Customer Reviews

My Sister, My Love

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Very prolific author Joyce Carol Oates' latest lengthy novel MY SISTER, MY LOVE: THE INTIMATE STORY OF SKYLER RAMPIKE is quite obviously "inspired" by the still unsolved Ramsey murder case of over ten years ago. Names, locations, and a whole lot of facts have been changed to prevent lawsuits in this "re-imagining" but Oates still manages to put forth a pretty compelling tale of "what might have happened" in that infamous child murder. The story is told from the viewpoint of six year old ice skating princess and murder victim, Bliss Rampike's, brother Skyler. Nine years old at the time of the tragedy but writing his memoirs ten years later, he makes some sharp satiric observations about upper middle class suburban life in his rambling account. The Rampike parents "Bix" and "Betsy" come plausibly alive as shallow, upwardly mobile strivers both before and after the tragedy that changed their lives. The final quarter of the book includes a first person novella that describes Skyler's teenage years as a resident at a school for troubled rich kids (Skyler battles addictions among other problems) and his doomed romance with the daughter of a famous athlete who in a very familiar sounding manner was tried but not convicted of the murder of his ex-wife and her boyfriend. The book concludes with Skyler at age almost twenty visiting his mother for the last time, seeing his father for the first time in years and the revelation of what really happened to his sister. The style of the book is not for everyone as it is filled with footnotes, asides from both the narrator and author Oates and other devices Miss Oates often employs in her writing. The book is really quite a bit too long and could have benefited from an editor's pen but at this point in her career Joyce Carol apparently writes whatever she pleases.

Joyce Carol Oates has written fiction based on actual events before, BLACK WATER (1992) and BLONDE (2000). Now she has written a gargantuan novel (562 pages) that has its "genesis" in what she calls in her Author's Note/Disclaimer a "true crime mystery of the late twentieth century." Think the murder of Jonbenet Ramsey and tragic aftermath of events that followed. The family name here is Rampike; the parents are Betsey and Bix; the childen, Bliss, whose name was changed from Edna Louise, and Skyler. This rambling story unfolds through the eyes of Skyler, who is nine years old when his six-year-old sister, an ice skating prodigy, is killed in the upper-middle-class family's home in suburban New Jersey.

Ms. Oates' world view is nothing if not dark-- at least in her fiction I have read although I do not pretend to have read her 70 or so volumes. In MY SISTER, MY LOVE Ms. Oates satirizes a certain section of American society, the perennial social climber. Thr Ramikes must get into the most prestigious social club. Betsey arranges playdates for Skyler with the children of the most important neighbors. Then there is Bix, the red-blooded former football star who has a cliche ("who's complaining?" "cut your losses!"never say never!" for every occasion. So what are they to do with a troubled son with a limp who always appears to smirk in the obligatory publicity photos of Mummy, Daddy and Bliss, the holder of the title of "Little Miss Jersey Ice Princess" among many others?

Ms. Oates skewers fundamentalist get-rich religion as well. While Bix can take his religion or leave it-- he believes in a Caucasian god and is a nominal Episcopalean-- Betsey after the death of Bliss joins a pentecostal church and writes memoirs of her tragedy and produces a line of "Heaven Scent" products-- cosmetics, candies et cetera, to help heal her wounds. Her funeral in a mega-church, a "fervent/impassioned/'smiling-through-tears' Assembley of God" that seats 2,100 and is located "beyond Wal-Mart, beyond Home Depot and Big Savings Bonanza" with a copper cross twelve feet high floating over the stage-- there is no altar in sight-- is way past macabre.

Threaded through all this picture of modern American bad taste is Skyler's sometimes creepy, at other times moving, but always sad account of his love for his little sister-- at her insistence he inks a red heart in her palm-- and his own shipwrecked life. There are precious few people to like here. Both Rampike parents are despicable in twenty different ways. Oates is neither subtle nor merciful in her portrayal of them or many others as well. The two bungling detectives assigned to the murder invetigation are named Sledge and Slugg. She reserves her sympathy for the most part for the young people, Bliss and Skyler and Heidi Harkness, the teenager Skyler falls in love with at the Academy of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, a school for students with "special needs." Heidi is the troubled daughter of a celebrity murderer and former major league baseball star recently acquitted for the murder of his wife, her alleged lover and the wife's poodles Yin and Yang. Pastor Bob is a decent person too.

Ms. Oates in the end solves Bliss' murder. I wondered, as I finished this long novel, if she would have changed the ending, knowing what we now know about the DNA evidence in the Ramsey case. Additionally, even though Skyler is a brilliant young man, at times he has to be channeling Ms. Oates for he knows far too much and writes too well for even the most precocious of nineteen-year-olds.

Finally- believe it or not-- this novel ends on a mildly optimistic note with just a whiff of hope. Maybe that is all we need in the end.

Our book club's book for August was MY SISTER, MY LOVE by Joyce Carol Oates. Originally we had thought about reading some nonfiction for a change, but then someone suggested a "novelization" of a true story. We were thinking of IN COLD BLOOD by Truman Capote, but then someone suggested MY SISTER, MY LOVE which is a fictional account of the JonBenet Ramsey murder case. In light of the recent evidence that came to light, we thought this would make for good discussion. And it helped that we have read the Rosamond Smith books in the past, and liked them...so we chose this one! (P.S., For other book clubs, did you know you can often get a bulk discount from a bookstore if you ask for it? We got this hardcover book for not much more than a trade paperback would cost.)

This is mostly a first-person narrative from the perspective of Skyler Rampike, the older brother of the murdered child--who is here named "Bliss Rampike." The setting is New Jersey, not Colorado; and Bliss Rampike is a child skating prodigy rather than a child model. Many of the other details are similar to the Ramsey case, however: the upper-middle class setting in a world of expensive homes and SUV's, the infamous ransom note, and the media feeding frenzy that really never quite abated.

What is most strikingly different is the exploration of the life of the older brother, who was of course suggested as the murderer throughout the years of the Ramsey murder investigation. Here, Skyler is the original target of his parents' ambitions to live vicariously through their children. When young Skyler proves to not have what it takes to be an Olympic gymnast (brought on by a serious accident, perhaps caused by his father, that leads him to limp for the rest of his life), "Mummy" Betsey Ramsey turns her attentions to young Edna Louise, who is rechristened "Bliss" as her skating career begins to take off.

The novel is certainly long, and not as tightly written as the Rosamond Smith mystery/suspense books. Still, most of us found it difficult to put down, as well as heartbreaking. Skyler is basically an orphan in his own family--not enough of a "guy" for his macho father, easily ignored while Mummy devotes all her attention to his sister. Is it any wonder that the poor kid ends up in "special schools" for the troubled children of the wealthy, experimenting with drugs and never forming any real attachments? The novel is gripping not only because we come to care so much about what becomes of poor Skyler, but also for the way Oates "solves" the murder (which, interestingly, does not match the recent evidence that came to light...which led to some good discussions regarding whether a novel must match the facts exactly to be "realistic" or effective).

We wondered how Oates, a woman in her sixties, could so understand the life of a teenage boy--but she does. Several of our women members talked about crying throughout much of the book, while the men talked (a bit uncomfortably) about their adolescent experiences.

One unexpected (and enjoyable) part of the book is a pretty savage look at the pretensions of the nouveau riche, as well as the "industry" that can spring up around tragedy. Among all the pathos, Oates tosses in some really brutal parody that makes you laugh out loud. And, as you might expect, she saves her sympathy for the children who are so brutalized by money-grubbing, social climbing parents.

The chief complaint was that the book is "too long," but when we looked more closely we wondered if this was a valid criticism. We asked, "OK, what would we take out to shorten the book?" But every time we suggested that this or that chapter could be excised, we decided the book would be less rich without it. For example, there's a 50-page chapter that tells about Skyler's failed first romantic relationship (with a character who is supposed to be the daughter of an O.J. Simpson type). Some of the readers said getting rid of it would shorten the book, but others were horrified at the thought, because it's so heart breaking to see this poor broken kid finally reaching out. And it's amazing, with what he went through, that Skyler has any love at all left in his heart--but he does, and to learn more you'll have to read the book.

Another criticism was the occasionally self-conscious literary style, with a lot of references to "my manuscript," as well as a lot of footnotes that break the narrative. We weren't quite sure what these were meant to accomplish, and they did seem to interrupt the flow quite often, but in the end we decided that Oates knows a lot more about novel-writing than we do.

This is a very sad, and sometimes very funny, book, and we thought it was an extraordinary look at the way the sins of the fathers (and mothers) are visited upon the children.

In this dark novel of family dysfunction at its most terrifying, Joyce Carol Oates weaves a tale of a wealthy suburban family, obsessed with its youngest family member's stardom as an ice-skating princess, and how the older sibling, awkward and unable to keep up with the family image, is shunted aside.

Young Bliss Rampike ("Bliss" being a stage name) is pushed to excel. Dolled up (literally), she resembles a porcelain image. Nothing about her seems real, and when any possibility of a real girl emerges, her mother, terrifyingly adroit in her stage-mother role, is there to prod

her on.

The older brother Skylar is also there, with his dark thoughts and terrifying moments of clumsiness. In family portraits for the media, he is pushed to remove the "pain" look from his face.

Behind these moments, of course, Skylar also remembers a time...before Bliss, before his awkwardness...when he was "the little man", his mother's adored child.

This could simply be a tale of sibling rivalry, or one of living in the eye of the media. But it all becomes "tabloid hell", when one mysterious night, Bliss is found dead in the furnace room.

Most of the book is presented from the perspective of Skylar Rampike, who takes the reader down a long and winding road of awkwardness, terror, and emotional disturbance...However, the story is uneven, diverging frequently, and full of footnotes to explain and describe events.

At the end, something of the mystery is revealed, but many unanswered questions remain. Is anything true? Is it all just a fabrication by a disturbed young man? Did the young boy suffer from more than emotional abuse at the hands of his mother? The relationship is twisted to the point that Skylar "leaves" the family shortly after the murder...first to be hospitalized and then for many years to reside in "special schools"...But even after he is an adult, he stays away. The reader suspects this detachment is more than escape from the media storm...He seems to be struggling to save his very soul.

In this family horror tale, resembling the story of Jon-Benet Ramsey, the beauty queen murdered at approximately the same time as the child in this book, Ms. Oates has crafted a truly ingenious description of family life gone awry. At times, I found the story tedious, with its winding and weaving down many paths...but I couldn't put it down or discard it. I had to plod along to the gory finish.

I would not recommend this book for those who are in search of light-hearted stories with a happy ending. The reader has to be enthralled by the pursuit of the answers the book can provide in order to hang in there.

I was unsure of how to rate this book, since it would not have wide appeal. I decided on four stars...it is excellent writing and a beautifully crafted exploration of the psyche of the characters...but many would find it tedious and rambling.

Ms. Oates is not everyone's "cup of tea", and after reading this one, I'll probably wait awhile before submerging myself in another of her books, although I have several awaiting me on my To Be Read stack.

JCO is a gifted writer and her telling of this familiar story is well done. But the editor who thought it was a great idea to add miniature footnotes in italic must have an optician in the family. Not only were the footnotes jarring as they tore you from the story, but they were hard to read for those of us in our doting years. It's a good read but not worth the struggle to physically read it and stay in task.

In New Jersey, Rampike family patriarch Bix is a woman chasing abusive intimidating father; his compliant wife Betsey focuses on one thing pushing their daughter Bliss, into becoming an internationally famous winning figure skater. Their other child nine years old son Skyler is irrelevant to either parent except if they need someone to bully. The Rampike family lifestyle abruptly dies when the star Bliss is murdered violently in the furnace room by someone who stabbed her multiple times.

A decade later the late Bliss' brother remains filled with guilt over her unsolved death while also shouldering the belief of almost everyone familiar with the case that he out of a jealous rage caused by her getting all the attention killed his sibling. Sky has no one as neither parent offers him comfort until now nineteen and having been haunted alone for ten years he receives the letter from his dying mother that tells him what happened on that fatal day when the façade of what he thought was the perfect family collapsed under the weight of the homicide.

An obvious tie to the Jon Benet tragedy, this is a deep satire that bludgeons the American dream in which appearances with no substance counts above all else; image is everything hiding dysfunctional relationships. The story line is clever especially with "footnotes" to add to the feel that Sky is "reading" the true family biography written by his mommy. The story line is padded somewhat by a novella "First Love, Farewell" written by Skylar that enables the audience to better understand how as a teen he views relationships, but also distracts from the prime theme of what happened on that day. Still fans will appreciate Joyce Carol Oates keen look at the real American dream of obsession, excessiveness, and materialism.

Harriet Klausner

Skyler Rampike, surviving child of the tabloid disaster that is his family, narrates this story. His 6-year-old sister, a prodigy figure skater under the pushy care of their stage mother, is murdered and found in the family's furnace room, with a scribbled and barely readable note left behind and a basement window left ajar. It should sound quite like the JonBenet Ramsey murder, because it is clearly the jumping off point for Oates and she acknowledges it in an upfront disclaimer. Skyler is 19 when the tale begins and he attempts to take us back to his earlier life with his deeply scarred (and deeply scary) parents and the early and final years of his sister "Bliss" and her short career.

The narrative is herky-jerky, with quick cuts and footnotes, and resembles the fits and starts in Skyler's damaged psyche. We discover the depths of his disengagement from life and his parents following the family tragedy slowly, and realize that his pain and drug addictions have their basis in actions that took place well before Bliss was killed. The lifestyles of the wealthy, who can afford to medicate their `difficult' children or hide them away when convenient, while scrambling to maintain their rung on the social ladder, are picked apart by the 9 year-old voice of Skyler and his only slightly more informed teenage self.

Betsey (Mummy) and Bix Rampike, the parents, are absolutely horrid people and terrible parents all along. Unreliable, self-medicating and selfish, these two are probably among the very worst parents Oates has ever used in story or novel. Oates takes us on a journey through some pretty tough satire, in her portrayals of Betsey's ghoulish fame-seeking following Bliss' death and in her open disdain for the industry of psychopharmacology. Skyler's character is, by turns, annoying and sympathetic, unreliable and bitterly truthful. As this family's dysfunction is made more and more clear, though, I think sympathy for our narrator wins out and we want to see him somehow achieve peace, which is pretty hard to find in this disquieting work.

Joyce Carol Oates new novel "My sister, My Love" is a wonderful look at the contemporary culture of America's upper-middle-class. Of course the unsolved murder of Jon Benet Ramsey flows throughout the story "with actual names and locations changed".

This novel, is absolutely wonderful. My only problem is the "tiny, tiny print of the foot notes". They are almost impossible to read and they are a very important part of this satirical tale of woe.

My introduction to JCO was the paperback "Them" which had just come out some 40 years ago (by the way she autographed that very book at last years Book Fair in Vermont). I have been an avid fan ever since (her incisive characterizations are like no one else's), even reading all of her psycho-mysteries that she pens under the pseudonym of 'Rosamond Smith'. It's just amazing to me how she can enter the mind/world of 'real' people ('Blonde'-MM, 'Black Water'-TK and M/JK) and make their loves so interesting and plausible, that you are captivated. For someone who has devoted her life to academia and writing, writing, writing, it just doesn't seem that she would have such a rich imagination to plunder but I'm so grateful that she has. Her most recent efforts that I've vastly enjoyed are 'The Falls' and 'The Gravedigger's Daughter'. 'My Sister, My Love is among her very best. This portrait of the typical, American, dysfunctional family (an overworked cliche for sure, but so true) with a globe-trotting, philandering FATHER, a Jesus-loving, jealous, do-anything-for-my-daughter MOTHER, the lonely, intelligent, limping SON and, of course, the bed-wetting, slow-witted and yet endearing, miracle-on-ice DAUGHTER. This is not a family anyone would want to part of and yet one can't help but find them fascinating. The tabloid-reading public (including myself) could not get enough of the Ramsay family and it is such a sad, bewildering story, you can't help but be glad you didn't live anywhere near them, for fear some of this dysfunction is catching. The tale is told by the SON these ten years after the muder and is filled with footnotes that are somtimes laugh-out-loud funny....And funny is not a word generally associated with JCO, AND, unlike 'real' life, the murderer is revealed. Despite the biting satire and rich prose, don't ever forget that you're in JCOLand and there is no dark quite like hers. Read it, and you won't be sorry...and if you are, you can always return to Nora Roberts...GCW

Oates' writing seem to leave no reader untouched; read the reviews of her latest book here. Readers seem to either love or hate her work. This book, a sorta retread of the JonBenet Ramsay murder, is a bleak but brilliant work. It's not an easy read, but well worth the effort, IF you've enjoyed her previous work.