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Knightpatti
| Wednesday, January 29, 2003 - 1:55 pm
I have finished the book so I hope it is okay to add this thread. At one point, I was very upset when I thought her life was going to be very tragic. I knew if she kept on her same life style that she was either going to have a nervous breakdown, but she seems to be a strong woman or her husband was going to leave her. SHe is lucky that her husband did not seek the company of another woman. I think that I like him alot. I had a hard time understanding Kate. Her job was first in her life and everything else was just happening. She started her family at 30, so she was definitely a career woman and a very successful one. But she did not seem to get a whole lot of respect from the men in that company. Her husband was an architect and he could not have been that poor. She made more money and stressed that they had to have her money. The incident with MoMo was awful!!!! I am so glad that the women come up with their scheme to get rid of the jerk. I am trying not to go into a lot of details, because I do not want to ruin the book for others if they have not finished it. My conclusion, I loved the book and loved the ending. I would not have picked this book out on my own, since I read mainly murder mysteries. More later from me after others post.
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Seamonkey
| Wednesday, January 29, 2003 - 2:33 pm
I loved the ending and the revenge as well..
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Twiggyish
| Wednesday, January 29, 2003 - 8:42 pm
I'm almost there. I've had quite a lot going on this past week at work. (whew!!)
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Hermione69
| Friday, January 31, 2003 - 6:24 am
Man, the ending was very dissatisfying to me. I'm sorry! It was just too pat and convenient. She dealt with her dad, her marriage, her job, a hateful coworker, women's rights, an almost-affair, and her sister's life in the blink of an eye. Seems like it, anyway. She was such a real and believable character up to that point, but life is rarely so easily solved. I didn't buy into it. I'm still glad that I read the book, but when I shut it last night after finishing it, I was not satisfied.
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Marysafan
| Friday, January 31, 2003 - 7:30 am
I have to agree with you Hermoine....everything was so realistic until the ending. All tied up with a pretty bow...so not like real life.
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Seamonkey
| Friday, January 31, 2003 - 7:10 pm
I liked the ending and I got the sense that things weren't going to remain exactly neat and tidy, that there would be issues, but hopefully they will communicate about them sooner..
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Twiggyish
| Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 8:35 pm
I don't think Kate will ever be completely happy.
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Mak1
| Sunday, February 02, 2003 - 12:55 pm
The ending reminded me of a TV movie, everything coming together so easily all of a sudden. I really liked the book, though, and the ending was okay to me. I especially loved the revenge! When Kate's friend died, she began examining her life more seriously. It took Richard's leaving her to make her really dig more deeply into what she wanted for herself and her family. I loved Winston's (the cabbie)and Momo's parts in the book. They, at first, appeared to be minor characters but ended up playing important parts in Kate's self-discovery. In the end, Kate didn't just ride off happily ever after into the sunset in the country. We see that she isn't completely content with the new lifestyle and aren't surprised when she begins to jump headlong into a new business venture. Hopefully, this time she would remember the lessons she learned and keep her priorities straight. (Note to all married women: Beware George-Clooney lookalike clients. Too much to drink in Sinatra bar could end in embarrassment when you wake up! LMAO!)
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Schoolmarm
| Sunday, February 02, 2003 - 7:02 pm
Sigh! Yes, I finished the book. I agree with everyone's posts...it tied up a little too neatly and quickly at the end. Thank goodness that the ending picked up or I wouldn't have finished the book. I plodded though to the end out of obligation to Y'all! The ending is worth the plodding. I hope that Kate enjoys working to help people and really gets to know her kids and husband. It would be interesting to peek in on her in a year or two.
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Kady
| Sunday, February 02, 2003 - 8:53 pm
I agree with Mak. The ending did seem like a Lifetime movie.
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Hermione69
| Monday, February 03, 2003 - 8:10 am
I've hesitated in posting this because no one has has voiced this opinion and I don't want to be slammed, but I HATED the revenge. I am very much a "two wrongs don't make a right" type of person. I thought it was extremely dishonest and the whole thing made me uncomfortable. I would never have been a part of something like that. I agree that the man should have lost his job, but he lost it for the wrong reasons. To use another cliche, I do not agree with "the ends justifies the means." I thought her means brought her right down to his level. I even thought that the way Kate got money for her dad out of it was tantamount to theft. Just MHO. I should probably just lighten up! I think I would have responded differently if the entire book had more of a jokey feel to it, but Kate was such a realistic character. It just didn't fit for me. I really did like the book up to the ending. I liked the comparison of the ending to a TV movie. That's very apt.
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Marysafan
| Monday, February 03, 2003 - 8:35 am
Again Hermoine great insight. I didn't understand that whole money deal either. I know she wanted him to lose his job and yes..hitting them in the wallet would definitely be the fastest way to get him sacked....but whose money is it? It belonged to someone and to have set the guy up to give it to her Dad was criminal! She is lucky that there wasn't an inverstigation...or she could have been facing some serious criminal charges. I didn't like that at all...it reduced our "heroine" to a thief. This greatly diminished her in my eyes.
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Mak1
| Monday, February 03, 2003 - 1:57 pm
I never would have been a part of something like that, either, Hermione. If it happened in real life, I wouldn't approve at all. I feel Chris Bunce set himself up to be the victim. A responsible, honest business person would have done more research before spending so much of his company's money on an unproven product. Just about everything in her office offended me, particularly the treatment of women and minorities. I just read it as fiction, and enjoyed it in that sense, because the scheme just seemed so outlandish to me.
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Hermione69
| Monday, February 03, 2003 - 4:42 pm
Some of my favorite books are outlandish and far from believable so I'm not entirely sure exactly why I had that reaction. I may have responded the way I did because the style in which the book was written invited me into Kate's life to identify and empathize with her, and I did, and then she lost me. I could not empathize with her plans for revenge. I could empathize with the fantasy of it, but carrying it out was over the top. I think one of the worst things an author can do is force an ending and I felt like that happened here. The ending didn't fit with the rest of the story for me. It felt tacked on and coerced. I'm very particular about the endings, LOL! Me and Flannery O'Conner. I remember reading an interview with her once in which she was talking about her short story "A Good Man is Hard to Find" which was made into a TV movie (OMG, the parallels!). The story's ending was rewritten for the TV movie for a "happily ever after" effect and Flannery O'Conner was livid. She said something like, "The characters in the story would never have behaved like that; there was only one possible ending to my story with the characters that I had and it was not a happy ending!" Maybe it is time for me to shut up now and go back to the Harry Potter thread!
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Twiggyish
| Monday, February 03, 2003 - 6:48 pm
I think you have a good point Hermie. Marm, good idea about a peek in about 2 years. (A possible sequel)
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Azriel
| Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 12:54 am
Thank God, Hallelujah! I've finished reading this book! Have I told you all yet today, how much I dislike this book? ~duck~ Schoolmarm and Twiggy please don't encourage the author to write a sequel! I agree with Hermione, the revenge thing was awful. It might have been Chris Bunce's career that was ruined, but it was some investor's money that was stolen by Kate and her cohorts. I have to tell you all that I literally stood up in my chair and cheered when Richard left Kate. (my boyfriend looked at me like I was insane) I gagged on the sickly sweet ending when he came back to her and all was right with Kate's selfish bitchy little world again. I'm ready for the next book!
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Schoolmarm
| Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 5:41 am
Uh, Az...I wasn't encouraging a sequel, just commenting that I think that it would be interesting to see Kate in a couple of years. I think that the neatly tied ending would certainly come undone. I too, am ready for the next bookclub book! This one is not going on my favorites list.
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Mak1
| Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 4:15 pm
Hermione, don't shut up!! Your comments are always insightful, and I understand the points you made. I love that we can all read the same book and relate to it in so many different ways, depending on our own likes, dislikes, values and life experiences. Having our discussion board made reading it more enjoyable to me. In fact, it helped to keep me going during the chapters I didn't especially like. I'm ready to move on to the next bookclub book too!
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Twiggyish
| Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 4:28 pm
Maybe it should be a rule in the book club.. No one shuts up in here =) All insightful and thoughtful opinions welcome.
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Azriel
| Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 5:45 pm
I agree, Twiggy. I haven't liked this book, but it did give me some interesting things to think about and talk about. The next book I might love and someone else is bound to hate it. I think if everyone just sat around and said, 'love it love it' it would be a boring book club. We are a diverse bunch and that diversity gives us different views of the books to consider and that makes for some interesting discussions, IMO.
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Knightpatti
| Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 9:18 pm
I was glad that Richard and Kate did get back together. Divorce is just too painful, especialy when the children are involved. It said alot though, how she totally ignored her husband when she had to have the nanny read the goodbye letter. I was glad to finish the book, but I liked the end of the book better than the first. I just could not understand how Kate's job could mean so much to her that she had to lie every time that she needed to do anyhing with her children. Her job was not the ideal job for someone with small children, traveling around the world on a moment's notice. Even though, they did get back together. They would have to work out their communication problems!
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Marysafan
| Wednesday, February 05, 2003 - 8:27 am
I was appalled at Kate's lack of respect for Rich. I was incensed at the beginning when she was up distressing pies instead of going to bed with him...when he was good enough to come and get her to go to bed. And that whole staying up brushing one tooth at a time until she was sure he was asleep before coming to bed...spoke volumes. but the capper...was when she hung up on him. Right then I slammed the book shut and said..."that is the stupidest thing you have ever done in your life." It was total disrespect. I was right. I was not happy with Rich for packing up and leaving the children...after all he is their father, and they needed him...and he knew they already had an absentee mother. She was out of town...he didn't need to pack his bags and leave until she got back. So ...he is no "saint" either. She should count her lucky stars he gave her a second chance...because she sure didn't deserve one. And she doesn't deserve to have children either....this woman needs a parenting class.
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Calamity
| Thursday, February 06, 2003 - 12:05 pm
I agree with most everyone. While it wasn't exactly a fairy tale ending since the author did leave a little whisp of uncertainty about Kate's future, it seemed like most of her problems were too-neatly solved. Kinda clashed with the realism of the rest of the book. The revenge - I'm torn. I've known jerks like Bunce and while it was a cheap thrill to see the women turn the tables on him, it was ultimately unsatisfying. He was never more than a caricature so I felt nothing really. And like others, my thought was "Wouldn't you love it if your retirement fund was just thrown away on this scheme?". Rich...well, he seems like a basically decent guy but what type of %^&# leaves his family when his wife is away from home and makes the nanny break the news? Ugh. This probably isn't a book I'd pick up on my own so I'm glad someone recommended it. There were some truly brilliant lines.
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Weinermr
| Sunday, February 16, 2003 - 2:12 pm
I just finished the book. I'm way way behind. I don't think everything is tied up quiet so neatly. Even in the midst of her new found domestic bliss, Kate is making plans to get back in the business, still struggling to balance out her life and the demands on it. I think maybe part of the point is that Rich wasn't quite as inept as Kate wanted to think he was. Similarly, Kate was probably doing a much better job at juggling her life than she was crediting herself. Who among us doesn't wish they had more time, more energy, more to give other people, more to give themselves at the end of the day? I guess I'm a sucker for happy endings, but I was in tears while I read the last few chapters. I just don't think it's all that rosy an ending. Just kind of a reordering of Kate's life. I can see her back working in some capacity not too long after this book ends. I enjoyed this book, and I'm not too wild about most Lifetime movies.
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Tntitanfan
| Tuesday, February 25, 2003 - 4:34 pm
I thought most of this book was screamingly funny! I expect if I were a mom, I would feel very differently - I thought the ending was far too pat, but since i am a BIG mystery buff, guess I am using to having all the loose ends gathered up at the end.
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