Customer Reviews

Reconstructionist

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

 

 

As with her seductively dark debut novel, Damage (made into a film starring Juliette Binoche and Jeremy Irons), author Josephine Hart once again explores the paths of human desire and self-deception.

A successful London psychiatrist, Jack Harrington, devotes his hours and thoughts to the problems of his patients. Divorced from a wife with whom he had spent time "in the social purgatory that rowing couples inflict upon one another," he seems to lead a well ordered mannerly existence sometimes marked by overly protective feelings for his sister, Kate.

Jack's tranquility is interrupted when his former wife suffers a heart attack, the family estate in Ireland is put up for sale, and the soon-to-be-married Kate develops an eerie edginess.

When Jack and Kate return to the family home, he is forced to confront long buried truths concerning a long ago tragedy and the scars left upon those who witnessed it.

With masterly detail and perceptive psychological insights Josephine Hart has penned a mesmerizing contemporary Gothic tale centering on familial relationships, both beneficial and pernicious.

- Gail Cooke

This book is a trip! You really have to pay attention while you read the book because they give clues all the way through it. There is a twist at the end that is totally unexpected. I had to re-read the last few chapters to make sure I read it right.

The story is told from Jack Trainor's point of view. Jack is a psychiatrist, and has a younger sister Kate. Kate is a writer, but she seems extremely unstable. The focus of the story is Jack's differing relationships with women. By the end of the story, there is a resolution in both Kate's relationships with men through the resolution of Jack's relationship with women. All this resolution comes because Jack faces the truth of the horrible event that framed their youth.

I would highly recommend this book. The librarian who checked it out to me told me it was strange, but I disagree. It takes a little bit to get used to, but the story grabs you as you get further in. Happy reading!

OVERALL:
This book is really wonderful in so many ways. The writing is honest, beautiful, and intricate, yet not ostentatious or pretentious. The story is very well thought out and the manner in which it unfolds is perfect. It is just so well-crafted (!) - throughout the story there are certain landmarks which as the story progresses begin to take on new meaning and importance.

CHARACTERS:
The characters are believable and three-dimensional, they are human with strengths and weaknesses, hopes and desires and faults. Jack Harrington is very real and a wonderful narrator; the reader is able to trust him and like him, despite the fact that we are privy to his more negative or darker thoughts. Kate, his sister, seems like an elusive mystery, though her explanation is unraveled at the end. Rose, Jack's ex-mother-in-law, is a wonderfully humorous character whom you just wish was real so that you could actually sit down and have a conversation with her.

TITLE:
At the end of the book, if one reexamines the title it takes on more meanings than originally thought, which I really must commend Ms. Hart on; it is really thoughtful, yet extremely subtle.

BASICALLY:
Definitely recommend it - a wonderful book that is worth buying, not just getting from the library.

I bought 'the Reconstructionist' as a bargain book. But what an excellent read. I can see it as a film. Though it would be quite a challenge to portray the relationship between the siblings. Ms. Hart obviously has a deep insight into a mind damaged by trauma. The need to protect ourselves or those dear to us, with whom we share such a situation.
I felt she was excellent. 'Damage' is more concise reading, the characters are better described, but Ms. Hart still manages to maintain a distance from them. One wonders what will become of the main characters.
What I thought was fascinating is that She writes with the mind of a man..made me wonder whether it was a man who had actually written the text.

This book was good. It definetely took me awhile to get into it though. There is alot of unecessary information in the begining of this book and starts out real slow. On a positive note, it does pick up as the story goes on and by the end I had come to enjoy it. There is a very strong relationship between brother and sister and shows the sacrifices family members will make for each other. Overall it was a good, quick read.

I really did not care for this book. I've not read this author before and found her prose to be very formal and pretentious, as were the characters. They did not seem at all real to me, nor did I care about them.

Everyone in this book is completely self absorbed. No one reaches out or cares about anything but themselves and all ponderings are about satisfying self indulgences. Doctor Jack, who is certainly as mentally ill as his most vivid patient, and his physically stunning but demanding and shallow sister Kate, are of the class of too much money and too little imagination. They are the heirs to a terrible family tragedy which you are teased with throughout this story with questionable incest as a strong hook. Neither of them is able to have a normal relationship and the only consistent love in their lives is each other.

The only character that I believed was the father of Jack and Kate. With his glacial flaws, charm and avarice, Michael Trainer is the best and worst of all fathers.

When Jack is given the opportunity to purchase their childhood home, the dark trauma of this family begins to reveal itself to the reader. I was not surprised or satisfied by the revelation of what happened to make Jack and Kate such a mess. The ending was very predictable and Jacks new persona is slowly emerging as he closes the door forever, on where he came from.

Well, as a matter of fact, I bought this book for my wife but I decided to read it anyway and I found it quite interesting. Not my favourite genre but surely a nice book and well worth the price.