Customer Reviews

Welcome to the Great Mysterious

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This isn't "Patty Jane's House of Curl" or "Tall Pine Polka" but it is an ejoyable read. It was the books premise which made me want to read "The Great Mysterious." A very popular, very busy diva on Broadway is reaching middle age, approaching menopause, and recently having been dumped by her boyfriend who has decided he needs a younger woman on his arm, is asked by her sister to babysit for her nephew who has Down Syndrome in a small town in Minnesota. She decides this might be just the thing for her at a time when she feels the need to "get away" and to slow down. Along the way, she finds out what is really important in life with the help of an old notebook she finds......The Great Mysterious. Somewhat predictable, a bit of a romance novel feel to it, but well worth it.

With Patty Jane's House Of Curl (19 ) and The Tall Pine Polka (1999) Lorna Landvik served laughter, reader satisfaction, and casts of original characters (mostly endearing).

With Welcome To The Great Mysterious we find a stereotypical protagonist, a Broadway actress in her descendency (she is 48!) plus a rather formulaic soap opera plot. And, to ensure a good cry, there is a child with Down syndrome and another with cerebral palsy.

This is not to say that Ms. Landvik has abandoned her trademark humor, it is there but more predictable than surprising.

The Broadway star is Geneva Jordan who has been divorced by Jean-Paul, an irresistible Frenchman who wanted a green card rather than a wife, and dumped by British matinee idol Trevor, "a modern version of Errol flynn and Laurence Olivier." A tad shallow and an admitted diva, she sees "nothing wrong with a little self-aggrandizement." Geneva explains, "There are worse things - a mass murderer, a bigot, a telephone solicitor. And why shouldn't one take privileged treatment as a right?" She is plagued by loneliness, a black fear that she has named "Petunia" in the hope of blunting its powers. And, Geneva is also a fraternal twin.

So, despite a mountain of misgivings, when her sister, Anne, calls with a plaintive SOS Geneva responds. Albeit reluctantly. She heads for Deep Lake, Minnesota, to babysit Rich, her 13-year-old nephew with Down syndrome, while Anne and her husband take their first vacation in as many years.

Once in the middle of Minnesota she meets Ann's best friend, Barb Torgerson, mother of Conrad who has cerebral palsy, and possessor of a frizzy permanent that Geneva's hairdresser "would never have allowed to leave his shop."

And, romance readers, rejoice! She also meets recently divorced James, evidently Deep Lake's one Renaissance man - he plays the piano, coaches the girl's hockey team, and has thrown over a top of the corporate ladder job for a mailman's route on which he often ponders spiritual matters.

Now, the moment James and Geneva appear on the same page, readers know what's going to happen - it just takes a while plus a few jigs and jogs before it does occur.

The Great Mysterious of the title is a makeshift book with cereal box covers that Ann and Geneva made as young girls. They entered weighty questions into it, such as the meaning of true love, and the meaning of life, then left the book open so adult family members of could write in their responses. Upon rediscovering the book in the nether world of Ann's closet, Geneva faces these questions again as she reassesses her values and goals.

The Great Mysterious is a pleasant read. It's not Ms. Landvik at her peak, but it definitely is Landvik and for her many fans that may well be enough.

The thing about Lorna Landvik's writing, is that it's not necessarily GREAT literature... but when I read it, I get done and think, that's just what I needed. Her characters become like friends, and the sometimes soap operatic plots are like the soap operas of everyday life. Welcome to the Great Mysterious has this great friendship at its core.... Conrad and Rich's. Their simple love of each other is enviable. It's what holds this book together. Landvik writes about the great mysteries of life - love, death, friendship, family, snow on Halloween... that make me look at my life a tiny bit differently...With a little more awe at all that is there.

This is the fourth book I've read by Lorna Landvik, and I must say that it is my favorite so far! I absolutely loved the storyline. I've never read so much in one day in my entire life! I highly recommend this book with two very enthusiastic thumbs up.

Welcome to the Great Mysterious tells the story of Tony-winning Broadway actress, Geneva Jordan, and her escape from her life. After getting dumped by her co-star and boyfriend, Trevor, Geneva quits her run as Mona Lisa in the Broadway play, Mona, in order to nurse her wounds (and a severe case of menopause!) in peace. However, Geneva's sister, Ann, has other ideas for her vacation -- after 13 years of being a full-time mother to Rich, Ann is finally going to take a month-long vacation with her husband, Riley, and needs Geneva to baby-sit. Which wouldn't be such a bad idea except for the fact that Geneva doesn't know how to baby-sit....

Rich, who has Down's Syndrome, proves to be a beautiful and heartwarming character. I loved the interaction between him and Geneva. Rich has a heart of gold and is funny and sweet and a pleasure to read about. He really stole the whole show for me. Throughout the month, Geneva learns a lot about herself and what is really important, and I loved every second of it! The best so far... I can't wait for more.

I absolutely loved "Patty Jane's House of Curl" and "Your Oasis on Flame Lake". But what's happened to Lorna's writing? "The Tall Pine Polka" was like a car accident...you don't want to look, but you feel compelled to. The characters in that book were so unbelievable (only a Minnesotan could come up with a movie title like "Ike and Inga"), I had to finish the book to discover how much more conviluted the story would become. But enough of the Polka.

"Welcome to the Great Mysterious" is a slight improvement. The relationship between Conrad and Rich was wonderful, but I just couldn't see this self-indulgent, self-centered "Toast of Broadway" becoming such fast friends with the woman down the street with the bad perm. I don't want to give the plot away, but unlike "Patty Jane" and "Oasis", the story line is predictable, and, like Lite Beer...less filling, but tastes, uh, okay.

In her newest book, Lorna Landvik explores relationships. The love between twin sisters, lovers old and new and the most touching of all, between two disabled teens who show everyone the meaning of unconditional love. Geneva finds the true meaning of life in an old trunk where she discovers a childhood memory book, The Great Mysterious. Through the eyes of her nephew Rich she rediscovers what is important in her life. Though at times predictable I enjoy the way this book evokes emotion, humor and sadness, totally an easy and enjoyable read.

What a great big wonderful story! Lorna Landvik is a delight as an author; she has fine-tuned her writing skills wonderfully in this fourth outing.

Landvik creates memorable characters in each of her books, and "Mysterious" is no different. I had a Swedish grandmother, and I was enamored with the memories Grandma Hjordis. I laughed 'til I wept when Geneva told her twin in Minnesota that she'd called her from New York to tell her a new Ole and Lena joke, more for the memories than the sarcasm.

Landvik understands the fundamental emotions and raw energy that it takes to raise mentally and physically handicapped children, and she describes Rich and Conrad, friends through and through, beautifully, albeit a bit unrealistically. She was right on target with Rich's greeting to strangers, and with her explanations of his need for organization and predictability. I enjoyed Rich, and felt sad not to know him.

While the romantic episodes are predictable, and the reader is left without answers to several minor questions, the events surrounding Geneva's epiphany into humanity are powerful and memorable. I enjoyed the reading romp, and look forward to the next.

I laughed. I cried. I got up in the middle of the night because I had to finish reading it. It wasn't that the book was full of surprises.It's simply a good story. Landvik makes you care about her characters. The common thread to her novels is that she writes about people in a way that makes you want to keep finding out more about them.I look forward to more books by Landvik.

I liked this book. I've been on a quest to read fiction related to Down Syndrome and have found a wide range of books, some of which I liked, others that I did not.

Geneva is the main character who (unwillingly) takes on the role of caregiver for 13 y.o nephew Rich, when his parents take a month long trip. As the parent of a child with Down Syndrome, I started the book with the usual misgivings that Rich, the central character who has Down Syndrome, might be cast in a stereotypical, outdated manner. However, I'm pleased to say that the author has obviously done her research and was able to capture the character of Rich in way that was not only accurate and appropriate, but warm, compassionate, realistic, with all the subtle nuances that make up an individual. For Rich is truly an indivudual, and much more than the Down Syndrome which defines him in Geneva's eyes before she gets to know him.

I thought the author also handled Geneva's self-doubt and mental struggles with how she felt about Rich in a sensitive and realistic manner. While some of these questions were not "pretty" and forced Geneva to delve in to some parts of her personality that were not so attractive, I truly believe that these things need to be talked about...it's only by recognizing that we are all human and all have a need to grow and learn that we can actually do so.

I recommend this book to any adult looking for a good summer read. And don't be afraid to ask yourself some of the hard questions that Geneva asked herself - the world will be a better place if everyone did so.

The books I like best are those that capture my attention within the first few pages and never loose it. This was one of those books. I immediately liked the character of Geneva. She is a Diva (which she admits), but also a warm, lovable person with a heart of gold.

The story itself could have been written like any other "chick-lit" book, but the uniqueness of Geneva and her successful Broadway career interspersed with the "Great Mysterious" really separated this book from those others. I enjoyed reading about Geneva taking care of Rich and connecting with him and the people in his life. The other characters were very well written, and yes, a little clichéd (philandering boyfriend/fiancé Trevor and too-good-to-be-true James, for example.)

If I have any criticism of the book, it was with Rich's dialog. Some of it did not seem like it would come from a 13 year old, let alone one with Downs Syndrome. But this is only a minor flaw in a truly enjoyable book. A four star recommendation for this one.