Customer Reviews

Terms of Endearment Pb

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'm a big fan of Larry McMurtry, and am amazed at the amount of quality material he has cranked out over the years. Be it with his "Lonesome Dove" series, or his more contemporary novels such as this one, there always seems to be parts of the story that make one despair about life in general. There is usually death of some kind. While many authors will write something 'redeeming' about a death, McMurtry will tend to show the stark fact that life goes on, and often a death is indeed a big waste. Cruel as it sounds, it is probably more real than we'd like to admit, and for that, I like his work.

While this novel doesn't contain the wholesale slaughter of his westerns, there is enough pain to carry the story in his manner described above. What makes the book great is how he takes a pair of characters who are not that pleasant a couple, and makes us really care for them. Aurora, the widowed mother, is an overweight, overbearing woman who constantly cajoles those close to her. Her daughter Emma, also overweight and seemingly without focus in life, is not exactly someone you're gonna turn the TV on to see. One is tempted to close the book early on and look for more uplifting characters, but McMurtry hooks you, first with comedy, then tragedy.

I was surprised to see how much I grew to like Aurora by the end of the book, and have sympathy for Emma. There is a method to Aurora's rudeness. For example, being a widow, she has a handful of male suitors. At first I was wondering what all these older guys saw in her, as elderly guys, by sheer numbers, would have the pick of much more numerous older ladies. We see how she keeps them at arm's length, and as the book goes on, we see how they fit into their lives. When several of the suitors often wind up in the same room without too much bloodshed, we see that the method does work. Aurora has a role for each of them, and understands that most of them would not be able to keep up with her.

Same with Emma. If I were to meet this person at just about any part of her life, I probably would have little interest. But we do see the needs of this person. Yes, she probably made a big mistake with her choice of husband. But we see how she does want affection from a man who doesn't seem to have much to give, and thus turns back to her mother. While they both keep each other at arm's length, we can see the bond that holds them together until the end.

Terrific book, and and excellent translation to the screen.

This is one of my faviorite books. I laugh alot and cried at the ending. I loved the characters. i could almost see Vernon living in his car. I liked the book better than the movie.

`"No choice", Aurora muttered, abandoning the field. It was another of her favorite expressions, and also one of her favorite states. As long as she could feel robbed of all choices, then nothing that went wrong could b her fault, and in any case, she had never really enjoyed choosing unless jewels and gowns were involved.'

This is Aurora Greenway, the restless matriarch and protagonist of Larry McMurtry's perennial classic "Terms of Endearment". She is a person who leaves no choice for those around her. She is the one who makes the choices - what makes life a little hard for her bunch of suitors and her grown-up daughter, Emma, whose marriage could be seen as both a escape from her dominant mother and a relationship doomed to fail.

McMurtry, in this novel, is able to create to vivid female characters by displaying more of their actions than their inner thoughts. As the real life of the narrative, Aurora is a dominant presence in the book. Sometimes she seems to threaten to jump from the pages and steal the novel from the author and transform it into something else- what might not necessarily be a bad thing.

As much delineated as Aurora is, as a character, sometimes the lack of a pre-narrative life burdens of her shoulders. Who is she? And more why is she the way she is is a fault in the narrative. Some flashback, or even in a dialogue, some hints could be given of Aurora's past life. Not only would this add dept to the character but nuance to the narrative. "Also, Aurora was easier to like when she was down. The minute her spirit rose she became contrary again." Would glimpses like these into Aurora's psyche be more frequent, "Terms of Endearment" could be a better novel, because they would bring strength to the narrative and humanize the characters.

McMurtry is really good when it comes to delineate people using dialogue, rather than plain prose. If on one hand this brings swing to the narrative, on the other, sometimes this device avoids a deeper look into the inner life of his characters. By the way, his female characters are more developed than the male ones. Aurora, Emma, and their maid, Rosie, are more resembling to human beings than, Aurora's suitors (a general, an oil tycoon, and an Italian), Emma's husband, Flap, and Rosie's, Royce.

Emma is the best person in the novel, but to the reader is denied to learn better about her until the last 50 pages of the novel, when it might be a little bit too late for that. Is she submissive? Is she playing a character to survive her mother's dominance? Or is just she too silly to overcome her mother, husband or friend who are always threatening to steal her life away from her? Never mind. These are questions that shouldn't be answered, since Emma lives a life of submissions however much she would prefer not to.

Despite its obvious flaws, McMurtry's "Terms of Endearment" is still a good read because it is able to capture the lives of his characters in a given moment. There may not be much room for what comes before the narrative begins - despite, what comes later can be imagined - but, still, from the first to the last page, the reader has slices of lives that are worth to follow.

No one has the ability to "flesh-out" characters like Larry McMurtry. After reading Lonesome Dove some years ago, I proceeded to read about six or seven more of his novels...not a lemon in the bunch. The inhabitants of his stories are so real you feel that you know them (and in some cases, love or hate them). Do yourself a favor ... try him!

When I first saw Shirley MacLaine as Aurora and Debra Winger as Emma I knew there was more to thair characters then just fun loving and tears. I picked up the novel 'Terms of Endearment' and finished it in two days, it made me laugh, wonder, and cry. The book surpasses the movie by FAR which is remarkable because the movie is fantastic (and has the 1982 Best Picture Oscar). I enjoyed every minute of this delightful and heartmelting book. The friends and characters that come along in the book are hilarious and touching. The General is smooth talking and Rosie and Verne are just as the title, endearing.
Must read this one!

When a novel makes the characters "real" and you tell your friends about them (in detail) as if they are people you know and love; then the author is a success. I saw the movie years ago but recently read the novel. The movie was great, the novel superb.

I simply fell in love with this book. It is my all time favorite book. It is full of rich characters including Aurora Greenway, an eccentric, overbearing and somewhat annoying woman that you just have to love. Aurora's scenes with her suitors are so humorous that you are compeled to laugh out loud. This is a must read for those who enjoy books written from the heart.

How can a man write so well about women and their day to day experiences, attitudes and emotions with such humor and understanding? It's almost uncanny. Wonderful story, much better than the movie. A great read!
Evelyn Horan - children's author
Jeannie, A Texas Frontier Girl, Books One-Three

Terms of Endearment is a standout from a special author. The book has it all: unforgetable characters (I can't imagine where McMurtry comes up with these people), laugh out loud comedy and heart wrenching drama. The book is not just a story; it's a wonderful experience. Anyone avoiding this book as a result of seeing the Acadamy award winning movie is making a HUGE mistake. I actually read the book first, and found the crticially acclaimed movie to be a major let down. The movie covers about one tenth of what appears in the book, pratically ignoring some of the most memorable characters and story lines ever. Don't miss Terms of Endearment; I think it's great.

I wish someone reviewed audiotapes of novels. I've been listening to the unabridged 10-tape version of the novel and am astonished at how the movie's focus (all that I was familiar with before) comes from the tenth tape -- up till then it's a comic novel about Aurora and her suitors! This is the ideal novel to assign for a film-writing class. Maybe it's a tear-jerker, and maybe the movie is about a tough mother-daughter relationship, but that's not what I heard on the audiotape. The accents on the audiotape also didn't match my memory of the movie. Lots of Dolly Parton type voices (which was entertaining) and the General sounds more like George C. Scott than like Jack Nicholson). Kind of like listening to a different movie to listen to the audiotape, and a very enjoyable experience. I drove around doing errands I hadn't planned to do, so I could keep listening.