We had a fairly good turnout for the meeting, despite the quality of the book we read. Ratings ranged from 2.0 to 3.5, average of 2.7.
The story began in the Italian Alps, in the Lake Garda region. It is the story of two young brothers, Ciro and Eduardo, left by their mother to be raised in a convent. Their story merges with the story of a girl, Enza, raised in the same geographical area of Italy. Enza and Ciro meet at, of all places, her sister’s graveside and it is love at first sight. So much so that they find themselves in a lip lock right after the funeral. (insert rolling eyes here) The two can’t quite get their act together in Italy and they both emigrate separately to the United States for different reasons. And wow! They “happen” to run in to each other in New York City. Don’t be fooled, this is not some sweeping, epic novel of the American dream and the hard working immigrant such as Angela’s Ashes or Tortilla Curtain or My Antonia. It is basically a cheesy love story of the two main characters, Enza and Ciro.
This book started with so much promise, with some beautiful descriptions of the Italian countryside, food and customs. The relationship between the boys and the nuns was very touching. We liked the friendship between Laura and Enza, the description of the famous opera singer Enrico Caruso, and were curious about the story behind Ciro’s mother. And then it all went south. Several of these characters had so much potential for an interesting story and yet were not developed. It became a series of coincidences and overly dramatic relationships. I enjoy a little romance in a book but it got a bit Harlequin Romancy. This book read more like a romance novel that good literature.
The book was an easy read, bring to the beach kind of book. It was not a 5 star rating recipient, which kind of left us scratching our heads on what kind of reader likes this stuff. A few of us felt is was a waste of their time, but is it really a waste of time when we all get together?!
Next month’s book is All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu.
Also, I have updated our blog with the latest reading list and the reviews that I had. If I missed any please send. It has been over a year since I updated it. We also added three new books to our list. We decided that adding a few books every so often is an easier way to choose books rather than a massive decision at our annual summer drinking, I mean social hour, get together. Here is the link-
Lindsay
No comments:
Post a Comment