Customer Reviews

Approaching Eye Level

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Like a sympathetic, merciful glance from your best friend, this book was a quick, potent, and important read. Gornick's intelligent essays are marked by the odd brand of effortlessness born only by writing that penetrates. And, as far as being a book about lonliness (among other themes), I found myself feeling particularly unlonely -- even connected (with lord knows what though...Gornick? myself?) -- after putting this down. If you're on the fence, buy it now.

I really enjoyed reading Vivian Gornick's Approaching Eye Level, and I don't even live alone. I didn't read too much into Ms. Gornick's essays; I pretty much took them at face value. Her writing style can be described as a bit rambling but also conversational. She probably write just like she thinks.

My favorite essay was the first one, which discussed her first jobs as a student. I just found them really entertaining, and I guess the one I could relate to the best. The other essays centered a bit around living alone, relationships (both friendships and marriage), and feminism. Overall, this book is a quick and interesting read. I certainly wanted to pick it up throughout the day to read - it wasn't a chore. I'll certainly read more from Ms. Gornick.

This book really connected with me. Gornick is a great storyteller and a thoughful observer. She has a fabulous style of writing. It is clear, but so deep. She writes the most amazing insights about ordinary life. It is eloquent, insightful, but not overly academic like I usually expect books of essays to be. I love reading memoirs that reveal a lot about the author's world. If you like the genre, don't pass up this book.

Still trying to validate the paper it's printed on. The only thing I liked about the book was the design of the pages. Found the essays not especially well written and am looking forward to discussing it with our book review group to see if they can actually shed some light on the issues. Guess I wasn't lonely enough to want to crawl up with this book....it made me fall asleep.