Customer Reviews

This Body

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I picked up This Body merely because it was by a local author and I was curious. Much to my surprise, it turned out to be one of the best books I've read in years. The characters are likeable, the story is involving, and the heroine is someone I would like to know. Dumped suddenly and unceremoniously into the middle of Thisby's life, Katharine is faced with difficult choices, heart-rending dilemmas, and fascinating opportunities. On the surface, this is the story of how she feels her way along a path beset with unpredictable pitfalls as she comes to an uneasy accomodation with her new family, her new identity, and the addiction she inherited along with her new body. And on that level alone, it is an inventive and entertaining read. But on a more fundamental level, This Body is the story of a woman who gets a unique and priceless opportunity to view herself quite literally through someone else's eyes. Katharine, who never got the chance to be a child, comes together with Thisby, who never got the chance to be an adult, and together they find a wholeness that neither was able to achieve alone. Along the way the book delivers tragedy, loss, hope, humor, warmth, scandal, insight, and the simple voyeuristic fun of getting a peek into someone else's life and family. This Body is a book that will keep you highly entertained while you read it, and will keep you thinking long after you've finished it.

I had a recurring dream where I died and came back in another body and tried to resurrect my life, so it was interesting to read someone else's take on what that might be like. I agree with the reviewer who found the last quarter of the book disappointing. It seems Doud just lost the energy to write more. Up until the gallery showing, she did an excellent job of showing Katharine's interactions with Thisby's family and her life, but then there is an abrupt, inexplicable change in Katharine that speeds us towards the end of the novel. I found the ending to be disatisfying and hurried. Still, this novel is worth the read for the other three quarters!

I simultaneously wanted to savor this story and plow through the book. To me, it was that good. Can you really call this a story of reincarnation? The main character, Katherine Ashley, wakes up in a skinny, no, make that emaciated body of a rich girl from Beverly Hills. A drug addict and alcoholic. Katherine is a middle class Baby Boomer. Married young, two kids, housewife. Worries too much about her children. And dies fairly young (mid to late 40s?).

She copes in her new life and body as she did in her old one. Trying to be in control of the situation as best as possible under the circumstances. I felt Katherine was both more vulnerable yet also in some ways tougher than she thought she was. And to me the story was around that aspect of her personality. That in her new surroundings (in every imaginable way) she got to finally explore what being alive is about and also about herself.

I think women of all ages will really enjoy this book. I highly recommend it.

I finished this book last night and I'm not sure what I think of it. Seeing as I'm much closer to Thisby's age than to Katharine's, I was much impressed with the author's insights into youth, maturity, and family, and I think that the opportunity to see into the mind of a mother has helped me understand my own parents. I also liked the way she tied in both Shakespeare and classic movies, and the skillful drawing of the character of Quince. However, the story was definitely flawed. Huge leaps in time gloss over some of the most important parts of Thisby/Katharine's story, characters enter abruptly and are just as unceremoniously forgotten about, and symbols fly about without any hint as to their meanings. Doud clearly intends for us to read This Body more than once, but I'm not sure I want to spend the time, even with the promise of more of her lovely insight awaiting me. Sorry, but the intelligent Ms. Doud just isn't a masterful storyteller just yet.

When Katherine Ashley, a middle-aged mother, dies suddenly in her sleep, she does not expect to wake up the next morning in the body of a beautiful, twenty-two year old drug addict. However, she does, and this is the premise for Laurel Doud's exciting first novel. This San Jose librarian has undoubtedly written a book that will come as a nice surprise to the literary world. It has been years since I've seen a book with such an original premise as this book has. A story about a middle-aged mother dying and being reincarnated into the body of a beautiful twenty-two year old drug addict doesn1t sound boring by anyone's standards. And Laurel Doud takes this unique and interesting idea and writes it in a vivid and entrancing prose style. She does not rely on convention or tradition, but writes like one human talking to another; this book is completely devoid of pretentiousness. Instead, Laurel writes like a real human being telling a very real story that moves from light-hearted to dramatic instantly and smoothly, making a story that is full of emotion. This is not a book about reincarnation, it1s more a story of identity and isolation. It is not a cheesy horror novel about near-death experiences; it is about a woman's problem trying to live the life of a young woman's broken and chaotic life, while trying to deal with the chaos of her own soul. While reading this book I was amazed at the way in which Doud was able to write the main character, Katherine, as being so very alone. Her deft accuracy in writing about such solitude will surely intrigue existentialists everywhere, but also her ability to write such strength and vivid realism in her women will attract a large feminist following. But besides that, the average reader will enjoy this entrancing story of a single woman1s desperate quest to mend the broken life of a drug addict--without the help of anyone else--while also trying to come to terms with the harsh reality that her previous life has suddenly left her forever. It is a moving story, and Doud eases in and out of many prose styles effortlessly, while still retaining her own identity as an author. This is Doud's first novel, and I suggest anyone who enjoys reading should pick up this new book, not only because it is intelligently and skillfully written, but also because just about anyone will be moved and entertained by this wonderful book.

"The Body" starts with a stunning bang -- the premise grabbing you by the collar and pulling you in. Katherine wakes up in Thisby's body, and then has to unravel the mystery of what has happened, and how to deal with it.

It reads a bit like an episode of that old show "Quantum Leap," with Katharine desperately trying to play the part of Thisby without arousing suspicion of the internal switch. Thankfully, Thisby was a drug addict, so Katharine can explain the changes through sobriety.

The portions of the book that are most touching are Katharine's relationship with Thisby's sister Quince, and Katharine's push to put on a gallery showing of Thisby's photography. The idea of a memorial gallery showing for a person that no one else believes is dead is truly haunting. It's exciting to watch Katharine work to turn Thisby's life around.

The book also delves into issues of where memories are really stored...it's clear that Doud thinks some memories (of sexuality, of addiction, of family) are cellular, an idea that resonates with me and made the book fascinating.

Sadly, the last quarter of the book just drops the ball. The excitement and spark of the novel fizzles into a wash of flashbacks, vague explanations, and justifications that Katharine initially trying to turn Thisby's life around was "arrogant." Unfortunately, the author simply doesn't follow through on why or how, and I found myself yearning for the supposed "arrogance" that had colored Katharine's actions in the first half of the novel.

And don't even get me started on the epilogue. What was THAT?! Supposedly this book has be optioned to be made into a movie, and I can only imagine the epilogue as the flash of scenes that will be shown during the credits. In other words, it's useless fluff that doesn't match the rest of the book and doesn't resolve much of anything.

This was a quick entertaining read, but the end left me frustrated. I so desperately wanted Doud to finish with the same fantastic bang she started with.

That is the premise to this unique book that took me completely by surprise; it was a quick read and a brilliant story. A 39 year old woman, and mother of two, screams out "wait" as she is about to check out of the world as she knows it. When she opens her eyes it's a year later and she is in the body of a 22-year-old addict named Thisby, who has just overdosed.

Katherine's journey begins as she tries to sort through her new life. She has a brother and sister who she has yet to meet, as well as a personality like a banshee with a nasty reputation to uphold, or so it is believed. Her new family is intellectual and named after literary figures. The author plays a game with Shakespearian quotes that is simply brilliant.

As her life progresses in this body of Thisby's, she learns more about her real self and what she needs. There are parts of her own childhood that she still needs to face. It is an extraordinary coming of age story written from an entirely different perspective. Once I started it I couldn't put it down. Kelsana 11/14/01

I have read many books lately which have taken place in California & have found most of them wanting for some reason. (Excepting "Fleur De Lis Life of Crime") I did find, however that "This Body" was by far more interesting than recent books by Carolyn See, Laurie Fox, et. al . I also enjoyed the premise, I find this author can put herself in a middle-aged woman's Easy Spirits, as well as a twenty two year old's Doc Martins . That's pretty great and imaginative writing from my point of view.

The first few paragraphs of Laurel Doud's first novel had me hooked. Katherine,a wife and mother, wakes up in the body of a rich junky girl from Beverly Hills. Talk about a shock to the system. Katherine learns alot living inthe body of Thisby Bennet that she hadn't realized before. She saved this girls messed up life, while understanding some of the reasons her own life had it's troubles. She starts out sick and in a horrible place. Cleans up this girls act and mends things slowly with the family she had given up on, but they had not given up on her. Fullfills a dream shared by her father and helps her sister feel better about life. Her quest to find her old family and how they are holding up only seems to make her feel worse. The rest of the book, horrible boyfriend, incestuous relations and so forth, only kept me turning the page for more. In the end, I was wholly satisfied and pleased that I'd read it. K/T live their life to be happy. Shouldn't we all. Great job Miss Doud. Bring on the next book, I'm waiting with an eager mind.

Imagine that you die and find yourself in another person's body and in a different city! Then imagine the horror when you find that this body is the emaciated shell of a 22-year-old woman who is a drug addict and alcoholic! Katherine Ashley (I think that's her last name and I don't have the book to check it) is a middle-aged wife and mother who dies from a heart attack. When she "comes to" a year later, she is inhabiting the body of Thisby who has come close to dying from a drug overdose. From there Katherine must navigate her way around the relations of her new family, including Quince, Thisby's Shakespeare spouting little sister, and at the same time come to terms with her previous family's new life.

I had a difficult time putting this book down, and what kept me from giving it a 10 was the fact that there were a few convenient coincidences that were necessary to keep the plot going.