Customer Reviews

The Last Time They Met

5 star:		(149)
4 star:		(99)
3 star:		(71)
2 star:		(85)
1 star:		(79)

 

 

I highly recommend reading Anita Shreve's "THE WEIGHT OF THE WATER" before you begin "THE LAST TIME WE MET." But whatever you do, definitely read them both. The stories are surprisingly intertwined with characters taking us through the most important times of their lives. Lives filled with hope, love, loyality, success, betrayal, loss, and deep regrets. Both endings will leave you feeling stunned. You will, no doubt, find yourself wanting to re-read the last chapters over and over again. When a book grabs you this way, I consider it a successful story told (despite how I feel about the outcome). Anita Shreve is a wonderful author and "THE LAST TIME WE MET" (as well as "THE WEIGHT OF THE WATER") is an excellent read. Don't pass these two books up!

Anita Shreve's latest novel presents some problems for the reviewer. Reading it, I found certain elements of character, motivation and maturity baffling, even annoying, despite the beauty of the writing. The surprise ending, however, cast these apparent flaws in a new light, giving subtle, poignant meaning and transforming the story. But it's impossible to discuss any of this without giving away the ending.

A story of intense, enduring, but frustrated love, the novel begins with the two protagonists in their early fifties, meeting at a literary festival after an interlude of some years. Linda Fallon and Thomas Janes, both poets, are free now, for the first time since their high school romance ended over an automobile accident.

Widowed, Linda had a long, happy marriage while Thomas, twice divorced, never fully recovered from the death of his 6-year-old daughter, which occurred at the end of Shreve's "Weight of Water." Thomas was the husband of that book's protagonist and there are numerous references to the shipboard events of that novel from Thomas' point of view. (I wondered: Did Shreve have this novel in mind even then; is that why she killed off the little girl, an abrupt shock which seemed pointless in that context?)

The first section is told from Linda's point of view - the reunion, her cautious renewal of this first love, reflections on her marriage, problems with her children. In sharp, anguished exchanges, they revisit the events that tore them apart. Linda, still harboring resentments, seems brooding, tentative, a little irritating.

"He seemed taken aback by the contest. She knew what later she would mind this the most; that she'd become common in her anger. That in an instant, she'd reinvented herself as a shrew."

The second section jumps back more than 20 years to their affair in Africa, seen through Thomas' eyes. An accidental meeting, both married, snatched, torrid graplings, literary love letters, all of it ending badly in a cataclysmic clash of duty and jealousy. Thomas, a more immediate, passionate presence, though no less conflicted, brings the heat and turmoil of Africa to bear on an illicit relationship which walls itself off from outside influence. "Were there people, he wondered, who had genuine, more-or-less continuous fun when they fell in love? It didn't seem possible, the enterprise too fraught to sustain the lightheartedness fun required."

Thomas' wives - Regina, whose lack of confidence makes her ugly and desperate and Jean, mother of Billie, adulterer - both seem remote, unloved, and mildly repellant. Thomas himself seems to be drifting, fully engaged only in his writing. Thinking of Regina, he reflects: "What she wouldn't forgive, he knew, was the pleasure the writing gave him: sensual and tactile, a jolt that ran through him when it worked. Always, he was writing in his head; at parties, he craved to be at a desk. He sometimes thought it was the only honest conduit he had to the world around him, all other endeavors, even his marriage (Jesus, especially his marriage), lost in the excessive caution of failed expectations and injured feelings."

The final section regresses in time again to the high school days of their first love. Told from Linda's viewpoint, this beginning has a spontaneous and organic feel, capturing the tentative, self-conscious forays of adolescent emotional and intellectual exploration, the blossoming of passion and respect, the surge of lustful love. Orphaned Linda is the poor, despised relation in a poor, overcrowded family. Thomas is the scion of privilege. A victim of sexual abuse, Linda struggles to overcome her fears; Thomas works hard to comprehend them. Together they are lovely, full of joy and fear. It's the best section of the book and I'm sure Shreve intended it to be.

This is a novel for book groups. Readers will enjoy discussing the ending with others, arguing about its meaning, its repercussions, how it colors everything that went before, the subtleties Shreve employs, her handling of obsession, loss and, well, you'll see.

I read this because I loved the way The Pilot's Wife was so cleverly crafted. I expected more of that kind of writing here and I was NOT disappointed.

In "The Last Time They Met", Anita Shreve writes a story that reveals secret after secret that makes you gasp at even single words she uses. Her writing is razor-sharp and so cleverly crafted that each time a secret is unveiled, you have to go back to the first clue and marvel and how she got there.

This is a wonderful novel about "might-have-beens" and "should-have-dones" and the regrets and decisions that make the tapestry of a life. Well done, Anita!!

I adored this book, and there aren't many that merit that description. Shreve had me in the palm of her hand until the end, then I reread the first third and picked up on oh-so-many clever foreshadowings and outright CLUES to what had happened to Thomas. Brilliant, brilliant writing. It's not a book about adultery at all, but about how a tragic loss can color a life forever, burden a life with guilt that cannot be assuaged. "Does time help?" Linda asks. "No," Thomas answered, speaking with the conviction of "long experience." Oh, my. Now I see.

Not to be missed--but it requires an effort on the part of the reader.

I fell in love with the love story between Linda and Thomas in the first third of the book. I personally found the writing in the middle section about Africa a bit dull (there seemed to be quite a bit of pontification), but was still drawn to the story and cared very much about the characters. The last third I flew through, it answered so many questions, but the last page pulled the rug out from under my feet. I felt cheated that I'd given my time and energy to care about this story just to find out that it ended before it even began. In fact, so much so that it's highly unlikely that I will read this author again.
I also agree that the italicized dialogue was, for some reason, difficult to follow.
I'm giving 3 stars to a book that I would have given 4 stars to had the ending not been so disappointing.

Anita Shreve's latest novel, "The Last Time They Met," has three parts. It starts out with a bittersweet reunion between two former lovers, Linda Fallon and Thomas Janes, both of whom are published poets. Linda and Thomas meet at a literary festival where they will both read from their works. Now in their fifties, Linda and Thomas first fell in love in high-school, but they parted and lost touch for ten years. When they were in their twenties, they met by chance while they were both living in Africa. As the novel opens, Linda and Thomas get together to catch up on how they have spent the last several decades of their lives, and they analyze their painful past. The next two parts of the book go back in time, first to their days together in Africa, and then to the time when Linda and Thomas were teenagers in love. Shreve sets up the book like a jigsaw puzzle. We get to know Thomas and Linda, and little by little we understand how and why they made the choices they did in life. Shreve explores many themes in this book, such as how some devastating experiences can never be put behind us and how words are often inadequate to accurately capture the full range and depth of human emotion. Although the ending is shocking and unanticipated, it is also powerful and gripping. Shreve is an expert on how people, sometimes unwittingly and at other times, consciously, destroy one another and themselves.

I'll be the first to admit, I am a big fan of Anita Shreve! I have read all of her books and had the opportunity to hear her read the first chapter of this book during a recent book tour. She peeked my interest at the book reading and I walked away wanting to know the rest of the story. Well, I couldn't put this book down. In my opinion, it is the very best of all of her novels. Definitely, a page turner and the ending was amazing. She does an excellent job of tying in little details that move from the present relationship between Thomas and Linda to the first day they met. Their relationship made me think of Romeo and Juliet in the fact that they experienced true love at such a young age. Anita Shreve does an excellent job of writing about love that can last a lifetime no matter what twists and turns a life can take. I too reread the last few pages again and actually went back and reread the beginning as well.

Just finished this book and feel a combination of depression and anger. This book was tedious reading for a long time, but I stuck with it, sure I would be rewarded. It wasn't worth the "sticking-with". What a waste of my time! And for me, who had bought every Anita Shreve book to date, to say this, is something.

Ok, I admit, I'm still confused. But, unlike many reviewers, I'm not angry about it. I'm titilated. Afterall, not every author could blow your socks off on the last page. I'll even admit that after I finished the book, I went back and reread the first chapter again, picking up on things I'd missed before.

I definitely feel this book could keep a reading group debating for hours. And, that is what makes for a great read--something that haunts you, makes you think, even curse, question your sanity, or question the author's sanity. But anyone who reads this completely through and comes away with a "ho hum" attitude is either brain dead or decieving his/herself. You'll either love it or hate it, there isn't much room for complacency in this novel.

It did remind me a little of the movie Momento in terms of starting at the end and working backwards and finally wondering what actually happened. Writing in reverse order (from ending to beginning) like Shreve did cannot be easy and for this alone I applaud her.

Don't listen to the naysayers. Give this book a chance. And if you're convinced you understand it completely, drop me a line! You're someone worth talking to....

Long awaited, Shreve's newest novel seems to have left myself and my coworkers (librarians) simply shrugging our shoulders. Shreve did not convince me that this romance moved the Heaven and Earth at all. Linda and Thomas each had their problems. But the romance?, the fire burning deep within?, I didn't get it. Very good story. But after I am finished, I am still awaiting a climax.