After Ellie’s funeral, Laurel begins a relationship with Floyd, a man she meets in a cafe. All were good friends who drew their bond from a summer camp in New England that promoted performing arts and visual arts. The cover describes the group of people who name themselves The Interestings very well, because some are more outgoing than others and some are quiet, while a few of the characters who become close friends enmesh and blend in with each other's lives over the greater part of four decades. At times, the characters and the emotional core of the events are almost obscured by such quick maneuvering through the weighty plot. I still don't know how I feel about this book, Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2014. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. As the story opens the reader is exposed to a gaggle of young teenagers, all who meet at "Spirit-in-the-woods" summer camp in Belkamp Massachusetts, run by Manny and Edie Wunderlich, two aging socialists. Text settings. The novel jumps back and forth in time at the beginning of the novel, but eventually settles into a straightforward story to the end. Where has he gone? And Wolitzer’s unflinching, omniscient gaze makes the reader look right in the eye of some unpleasant human traits – from envy that makes you hate your best friends, to a shameful parental disappointment in your child, to the double-think that justifies lying to your husband. Categories: It preached the importance of influence and money in establishing the career of an artist, but warned us that influence and money cannot protect you from other misfortunes in life. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. Kin “[find] each other’s lives inscrutable” in this rich, sharp story about the way identity is formed. Secrets are kept for decades among the six “Interestings”; resentments are nursed; loyalties are tested with mixed results. And if we did, would that make us happy? Go to College, Keep Your Friends, Have Fights, Write a Novel, Brit Bennett Wrestles With Identity in New Novel, Brit Bennett on the ‘Wildest Week’ of Her Life. The Interestings are a group of six kids who meet at an artsy summer camp in the early seventies and become friends. Run by a couple of bohemians, the camp is supposed to be an approximation of utopia, or, as one character. Cathy is a wannabe dancer whose body is too big; Bookman is the slacker who claims to like architecture; his sister Ash wants to be involved in the theatre; Jonah is the son of a famous folk singer who has musical talent himself; Ethan is the genius of the group with his animation skills; and Julie turned Jules is the outsider. The bright reds and oranges and the cooler lavenders and subtle greens, all in horizontal strokes running across the page, occasionally bleed into one another and certain lines become part of others. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. Top subscription boxes – right to your door, © 1996-2020, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Ten years after her teenage daughter went missing, a mother begins a new relationship only to discover she can't truly move on until she answers lingering questions about the past. 1; Pub Date: April 9, 2013. I've often thought of myself and some of my friends as potential "The Interestings" when we were younger, but have grown into something much less. While still in high school, Cathy and Goodman break up in disastrous fashion; they both disappear from the group but not without causing permanent repercussions. Jonah, the ethereally handsome, slightly withdrawn son of a famous folksinger, is musically gifted. FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP I still don't know how I feel about this book, Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2014. All of these devices serve to build palpable tension, but the structure also contributes to how deeply disturbing the story becomes. Tending bar as a side job in Beverly Hills, she catches a glimpse of her mother’s doppelgänger. This novel lives up to its name; Wolitzer’s perceptive portraiture makes these ordinary lives very interesting indeed. Lisa Jewell It’s as if, in a novel based around quiet diminuendos, a character who threatens to disrupt the tone must be quarantined in the deep freeze of northern Europe. There’s beautiful, ethereal theatre-loving Ash and her gruff, charismatic brother Goodman; Ethan, an ugly, talented animator; Cathy, a dancer, entrancing to all teenage boys; Jonah, the introspective son of a famous folk musician, and Jules – a suburban kid with a bad perm, a recent bereavement, and a minor skill in comic acting. It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds! This book will also give you food for thought about what makes a kid become 'special' - what makes some talents soar and others swan dive? Middle-class suburban Julie becomes Jules when a group of more sophisticated kids from Manhattan include her in their clique at Camp Spirit-in-the-Woods in upstate New York. The cover describes the group of people who name themselves The Interestings very well, because some are more outgoing than others and some are quiet, while a few of the characters who become close friends enmesh and blend in with each other's lives over the greater part of four decades. Wolitzer handles our expectations with flat calm; Goodman isn’t dead, in prison, or damaging other women — he’s in Iceland, doing nothing much. Please continue to respect all commenters and create constructive debates. Wolitzer (The Uncoupling, 2011) follows a group of friends from adolescence at an artsy summer camp in 1974 through adulthood and into late-middle age as their lives alternately intersect, diverge and reconnect. Stella, ensconced in white society, is shedding her fur coat. In my opinion, no one thing happens that becomes the main focus or arc of the book. We can’t all be exceptional – and anyway, as Jules realises, “it had never just been about talent; it had also always been about money”. There’s Ethan, a bright cartoonist filled with unreciprocated love for Jules, and Jonah, an introverted musician who is somehow unwilling to pursue his craft. by Book Review: 'The Interestings,' By Meg Wolitzer | Life Goes On Summer After Summer Meg Wolitzer's The Interestings follows a group of teens who meet in … 10,944 reviews. Ultimately I find myself very perplexed about my feelings for this book. LITERARY FICTION by The characters, their personalities, and every situation are described in such detail (often with surprising precision) that you can picture everything perfectly, as if watching an expertly-shot movie that spans decades, and therefore end up caring about these people and what will happen to them. So here’s the young Jules’s idealistic fervour for her new-found friendships: “Feelings could come over you in a sudden wild sweep … they could return to the boys’ tepee, the six of them, and take their places in that perfect, unbroken, lifelong circle.” Wolitzer is good on teenage intensity, resisting the temptation simply to satirise it, but not going too gooey either. "This is a story about people and how fate drives their life force", Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2013. The scene in which Stella adopts her white persona is a tour de force of doubling and confusion. All rights reserved. But Wolitzer also skewers this obsession with being creatively fulfilled, artistically exceptional. Desiree, the “fidgety twin,” and Stella, “a smart, careful girl,” make their break from stultifying rural Mallard, Louisiana, becoming 16-year-old runaways in 1954 New Orleans. For one thing, to Jules’ surprise, Goodman’s grieving sister Ash and Ethan become an unlikely but devoted couple. Fate, coincidence, class and envy are what bind — and in some cases disperse — the six central characters. A failed dancer, she eventually overcomes being raped by Goodman to become a financial guardian of her Cantor-Fitzgerald-like employees after 9/11. For the first 400 pages or so, I couldn't put it down. And also, given the chance - would you want to try and go back and re-create a happy, distant past chapter in your life? "This is a story about people and how fate drives their life force", Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2013. GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE It allows our most engaged readers to debate the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world solutions, and more. Pre-publication book reviews and features keeping readers and industry influencers in the know since 1933. Jules is one of the main characters in the novel, and one of her biggest struggles is contentment and envy. Cathy, who wants to dance, becomes Goodman’s girlfriend. As she looks back, the reader follows the evolution of the group. The year was 1974. My, is that refreshing to read. A failed dancer, she eventually overcomes being raped by Goodman to become a financial guardian of her Cantor-Fitzgerald-like employees after 9/11. The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer – review A well-turned novel follows a group of friends from teenagehood to middle age and satirises the American religion of self-creation Jamesian spirit … Bennett is deeply engaged in the unknowability of other people and the scourge of colorism.

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