Songs Without Words (Vintage Contemporaries)
by Ann Packer
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Book Summary Information
Author: Ann PackerEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-07-29
ISBN: 0375412816
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of Songs Without Words (Vintage Contemporaries)
Book Review: I wanted to like this book, but...
Summary: 2 Stars
I'm so frustrated with "Songs Without Words" that I'm writing a review before I've even finished the book (I'm a couple of chapters from the end). I was almost to the end before I realized I was frustrated, bored, and depressed by it. The story goes nowhere! And it takes a really long time to do it!
I read "The Dive from Clausen's Pier" about a year ago and liked it enough to finish it. I didn't love it, but I had forgotten just how blah I felt about it--until now. The premise of her first book was great--a very promising story--but the story lacked both action and resolution, and I lacked compassion for the main character. Actually, that pretty well sums up how I feel about "Songs Without Words." Yet, I don't exactly hate it; it's more like I feel sorry for it. I feel like the author missed the mark. The book has potential that, unfortunately, will never be realized since you don't exactly get a do-over after publication. In other words: it could have used better editing. For starters.
One of the main problems with the book, if not the biggest problem, is that it lacks character development. We get background information on events that have shaped some characters' personalities and lives (like Sarabeth's mom's suicide, and how that affects both Sarabeth and Liz) but there are gaping holes regarding other characters' problems--like why does Liz's daughter, Lauren, hate herself so much? I kept expecting there to be a defining moment or some event that explains WHY Lauren's so unhappy. But no. She just hates herself (typical teenage angst?), and then she attempts suicide. As a person who is very interested in why and how things happen, these types of plot holes are driving me crazy. Very late in the book, there is a tiny paragraph about how Liz realizes she could have been a better mother if she had spent less time acting as a mother to Sarabeth. Is that the author's attempt to tie together loose ends regarding Lauren's problems? I can't tell.
Others have called the book dull. Yeah, it is, but there are fleeting moments where it's not--and that is why I'm giving this book two stars. I adore some of Packer's descriptions regarding her characters' behaviors. They act/react the way any of us would, and that's endearing. So they do seem human--but only briefly. Then Packer reverts back to lengthy descriptions about, say, how badly Sarabeth has to pee (seriously, an entire paragraph devoted to her bladder). Or how much it's raining, or how dilapidated Sarabeth's house is. The juxtaposition of moments of insight and prosaic nonsense are maddening. The story lacks follow through and flow. Each chapter is like a snapshot of a day in the characters' lives, with very little tying the story or time lines together. Though they do have moments of likability, the characters are ultimately so superficial and underdeveloped that I'm having trouble caring about any of them. And they never do anything differently or out of character. They don't grow. They're boring.
I could be generous and say that I think Packer is trying to demonstrate that her characters are everyday people living normal lives like the rest of us, and her writing reflects that; however, 1. ordinariness and inaction do not make for a compelling story and 2. I believe what's actually happening is that Packer's writing, along with her character and plot development, is just lazy. And that is why this book fails. Her descriptions of rote activities and observations are completely boring. It's been the random moments of insight into human behavior--and my hope that the book will improve (clearly it hasn't)--that has kept me reading. I figure I'm almost done; I should just finish the book. That said, this book is an incoherent mess that I wouldn't recommend reading.
Summary of Songs Without Words (Vintage Contemporaries)
Liz and Sarabeth were girlhood neighbors in the suburbs of Northern California, brought as close as sisters by the suicide of Sarabeth's mother. In the decades that followed, their relationship remained a source of continuity and strength. But when Liz's adolescent daughter enters dangerous waters, the women's friendship takes a devastating turn, forcing Liz and Sarabeth to question their most deeply held beliefs about their connection. From the bestselling author of The Dive from Clausen's Pier, Songs Without Words is the gripping story of a lifelong friendship pushed to the breaking point.Literary Books
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