He Ever Wanted begins with a hotel fire in the early 1900's. The narrator of the story (who is recounting his past while en route to his sister's funeral) bachelor Nicholas Van Tassel, a stuffy professor at a snotty boys' school, is inside the hotel when the blaze begins but leaves unscathed. During this tragedy where twenty people perish in a fiery death he meets the woman of his dreams, Etna Bliss. Etna's "handsome" face, her lovely waist and her other womanly attributes haunt his every thought. Even her name, Bliss, brings lusty thoughts to his mind (and starts my skin to crawling). His infatuation is all consuming and before long he begins to pursue her with all of the gusto of a starving dog drooling over a choice bit of meat. She eventually agrees to a date where he learns, a bit to his dismay, that she has a brain as well as fine breasts and is surprisingly literate. They read stories together and seem to get along well but when he makes a move or turns the conversation towards the personal she immediately gives him the cold shoulder. I should add that Nicholas is described as the most un-athletic man on earth with a slight paunch and a balding pate. The sexual attraction seems entirely one-sided and a bit creepy. At this point I would've put the book aside unfinished as I found Nicholas Van Tassel boring beyond belief and far too pompous. However, since I was listening to this in its unabridged format and I was stuck in traffic I continued to torture myself with Nicholas Van Tassel's words (expertly read by a narrator who reads in a purposely haughty way). Despite the fact that Etna does not return his feelings of undying love he insists that they marry and, oddly enough, she agrees! Thus begins their awkward life together. During their years of marriage they parent two children (and, thakfully, we are spared the oogey details of their sterile love making ~ thank you Mr. Van Tassel for speedily skipping by those bits and saving me a few shudders!) and seem to get along decently enough as they plod along through their days. Nicholas gives Etna a nice life and the freedom to do whatever she wishes but sadly the love Nicholas aches for is never returned by Etna. Nicholas, the poor love starved sap, is grateful just to have her for his wife and doesn't complain about her complete lack of affection towards him. But things begin to change when he discovers that Etna has been hiding things from him. This is where the book finally picked up and actually engaged my full attention. At this point Nicholas *almost* becomes a sympathetic character if you can believe it (though he is still a thoroughly unpleasant fellow)! He is riddled with insecurities and although he has been married to a woman he cherishes for years he will never be a happy or successful man. His world begins to spiral out of control as he simultaneously discovers Etna's been keeping secrets and learns the position he's been longing to have at the University may be forever out of his reach. Nicholas's festering jealously and over-reaction to Etna's secret (which was odd but not nearly as devastatingly earth-shattering as I'd anticipated), however, ruin any smidgen of pity I may have felt for him just a few chapters earlier. Author Shreve successfully paints an unpleasant picture of a thoroughly unpleasant man caught up in a situation of his own making. Reading Nicolas Van Tassel's vitriolic comments and actions for pages on end was a depressing experience that I won't be repeating any time soon!
Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles
Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
All He Ever Wanted Review, Jui 7 2004
This is the second book I have read by Ms Shreve, and I wasn't disappointed. I found that I couldn't put this book down. At times I felt so sorry for Nicholas Van Tassel (our narriator) and at other times I disliked him with a passion. This book is basically a journal written by Nicholas Van Tassel about his courtship and marriage to Etna Bliss. Upon meeting Etna after a fire in a hotel where they were both dining, Nicholas became obsessed with Etna. This obsession lead to a loveless marriage. Etna had many secrets (which in my opinion we didn't get enough answers to in the end) that ended up destroying her marriage and family. Overall I liked this book, I just wish we would have found out more in the end. I felt as if I was left hanging there wondering what happened between father and daughter. I will definitely be reading more of Ms. Shreve's books.
Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles
Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
As only Anita Shreve can tell it!, Jui 5 2004
Par Un client
Once again Shreve outdoes herself. I was very impressed with the telling of this story, as such things are often expressed from the victim's view, and this time, we get to hear the oppressor's story. The first chapter was difficult to read, as the language is a step back into another generation. But by the end of the first couple of chapters, the pompous and pendantic narrative was downright mesmerizing. I caught a vision of Nicholas Van Tassel easily, both his physical attributes as well as his motivations and methods. One can understand and even sympathize with his controlling nature. By the end of the telling, I both despised and pitied him. This book is worth reading, worth sludging through the first couple of chapters to gain a feel for the language and rhythm of the story. I highly recommend this book to all Shreve fans, and anticipate the arrival of her newest in August 2004.
Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles
Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Very Boring!, Mai 18 2004
This has got to be the most boring book I've ever read, it's very drawn out. I considered many times to just walk away from it.
It may would have been more intersting if the story was told by Etna.From Honeymoon nearly straight to teeange daughter nothing in between.She elaborated where she shouldn't have and didn't where she should have......
Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles
Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Repressed Dignity, Avril 19 2004
Par Un client
Anita Shreve's ability to parse emotionally laden words with such aching discipline results again in a sparsely-drawn, heartbreaking sketch of two people inexorably tied together in a "bound-to-be-tragic-in-the-end" knot. It is a superb illustration of the price we can pay for the choices we make.
Olive Gallagher
Author of "A Simple Path to The Good Life"
Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles
Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wonderful and telling, Mars 22 2004
Par Un client
This is the first time that I have read Anita Shreve and very much enjoyed it. I agree that the first few chapters are slow and somewhat confusing. However, after the very beginning, the book takes off and shortly in, I could not put it down. The story describes the marriage of Nicholas Van Tassel and his wife, Etna Bliss. It is taken solely from the side of Nicholas as he is writing his story on the way to his sister's funeral in Florida. The reader is not very much aware of Etna's private thoughts and feelings as the story is written by Nicholas. This, i thought, was a stroke of genius on the author's part and skillfully, she enticed us into this dysfunctional marriage. This story is a true story of finding oneself, marrying for the wrong reasons and then resurrecting oneself after failure. I will recommend it to anyone.
Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles
Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
An Excellent Book, Mars 8 2004
I struggled through the first chapter or two of this book, then it swept me up and I didn't put it down until I had finished. The language is old-fashioned and a little flowery yet works well to draw the reader in to the story. The story is told by a college professor looking back over his marriage which took place 30-odd years before. The old man feels the need to explain his marriage to his son who is about to become a father. Nicholas Van Tassel meets Etna Bliss when they both escape from the dining room of the local hotel which happens to be burning down around their ears. From the start Van Tassel is overwhelmed with longing for Etna. Even when they are married he never stops longing for her. While she becomes his wife, Etna never gives herself to her husband in any sense of the word. In many ways she remains a stranger to both him and to the reader. We only ever hear her husband's version of events, apart from a few letters he discovers. Etna is a woman of secrets and all is not revealed by the book. This is a good story that is beautifully written. I was fully absorbed by it and once it got going it was never dull. All the major characters are deserving of sympathy in their own way and I spent most of the book knowing it was knowing it was all going to end in tears but hoping it wouldn't. There is no simple happy ending to this book, although it isn't totally without hope, which felt very right. A happy ending would have been a cop-out.
Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles
Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
An Excellent Book, Mars 8 2004
I struggled through the first chapter or two of this book, then it swept me up and I didn't put it down until I had finished. The language is old-fashioned and a little flowery yet works well to draw the reader in to the story. The story is told by a college professor looking back over his marriage which took place 30-odd years before. The old man feels the need to explain his marriage to his son who is about to become a father. Nicholas Van Tassel meets Etna Bliss when they both escape from the dining room of the local hotel which happens to be burning down around their ears. From the start Van Tassel is overwhelmed with longing for Etna. Even when they are married he never stops longing for her. While she becomes his wife, Etna never gives herself to her husband in any sense of the word. In many ways she remains a stranger to both him and to the reader. We only ever hear her husband's version of events, apart from a few letters he discovers. Etna is a woman of secrets and all is not revealed by the book. This is a good story that is beautifully written. I was fully absorbed by it and once it got going it was never dull. All the major characters are deserving of sympathy in their own way and I spent most of the book knowing it was knowing it was all going to end in tears but hoping it wouldn't. There is no simple happy ending to this book, although it isn't totally without hope, which felt very right. A happy ending would have been a cop-out.
Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles
Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
really entertaining, Mars 6 2004
you wont be displeased reading this book
Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles
Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ce produit
|
|
CDN$ 16.99 CDN$ 12.40
Habituellement expédié sous 3 à 5 semaines
| |
|
|
|
Accueil Amazon
