ozogg
14th March 2009, 07:37 AM
WORKS OF FICTION
From a Recent "Amazon" Posting, Customer Reviews:
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/common/customer-reviews/stars-2-0._V47081858_.gif Family Dysfunction Without Charm, March 6, 2009
By Sara Millerhttp://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/common/icons/drop-down-icon-small-empty-arrow._V13355991_.gif (Oceanside, CA United States) - See all my reviews (http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A19D3N662QS9WD/ref=cm_cr_dp_auth_rev?ie=UTF8&sort%5Fby=MostRecentReview)
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True Believers by Zoe HELLER, is the tale of a family at a cross roads. When the Livinoff family's patriarch suffers a stroke, the family starts to unravel quite quickly. The book examines and tests the character's beliefs. However, the novel is more of an exercise in characterization.
Heller recently told The Book Page (March 09) that, "The job of fiction is not to present likable characters. It's to present interesting characters." So before becoming the spokesperson for fiction, Heller gave us Audrey, the matriarch of her Litvinoff family. Audrey is horrid. She is awful to her children and hypo and hypercritical of everyone else. And due to the novel's structure we are forced to feel her presence in every chapter. The rest of the characters are Audrey's brood, so unsurprisingly, they are definitive brats.
I wish I had known Heller's position on characterization prior to picking up the novel. I don't disagree that characters don't have to be likable, but as the author I feel Heller should have given us some reason to care about the fate of these characters. Heller fails to do so. Instead she presents characters who are grating, and so despite some comical moments, this story become increasingly tedious.
http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/comment-sm._V47082363_.gif (http://www.amazon.com/review/R36PLVOKVJOYP7/ref=cm_cr_dp_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=006143020X&nodeID=283155#wasThisHelpful) Comment (http://www.amazon.com/review/R36PLVOKVJOYP7/ref=cm_cr_dp_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=006143020X&nodeID=283155#wasThisHelpful) | Permalink (http://www.amazon.com/review/R36PLVOKVJOYP7/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm) | Was this review helpful to you? http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/nav2/dp/btn-yes-tiny._V46687209_.gif http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/nav2/dp/btn-no-tiny._V46917209_.gif http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/nav2/dp/btn-yes-tiny._V46687209_.gif (http://www.amazon.com/gp/vote/ref=cm_cr_dp_voteyn?ie=UTF8&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.2=1&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.1=1&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.2.type=ProductS et&type=pipeline&uid=2115R36PLVOKVJOYP7HelpfulReviews1&uri=%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F006143020X&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.1.type=AmazonCu stomer&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.1.id=A19D3N662Q S9WD&qv=pe%5F24390%5F11489020%5Fas%5Ftxt%5F7&contentId=2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7&label=Helpful&qk=ref%5F&ifRes=showYesNoCommunityResponse&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.2.id=B000VVDJEW&context=Reviews&needsSignIn=1&voteValue=1) http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/nav2/dp/btn-no-tiny._V46917209_.gif (http://www.amazon.com/gp/vote/ref=cm_cr_dp_voteyn?ie=UTF8&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.2=1&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.1=1&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.2.type=ProductS et&type=pipeline&uid=2115R36PLVOKVJOYP7HelpfulReviews1&uri=%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F006143020X&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.1.type=AmazonCu stomer&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.1.id=A19D3N662Q S9WD&qv=pe%5F24390%5F11489020%5Fas%5Ftxt%5F7&contentId=2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7&label=Helpful&qk=ref%5F&ifRes=showYesNoCommunityResponse&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.2.id=B000VVDJEW&context=Reviews&needsSignIn=1&voteValue=-1) (Report this (http://www.amazon.com/Believers-Novel-Zoe-Heller/dp/006143020X/ref=pe_24390_11489020_as_txt_7/#)) (Report this (http://www.amazon.com/gp/vote/ref=cm_cr_dp_inapp?ie=UTF8&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.2=1&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.1=1&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.2.type=ProductS et&type=pipeline&uri=%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F006143020X&template=inappropriate&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.1.type=AmazonCu stomer&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.1.id=A19D3N662Q S9WD&response=report&qv=pe%5F24390%5F11489020%5Fas%5Ftxt%5F7&contentId=2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7&voteValue=1&label=Inappropriate&qk=ref%5F&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.2.id=B000VVDJEW&context=Reviews))
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/common/customer-reviews/stars-5-0._V47081849_.gif True Believers, March 9, 2009
By Eileen Pollockhttp://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/common/icons/drop-down-icon-small-empty-arrow._V13355991_.gif (http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A33SO0VKEQNJ7R/ref=cm_cr_dp_pdp) (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A33SO0VKEQNJ7R/ref=cm_cr_dp_auth_rev?ie=UTF8&sort%5Fby=MostRecentReview)
Hyperactivist parents, the father, Joel, a defender of terrorists and leftists, and his wife Audrey, a strident, politically inflexible true believer, are at the center of this story of a floating family seeking ballast. Karla, a plump married social worker, is the least loved of Joel and Audrey's three children, constantly picked on by her mother, and yet she clings to the family and staunchly defends her mother's cruelty. Karla is in a loveless marriage and filled with self disgust at her body, believing she is unlovable, until she is approached by an Egyptian newstand owner who shows her otherwise. Rosa turns from a disappointing commitment to the Cuban revolution to a growing interest in Orthodox Judaism. Though some of the practices and beliefs are difficult for her to incorporate into her existing life and belief system, she takes successive steps to immerse herself in a life her parents reject unequivocably, since they themselves have, as the author puts it, "some ancestral tie" to the religion. If only she had taken up Buddhism or Hinduism, laments her shocked mother. But Judaism? Finally, there is the adoptive ne'er do well son Lenny, a drug addict and scrounger. He has failed 100 rehab programs. He is the only child Audrey loves; for her daughters she never was able to summon much maternal sympathy, and she shamelessly enables his addiction. Audrey as you may see is a most obnoxious character. Rosa, despite her search for a meaningful life, is not very pleasant, either, rejecting people out of hand. Rosa devotes her working life to a club for inner city girls, where the girls are told over and over they are "special". Rosa knows the girls are "resolutely unspecial" and that they are being sold a bill of goods. In fact, this novel is about people who are being fooled and people who are fooling them, and people who are deceiving themselves. Zoe Heller is a superb writer, she has bite and edge and a keen eye for character flaws. She could have had an expert go over the Orthodox Jewish scenes more carefully -there are a number of jarring errors. The religious women awaiting the men's return from synagogue Friday night would not be drinking lemonade - one does not eat or drink from sundown to kiddush on Friday night. But there are some subtle touches, particularly in the first chapter when Joel meets Audrey's parents. Joel assumes the Polish parents and Audrey are speaking Polish together. This shows Joel's utter alienation from all European Jewish roots, that he doesn't even recognize the language of Eastern European Jews, which is Yiddish. Polish Jews would never speak Polish together, and I'm sure Zoe Heller knows that. The author has produced a highly interesting, literate, skillfully woven multipart tale. I was most moved by the story of Rosa, who comes to the realization that the underprivileged children she has been trying to save are unsalvagable, and she turns closer to Orthodox Judaism to find a more meaningful way of living.
From a Recent "Amazon" Posting, Customer Reviews:
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/common/customer-reviews/stars-2-0._V47081858_.gif Family Dysfunction Without Charm, March 6, 2009
By Sara Millerhttp://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/common/icons/drop-down-icon-small-empty-arrow._V13355991_.gif (Oceanside, CA United States) - See all my reviews (http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A19D3N662QS9WD/ref=cm_cr_dp_auth_rev?ie=UTF8&sort%5Fby=MostRecentReview)
http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/reputation/c7y_badge_rn_1._V47060296_.gif (http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=cm_rn_bdg_help?ie=UTF8&nodeId=14279681&pop-up=1#RN)
True Believers by Zoe HELLER, is the tale of a family at a cross roads. When the Livinoff family's patriarch suffers a stroke, the family starts to unravel quite quickly. The book examines and tests the character's beliefs. However, the novel is more of an exercise in characterization.
Heller recently told The Book Page (March 09) that, "The job of fiction is not to present likable characters. It's to present interesting characters." So before becoming the spokesperson for fiction, Heller gave us Audrey, the matriarch of her Litvinoff family. Audrey is horrid. She is awful to her children and hypo and hypercritical of everyone else. And due to the novel's structure we are forced to feel her presence in every chapter. The rest of the characters are Audrey's brood, so unsurprisingly, they are definitive brats.
I wish I had known Heller's position on characterization prior to picking up the novel. I don't disagree that characters don't have to be likable, but as the author I feel Heller should have given us some reason to care about the fate of these characters. Heller fails to do so. Instead she presents characters who are grating, and so despite some comical moments, this story become increasingly tedious.
http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/comment-sm._V47082363_.gif (http://www.amazon.com/review/R36PLVOKVJOYP7/ref=cm_cr_dp_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=006143020X&nodeID=283155#wasThisHelpful) Comment (http://www.amazon.com/review/R36PLVOKVJOYP7/ref=cm_cr_dp_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=006143020X&nodeID=283155#wasThisHelpful) | Permalink (http://www.amazon.com/review/R36PLVOKVJOYP7/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm) | Was this review helpful to you? http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/nav2/dp/btn-yes-tiny._V46687209_.gif http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/nav2/dp/btn-no-tiny._V46917209_.gif http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/nav2/dp/btn-yes-tiny._V46687209_.gif (http://www.amazon.com/gp/vote/ref=cm_cr_dp_voteyn?ie=UTF8&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.2=1&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.1=1&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.2.type=ProductS et&type=pipeline&uid=2115R36PLVOKVJOYP7HelpfulReviews1&uri=%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F006143020X&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.1.type=AmazonCu stomer&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.1.id=A19D3N662Q S9WD&qv=pe%5F24390%5F11489020%5Fas%5Ftxt%5F7&contentId=2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7&label=Helpful&qk=ref%5F&ifRes=showYesNoCommunityResponse&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.2.id=B000VVDJEW&context=Reviews&needsSignIn=1&voteValue=1) http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/nav2/dp/btn-no-tiny._V46917209_.gif (http://www.amazon.com/gp/vote/ref=cm_cr_dp_voteyn?ie=UTF8&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.2=1&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.1=1&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.2.type=ProductS et&type=pipeline&uid=2115R36PLVOKVJOYP7HelpfulReviews1&uri=%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F006143020X&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.1.type=AmazonCu stomer&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.1.id=A19D3N662Q S9WD&qv=pe%5F24390%5F11489020%5Fas%5Ftxt%5F7&contentId=2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7&label=Helpful&qk=ref%5F&ifRes=showYesNoCommunityResponse&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.2.id=B000VVDJEW&context=Reviews&needsSignIn=1&voteValue=-1) (Report this (http://www.amazon.com/Believers-Novel-Zoe-Heller/dp/006143020X/ref=pe_24390_11489020_as_txt_7/#)) (Report this (http://www.amazon.com/gp/vote/ref=cm_cr_dp_inapp?ie=UTF8&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.2=1&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.1=1&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.2.type=ProductS et&type=pipeline&uri=%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F006143020X&template=inappropriate&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.1.type=AmazonCu stomer&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.1.id=A19D3N662Q S9WD&response=report&qv=pe%5F24390%5F11489020%5Fas%5Ftxt%5F7&contentId=2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7&voteValue=1&label=Inappropriate&qk=ref%5F&2115%7CR36PLVOKVJOYP7.contentAssoc.2.id=B000VVDJEW&context=Reviews))
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/common/customer-reviews/stars-5-0._V47081849_.gif True Believers, March 9, 2009
By Eileen Pollockhttp://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/common/icons/drop-down-icon-small-empty-arrow._V13355991_.gif (http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A33SO0VKEQNJ7R/ref=cm_cr_dp_pdp) (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A33SO0VKEQNJ7R/ref=cm_cr_dp_auth_rev?ie=UTF8&sort%5Fby=MostRecentReview)
Hyperactivist parents, the father, Joel, a defender of terrorists and leftists, and his wife Audrey, a strident, politically inflexible true believer, are at the center of this story of a floating family seeking ballast. Karla, a plump married social worker, is the least loved of Joel and Audrey's three children, constantly picked on by her mother, and yet she clings to the family and staunchly defends her mother's cruelty. Karla is in a loveless marriage and filled with self disgust at her body, believing she is unlovable, until she is approached by an Egyptian newstand owner who shows her otherwise. Rosa turns from a disappointing commitment to the Cuban revolution to a growing interest in Orthodox Judaism. Though some of the practices and beliefs are difficult for her to incorporate into her existing life and belief system, she takes successive steps to immerse herself in a life her parents reject unequivocably, since they themselves have, as the author puts it, "some ancestral tie" to the religion. If only she had taken up Buddhism or Hinduism, laments her shocked mother. But Judaism? Finally, there is the adoptive ne'er do well son Lenny, a drug addict and scrounger. He has failed 100 rehab programs. He is the only child Audrey loves; for her daughters she never was able to summon much maternal sympathy, and she shamelessly enables his addiction. Audrey as you may see is a most obnoxious character. Rosa, despite her search for a meaningful life, is not very pleasant, either, rejecting people out of hand. Rosa devotes her working life to a club for inner city girls, where the girls are told over and over they are "special". Rosa knows the girls are "resolutely unspecial" and that they are being sold a bill of goods. In fact, this novel is about people who are being fooled and people who are fooling them, and people who are deceiving themselves. Zoe Heller is a superb writer, she has bite and edge and a keen eye for character flaws. She could have had an expert go over the Orthodox Jewish scenes more carefully -there are a number of jarring errors. The religious women awaiting the men's return from synagogue Friday night would not be drinking lemonade - one does not eat or drink from sundown to kiddush on Friday night. But there are some subtle touches, particularly in the first chapter when Joel meets Audrey's parents. Joel assumes the Polish parents and Audrey are speaking Polish together. This shows Joel's utter alienation from all European Jewish roots, that he doesn't even recognize the language of Eastern European Jews, which is Yiddish. Polish Jews would never speak Polish together, and I'm sure Zoe Heller knows that. The author has produced a highly interesting, literate, skillfully woven multipart tale. I was most moved by the story of Rosa, who comes to the realization that the underprivileged children she has been trying to save are unsalvagable, and she turns closer to Orthodox Judaism to find a more meaningful way of living.