Customer Reviews

Three Junes

5 star:		(76)
4 star:		(62)
3 star:		(43)
2 star:		(40)
1 star:		(32)

 

 

"Three Junes" is a trilogy of sorts, with its distinct parts set in 1989, 1995, and 1999. Each section could be read on its own (and, in fact, the first, "Collies," won an award for best novella in 1999), but, taken as a whole, they encompass a multifaceted portrait of Fenno McLeod, his family, and his friends.

Told from the third person, "Collies" serves as a prologue and introduces us to the three sons of Paul McLeod, who travels through the Greek islands and reminisces about the poignant family reunion in Scotland effected by his wife's death. The second part, "Upright," takes up most of the book. Fenno is the narrator, skipping back and forth between his father's funeral and his expatriate life in Manhattan, where he befriends the catty and urbane Malachy Burns, manages a bookstore in Greenwich Village, and has a unexpected dalliance with a photographer named Tony. Fenno's reserved relationship with his two brothers mirrors his tense friendship with Mal, who, dying of AIDS, maintains his own dignity and an admirable drollness that challenges both his mother's intrusive (yet occasionally endearing) rectitude and Fenno's "constipatedly humorless" aloofness.

Drastically shifting perspective once again, the final section, "Boys," is a fitting epilogue seen through the eyes of Fern, whose getaway with Tony in the Hamptons is unexpectedly augmented with a visit by Fenno and one of his brothers.

The change in perspective, dramatis personae, and even tone between each section is certainly peculiar and seems to puzzle some readers; the character of Fern especially resembles a late arrival crashing a family gathering that's almost over. In an interview for Bookbrowse (an online magazine), Glass described her book as "a triptych--that is, a strong central image flanked by two narrower, more modest images," and she compared her novel to a medieval altarpiece in which a "central panel--be it a picture of the annunciation, the crucifixion, or a martyrdom--is flanked by panels depicting portraits of the altarpiece donors.... Here was Fenno's large, rich story at the center, told directly to the reader, with Paul and Fern portrayed in intimate detail to left and right but seen from the side."

For me, it works. And Glass's tri-fold "painting" is enhanced both by the enviously discerning empathy for her characters and, above all, by a genius for infusing wit and warmth into the decidedly melancholy core of her tale. Fenno and his brothers, Mal and his mother, and even the latecomer Fern are characters I won't soon forget.

This book isn't my standard cup of tea, but the reviews were so universally good, I decided to give it a try. It was wonderfully well worth the time. This is not a book you can idly pick up and scan for a while, then return to it as time allows. It is a well-told family story with personal intrigues and family secrets, none of which are so outlandish that we don't have a few of them littering our own closets. Because she needs for us to know the Scottish McLeod family well in order to propel the story along, Julia Glass takes a lot of time and pages to get us acquainted. For the reader who requires action to move a story along, this is a bit of a test, because it is the unfolding of the characters themselves that moves the story along, beautifully, heartbreakingly. It is easy to become impatient with Fenno, our main character and mini-hero, because he seems so paralyzed by his life, but read on and you will come to appreciate the many fine qualities of his character and those of his well-meaning family. I felt very satisfied upon finishing this - and ready for a trip to Greece (subplot)!

"Three Junes" is elegantly written and highly entertaining, though its compelling plot is difficult to describe succinctly. It's partly a family saga (the story of three generations of the Scottish McLeods), but it's also an elegiac story of New Yorkers in the era of AIDS and a hopeful meditation on impending motherhood by a 30-something single widow. The book is both heartbreaking and hopeful; it's about the fragility of life, whether it is extinguished in a single act of terrorist madness or by the modern plague of AIDS or cancer. "Three Junes" is filled with articulate, civilized characters--witty, intelligent sophisticates--who must face the inevitabilities of life--birth, love, and, of course, death. (Those elemental themes, I think, give the novel a remarkable urgency, helped along with a great deal of narrative skill; it's a literary page-turner.) These people face life, for the most part, with grace and dignity and decency; virtually all of them are compelling, vividly sketched and fully realized. And the scenes that propel the reader forward are incredibly well delineated, from an emotionally draining funeral to an impromptu dinner party in Amagansettthe narrative momentum is intense. An interesting subtheme concerns the world of pets--collies and a spectacular parrot--and how their life cycles mirror (and sometimes transcend) those of their human counterparts. The writing is lyrical, painterly and often poetic, but never narcissistically so. This novel is a real accomplishment--difficult to fathom that it's a first novel--and should be very engaging to anyone interested in contemporary fiction.

I read this book almost all in one sitting and it's not an easy read. I was very impressed by the quality of the writing and I didn't want to put the book down. I was particularly impressed by Glass's ability to write convincingly from a male point of view. But I found the last third of the book the least interesting, and the second section too long. I think Glass has some fascinating characters here--but the McLeod characters deserved more room. I also thought the flashbacks worked against the power of the story and I think the story would have worked better if told chonologically. I also thought the character of Mal became a gay stereotype and I cringed when he told Fenno to "live" like a character out of Auntie Mame. Mal's mother also borders on a stereotype. I'm sorry to be this critical--there is much I admired in this book, particularly the sections in Scotland, and Fenno's relationship with his family. There just should have been some more editing. For instance, the character of Veronique who we're told over and over again is unlikeable has too much weight in this book. And although I liked Fern and Fenno meeting, I found Fern's story pretty boring. I'd still recommend this book, though, and as I said, I read the book almost entirely in one sitting, which means it grabbed me despite its flaws.

Three Junes is a lovely read, one that begins strongly and only gets better. The story concerns a Scottish family and begins in June 1989. Paul McLeod, recently widowed, takes a tour to Greece, contemplating his future, his past, his family. Jump ahead six years and we are in Scotland, where Paul's three sons are preparing for his funeral. Jump again four years, to Eastern Long Island, a weekend get together with two of Paul's sons and Fern, a woman Paul met on his trip to Greece. It is hard to do justice to this novel in a few pithy sentences. The writing is beautiful and Glass gives us characters we can care about deeply. Their lives are complicated, but without any melodrama or pyrotechnics. Her writing is simply beautiful and I believe gets stronger as the novel progresses. I thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful novel and highly recommend it. Enjoy.

I chose this book because I try to read all of the National Book Award winners, and I was a little surprised by its plodding, detailed format, but not disappointed. _Three Junes_ is split into three sections, and Fenno, the main character, plays a part in each one. The first section, "Collies," focuses on Fenno's father in Scotland and Greece; the second section, "Upright" is about Fenno's life in New York City (the bookstore he owns and the man he falls in love with); and the third section, "Boys," focuses on a woman whom Fenno's father met in Greece and now is meeting Fenno's accquaintance in New York as well. It is a little difficult to shift gears between the sections, but they are connected by thin strings of coincidence and fate, actions and reactions, so ultimately the reader can get comfortable again. Glass deals with some difficult subjects including infidelity, AIDS, and infertility with remarkable smoothness, and makes you really feel the characters' guilt, love, and confusion, as well as hope. It is hope, I think, that permeates the novel most of all. My only criticism is that I felt there were one or two minor subplots that weren't tied up sufficiently, and there also weren't too many ups and downs but just a slow crescendo of choices and misunderstandings. On the whole, however, this is a very rewarding book, and well worth the time it takes to get to know the characters and their environments.

I really enjoyed reading this book, and was surprised to see all of the low ratings for what I felt was a truly beautiful piece of literature. I decided to read through all of the lower ratings to see what people disliked about the book. The primary negative complaints were as follows:

1) Boring - no action
2) The characters are unlikeable
2) Disconnected - no cohesion between parts
3) Gay sex scene

Here are my rebuttals:

1) This is not an action book. Not a murder mystery. But it's not a book where nothing happens. A lot happens. You have to calibrate your sense of action to include subtler events.

2) Like most people in real life, the characters have multiple dimensions and are sometimes unlikeable. People who prefer the good vs. evil two-dimensional type of characters will not appreciate the growth and nuances of these characters. I loved them. Not because they were perfect but because of their imperfections, because that makes them relatable.

3) The sections are connected. You have to pay attention to the names of the characters but it's not difficult to make the ties between the three parts. I don't mean to offend anyone who didn't realize who the characters were in the 3 transitions, but most people shouldn't have this problem.

4) Someone complained that they threw the book down and recycled it because of an explicit gay sex scene. I honestly don't remember anything resembling explicit in the discussion of gay sex. It's unflinching in other aspects, such as how the AIDS epidemic affected some of the characters. But those who claim this is a book about gays and AIDS are missing the point. It's about people. Sure, some of them are gay. But just as many are not.

Anyway, as with many things in life, expectations can make or break your experience with this book. So if you can get past the items mentioned above, then you have a decent chance of enjoying the book.

Apparently Julia Glass waited until middle age before writing Three Junes, and the book exemplifies the kind of wisdom that would simply be lacking in a younger writer. It is an elegantly structured novel primarliy about people dealing with grief and loss. Divided into three sections, like a triptych, Glass manages to simultaneously make each stand on its own as a complete work of fiction but also bring all three together in a way that makes the whole exceed the sum of its parts. And as a gay reader, it is refreshing to read about Greenwich Village queens who exist primarliy outside the cliches of a gay ghetto. My only reservation is that the emotional climax of the book comes too early--at the end of the middle section--with much of the final section feeling like denouement. Still, the final section is not at all boring because the characters, especially Fenno, are by that point so compelling. If your looking for a book with a great plot, you probalby will be bored by Three June, but if you're interested in a book that will provide you with some truths about you own life, then I suggest you check it out. It's well worthy of its National Book Award.

For the second year in a row, the criteria for winning the National Book Award seems to consist of novels with pretentious and verbose writing, unlikable characters, and a condensation of other (and better) books. Three Junes lives up to these criteria in spades. As a very voracious reader I rarely spend more than a week or two with a book - it took me over eight months to plow through this muddy mess of a book.

In a novel without a story or plot line, one expects that there may be some serious character study or some insightful gleanings about life as we know it. Unfortunately, Glass has done a mediocre, at best, job of creating such a book. Her characters (including her heroes Paul, Fenno, and Fern) are shallow, cold, unlikable, self-absorbed and completely underdeveloped. The novel's three barely connected sections just graze over the surface of an insight about the continuation of life and perpetuation of love and friendship despite, or maybe because of, the passing of those closest to us.

Overall Three Junes is a disappointing read covering topics and characters that were better written elsewhere. For an endearing bookshop clerk read Parnassas on Wheels by Christopher Morley. For a great book about gay relationships, AIDS, and fathering another's child, read A Home At the End of the World by Michael Cunningham.

The National Book Award judges must like books about families. This year's winner, "Three Junes", a three-part novel held together by a couple of casual common character threads, isn't a million miles from the subject of last year's winner (Jonathan Franzen's "The Corrections"). Both make the event of homecoming - a parents' funeral in "Three Junes" and Christmas in "The Corrections" - the flashpoint for the subtle outbreak of sibling hostilities and the restoration of calm via an uneasy truce that comes with the recognition that family love binds us all.

"Three Junes" is a linearly constructed three novella whose centre and emotional core lies clearly in the middle story. Nevertheless, the opening vignette about the recently widowered father's escape to Greece to deal with his bereavement is both poignant and heartbreaking in conveying the deep sense of longing experienced by Paul McLeod for the missing intimacy with his late wife, Maureen, an independent and feisty woman whose life seemed to have been tied up more with her beloved collies than with her family. In his travels, Paul strikes up a casual acquaintance with a young woman, Fern, who will be written out of the script only to make a mysterious reappearance as the central character in the concluding episode of "Three Junes".

In the middle and most substantial story, Paul's three grown up sons, Fenno, and twins David and Dennis and their wives Lilian and Veronique, return home for their father's funeral. At the same time, another story emerges in parallel, that of an earlier homecoming when the boys visit the family home to spend time with their dying mother and to subsequently attend to her funeral. It pans out that nothing is quite what they seem on the surface. The cerebral and intellectual Fenno is most like Dad but sides with Mum. Subconsciously, he admires her fiercely independent streak. Who can blame him, when he has the privacy of his secret gay lifestyle in New York to protect ? Music critic and bosom pal, Mal, is mistaken by the family for Fenno's lover while secret lover Tony remains invisible to all but Fenno. The ever pragmatic David - his mother's son - thinks he knows something from the past about Mum that may haunt them.....but does he, really ? As it turns out, his life isn't nearly as perfect as it seems. Even Veronique, Dennis' French wife, shows she isn't quite the shrew we all came to expect. Ultimately, the McLeods don't let the half-truths, secrets and lies that permeate their lives to destroy them. They overcome the odds to show each other the meaning of love. It is in this middle story that Glass impresses most with her strong characterisation and her gorgeously written and luminous prose that speaks straight to the heart. If she had ended with this middle story, "Three Junes" would have been an unconditional triumph.

Sadly, she didn't and lost her way in the concluding episode, which feels dramatically out of place, flat, and unsatisfying. Why would anyone be interested in Fern so late in the day ? She is after all a long forgotten minor character from the opening story. Had Glass stayed with Fenno, she would have had a more convincing wrap up.

"Three Junes" is a flawed but smashing debut from Julia Glass. It is gorgeously written, emotionally resonant and one of the most delightful reads this season. Highly recommended.