Customer Reviews

The Brambles

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I really wanted to like this book after reading so many positive reviews prior to its release (including a glowing recommendation from the "Big O" herself!). I just had a very hard time sinking my teeth into it.

I thought the author rambled a lot, going from one thing to another - one scene to a previous time, back to the current scene - way too often. It caused me to wonder where I was in the story and lost my attention and/or interest in the original event. Sometimes I would be reading page after page and wonder where the author was going with this. Some of the narrative felt unnecessary and pointless, like the author really wanted to tell a certain story but couldn't find a place in the book for it, so she turned it into a flashback or a memory for one of the characters. Sometimes this made sense, but more often than not, I felt let down as I finished a chapter. I like to see chapters in a novel flow from one to another, with one scene ending and then blending into the opening scene of the following chapter (kinda like the acts of a play), but in this novel, the chapters and charatcer's stories didn't quite seem to fit all together.

I also thought the twist (or "big reveal") was somewhat unbelievable and confusing. I don't want to give anything away for those who still wish to read this, but what was the point of the character who rumaged through the garbage? I thought the final explanation for this character's purpose was totally ridiculous and certainly didn't fit in with the rest of a story (it almost seemed like a conclusion you'd come to at the end of a bad romantic comedy). I found myself scratching my head asking "HUH?" and had to read the explanation a second time, just to be sure i read it right the first time. It just didn't seem to fit with the rest of the book. I mean, if this was truly meant to be a character study (as it seemed to be many time), then this far-fetched secret had no place in this novel.

There were a few parts of the book that I really did like, however. I liked reading of Margaret's feelings of being overwhelmed as a wife and a mother. Of all of the charatcers, I liked her the best, and she seemed the most identifiable for me. Her feelings of confusion and love for both her family and father were totally believable and downright genuine. I also found the earlier story of Edie believable as the youngest sibling with little or direction in life. This story's been told many times before, and I think Minot got it right with Edie. But Max and his wife - they just didn't seem to fit, and I honestly found her to be quite annoying.

I'm not sure I wouldn't recommend this book - I really think there are some who will truly love it (as proven by some of the reviews left here). For me, tho, I felt a little let down after so much hype - - made me wonder if the book had been changed since earlier reviews were written. I just didn't love it as much as I thought. I will probably give Minot another try if she had another release sometime soon.

I must admit I'm not quite sure what kind of a review to give this book. On the one hand I liked the characters and the story, but on the other hand it is an extremely slow read for a 240+ page book.

Margaret, Max and Edie are siblings whose mother has died in a plane crash and whose father is dying of cancer. Each sibling is also going through their own problems (Margaret is finding the middle class life of having a husband and three kids too demanding, Max has quit his job and has not yet told his wife who suspects him of having an affair, and Edie is living a lonely existence in NYC while trying to deal with an eating disorder.) Each character is well defined and likable, and their individual stories are interesting. There were even a few laugh-out-loud moments that I enjoyed.

The problem with this book is that it is too bogged down with a great deal of metaphorical descriptive imagery - "He had the sensation that living in the world was like living inside of a hollowed egg, an egg that was like a Constable painting" or "The crickets and cicadas buzzing and rattling, whirling like alarms, sizzling like a table saw or meat dropped into a frying pan, the winking ember of fireflies, the hulking trees sunken into the warm dark like giant blots." If you like that kind of writing, then this is definitely the book for you because there is an awful lot of it, but it just made for a slow read for me.

Some other reviewers were bothered by the way the story seemed to flip-flop from past to present. That did not bother me so much, but the "secret", when finally revealed was very anti-climatic and I kept wondering why the author even decided that it was needed.

As I said there were some enjoyable moments, and the author does have a good sense of human nature, so for that I'll give this one 3 stars.

I've been a fan of Eliza Minot's since THE TINY ONE was published, and I'd just about given up hope that she'd come through with another novel. THE BRAMBLES was worth waiting for.

It has been mentioned in other reviews, but I can't help adding that Minot's description of suburban motherhood is freaky in its perception and accuracy. Her observations are complex and funny and if you're someone who happens to have a sister who's also a suburban mother, it's just about impossible to not put the book down to call her and say, "Just listen to this paragraph!"

The book's not perfect--a surprise at the end felt more tacked-on than organic. But I've been recommending this book far and wide, as it is just spot on: in its portrayal of the modern family, the experience of losing a parent, the daily grind and joy of caring for a young family, and the subtle manipulations of sibling relationships.

I really, really hope the wait isn't quite so long for the next one.

.....but I had trouble staying WITH the book due to the VERY lengthy descriptions. This book is full of more similes than I've seen since I learned about them in HS English class. Margaret is wound SO SO TIGHT and the fact that she wants more kids is a bit hard to believe. And I have a great husband, but hers is a bit saintly to believe. The part about siblings having different ways of dealing with losing a parent is right on the money and how no one understands how the other siblings are acting the way they do. It truly helps understand "adult sibling relationships" but the "twist" isn't explained as fully or as soon as it possibly should be and the ending totally left me hanging. I thought it was just a strange ending. I'm glad I read it - I think I just found it a bit odd - especially the lady that hit them hiding in the trash? Is anyone with me on this?

Has it finally happened? Am I just too old for some authors now... I am 50 (ouch)... could it be that I am not cool enough for this type of thing? I really wanted to enjoy this...but this young womans voice did not resonate with me...the "secret" was totally ridiculous...such a talented writer but a really irritating book.

The author is more interested in colorful, poetic descriptions than
in telling an interesting story.
You lose any desire to see what happens to these people because they are SO boring and self centered.
I got the feeling that the author was her tormented Edie character.
This is a cure for insomnia.

This was our Book Club selection for Dec. 2006 and we all really needed something more than what this book offered. It was a painful read after starting off relatively strong. It really had so much potential, what a let down. And the "secret" that was finally revealed? Ridiculous! I could have come up with something better than that.

Don't waste your effort slogging through the mess that this book is.

I guess I was expecting more from this book. The book club I'm in all agreed that they found it hard to keep reading but they pushed through it. The author jumped around too much which took away from the book.

This rambling book is worse than a high-schooler's attempt at writing fiction. It has little plot, and no connectedness. The ridiculous "reveal" was contrived and unbelievable. The author has difficulty conveying thoughts clearly, wasting far too much time forcing lengthy, confusing "descriptions" on the reader, and never indicating any true style of writing. In fact, she is all over the place with this one, and the result is trite and annoying.

OMG!! Did this author OD on speed or something. This is just a free flow of thoughts and makes no sense. Here's a good example, a new character (of which there are a million) has a one line comment, then the author goes on a 13 page tangent that as about 4 different stories going on, and then comes back to the new character and you're supposed to remember who the heck it is. I have never read such a mess before. I was hoping to use this for my book review column - but i can't recommend this book to anyone. Sorry, Minot.