Customer Reviews

The Last Time They Met: A Novel

5 star:		(127)
4 star:		(83)
3 star:		(63)
2 star:		(60)
1 star:		(66)

 

 

Do not be deluded by the blurbs--this is NOT a love story. It is a story about one man's selfish obsession with an ideal of a young woman. It reinforces once more the tired point that artistic men would much rather pine and obsess over their idea of love than actually dig in and experience and enjoy the real thing.

Slogging through this story until the trick ending--which, while surprising, is also incredibly cheap--was a bad experience. I give the book one star because Shreve describes things colorfully without making little poems in every sentence--a bad habit of many writers of Shreve's ilk. I give her no more stars, however, because of the truly manipulative plot twist (one that was employed just as cheaply, but much more effectively and quite famously, in a legendary nighttime soap opera, then used again to end the run of a television medical drama and later, yet again, to end a Bob Newhart sitcom). Maybe it could have been worthwhile to some degree if one could care about the characters, but Shreve's characterization is very poor. She gives you no reason to care about these people--you don't know them and you don't *want* to know them. Shreve's female protagonist is an empty slate--we are told that she, at one point, was "dangerous," but the only danger she projects from the page is the danger that she will bore you out of your senses. Her male protagonist is a ridiculous drama queen, far more interested in obsessing over some nonexistent ideal of love than actually living the life that is right in front of his face.

No one in this book ever does anything with an ounce of common sense, and there is much mooning about and sighing and remembering and unnecessary suffering and longing for what cannot be and. . .oh, well, you get the picture. None of them can get out of their own way and live to the fullest the life that they have, and instead constantly whine for something that they create mostly out of thin air and then relentlessly imagine that they want. Then you find out that none of it mattered anyway. And then you feel like a chump, or you should, because you have wasted your time on a silly gimmick.

Did I mention that I think this book is crap?

This is the 4th Anita Shreve book I have read, but if it had been the first, it would have been my last. The story is interesting, but it is difficult to follow since 90% of it is told in foreshadowing (or actually, backshadowing, I suppose), and I spent most of my time just looking forward to actually getting the story. Every chapter, you feel like you need to go back and start over again, now knowing what you know. Even though I didn't love it, I didn't hate it until I got to the end. The end gives us a twist that just doesn't work. It was an admirable undertaking, but it doesn't make sense, and it is far from her best work. If you want to read Anita Shreve, try Sea Glass or Resistance. (Or The Weight of Water, which has a character from this book, but I would never have recognized him from anything other than his life events -- there is little similarity between the portraits.)

Even after finishing this book I was talking about it for weeks. I am still amazed at the depth of the story. As soon as I finished reading it I wanted to talk to someone about it, and waited for my husband to come home so I could cry to him about how beautiful the story was. I've recommended the book to everyone I know. The love story was timeless but not too perfect that it was not realistic. Anita Shreve has a way of pointing out the flaws of her characters personalities but at the same time allowing one to understand them anyway. I loved the book and think about it still. Plus Shreve has become a favorite.

I finished this book last night and couldn't believe - the "accident" the book referred to throughout its entirety was described very poorly. And it certainly never said WHY the accident caused the couple to break up - it just ended - saying this "was the last day of Linda's life" - no explanation of why a car accident would keep two people so in love apart. Furthermore, I don't understand the relavance of both characters having both been married twice - I can't put it into words, but I feel like I finished this book and still had no answers to several questions. I won't be reading anymore of Shreve's books.

What a good book. I seen myself and others around me in the characters. They were completely believable. I enjoyed the story and was very interested to find out what happened. The ending is completely shocking. It's a book that I will read again just to enjoy Shreve's wonderful way of telling the story. When I finished I wanted to almost immediately go back and start again to see if there was anything I had missed.

It has 3 chapters. 'Fifty-two' 'Twenty-six' and 'Seventeen'. These are the ages of Linda and Thomas - the lead characters - on their meetings. The first is an up-to-date chapter, then it goes back to when they were 26, and then it goes back again to when they were only 17.

The story is absolutely heartbreaking. There were times when I had to put the book down just to catch my breath. I was so into the story, I become an untold character in the book - I was watching everything from afar.

I've read quite a few books, but none of which has hit me as hard as this one. Maybe it's for personal reasons, I don't know. But whatever it is, this book sucked me in good and proper.

The story isn't what the reader thinks it is - there's a tremendous twist at the end, one that isn't expected, but one that you know has to be there. As i read the last pages, my stomach started to turn, I felt physically sick. I sat up straight, I couldn't believe it ended the way it did... completely astonishing.

The passion I have for this book was also a surprise, I didn't think a book could make me feel so hurt. I didn't know my feelings could be controlled just by a few words - I keep telling myself, 'it's just a book, it's fictitious'.

Some people may not like the book.. I suppose you need a connection with the words you read to be able to feel the emotions, and if you don't have any link to the story, there's no way you can enjoy the true love that is expressed in it.

Even now I can feel a lump in my throat when I think of the book. Even now I want to cry. I will keep this book.. for some unknown reason, I just cannot part with it.

Another Anita Shreve's hit, sober, heart-wrenching and full of texture. I had no idea it had a connection to one of her previous books, "The Weight Of Water", which I read years ago (and liked very much). It connects us with one smaller character in that book, Linda, but it is not necessary to read its predecessor to get into this one, as it is not a sequel.

Linda and Thomas meet and fall in love as teenagers, but the story unfolds backwards, after a chance meeting in Toronto, when they are both in their fifties. They have not seen each other in twenty-six years. Their past life with all its joys, flaws and pains resurfaces. The anatomy of a very deep, moving true love is described with such emotional substance, its essence never lost to the reader.

And the end. The surprising ending. I found this novel to be a page-turner and possibly the best one I've read by this author (I've read almost everything written by Ms. Shreve). A love story to be remembered.

I borrowed this book from a friend and read some great reviews. I have to admit some reviews did say it's a little slow in the begining and gets better with a twist. I read about half the book and was so bored, I had to stop, it was just terrible. I've read so called, "romances" before and they didn't drag like this one did. If you're looking for something that will keep you interested from beginning to end, I wouldn't recommend this. It's a yawner. I didn't even care to find out what the twist was because what I read so far, I did not enjoy.

This book was one of the best books I've ever read. I recommended it to all my friends. I read and re-read the entire last chapter 3 times. I actually was relieved at the ending. Like most Shreve novels, you aren't looking for "and they lived happily everafter."

Agreed - it starts slow with too many unnecessary details. But, get past the first few chapters and find yourself entrenched in a bittersweet love story between a man and a women you will agree are destined to be together. The story of love between Thomas and Linda is unforgettable, tearjerking, and frustrating. I never knew a man to have such deepness, especially in his younger years.
Only problem with the novel: the final paragragh. Completely unexpected, completely unwanted... Other than that - BRAVO!