Pasadena: A Novel
by David Ebershoff
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Book Summary Information
Author: David EbershoffEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-07-08
ISBN: 0812968484
Number of pages: 520
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Book Reviews of Pasadena: A Novel
Book Review: An interesting summer read
Summary: 3 Stars
Let me begin by saying I DID enjoy this book, and I believe the author has a lot in him. This was a big project, indeed. In "Pasadena," the reader is taken on a ride through the early 20th century, into 1945, but mainly dealing in the first 25 years. The author tackles not only Pasadena, but Carlsbad, Mexico, and Europe in the first World War. As many reviewers have said, this is a tragic epic of lust; many have stated the author copies the Wuthering Heights storyline. I didn't take that as a necessarily negative formula, as long as a story is well written, the same tale can be conveyed many ways. That said, I did find the first half of the book enjoyable. However, as the story moved its location to the city of Pasadena, it began to lose its footing. A story about a girl in a shipwrecked load of oranges is never followed through, holes begin to surface in the story, and by the end of the book some of the characters have 'died' but no discoveries are made about their 'secrets', which is a theme in this book. Overall, the book was enjoyable but, as someone else has mentioned, it does have a bit of the Harlequin feel by the last third. I will try Danish Girl, since others here have mentioned it as a better read. I think this author definitely has promise.
Summary of Pasadena: A Novel
From the award-winning author of The Danish Girl and The Rose City, Pasadena tells the story of Linda Stamp, a fishergirl born in 1903 on a coastal onion farm, and the three men who change her life: her jealous brother, Edmund; Bruder, the orphan Linda?s father brings home from World War I; and a Pasadena orange rancher named Willis Poore. The novel spans Linda?s adventurous and romantic life, weaving the tales of her Mexican mother and her German-born father with those of the rural Pacific Coast of her youth and of the small, affluent city, Pasadena, that becomes her home. Pasadena is a novel of passion and history, about a woman and a place in perpetual transformation.David Ebershoff's second novel, Pasadena, is rich with exuberant details. But instead of overwhelming readers, Ebershoff (The Danish Girl) manages to deftly conduct the symphony found in everyday life. The historical novel opens with Andrew Jackson Blackwood, who has come from the east "with a small wad of money of questionable origin and a full, boyish smile." Blackwood's intent is to buy and develop Rancho Pasaden, and as he passes through the dying orange groves and elaborate halls of the mansion, the realtor tells him the entangled stories of its previous inhabitants. But if Blackwood's character is stretched thin by Ebershoff's drive to reveal the Pasadena that once was, the stories of other characters, such as Linda Stamp, Bruder, and Captain Willis Poore, prove difficult to put down.
As driven as the plot may be, the writing does not suffer. Ebershoff has a luxuriant way with words, and through his beautiful prose he includes readers in the intrigue of a swiftly passing shop window, the refinement of a well-made lobster trap, and the coarseness of a saloon filled with whores and their clients. The many details bring us closer to each character's motives, and when the last page is read we may even realize that the book moved us to a different time and place--just like a good book should. --Karin Rosman
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