Customer Reviews

Shimmer

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

 

 

I read "shimmer" in german, the paperback-edition. And as in the beginning I expected fiction and characters like I knew them from other Sarah Schulman books like Empathy or Rat Bohemia, such ones I could easily identify with, I first was surprised, that it had not this issue. I was breathless each time I took the book - I read her using words I didn't find yet to express thoughts I didn't have yet, but knew and felt deep inside. And the more I read I loved the way she used the 1950ies to describe today's reality.

A real disappointment. The story is sketchy, some of the characters one-dimensional and unmotivated. The nasty air of menace and evil that we associate with the McCarthy Era is well-evoked. But I'm never made to feel anything for the characters, which is too bad because lines between good and evil, and right and wrong are made so clear, so black and white.

We never really learn why sopme of the major characters do or feel anything they do or feel. The right-wing columnist and the black playwright are especially flat characters. Racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-Communism: these are big topics that people have deep conflicts about, and there's not enough deep conflict within the characters in 'Shimmer.' People are who they seem to be and that's it.

I bought this book after reading "Girls, Visions & Everything" and was initially disappointed in the characters in this book. Schulman abandons the gay urban setting, trading it for the age of McCarthyism. However, after reading a few chapters, I began to get immensely drawn into the narrative. The writing is amazing, linking different characters from different times and places into one cohesive story. The ability to see the events from many perspectives is creative and interesting.

The book reminded me a great deal of "Slaughterhouse Five" in its seemingly disconnected events that later are drawn together into one larger story.

This novel is a provocative depiction of McCarthy era New York. It is a departure, in a way, for Schulman, taking the form of a well researched historical novel. But in other ways it continues her previous themes and preoccupations--the disenfranchised, the marginal, the way gay children are treated by their parents. Schulman has a remarkable gift with language, and her tracking of the ways of the heart is equally remarkable. The characters are multidimensional and complex, and the story is told in a compelling narrative form. Highly recommended for anyone interested in contemporary fiction.

Whatever happened to a good editor? This novel certainly lacked one. It is a mess of a story with the author trying to unite three characters together through the events that take place, but none of the characters are well-realized and the whole story comes across as seeming silly and false. The most moving character, a black playwrigh, writing at a time when there were hardly any black writers in the legit. theatre, would make an interesting character in a novel all by himself. But as it is his great scenes are momentary. The gossip columnist is an evil mess..apart from representing the worst in American society at the time of the McCarthy witch hunts, this man is so one-dimensional that he is totally unbelievable. And the heroine of the novel, part Jewish Little Dorrit, part coming out character, is all over the place. I think the author had some good ideas but tried to cram them all into one short book and add a strong political message not only about those times, but life in these times. IT's too much that produces too little and the reader feels jerked around and bored by most of it. A major disapointment. I rated the novel as high as I did simply because the portrait of the playwright was quite moving in parts. If only the author had focused on that one story.

Sara Schulman's novel 'Shimmer' was a disappointment. I admit, I was intrigued by the cover (I read the hardcover copy). I'm especially intrigued by the 50's since I grew up then. The novel is unfocused, angry (maybe whiney is a better word), and confusing throughout. She does not delve deep enough into her characters to make them real, they almost seem like caricatures. I kept hoping it would get better, and as a dedicated reader, I usually read to the end. I bought the book at B. Dalton, from their ... rack (I usually do this with hardcovers, once a year after the gift certificates from Christmas arrive), so I really didn't expect much, but sometimes you get a winner.

'Shimmer' is not a winner. It's a dud. If one wants to read a 'real good book' about the 50's, the McCarthy era, etc. I recommend 'The Book of Daniel' by E. L. Doctorow. Now that I bought for ... at the Humane Society Thrift Store, another of my haunts.

Initially, I kind of identified with Sylvia. She seemed real, she had a cause. But then that cause developed into a general hatred of men, hatred of the system, just finally hatred; she didn't forgive, at all. N. Tammy was a flake, someone only concerned with appearances and sex. Austin was evil incarnate and played it to the hilt. O'Dwyer a rich blowhard, but at least his heart's in the right place. Cal could have developed into a major force, but he also, is too angry and not given to giving in at any point. Caroline is another flake, sounds good but nothing there: a playgirl.

Had I known the author was an avowed lesbian, I probably would have passed on the book. I didn't even suspect until near the end of the book where Sylvia owns up to it. Had I known, I probably would have thought 'I told you so' whenever the hatred and whining showed through during the course of the story.

I really didn't see the point to the story, it lacks a sense of completeness, and it's written in kind of like a journal format with the years, the hit songs, etc. Perhaps there's a sequel to be done? Who knows. I do know I won't be reading it.

But I still like the cover.

I wanted to quit reading this book early on, but I kept thinking it would get better. It didn't. The characters are artificial and disconnected, there is no particular storyline, the time frames jump all over. Perhaps the most annoying thing about the book is all the whining! Black, Jewish, Irish, lesbian...every stereotypical character, whine, whine whine!Lousy.