The Almost Moon: A Novel
by Alice Sebold
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Book Reviews of The Almost Moon: A Novel
Book Review: A Sad Story of Family Secrets
Summary: 4 Stars
Having read The Lovely Bones, and Sebold's non-fiction book about her own rape experience, Lucky, I came to this feeling like I had to read it. As Sebold's sophmore effort in fiction, I have to say, I had a hard time putting it down. I usually have more than one book going at once, and the fact that I felt compelled to put down the other ones to finish this one was a good sign. No, it is not a funny or happy tale, and I honestly don't think Sebold was trying to be funny, or using some kind of black humor as another reviewer has suggested previously here. The writing is excellent and honest, and the story is one of the "this could never happen to me, but now it has and what am I supposed to do now?" varities.
Sebold's main character Helen, is from a union of two mentally ill people. She has two daughters, who are also flawed (and aren't we all), one sounding like a obsessive compulsive suburban housewife, the other a ne'er do well, wanna be singer living in NYC and stealing from her mother when she comes home to Pennsylvania to visit. Helen's ex-husband, Jake, was one of her college art instructors, and she calls on him for help when she kills her demented, elderly mother. The story of her family life as a child and her continued interaction with her parents unfolds as her reaction to her "euthanizing" her mother unfolds before us in a very real time manner. Her father kept secrets from her, her mother kept things from her and in turn, she and her husband have kept secrets from their children as well. The final question is, how will Helen handle this last huge secret and what it reveals about her as a person.
Unlike writers like Jodi Picoult who write "issue" books using formulas and shallow one dimensional characters that work for them and sell books, this author does not shy away from fleshing out her characters and giving them real personalities like people you know. You don't necessarily like what they do all the time, but you tend to like them as people, or at the least find them interesting and care what happens to them. This one had me on the edge of my seat, worrying, wondering, almost praying for them, yet I never felt manipulated, as in Picoult or Shreve novel. The emotions are raw and real.
Superior writing from a bold and creative mind. I hope Sebold writes more. Not the best novel of the year, but excellent and shows a promise of the excellent work to come.
Book Review: Unfair to Compare to "Bones"
Summary: 4 Stars
I read Alice Sebold's first novel The Lovely Bones about four years ago. The plot was rivetting, the characters were relatable, and the emotions ran high. After having so much success with Bones, I think that fans were expecting Sebold to have written a similarly great, if not better, novel. I must admit, my expectations for Moon were initally high, but it wasn't until I'd read a good number of the seemingly endless bad reviews on Amazon.com, that I decided to proceed reading with caution.
The Almost Moon is dark, disturbing, and destructional to its core. The opening pulls you in immediately, detailing the action of Helen - our mentally disturbed heroine - murdering her own mother. The given images throughout Helen's attempt to cover up her crime are graphic and unpleasant; sometimes downwrite vile. This isn't a revel read you want to curl up with before bed with a warm cup of milk. It makes you think and it forces you to consider some of the underlining motivations of mental illness.
I think that if Alice Sebold had not gained such a strong sole base of fans from her first novel, The Almost Moon would have undoubtabley received more positive attention. Because it focuses only on the thoughts of a single character, Moon reflects a much more psychological piece of work, than a novel story. The entire book spans just over the length of a single day, filled with snips of Helen's difficult family past, while counting down the tocks of her present clock. Will Helen be caught for her peccancy? Will another suspect take the blame? Will her two daughters find out the truth of their grandmother's death? And will Helen's supportive ex-husband be penalized for trying to help her?
The Almost Moon took on two interesting topics that aren't easily ignorable in our present society: Mental illness and family dysfunction. I fully commend her for exploring such difficult subject matter, as it could not have been an easy book to write. Perhaps the author was going through a dark-phase herself, or had experienced similar trepidations she wanted to use as a jumping board for serious writing. Whatever the reason, I'm giving her praise where she deserves it... because too many people have condemned this book by comparing it to her first novel, which isn't fair at all.
Book Review: Very Moving and Well Written
Summary: 4 Stars
Helen Knightly has spent all her life looking after her mother, Clair, in some form or fashion, being tied to her in an unhappy, unhealthy, unrelenting relationship that has taken a toll on her in various ways. Now, Clair's dementia has reached the point that something has to be done; she is going to have to leave the house--a task that was psychologically painful and difficult for Clair--as she is no longer fit to stay home by herself. Helen is relieved and anxious at the same time and as she deals with her mother's vitriolic tongue and loose bowels, she surprises herself by smothering Clair.
Over the next 24 hours, Helen behaves as irrationally as any human being would, becomes entangled more and more in a web of lies and (through memories) exorcises some of the demons of past as she deals with the mental illness of her family.
Sebold has done an incredible job of writing about mental illness, and as an author she passes no judgments, gives no advice, just has Helen tell her story and leaves the rest to the reader. In Helen, one sees a character so human and unpredictable that it was almost uncomfortable at times to read her thoughts, feeling like an intruder or eavesdropper.
I read several negative reviews and I think it was really Sebold's amazing talent that prompted these. Those readers that complained about this or that action of Helen's appear to have been expecting Sebold to pass the appropriate (to them) moral judgments on said action and when she didn't these readers assume she condones these actions. Other readers couldn't believe Helen would act the way she did, having apparently never acted irrationally under stress themselves, and didn't see the deep realism of Helen's character acted out in her irrationality.
I found it a very moving book and at times it was too emotionally taxing and I had to take a break from it. It's hard to say I "liked" it, because, how can one "like" a story about mental illness in all it's dirty, real life, day-to-day struggles. I was reminded of Nabokov's Lolita--I didn't "like" the subject matter, but loved the book. This is another instance of that. The Almost Moon, while not for everyone, is a emotion-packed, realistic novel from a very talented author.
Book Review: the ambiguity of victimhood
Summary: 5 Stars
In "The Almost Moon" bad things don't happen to good people. On the contrary, Alice Sebold's middle-aged protagonist, Helen, is impulsively transgressive. Sebold herself seems to have, in the opinion of many reviewers, committed the ultimate transgression, that of creating an unlovable protagonist. The well of pity and sorrow that her past (wonderful) memoir and novel drew on is not required for this novel. She has dared to write an utterly fresh story in which appalling things happen, quotidian things happen, and life is ambiguous. In addition, the reader is not asked to ache for the victims. There's a coldness here, and it works.
By now the facts of the case are known. A middle-aged daughter responsible for the care and feeding of her elderly demented mother smothers her. The next few days are quietly harrowing. Between the homicide and the last page, the reader is taken on a purposeful yet mesmerizing tour of 1960's American suburbia and the memory of relationships in a family that was wholly governed by an agoraphobic, quietly sociopathic, and genteely cruel mother. There was a weak and secretive father and, finally, the narrator, an only child who has made a life that has sometimes pleased her (and others), often disappointed - but rings awfully true.
There are neighbors, friends, the vagaries of the body and sex, work, the disappointments of marriage and parenthood, along with the poignancy of children - plus the fact of aging and the late (sometimes too late) understanding of the past. The mother's bizarre behavior at one point incites the neighbors to gather, enraged, on the front lawn. It's terrifying. Finally, later, the narrator is amazed, and then freed, somewhat, by a trustworthy neighbor's labeling of her mother as "mentally ill." Sebold's range is awesome.
I read this book in one sitting. I was glued to my seat. There is suspense, fully-drawn characters, and physical descriptions so thorough it's as if one is staring at a series of photographs. Improbable things happen in this novel, as they do in life. Sebold is a skillful storyteller with an eagle eye and "The Almost Moon" is a fascinating story, even when it hurts.
-Eileen Galen
Book Review: It's Good, but Don't Expect THE LOVELY BONES
Summary: 4 Stars
I read THE LOVELY BONES back in 2003. I didn't read much that year, but I did read that. I couldn't resist, not with the lovely, tasteful cover, the premise, and the fact it'd been number one on the bestseller list for nearly half a year. And naturally, I loved the book. It's one of my favorites.
When I heard about THE ALMOST MOON, I was thrilled. Then I started hearing the reviews, and my excitement was dampened into suspicious curiosity. But I had to read the book, had to know for myself, especially with the book's infamous first line: "When all is said and done, killing my mother came easily."
And now that I've finished the book, let me be the first to say: if you expect Sebold's sophomore effort to be anything like THE LOVELY BONES in any shape or form, put THE ALMOST MOON down and back away slowly. Don't pick it up, because you will most likely be disappointed.
Because THE ALMOST MOON is the dark to THE LOVELY BONE's light. And that's the best way I can describe it. The books are polar opposites, and the subject matter, the narrator, just might disturb readers who fell in love with Sebold's debut effort.
In many ways, THE ALMOST MOON is a typical literary novel: a character sketch with little plot direction and lots of introspection. How it fares compared to other books that examine the inner self in relation to family, dysfunctional ones at that, I really can't say. It's nowhere near as disturbing or shocking as something Chuck Palahniuk might write, but it lacks the realistic grounding of something that Sheri Reynolds might write. And yet, it has its own distinct weight, which is important, because what counts in literary novels, for my two cents, is character above language/prose, which means that no matter how often a subject matter is examined, every version from any author should be very different. Because the characters are different.
So for someone who wants to examine why a woman would be driven to murder her elderly mother and the dysfunctional family she comes from and the choices she must make in light of her actions, this is a very interesting and satisfying read.