Customer Reviews

The Dive From Clausen's Pier: A Novel

5 star:		(104)
4 star:		(99)
3 star:		(97)
2 star:		(70)
1 star:		(49)

 

 

Packer starts her ambitious novel with a picture-perfect prologue: in spare, elegant prose she sets the scene and sends her protagonist's boyfriend to his quadriplegic fate. She takes the reader inside Carrie's head, and her strong writing keeps us engaged as Carrie and friends wait for Mike to emerge from his coma and as Carrie dithers over whether or not she'll look like a creep if she dumps Mike now. Packer has populated her story with a few interesting people--the therapist mom, the co-dependent friend, Mike's pal Rooster--so we forgive the lack of plot and the lack of character development.

Abruptly, the book switches directions. (Perhaps Packer decided that readers must be as bored with Madison as she and Carrie were.) Without warning to mom, friends, fiance, or the reader, Carrie jumps in her car and drives to New York. (Apparently young women never meet with foul play in Madison--Carrie's mom and friends don't seem concerned about her disappearance--they all somehow know that she skipped town because she didn't want to deal with her feelings about Mike.)

Packer's leisurely style becomes lethargic once Carrie hits the Big Apple, where she quickly acquires a free place to live, the stereotypical gay buddy, and an enigmatic boyfriend, Kilroy. Except he's not an interesting enigma; Carrie never figures out what makes him tick, and neither do we. What's more, it's hard to care, or to understand what she sees in him. Nor does New York feel "real." Packer, who excels in portraying Madison, fails to capture any of the essence of the big city.

The reader is still inside Carrie's head, but not a lot seems to be going on there. Much of her behavior is inexplicable. For example: she's planning to come to Madison for a visit (Rooster's wedding). Being a talented seamstress, she buys the most gorgeous, expensive fabric in the most upscale fabric store in New York and fashions a stunning outfit for herself. Then, at the last moment, she decides not to go. This scene, which could (and should) have some emotional depth--might even explain Carrie's internal state of disrepair--is simply flat.

Finally, Carrie comes home to Madison (she never should have left) and the story picks up again--but by then I was tired of her whining, her lack of insight, her poor impulse control, and her inability to learn from her past mistakes.

Other reviewers have mentioned the sex scenes. I suspect that a well-meaning friend or editor told Packer that she needed to spice up her book, and that's why she inflicted these embarrassing and ineptly written episodes on her readers.

Bottom line: not awful, not great, could have been better.

Ann Packer's THE DIVE FROM CLAUSEN'S PIER is a fascinating exercise in philosophical meanderings. While reading the novel, after finishing its last page, even when typing a review on-line, one can't help but wonder "What would I do? How would I react to my finace's paralysis?" Heavy ponderings, deep moral discussions, and unfortunately, a rather shallow literary style and character development.

This was an odd reading experience for me. Mirroring the heroine's crisis of ethics and morality--Should she stay with her crippled boyfriend or forge a new life?--it was almost as if the author, too, was trying to flesh out a novel while typing it. Every page seemed to cry out, "What if I wrote a book about a girl who had to decide whether to stay or go?"

According to the book flap, the author is an award winner and an accomplished short story writer. Perhaps that's the problem she encountered here. The conceit of this book is terrific--challenging the heroine and reader to examine what is right vs. what is doable. However, it doesn't survive a nearly 400-page treatment.

The characters are all one-dimensional. Even heroine Carrie Bell, who literally appears on every page, never grows beyond a fetching Midwestern girl who dated too young and too exclusively, and who sure loves to sew. I imagine her need to mend and to alter, to measure and to seam together, is a metaphor for her desire to reshape and re-examine her past and future decisions. Perhaps in a 40-page short story, that would be a strong, though somewhat corny, device. Here, in a novel format, the constant excursions to the fabric store and her sit-downs behind the sewing machine are clunky and embarrassing. It's especially hokey because so many times the outifits that Carrie is supposedly creating sound positively horrid and outdated, yet her old and new crowd of friends christen her the next Betsey Johnson cum Stella McCartney. Not very likely from the really stodgy descriptions of her ensembles.

I don't know how to position a book like this. It's not really serious literature, and it's not tempestuous enough to be a romance novel. It's sort of a "chick flick" meets Freud or Hume (or name any other philosopher/shrink of your choice). I suppose that's the genius of this book. I can't say it was well written, but at least it was written. For all those armchair authors out there, take inspiration from this novel. You don't have to create realistic characters, clever dialogue; you don't have to have memorable scenes or appealing supporting players. As long as you throw in some recognizable brand names, a few "hip" slang words, and some nontraditional traditional characters (a gay best friend, a gay roommate, a gay black fashionista), you can get published.

The true key to this book's success is the philosophical quagmire it dares to wade into: Are we all put on this earth to be kind to others or kind to ourselves? Are we supposed to sacrifice our happiness for others or do we learn how to share a little while losing a lot?

This is a great book for a philosophy curriculum or a local book club. It will definitely get you thinking. Or, if you've just dived into analysis, this could be a conduit for self-examination and a pleasant way to fill your 50 minutes on the couch. In terms of being a well-written, entertaining book, it floats somewhere between being a YA novel about growing up and cutting ties with home and a Ladies' Home Journal bit of fiction. The people who populate the pages are all types and never go beyond that. The ultimate decision between Carrie's injured boyfriend, who was growing tiresome to her even before the diving accident, and her new New York City lover, Kilroy, an older man who loves to play mind games, practices head trips, and seems to be a bit of a control freak, is a ghastly Hobson's Choice. The heroine has to contend with whether she should spend her life as a nursemaid/martyr or a protege/emotional punching bag. Great dilemma.

Pick up this book if you want to think about your own role in this tortured melodrama. Perhaps it will inspire you to start your own manuscript or your own game of "What If?" Just think--maybe if you come up with a brain-teasing moral quandry and keep at if for 300 pages, you too can get a literary agent, and what if . . .

The Dive From Clausen's Pier was initially engaging. Being 23 isn't always the great ride that everyone thinks it is-some of us are stuck in between adult life and childhood, trying to reconcile responsibilities with real life. To that end, Packer has created a crippling (pardon the pun) dilemma: stay with someone that you no longer love out of obligation or follow your heart across the country. But the problem in this book lies less in the premise than in the execution of the main character, Carrie. She's a completely indifferent and I had trouble summoning up any type of sympathy for her and I had even more trouble figuring out why anyone cared about her. There was very little character development on her part, and for the most part you realize that much of the novel just didn't ring true at all and you're left thinking "what did I just read"?

The world of Carrie Bell, a 23-year-old Wisconsin native, changes forever when she witnesses Mike Mayer's dive from Clausen's Pier, a dive which results in his broken neck, quadriplegia, and long rehab. Mike has been her love for eight years, and though the intensity of her early relationship has palled, she has been unable to decide how, or even whether, to call off her engagement. Lovingly remaining at Mike's side during the crucial early months of his recuperation, Carrie wonders, "How much do we owe the people we love?" as she tries to distinguish between love and friendship and the limitations and obligations of each.

Packer's naturalistic style puts the minutiae of the daily lives of Carrie, Mike, their friends, and families under a microscope. We learn, for example, even the smallest details of Carrie's compulsive sewing (how to make a spaghetti strap, why she uses a Bernina sewing machine and Butterick pattern), the exacting therapy a spinal cord injury patient undergoes, some of the cherished traditions of Madison (Paddle and Portage Day at the lakes), and even some of Carrie's memories of friend Jamie from third grade. Packer is equally precise about what the characters are thinking, feeling, wondering, and concluding so that the reader need never search beneath the surface for hidden meanings or subtleties. ("We were alone together, and also alone within ourselves." "[Carrie went] from guilt to remorse to relief to exhilaration [as she drove to New York]." "You do what you do. Not without consequences for other people.")

The subject of spinal cord injuries arouses powerful feelings in the reader and makes us confront our personal moralities as we consider how we ourselves might behave in similar circumstances, and Packer is remarkable in her ability to illuminate these issues. Some readers may feel shortchanged by the conclusion of this book and question how much control Carrie ultimately exercises over her life--does she decide her future or merely let it happen? But Packer's presentation of her character reinforces the belief that little is to be gained by second-guessing someone else's choices. Ultimately, we can never know for sure what we ourselves would do. Mary Whipple

I just got back from my local book club, where 5 of us just spent the last two hours trying to make sense of this senseless mess!I agree with the reviewers who sited that the premise for this book was fresh and intruiging, but beyond that Ann Packard is perhaps by far the most painfully dull and cliched of writers. To review: we have Madison as the po-dunk capital of the world, New York is just dripping with beautifully tragic acid-tongued black-clad artists, we have the token gay man, who starts out interesting and instantly becomes the stereotypical queen, the passionate poet lesbian, the best friend from childhood..........yada-yada-yada. This book was PAINFUL. It could have been brilliant. Ann could have showed us the plight of the "good-girl" in Carrie's situation, she could of had Carrie find herself in NY and get a job in fashion and THEN go home to WI and come to terms with "the tragedy". But no. We get: Carrie screws people over that she "loves"in WI, Carrie screws people over that she "loves" in NY, Carrie returns to WI and HINTS at the end of the book that she will probably screw these same people over again in the future! And to think that one reviewer actually "couldn't wait" to see what lay ahead for Carrie Bell? Hey, I'll give it a stab for you...maybe Carrie could suddenly run off to L.A.next and take to drinking Venti Iced Soy Decaf Mocha Latte's, have sex immediately with an aspiring but emotionally unavailable screenwriter whose estranged parents own a major movie studio,drive around in a convertable BMW Roadster most of the time, get botox shots, and then leave just as suddenly to go home again, where she can move back in with her mom, drive Mike around in his handicap van, get together with "the whole gang" for burgers at their favorite burger joint,...and then oh, maybe she can get really excited about some luxurious, over-priced chiffon, that feels like vanilla pudding or something and she can make a naughty little apron to pack away with her nightgown and green dress, all the while still thinking of "one day......"! Yipee! Yucky!!!!!!!!!

The Dive From Clausen's Pier is one of the best books I read this year. It's powerful, realistic and heartwrenching without being melodramatic. I found the book to be a page-turner and couldn't put it down until I finished it.

The central plot of the novel revovles around Carrie, who is losing interest in her high school sweetheart to whom she is engaged. She is experiencing restlessness and boredom in the relationship, and with her life in the town, Madison, Wisconsin, where she grew up, and which she has never left. She wants to end her relationship with Mike, when he has a diving accident that renders him a paraplegic (this all happens in the first few pages of the novel, so I'm not giving anything away).

The rest of the novel deals with the aftermath of the accident, and how it impacts both Carrie's and Mike's life. Carrie is overwhelmed with guilt and grief. She desperately wants to leave Mike and Wisconsin for a new, exciting life in New York. But what kind of person would she be if she left Mike now when he needs her the most?

On the other hand, what kind of life would she have if she stayed? Should she be true to her self and begin a new life in New York? Should she pursue her dreams and desires of becoming a fashion designer, exploring a new lifestyle and pursuing her romantic feelings for someone else?

These are all decisions Carrie must face. The brilliance of the novel lies in the conflicting emotions that you, as the reader feel. You are at once rooting for Carrie to leave Mike and begin a new life, while at the same time, feeling the horror of such a a betrayal. Mike is a likable character. He loves Carrie, and has been a loyal and devoted boyfriend. While wanting Carrie to leave Mike, you also want her to stay. How can she be so selfish as to leave this loving man when he has to face life as a paraplegic?

That is Carrie's dilemma, and the reader's too. I sincerely don't know what I would do in the same situation, but I think the author renders Carrie's decisions with a realism that does not leave room for either choice rendering a happy ever after life.

I won't reveal anything else about the plot because it would be a disservice to the reader. The life issues the author explores in this powerful novel makes it a must-read, and should be on top of everyone's wish list.

For the life of me, I can't understand how anyone could give this book above two stars. The big accomplishment was that I did manage to finish it, only by skipping pages at a time, because I had to believe that SOMEHOW the main character would have at least one redeeming quality. To say I was wrong is an understatement. Why would an author deliberately create such a selfish, immature, and thoroughly uninteresting character? Her whining and self-pity was too much for me by the third chapter. And it only got worse as the book went on. NOTHING happened in this book - there was no "journey" of self-discovery. Carrie discovered nothing about herself, and the reader discovered that she was a BORING character! The plot is as follow: She's discontent and annoying in Wisconsin, she's discontent and annoying in NY, and then she's discontent and annoying, once again, in Wisconsin. And NOTHING ABOUT HER CHANGED. UUgghhhh, what a horrible book. (Try The Lovely Bones instead, if you want an interesting read.) It is beyond me how this could get rave reviews. Do not waste your time. I ended up feeling annoyed with MYSELF that I spent a few hours trying to get through this piece of slop!

As mentioned by several other reviewers, "The Dive from Clausen's Pier" starts off strong. The author researched spinal cord injuries and gives a very thorough description of the challenges boyfriend Mike faces in the early days of his recovery. The main character, Carrie, is a young woman who has led a somewhat sheltered life and is beginning to chafe at its constraints as the story begins.

After Carrie leaves her hometown to move to New York (presumably to escape from her sense of obligation to Mike) the story really deteriorates. A "Sex and the City" type of description of New York is used. Carrie and her friends go to SoHo, to art gallery openings, and stroll around most Major New York Landmarks, with minimal plot development. While I usually prefer character-driven rather than plot-driven books, it was difficult in this case to suspend reality enough to accept Carrie's life in NY and to see her as anything other than a) selfish and b) oblivious to ALL the relationships in her life, not just that with Mike, as she tries her best to cut all ties with Madison.

Kilroy is truly a one-dimensional, annoying character. Carrie's sexual ties to him may have been a plot device to show how she is a very sexual person and would not have been fulfilled in a relationship with Mike after his injury. If this was the author's intention it was illustrated in an embarrassing manner, as other reviewers pointed out. One particular "cupping" phrase was used in a sexual context at least six times and I began to mentally prepare for it as I read the book and saw a sex scene introduced.

The ending just sort of happened without any clear resolution of Carrie's feelings. I believe she drifted into her ultimate situation rather than made a rational decision; particularly galling since she took such decisive action to get out of her situation when she left Madison and went to New York. Ultimately dissatisfying after a very strong start.

This book has one of those immediately compelling situations, where you can't help but put yourself there, empathizing with all involved. (The depictions of all sorts of relationships--mother/daughter, best friends, absent father, boyfriend's family, first adult love--are outstanding.) The fact that Carrie, a young age 23, continually does inexplicable things, inexplicable even to herself, is what maintains the reader's interest as well as ensures that the book rings true. She may be different than you and me, but she is a wholly formed character whose actions inevitably lead her down a certain path. When I saw where the path was leaving her at the end, I have to admit I had tears for the roads not taken, although again she's only 24 at the end. Maybe Ann Packer will revisit Carrie in few years--I would dearly love to see how and what she's doing...

Ann Packer has done a great job in her first novel. "The Dive From Clausen's Pier" tells the story of Carrie Bell, who, as the novel begins, has just had an emotional jolt as her fiance breaks his back on a dive off the pier of the title. The novel basically follows Carrie on a journey of the self as she tries to come to terms with what's happened to Mike (her fiance), and to her friends, family, and most of all to herself as a result of that fateful dive.

Packer's Carrie is a fully realized character who I empathized with and believed in for the entire novel. She paints her people with broad strokes of the brush but nevertheless succeeds in bringing them to fully realized life. Very few novels I've read in recent months have done that.

The most impressive character in this story to my mind is Kilroy. Immediately upon meeting him I had a strong impression of what he should look, think, and feel like. He is, in my view, a character tailor-made for George Carlin to play if they ever turn this book into a movie. His philosophy and Carlin's outlook on life seem to fit together like a hand into a glove.

If this first novel is any indication Packer has a glorious career ahead of her.