An actual literary fiction book. After my summer of crappy paperbacks and my run of nonfiction titles, I really didn't know if I had it in me anymore to read literary fiction.
Among the Ten Thousand Things is the debut novel of Julia Pierpont. Jack is an artist, Deb is a former dancer, Simon and Kay are their two children. The novel starts with the delivery of a package addressed to Deb that Kay opens, which turns out to contain reams of emails, text conversations, and other communication between Jack and his latest affair. It's dirty, dirty stuff no child should read, and especially no child should read about (and by) her father. The repercussions spiral outward from there as the family falls apart--each member in his or her own particular way.
Pierpont's novel has gotten some pretty vicious reviews on Goodreads, but I disagree with them. Her writing is beautiful, if at times too writerly. There were a few passages that felt worked to death, but on the whole she keeps it under control. The characters were very well-written, each individualized and with a specific voice. A lot of criticism came from how she structures her novel--there are four parts, the first dealing with the discovery of the box and it's immediate aftermath, then a section of short, staccato sentences encapsulating their lives over the next couple of decades. The third goes back to the original timeline, and the fourth back to the snapshot of their lives afterward. It worked for me. I thought it was original and engaging, and rather than making me think there was no point in reading past the second section, I was more interested in how it would play out, having some indication of how their lives would go.
Among the Ten Thousand Things isn't meant to be a sweeping family history; it's a fragment of time that will change things for the Shanleys and perhaps define them. Pierpont is a writer to watch.
Title: Among the Ten Thousand Things
Author: Julia Pierpont
Star Rating: 4 out of 5
Buy, Borrow, Skip: Buy
Among the Ten Thousand Things is the debut novel of Julia Pierpont. Jack is an artist, Deb is a former dancer, Simon and Kay are their two children. The novel starts with the delivery of a package addressed to Deb that Kay opens, which turns out to contain reams of emails, text conversations, and other communication between Jack and his latest affair. It's dirty, dirty stuff no child should read, and especially no child should read about (and by) her father. The repercussions spiral outward from there as the family falls apart--each member in his or her own particular way.
Pierpont's novel has gotten some pretty vicious reviews on Goodreads, but I disagree with them. Her writing is beautiful, if at times too writerly. There were a few passages that felt worked to death, but on the whole she keeps it under control. The characters were very well-written, each individualized and with a specific voice. A lot of criticism came from how she structures her novel--there are four parts, the first dealing with the discovery of the box and it's immediate aftermath, then a section of short, staccato sentences encapsulating their lives over the next couple of decades. The third goes back to the original timeline, and the fourth back to the snapshot of their lives afterward. It worked for me. I thought it was original and engaging, and rather than making me think there was no point in reading past the second section, I was more interested in how it would play out, having some indication of how their lives would go.
Among the Ten Thousand Things isn't meant to be a sweeping family history; it's a fragment of time that will change things for the Shanleys and perhaps define them. Pierpont is a writer to watch.
Title: Among the Ten Thousand Things
Author: Julia Pierpont
Star Rating: 4 out of 5
Buy, Borrow, Skip: Buy