Body Surfing: A Novel by Anita Shreve Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Body Surfing: A Novel
Book Review: Shreve does not disappoint!
Summary: 4 Stars
Even after reading all of Shreve's novels...Bodysurfing did not disappoint! Usually at a certain point of reading an author's catalogue, things get mundane or the streak runs out for the author, but so far for Shreve she's managed to keep writing winning novels.
I really enjoyed the story, the characters and how the plot played out. A few surprises tossed in kept things interesting. Most of all, Shreve has a way with words, and being able to describe the human emotions with such finess. A++
Shreve is one of the few authors that I would recommend to a friend without a doubt. Bodysurfing is another winner!
Book Review: Standard Shreve
Summary: 4 Stars
If the reader likes Shreve, in general, this will not disappoint. Her ability to make you feel you have seen the very locations she describes and know people like her characters is outstanding. However, didn't find it to be one of her best.Book Review: Surfing Through Life
Summary: 4 Stars
Body Surfing: A Novel by Anita Shreve is not one of my favorite novels, but I enjoyed the meditative way in which she weaves the love triangle between Sydney, Jeff, and Ben. What I enjoyed most about the love triangle is that it is done in such a way that it takes the whole book to see the outcome and the third angle in the triangle.
***Spoiler Alert***
Sydney loves to body surf in the ocean, and this becomes a metaphor for how she lives her life. She tends to get swept up by the circumstances she finds herself in, whether it's the odd jobs she has held or the men she becomes involved with. She's been married two times previously when we meet her in the book, and she has taken time off from graduate school after the death of her second husband to tutor a young girl, Julie Edwards, for the SATs over the summer.
She has a relatively calm time at the New Hampshire beach cottage, which has appeared in several of Shreve's other novels--including one of my favorites The Pilot's Wife. The house's history is not lost on the character of Mr. Edwards in this book, and he has even become a sort of historian of the house. It has been great to see the stories that emerge from this single cottage over the years. I wonder if Shreve will set another novel in this cottage; I would enjoy visiting it again.
Suddenly, Sydney is thrust between two brothers and their competitive behavior. The competition is not overt, but alluded to throughout the book. The subtlety here may be hard to sift through, but reading Shreve's works in the past, I've become more attune to her visual cues and descriptions to uncover the internal struggles and hidden agendas and connections between her characters.
I truly enjoyed the parts after the wedding debacle where Sydney spends time in a Boston hotel to regroup and her meeting with Mr. Cavalli. I think these were eye-opening experiences for the character. Her return to New Hampshire three years later for a psychology conference and her subsequent meeting with Ben is a major turning point for a number of characters, including Sydney and Ben's mother. I just love the few lines with which Shreve accomplishes the transition in this book and the immediate mutual realization that Ben and Sydney reach together.
***End Spoiler Alert***
Overall, this book held my attention throughout the daily commute and even some evenings at home when I was engrossed in the dialogue and current situations Sydney found herself in. While it is not as well constructed as The Pilot's Wife, Sea Glass, or The Last Time They Met, I enjoyed my journey back to the oceanside of New Hampshire and the trip back into Boston, even if it was for a brief interlude.
Book Review: Surfing between 3 and 4 stars
Summary: 3 Stars
Anita Shreve comes through once again with an emotional and involving look at interpersonal relationships. Body Surfing tells the story of Sydney, a young woman who takes a summer tutoring job to get off the emotional roller coaster of her life for a bit. At the tender age of 29 she's been divorced from her first husband and widowed by her second. Tutoring sweet but slow Julie at her parents sea side vacation home seems like just the calming ticket to Sydney, and it is, until Julie's two brother's show up. Ben, Jeff and Sydney become entangled in ways that change everyone's lives as old scores are settled with fresh attacks in a family where appearances mean more than realities. I just wished for a bit more development of the characters, hence the somewhat low rating.Book Review: Trashy yet intelligent
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm not sure why this one got some poor reviews. I love how Anita Shreve combines a literary tone and eye for detail with soapy plots...a fun, plot-driven read that won't rot your brain.
The book is written in a spare, poetic style. Though some people complained about the present tense, I didn't even notice. Many novels are written in the present tense these days! The story is set, interestingly, in a New Hampshire house that has appeared in 3 other Shreve novels (Fortune's Rocks, The Pilot's Wife, and Sea Glass). I thought this was a fun detail that added a sense of history/continuity and made the novel feel more "real."
I thoroughly enjoyed the twisty (dare I say it--trashy! in a fun way) plot that focuses on a love triangle with one treacherous member.