Customer Reviews

The End of an Error

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I feel so strange! I am the only reviewer thus far to give a rating less than 5 stars! Perhaps I need to be in a different place in my life with my children grown to really get it. Or, to have left a love behind not by choice, but from forced events.
I adored the tale of Lee's grandmother Marguerite & their odd, yet endearing relationship to one another.
I was romanticized (obviously!) by Lee's thoughts to re-visit her first love if given the chance. Not only does she think fondly of "what if", she conspires & makes those events take place.
I think Medwed is a really good writer, but I was so bothered by Lee's callousness towards her loving husband, and, in a way, Simon, too, that I'd feel funny giving this 5 stars. I grew tired of the way Lee would try & rationalize & justify her behavior in that poor-pitiful-me-stance. Her husband remained steadfast until the very end. Speaking of ending- that had to confirm my 3 stars! I won't give anything away, but I'm just thinking: "How many times do you have to run face-first into the glass window before you realize the damn thing's double-paned & locked to boot?!!"
I am curious as to find another reader who shares my opinions on this book. Is there something I missed here to make it great, worthy of the 5 stars??
In this genre of fiction, I would recommend Anita Shreve's "Resistance" instead of this. It's a complex, star-crossed love story set in painful, turbulent times.

I've adored Medwed's work ever since the exhilarating "Mail", and this one is her most irresistible. Lee Emery is middle-aged, happily married, and she's written a book about the path --and the person-- not taken--a life with her first love Simon(already I'm hooked.) Amidst the memories of that love, we also read about her glamorous grandmother Marguerite (one of the most magnificent literary creations I've encountered!)Impulsively, Lee sends the book to Simon, turning everything in her life upside down. Told in sparkling prose, the book had melaughing out loud in parts and reaching for the box of tissues in others. And to me, a novel that can make you do both is a masterpiece indeed.

Mameve's tale of lost love is both heartbreaking and hilarious --and absolutely terrific. No one writes the way she does! The prose dances and glints right off the page. I loved this witty, wonderful book.

Fans of Mameve Medwed's two other funny and warm novels--Host Family and Mail--definitely will feel thrilled to return to yet another one of her well-written, humorous stories. If you have never read Medwed's novels, you might want to start with The End of An Error, which is about the road not taken--take it and see where main character Lee Emery ends up! Of particular fun in this novel--the exploration of authorship and how it can enrich/ruin/change your life. (If you're interested in this topic, you might want to read two other funny novels that address this subject matter: John Colapinto's About The Author or Christina Schwarz's All is Vanity).

As with Host Family and Mail, Medwed writes a light hearted novel with terrific descriptions, scenes, emotions. One again, Medwed doesn't disappoint and there are plenty of creative word-play zingers throughout the book that jump out as unexpected delights and surprises seemingly planted as little nods from the author to those who are culturally literate. Her characters are realistic and amusing. You'll finish the book wishing you had a "Ben", "Simon" and "Marguerite" in your life and I suspect given the care that Ms. Medwed so obviously took when she wrote each word of their dialogues that she has been fortunate enough to know them all.

Readers of Medwed's earlier novels -- Mail and Host Family -- will recognize her characteristic witty wordplay and warm, ironic humor. But this is a bigger, deeper book. Lee's yearning for her first love, Simon, is more than just the typical regret of a middle-aged woman for lost youth and missed opportunities. It's a subtle meditation on life's choices and where they lead us. Can we revise our own fates? Should we? Medwed's handling of these questions is always sympathetic, never heavy-handed, and often quite surprising. A lovely, satisfying novel.

If you enjoyed Medwed's previous novels then you will love this one. If you have never read Medwed before then go out and buy this now!! This is another wonderful novel by this funny, yet poignant author.

This is a book for anyone who remembers their first love...or perhaps the great unrequited love of their life..and wonders if things could have turned out differently. Even though happily married to our comfortable "Ben", we can't help but recall the more exciting "Simon" in our lives. Having read Medwed's first two books and enjoyed them, I ordered this one, and am so glad I did...it's definitely the best of the three. I simply could not put it down until I discovered how things came out for Lee, the heroine. there is some of Medwed's humor in the book, but its real value is the nostalgia it should evoke in its readers. I'm a senior citizen, and plan to recommend this to my daughter, approaching 40, as well. And I think the Bens and Simons of the world will enjoy it too.

If you liked her previous two novels, then you will love this one. If you have never read anything by Mameve Medwed then get this now!!!!

I've read Ms Medwed's other novels, however this one just didn't read as well (as the others). I honestly couldn't get past the first chapter. The writing seemed all over the place. Can't say I liked the main character either. I also couldn't get past the names of her kids....Timmy and Johnny. Ugh.