Customer Reviews

Who Will Run the Frog Hospital

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

 

 

I admit this upfront: I am a huge fan of Lorrie Moore and I tend to love anything she writes. I read this book years ago and, despite moves back and forth across several bodies of water, this is one of the ones that always make the cut. It is the story of adolescence -- Berie and Sils, two 15-year old girls from a nowhere town, with issues and complications and stories, none of them horrendous and both, or all, remarkably sad and touching for their lack of extraordinary-ness -- and also the story of memory. Berie, trapped in a marriage that no longer seems to work, remembers back to a pivotal moment in time. How all that came before us affects at least part of what we later become is a big theme here, as is the temporal nature of all relationships, even those with people we love and care for very deeply.

I love this book. I think the writing is gorgeous. There are very clever, very funny bits, as well, as is typical of Moore's work.

In response to some of the other reviews, no, this is not a lighthearted romp through adolescence. It isn't a beach read. It's a literary jewel that, if appreciated, will stay with you long after you regretfully close its covers.

I first read this book almost 10 years ago, when it first came out, and it is one of the books I keep returning to. Certain passages keep echoing back to me, they are so well written, poetic and apropos of certain hard-to-describe situations and states of mind. When I read some sentences they seemed to vibrate like musical chords.

Want a "lite" summer beach read? Go elsewhere. This is a beautiful examination of the depth and complexity of teenage female friendships and feelings, how people change over time, and how life is both uplifting and disappointing. It's a wonderful book.

This book deals with 2 major issues pertaining to teenagers: teen pregnancy and the friendship that sort of withers away as the two close friends become mature individuals and start to value different things. Though the author describes these issues quite casually without overly burdening the readers or pressuring them, I really think that these issues are not something we should feel lightly about. The writer touches upon two crucial issues that all teenagers are so susceptible to and that's why I credit the author so highly.
The most apparent issue discussed in the book is teen pregnancy: Sils, the main character's closest friend gets pregnant after dating an older man. Judging that the boyfriend, Mike, would not be responsible for the baby, Sils decides to get an abortion. At the time, because Sils and Berie, the main character, are only sixteen years old, they don't have time to think much about morality of their decision. The decisions are hasty, largely concerned with their budget and how to get the abortion without causing much trouble. The scene when she goes through the surgery brings forth a lot of emotion from the reader because Sils lies alone in the operation room, in a shabby facility.
Going through these unbearable crisis as teenagers, Berie and Sils confirm their long friendship and bond. Because Sils was more developed and began dating boys at earlier age, Berie sometimes felt distant from Sils. When they sneaked out to dance parties, boys chased after Sils and Berie was left untouched until Sils rejected them. The devision that Berie and Sils went through because of popularity and appearances disappear as Sils learn that Berie is her true friend who can stay by her side when such difficulties surround her.
This book is highly recommended to teenagers as well as adults. The value of friendship and also the danger of unsafe sex is critically described in this novel. The writer posses the magic of getting her messages across without physically shocking us with explicit scenes and language.

For some reason I was not aware of Lorrie Moore until I heard about her most recent book "A Gate at the Stairs". I'm thrilled to have discovered her and I'm looking forward to reading as much as I can from her. "Frog Hospital" is a wander down memory lane. Moore and I are contemporaries so me (and a few billion other boomers) will easily recognize her sense of time. The place was a bit more foreign to me; it almost felt like Canadian though since Minnesota is so close to Canada that's not too surprising. She writes about two 15 year old girls, best friends, and best friends to the point of there being conscious only of one another. Best friends with an intensity only teenagers can conjure up, to the point that it feels like first love with all it's sensuality and body awareness, with lots of touching, not in a sexual way however. They chase boys or 20 something men in hopes of that but even when they're with men they're really just with one another, complete with a lover and a beloved. Silsby is Cinderalla, literally wearing that costume at the local amusement park, but also for awkward, late to develop Berie. Berie idolizes Silsby from close by. They've been friends since childhood so they know one another's layers; they have a short hand that locks everyone else out. Silsby finds herself in trouble and, as always, naturally accepts Berie's help. Silsby is used to tributes. This one costs Berie too much. The consequences is they taken apart, left to fend for themselves, without their other half. Humpty dumpty falls (and even puts in an appearance). Years later when they meet again they can't put him back together again though they try. They're grown women who've grown apart, there's still love but no commonality except their shared past. I love Moore's tragic sense of humor.

I adored this book. It is written with such understated humor and peppered with subtle, core-shaking moments. Read it in one sitting and was in tears by the end of the book.

Who Will Run the Frog Hospital is a well-written and delightful coming of age story. The story is somewhat predictable but nevertheless has enough surprises to keep the reader engaged. I read it in a single sitting on a long flight....a perfect travel or summer afternoon read!

This book gave me a headache. I am a huge fan of Moore's stories but I hated this book. Moore is great but this novel highlights her flaws: a tendency towards pretentiousness, lack of cohesivenss, and characters that are often hard to sympathize with. Skip this and read her short stories, they are awesome.

The parts of this novel that take place in Berie's past are so achingly well written that even when they are funny, you are too deeply moved to laugh. The Berie in Paris in the present, though, is much harder to fathom, and her husband is nearly opaque. I felt that Moore intended Berie's decision about the marriage at the end of the novel to be a moment of insight and maturity, but instead, I couldn't figure out if she was being mature or stupidly co-dependent. Moore has a talent for outrageous sentence and paragraph building, which sometimes works and sometimes distracts. It's a beautiful novel, definitely stronger on mood and meditative nostalgia than on plot. Occasionally I found myself wishing that she'd let up on the verbal pyrotechnics and get on with the story. But I'm glad I read it, and will recommend it to friends.

"Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?" is an achingly sad novel that combines a coming-of-age tale with one of middle-aged emptiness. Berie, a photography curator at her local historical society, is visiting Paris with her medical-researcher husband. Though they go through the daily routines of a husband and wife, their marriage is emotionally empty: as Berie notes, on the second page of the book "The affectionate farce I make of him ignores the ways I feel his lack of love for me." Her adult weariness leads her to reminisce about the exceptionally close friendship she had a teenager with Sils, the local beauty in the small town on the Canadian border where they live. Much of the book tells the story of one summer when Sils and Berie worked at a local amusement park together, Sils entertaining park guests as Cinderella and Berie selling tickets, and of the results of Berie's stealing money to help Sils when she become pregnant.

Lonnie Moore is a wonderful writer, whose careful use of detail can powerfully evoke a time period: I'd forgotten all about Yardley lip gloss and how essential it was for teenage girls in the early 70s. Moore is also an enigmatic writer, and her prose needs to be read slowly, but rewards careful reading with true poignancy.

This a a short, quirky, well written, and highly enjoyable book. It is a coming of age book, stripped of wasted sentiment and fluff. I think it would be enjoyed by many, including many younger readers.