Off Season by Anne Rivers Siddons Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Off Season
Book Review: Dialogue with a cat?
Summary: 1 Stars
I struggled with this book trying to understand the plots and warm up to the characters. I didn't really get how everybody lost a friend or relative through accidental death - that seemed a little too pervasive.
The main man in the story, Cam, feels like such a loser because his little sister died when they were both little kids. But we are also told that he is a great success as an architect and as a ladies man. I couldn't get a handle on whether he was supposed to be a happily successful or deeply troubled character.
I guess the talking cat was supposed to be a little comic relief but I found his comments jarring in the context of such deeply emotional scenes. Myself, I avoid talking to pets as a general policy. But every time Silvanus, or whatever his name was, interjected a comment, I wanted to say, "Look, if you can talk, you can get your fat little rump off the couch and get yourself a job."
Book Review: Disappointing end is just a guessing game
Summary: 3 Stars
I have read all of ARS's novels and have liked most of them, loved some. Interestingly, COLONY, which has a tie to this novel, is one of my favorites. I had my doubts about this book when it began with her hearing her cat talk to her, but dug in anyway. Her stories are usually good, as was this one. I read the entire book, was engrossed by the story, despite the cat business, but was so disappointed in the ambiguous ending that I wanted to return the book. Not to give away the end to those who will still buy it, I think ARS let down her devoted fans by writing an end that was not an end. I don't agree that it was "mystical", as other reviewers have described it. I think she tried to enter a genre that isn't her specialty and she failed abysmally. By the time this goes to paperback, I hope she comes forward to explain what happened because I sure as heck don't have a clue. There must be something in the air because all of my favorite authors' 2008 novels have been disappointing. My favorite reads this year have all been by authors new to me. This was the worst disappointment. The excellent plot deserved a straight forward finish; not a "spiritual" guessing game.Book Review: Disappointing, to say the least!
Summary: 2 Stars
This was the first of Siddons' books that I read, and I am unlikely to pick up another.Characters are unbelievable or completely undeveloped--are we to accept Lilly's mother's explanation that allowing the old man to fondle her was an act of "kindness"? Jeebs' absences are explained,almost as an afterthought, long after the reader wonders where he is. Brief comments are made about Tatty, but she isn't really seen until she appears to influence and then move in with (?????) Lilly's father. What happened to Lilly's childhood friends? Where is Cam's family when he dies? The ending is unbelievable, and weak. Siddon has Lilly die, rather than show her return to a "real" world (The cat conversations are ridiculous.) after seeing proof(?), following MANY juvenile hints by other characters, that devoted, loving Cam had had an affair, with, of all people, the hated Peaches. This would be a perfect story line for network soap opera writers,who typically love the silly, unlikely, and intelligence-insulting...Book Review: Disappointing...
Summary: 2 Stars
The book starts out really well and is totally engrossing for the first two-thirds. After Lilly's marriage to Cam, the books falls apart. There is no warning or foreshadowing of Cam's betrayal, and no hint or reason for it is given. The character of Peaches is one-dimensional. The age of Jon and Lilly at the time of their relationship is way too young and borders on creepy. The matter of the letters is left in the air, and the whole book becomes a disappointment. It's as if Siddons ran out of steam midway. An author normally so careful with words writes an ending that must be re-read a couple of times to be understood, and the reader is left with so many unanswered questions that it is completely frustrating. And one more thing: the literary device of Lilly's conversations with her cat is completely out of place, inappropriate and contrived.Book Review: Editor? There was an editor?
Summary: 3 Stars
Two points:
If Mrs. Siddons had taken the time to develop the storyline and the rest of the characters as much as she did Lilly's in childhood, the book would have been excellent. Almost as though the author was rushed to print rather than finish the book properly.
Editing was abysmal! There are lots and lots and lots of mistakes. "She puts the cat and his sweater on the sofa. Then only 2 or 3 sentences later, the cat glares at her until she puts the sweater on the sofa. The urn looks well on the mantle. That urn should be looking good...All this on the first couple of pages - very distracting. Plot mistakes and character errors very evident throughout the book. Intro to Jon has him older than 12, but the ending has him 12.
Even through all that, my reaction to the book as a whole was the same as when I read As I Lay Dying at the age of 15. WHAT??? They went through all that for this ending??? Siddens is still a great read. And I am still thinking and talking about this book.