Body Surfing: A Novel by Anita Shreve Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Body Surfing: A Novel
Book Review: Unfulfilled Potential
Summary: 3 Stars
This was an okay beach read. I enjoyed the setting and the basic storyline, but I didn't really feel any connection to Sydney, the main character. She's someone who has faced loss and is trying to move on, I guess, but that's all we get. She doesn't have any likes, any passions (other than she likes body surfing, but not even that much), she pretty much just mopes around a lot.
I wish the entire book focused on the first summer at the house, instead of just the first 1/3. I think that would have made for a better story, and I think we needed more detail, more time, more of an experience. We need to get to know the characters more. This book is actually very short, because there are not many words on a page. It needs to be, and could easily be, longer.
The present tense and very short sections with lots of line breaks works on some levels, but would be better for a short story than a novel. It's hard to deal with it for a whole novel.
This book was okay, but had so much unfulfilled potential.
Book Review: Well worth the time.
Summary: 4 Stars
This was the 2nd Anita Shreve book I have read and again wasn't dissapointed. There were a few sub plots that didn't really work themselves out. Example Julie being gay, kind of went off the wall on that one. It never really explained why Mrs. Edward's hated Sydney so much. You could see Jeff leaving her at the alter coming from a mile away. It was the thrill of getting the divorce/widow, and once that was done, there was no more chalange. I would like to see a sequal to finish up Sydney and Ben's romance. A good summer beach read, a little predictable.Book Review: What happened here?
Summary: 1 Stars
I agree with several of the other reviewers in that the writing style was a distraction, but after considering the story, I think that it was the only way to present it. The characters were thin, their motivations were cliche and everything about it felt like a whimsical poem, not a well plotted novel. It was my first book by this author but it will not be my last; after reading several of the other reviews, I am willing to take at chance that her other efforts are much more precise and enjoyable. Thank you to the other reviewers who did not enjoy this book but recommended her others. I will certainly check them out. I read on average 60-75 books a year so it's natural for me to stalk the second hand book store. I'm glad I only paid 1.98 for this book, because it still left me feeling as if I were owed a refund. Once a writer has had some success it's natural for the publishers to allow them alot of room to experiment. I think this was an experiment gone wrong. Hopefully, she doesn't repeat it.Book Review: When one competes for Love there will always be deception and betrayal.
Summary: 3 Stars
I recommend this book; it's a good read and it shows how one can be manipulative and how one event can change our futures forever.
The novel is about Sydney Sklar a 29 year old who has already been married twice. She divorced her 1st husband who was a pilot and her second husband died unexpectedly. After David's death Sydney with her broken heart and her broken dreams goes to work as a tutor for Julie Edwards who is apparently a bit slow and a very innocent 18 year old who runs away with her lover Helene and leaves the family in awe; not able to understand how they didn't even notice that she was gay.
While Mr. Edwards is nice and sweet with Sydney; Mrs. Edwards with her anti-Semitic tendencies doesn't like her one bit and is quite dismissive and sometimes even rude.
The story unfolds when the sons of the couple arrive to spend a few days at their beach house. Ben and Jeff are both good looking and they like Sydney from the get go. Jeff is the youngest of the two and he is a very deceptive man indeed, he has the fiancé who will later be dumped in favor of Sydney but I liked Ben so much better only Sydney for some reason feels like Ben is the deceptive one and she avoids him every single day since the night when the three of them go body surfing.
Sydney is sure that Ben has tried to grope her underwater. She takes immediate dislike of him and treats him coldly thereafter.
Shreve's other work has a steady narrative flow, but this novel is episodic and disjointed. There is the arrival of Jeff's girlfriend Victoria, her departure, an evening when Julie comes home absolutely drunk and won't talk about it, and an unexpected romance between Sydney and Jeff which leads to the complications that make this novel what it is in essence. There is a twist at the end, involving the brothers, that is quite destructive and hard to swallow.
The end will surprise you not because it's romantic but because it leaves you wanting to know more.
Book Review: enjoyable read
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a very well written book filled with vivid images and unanswered questions.
I wanted the main character to have more backbone. I wanted to know more about why the two brother's hated each other. The sister's character was mysterious and incomplete.
Then again, the best books always leave you wanting more.