Customer Reviews

Change in Altitude

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A CHANGE IN ATTITUDE by Anita Shreve is a contemporary fiction set in Kenya. It is well written in depth and detail. I thought the ending left a few questions as to the characters future. It has distrust,marriage,tragedy, living in a strange and sometimes dangerous country, the consequences of unintended actions, and the struggle to climb to the top of Mount Kenya. The characters are interesting and will hold your interest. This story shows how an life can change in an instant. It gives an in depth description of Kenya and some of their issues. If you enjoy some small triumphs, struggles with marriage and relationships you will enjoy this one. This book was received for review and details can be found at My Book Addiction and More and Hachette.

I usually love her books. Light on snow, Fortune's Rock, etc. But this book just didn't sing to me. I didn't find the characters very likeable.

Margaret and Patrick are an American couple who move to Kenya so Patrick can further his research in equatorial medicine. After a few months, they decide to climb Mount Kenya with some new friends.

I'm not sure why Margaret and Patrick decided to climb Mount Kenya. They were out of shape and unprepared. It seemed like it was something to do just to be able to say they did it. Margaret, in particular, wasn't even motivated to make the climb. I wish the author presented a better reason for them to go on the climb.

This was a quick read and I jumped right into it, but it's as if there are two completely different books in one. One book is about everything leading up to and including the trip up Mount Kenya and the second half is about Africa as a country and Margaret's new job. The only thing holding the two parts together is Margaret's easy attraction to different men.

I appreciate the author presenting an American point of view. Even if the opinions aren't popular or perhaps politically correct, at least they are real.

This was my first Anita Shreve book. I enjoyed it so much that now I am a fan and will look for her other books. The feel of Kenya's wildlife and different tribe's cultures were made the book very rich.

I was a little hesitant to read this book because of the scenes of climbing Mount Kenya as I have acrophobia and would not want to attempt any climb. I also had recently read several books about the violence of the different wars in Africa. I also had recently read several books about the violence of the different wars in Africa.

Instead this book centered on a newly married couple and their friends and colleagues temporally in Kenya and their relationships between each other and Margaret inner relationship with herself. Diane,one of the couples in the first mountain climb said that trouble comes in threes an old adage that I had always heard and experienced. I was wondering along with the main character Margaret when the third trouble would come.

I don't want to give too much away so I won't tell much of the story. But there were several things to ponder in this book. One was risky behavior. What would make you try it and what would be the consequences? Another has to do with marriage. What can one partner expect from the spouse and if the marriage goes wrong, do you leave it or take extraordinary steps to save it. How is infidelity defined? What if the two partners in marriage define fidelity differently?

I thought that characters, especially Margaret were very well developed. We were able to follow her feelings all the way through the book.

The last sentence in the book was truly beautiful. It didn't come out and say what Margaret was thinking but in just a few words, Anita Shreve had Margaret speak volumes of what she had achieved and the state of her emotional wellbeing. I loved this book. I would recommend it to all of Anita Shreve's fans and all those who like to question themselves.

It is easy to see why Shreve is such a popular writer: this chronicle of a marriage is an engrossing, quick reading book. Its portrait of Kenya corresponds well with other novels and a memoir I have read. (Stop here if you haven't read the book).

My take is that these two people rushed into a marriage when they were not really very compatible, and Margaret did not have a very good idea as to who she was. Still, the marriage might have survived without the challenges encountered, and it would have been plausible if a change in altitude really resulted in a change in attitude. I was initially annoyed that it didn't, but I can see that Shreve is trying to make a point about the basic incompatibility.

Anita Shreve is one of my favorite authors and i have read all of her books - her

books are very very interesting - the "Pilot's Wife" was made into a movie.

** spoiler alert ** I won this book as part of the Goodreads First Reads program. I had read another of Anita Shreve's books before (All He Ever Wanted), and thought it was pretty terrible. I was hesitant to register to win this one based on what I thought about that book, but decided to give her another chance.

I'm glad I did. This book started off slow, but picked up the pace, particularly during the climb. I worried it would slow down after that, and it did a bit, but then another turn in the storyline (Margaret's job at the newspaper and especially her relationship with Rafiq) helped pick up the pace again. I would have liked a little more information at the end of the story, I didn't feel all the loose ends were tied up, but given the way she chose to end the story, the reader could infer at least a few things. However, given the importance of Rafiq to the story line (at least in my view), it would have been nice to know how things ended up for him.

This was a book group choice (read: I probably would not have chosen it myself anyway). If this was supposed to be about marriage and it's survival under pressure as the jacket blurb suggested someone must have been asleep while they were reading it. Or else they aren't married.

I have read all but one of Anita Shreve's books, and I would have to say that this was my favorite. The mountain climbing suspense coupled with the African countryside was perfect. You will become a AS fan after reading this one!

Seemed slow in the beginning, but that was all part of the style, the climb for

the protagonists whose marriage is being tested by each of them. To learn later

that the author climbed MtKenya in the late Seventies in sneakers is funny,

because it IS such a challenging climb. I especially loved the disc. questions

with reference to the ending. One can look at Margaret's glass as half full or

half empty but the water is there for reader to figure out where she plans to

peak next in her life. Absolutely brilliant, one of her best. Rochelle L Holt