The Dive From Clausen's Pier: A Novel
by Ann Packer
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Book Reviews of The Dive From Clausen's Pier: A Novel
Book Review: Stars on the top of a mountain (figuratively, of course)
Summary: 2 Stars
It kills me. This book, like many reviewers have noted, started out on a wonderfully promising premise: how fast can a life change? what is the ripple effect that results from tragedy? and, like a smack in the face with heavy-handed reality, what would YOU, the reader, do? what would you do if this person you loved was suddenly rendered motionless, a quadrapalegic? The early beginning narrative felt thick and delicious in details that were lovely yet cuttingly realistic, especially in the scenery of Madison. I absolutely loved the opening scene, the Memorial Day picnic. I began to paint a picture of our main character, Carrie, who seemed so full of complexity and emotion, so full of careful observation. The supporting characters, who were all introduced subtely and built upon carefully, and without contrivances. Carrie's emotions all felt real and true, the result of her struggle over the distance she was feeling in her relationship with Mike pre-accident and post-accident, and her struggle to continue growing up as a young adult.
Things take a turn when Carrie, with seemingly NO motivation, packs up and leaves for New York City in one night. I guess the author thought the premise was that Carrie couldn't deal with the breadth of responsibility and emotional baggage on her shoulder, so she just left. There was a whole, faux-englightening scene earlier where she meets an unusual stranger who "percieves" and then describes her small-town life to her, very presumptuously and condescendingly, and we were supposed to believe it "made her think." She moves in with a recently re-aquainted bud, Simon, and a cast of Gen Y neo-hippies. Simon showed promise when we met him back in Madison, however it is dashed when within a short time he is reduced to a typical Gay Queen, losing all of his quiet charm we thought we knew. Come to think of it, that just about sums up everything that is wrong with the book. However, I'm not done yet.
Packer shoots the dying horse in the foot with one Kilroy. He is just about the most unlikeable character I have ever encountered, but WORSE we're supposed to understand that he is "great". All we ever witness are his snide comments, rude tenseness with everyone he ever meets, too-good-for-everything airs, the "intense" love scenes he orchestrates that rank of cheesy soft-core porn, and a feeling that any minute he's going to strangle Carrie and move on to his next stalking victim. We are supposed to be left awe-struck with what an enigma he is, because we don't know any of his "basic facts" and he annoyingly refuses to reveal any. Yet Carrie reiterates how she loves him, even calling him kind. It is by some stretch of the imagination. Kilroy RUINED this book. After one hundred some-odd pages of this gloomy, ill-portrayed Gotham City hell, I was gasping for air. I was thankful that Carrie was going to finally return home to Madison, to a close friend's wedding and the people she had known and loved all her life. And she CHOSE TO STAY IN NEW YORK, neatly aligning herself with Kilroy and everything she could have and should have avoided becoming. Sure, she went back to Madison eventually, but it didn't matter anymore as nothing was the same. Now that we learned the true nature of her vapid irresponsibility, a nature that once seemed slightly pensive and guarded and confused, it's all been clarified.
She, like this book, had promise, back when she was in the place she called home. But we soon "learn" that small-town life is toxic, that 9-year first loves are just a drop in the bucket, and that our entire past can easily be treated as cold crap. Emotions mean little and friends and family are expendable. Cold-hearted and ineffective, aloof and disheartening, this book left me numb with the disappointment for what could have been.
Book Review: A grueling test of patience
Summary: 2 Stars
I didn't really like this novel very much. It moved ever so slowly, and almost every character completely annoyed me, until the very end, but that didn't make up for it as far as I was concerned.Carrie was like a dead spirit who floated through life without questioning or doing anything. She just let things happen to her. The fact that Carrie already knew she fell out of love for her fiance 6 months preceding the accident gave me little sympathy for her situation. I also got the impression that she started in on a relationship with Kilroy a bit too soon, in keeping with her do-nothing/say-nothing policy. Plus I can't help but think that no matter what the situation was, she was utterly cold; cold to Mike, cold to Jamie, her supposed best friend, cold to the new acquaintances who so quickly took to her in NY. I realize that the Carrie was young--only 23, and abandoned by her father when she was a child, but after a while that's just not enough of an excuse anymore!
It seemed like the book would take a turn for the better once Carrie escaped to NY, but that became a source of even more exasperation. For example, Carrie reflected upon those "classic New York moments," where obnoxious, pretentious people recite their thoughts on art and/or literature, or anything, with the sole purpose of sounding impressive through the use of multi-syllabic words. Sure those moments are unforgettable--unforgettably ridiculous--which brings to mind Woody Allen's truly unforgettable tirade while standing in line for the movies in "Annie Hall." (Although the character Kilroy was well aware of these psuedo-intellectual idiosyncrasies).
That brings me to another important phase of the book: Kilroy. Kilroy was a giant creep (and that name...ugh!), who was supposed to be mysterious, but basically was just insufferable. Kilroy was obviously a childish, immature brat who refused to deal with his ghosts, and any of Carrie's attempts to build on anything but a sexual relationship was an infuriating failure. I still don't understand what Carrie's big attraction to this [person] was, except that maybe he was a safe haven of denial that she needed for the time being.
One of the biggest problems I had with this book was not only was almost every character was unlikeable, but 80% of the narrative occurred in Carrie's head. Already the story was depressing, coupled with very little dialogue, and very little action.
However, things became interesting when Carrie decided to take classes at Parsons, putting to use her obvious talent for sewing, or at least giving her talent some real dimension, some future. She finally started to move in some sort of direction. Yet even this section moved at a snail's pace.
The story finally (and definitely) picked up in part III ("Kilroy Was Here"--cute). Once Carrie left New York and went back to Madison to actually face her problems, everything suddenly seemed a whole lot more interesting. There was a lot more dialogue with Mike and his family and friends, and of course her attempts to mend her relationship with Jamie was a key growing factor for Carrie. Strangely enough, I think that Mike was the most interesting character, because he truly was the victim, and the outcome forced him to change so much. It was clear that he eventually brought out the best in Carrie, perhaps the best in everyone around him. Unfortunately, as much as I liked how the last section was written, it felt as if the author might have hastily attempted to wrap up the story. It didn't make up for the first 300 pages.
Book Review: Midwestern Tragedy
Summary: 3 Stars
The Dive From Clausen's Pier
Ann Packer
Assigning stars for this novel is complex so I went down the middle.
These are Midwesterners who drink a glass of water from the tap when they get together in the afternoon. Carrie does what many pretty Midwestern girls do. She spends some time in one of the big cities before returning home to fulfill her obligations.
She's a little cold, but Northern Midwesterners are a little cold. Carrie is and does exactly what she says she is, and that's a part of Midwesterners that I appreciate. Many Midwesterners are the only ones who are completely believable when they say they love someone. If you know Midwesterners you know what Carrie will do right from the beginning, but the story is well told, true to time and place, keeps you wondering if she is breaking the mold, and believable.
Without New York Carrie is a defeated woman. Without NYC Carrie is like the woman who gets knocked up young and lets that determine her entire life. Guess she'll be staying home raising babies no matter what else she ever aspired to do.
Some readers are complaining about the sex scenes. It's a little strange that this character is willing to share them, true, and an editor probably did have something to do with how explicit they are, but Midwesterners, even cold ones, are capable of exciting sex. Maybe that had to be said. Maybe Carrie doesn't want to be seen as a charity case who never got a really good romp in the hay before her man became disabled. Hey, where did that romp in the hay expression come from? Farmers? Midwesterners? Nah. Must have skipped them and come right down from the Middle Ages.
In Brooklyn, where I don't live, waiting for a bus with my mother, I told her the basics of this story. Then as there was plenty more time to wait, I went into more depth. There are interesting angles. The mother who carries the reader's disapproval, the perfect guys, the girl who gets her first love, (I hate that. Those people feel like life worked out for them and everyone else is pitiful. The Grand Plan is that people get their hearts broken, at the beginning) the sew-er fashion major seeing the clothing NY has to offer (my mother kind of went crazy in Armani. It was like seeing Carrie), the Midwesterner in NY, the one who stands a chance at making it. Sounded like a good read to my math-minded mother.
Let's be matter-of-fact about something. It's a girl story, so for that reason alone the novel will be ridiculed. There were no chase scenes. The main character describes people's emotional states.
I like it that Carrie did what she needed to do, even when it cost her, even when it incurred social disapproval, even when she had to grovel, and that she isn't bitter. Reviewers are kind of disturbing when they can't relate to the difficulty in her decisions or when they want Carrie to sacrifice all because of her boyfriend's tragedy, and because they agree that It's All Her Fault, like he didn't decide to dive. There's the Midwest for you.
Book Review: Readers will be engaged with this novel's plot and setting
Summary: 4 Stars
THE DIVE FROM CLAUSEN'S PIER opens with an immediate tragedy to draw readers in to the story. Mike, showing off for his somewhat disgruntled fiancée Carrie, dives into some water and seriously injures himself. He is comatose for a period of time and, when he awakens, it is discovered that he is paralyzed. Though first impressions may suggest that the novel will focus on Mike and his recovery, in reality the central focus is on Carrie and her arrival to self-discovery.This tragedy begins Carrie's journey, literally and figuratively speaking. Carrie is feeling pressured by expectations; the expectations are those of Mike, his family, his friends and, most importantly, Carrie herself. Carrie feels she is expected to be there for Mike during his recovery, whether she wants to be or not. Mike and Carrie were having problems in their relationship before the accident. However, Carrie now feels obligated to stay with Mike throughout his recovery, given the circumstances. She almost begins to lose herself and her identity to Mike and the pressures of his recovery. Carrie ends up spending most of her time at the hospital instead of at her job. She feels guilty about doing anything other than sitting by Mike's bedside and even thinks she should give up her own life because of Mike's injury. She is identified at the hospital as Mike's fiancée, not as her own person.
Eventually the pressure becomes too much for Carrie, and she takes off to New York City to stay with a friend from school. This allows her time away from her obligations caused by Mike's injury. While there, she runs into Kilroy, a man who she met briefly at a co-worker's house. Kilroy intrigues Carrie and she finds herself drawn to him, almost in spite of herself. Carrie and Kilroy begin a love affair, though it seems to follow Kilroy's terms and conditions. Carrie also begins taking fashion design classes while in the city. This opens up a new part of Carrie that has not yet been tapped into, helping her to regain her own identity.
Gradually, Carrie begins to head home. Readers will find themselves swept up in Carrie's displacement when she finally returns. Her best friend is very angry with her and isn't speaking to her. Her relationship with Mike is unclear. His family and friends seem to almost resent the fact that she is back. Slowly, Carrie begins to find some sort of peace within herself. She starts making decisions that are right for her. She repairs her relationship with her best friend and reaches some sort of understanding with Mike.
Carrie is a character who readers will become involved with on an emotional level. Readers will respond to her feelings and admire the strength that she finds at the end of the book. This novel has many interesting elements to it: a love story (or two, if you count Carrie and Kilroy), an interesting setting (New York City), and a plot that has many twists and turns to keep readers engaged. Despite its tragic beginning, this novel ends on a positive note.
--- Reviewed by Melissa A. Martin
Book Review: Strong start turns soap-opera-fluff; dazzling prose though
Summary: 3 Stars
I don't want to sound like the blurb. But...how much do we owe the people who love us? Where do we draw the line between sacrifice and selfishness? These are the entangling issues that baffled Carrie Bell, our protagonist in Ann Packer's debut novel The Dive from the Clausen's Pier. Carrie Bell was born and bred in Wisconsin in all her 23 years. Life seemed to have treated her well-blessed her with her high school sweetheart Mike, to whom she had engaged. To her family and many of her friends in town, what was deemed as the perfect relationship was prone to some low-lying tension, at least to Carrie. Her love for Mike had waned and the love spell was no longer there. While Carrie contemplated at the most possible euphemistic way to presage her fiancé the end of their relationship, Mike dived off from Clausen's Pier into the shallows and broke his neck on Memorial Day holiday. She decided to stay and looked after Mike out of guilt and obligation though she was on the verge of leaving Wisconsin. At the end of summer, Carrie was seized with a surge of excitement and left for New York in search of the life she riveted.
This is the point where the flaw comes in. I understand how much Carrie was going through-with the pressure, the expectation (from both her family and Mike's parents), the fed-up suffocating life that she tired of. But why would she all a sudden throw herself into the open arms of Kilroy, who lived in midtown New York? Wouldn't that make her more guilty? This just didn't make sense to me and was not at all realistic (maybe it was reasonable by soap opera standard). The most consternated was yet to come when she threw herself into an affair with this older man. I knew she was seized with a pang of regret, guilt, fear, and indecisiveness. But what was the point of such concupiscence? Was she using this man to embark on a fashion design career? Beat me. Even after she left home, she deliberately allowed others make decisions for her-it really struck me that Carrie could not follow her heart and take her stand.
The prose is dazzling and eloquent in spite of the many flaws (of the plot) that blemishes the book. This flaw is caused by the underdevelopment of Carrie Bell's character. She somehow left the readers hanging. If I have to rate this book on the sole basis of writing, it will be at least 4 stars. The unrealistic scenes and unreasonable (questionable) turns inevitably ruin the rating. Honestly, when I got to the point where Carrie made the jaunt to New York and hooked up with the older man, I just skimmed through the rest of the book for the ending (or her comeuppance). I didn't care or how she reached the end because the book was a total letdown. It was especially disappointing after all the hype and rave of the book that welled up such high anticipation and all I got was some soap-opera-like type of fluff. 3.0 stars.