Larry's Party

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating story of dull Larry's life.
Review: Being a woman who mostly reads novels about women, I found this one about a normal, dull, unexciting man (written by a woman) to be a fascinating insight into the mind of a man, one exactly my age, I might add. The simple thoughts one has, as he is going about the living of his life, the people who shape (boss) him, who add color to his life, his parents who started the process and his friends, wives and lovers who continue it. Carol Shields takes a dull man, probably one no one would ever notice, and makes us want to shake him, to take control, to stand up for himself, but isn't this just like everyone, letting the world push and shove you through your life? Larry is the silver ball in the pinball game of life.

Rating:
Summary: Trying to unravel the maze of life, and worth the effort
Review: Larry steps us on the journey that is his life. He is not a hero, he is not a wall flower, but he is everyman, or maybe just what every man goes through. Touching at times, insightful always, the author does tend to get a little caught up in explanations and description. More than once the phrase "show, don't tell" came to mind, but if you cang hang in there, the story beneth the words is worth hearing. Endings are rarley satisfying in their attempt to wrap everything up neatly, but this ending is well thought out, and after all that transpiers, a lovingly logical conclusion.

Rating:
Summary: Party Crasher
Review: It seems that I have to disagree with the majority about "Larry's Party". This book is not exceptional, great, or even good. It's a dull, plodding read with a bland central character. The few interesting things Larry Weller does are glossed over to make room for him to whine about every facet of his existence.

"Larry's Party" reminds me of another book I read recently, "The Corrections" by Jonathan Franzen. Both spend so much time explaining the past that the book never takes off in the present. In the case of "Larry's Party", the book will skip ahead a year or a few years, then go back to explain past events. For example, it starts in 1977, then Shields goes back to explain about who Larry is, where he's going, his relationship with his girlfriend, etc. Then it skips ahead a year and explains how and why Larry gets married. And so forth. To me, this isn't storytelling, it's explaining. It drains the emotion from the story, turning it into a clinical telling of past events.

Too much of the book is devoted to Larry sitting around contemplating the "sad" state of his life. By the end of the novel he has two ex-wives that don't hate him, a son who he's maybe a little distant from, a sister he's close to, lots of friends around the world, a good roof over his head, enough money to be comfortable, his own business...what the heck is he so depressed about? I have ZERO sympathy for a man who has a good life and still finds cause to whine. Sorry, Larry's a nice guy and all, but a lot of people have real problems, not just a pathetic midlife crisis.

The party of "Larry's Party" has to be the most obnoxious scene I've ever read. It's page after page of dialogue that overlaps into noise. I only intermittently knew who was speaking, which made it hard to follow. The party would have worked on the screen or stage, where I could see who's speaking, but not in a book. I've seen other authors who will do this sort of thing for a few lines or a page, but not for the better part of 30 pages.

So much is made of how the story is patterned like a maze, how Larry's life is like a maze, but there's nothing beyond that. It's a literary trick, a gimmick, and nothing more. Sadly, great novels are not made with gimmicks, but with engaging characters and an interesting story. This book has neither.

I'll recommend a couple of items that handle the subject of the male midlife crisis in a more entertaining way. First, check out the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "Independence Day" by Richard Ford. That book's narrator also spends some time whining, but the storytelling is better and more interesting things happen. And I also recommend checking out the movie, "American Beauty" that won some Oscars a couple of years ago. There the central character grapples with a midlife crisis, but the movie is both hilarious and touching at the same time. Both are superior to "Larry's Party".

Rating:
Summary: Get to know your Average Joe - and yourself
Review: I realy enjoyed this book, and am glad a took a chance on something that's not my normal preference.
The book spans 20 years of Larry's life, culminating in his party. After a few chapters you begin to see how many little experiences and conversations shape your life. He passes through loves, jobs, homes and conflicets just like anybody else. But by uncovering his patterns, you see yourself and your own patterns.
Read this book - not to knock your socks off, but to get a better understanding of how every decision you make in every day of your life can be one of many to alter your future.

Rating:
Summary: Larry just stood there and let life happen to him
Review: John Lennon once wrote "Life is what happens while you're making other plans." Lennon never met Larry Weller, a man drifting down the river of life with no rudder and no destination in mind.

Larry Weller is a male character dreamed up by a female author, and save for one passage on genital slang, Larry's interior monologues are about as interesting as two-day old Wonder Bread. Good thing men aren't really as dull as Shields makes out; I'd have to give up and move to Mars.

Only the final scenes -- Larry's Party -- give a glimmer of the talent this woman holds in reserve.

Like so many other people, I was annoyed and frustrated by the gimmicky structure of the book. There was no need to continually reintroduce background material. I wondered if the chapters were not in fact intended to be short stories. Certainly the Larry's Party chapter could stand on its own as a story.

A disappointing read.

Rating:
Summary: now an on stage musical!
Review: An elderly friend recommended Carol Shields to me many years ago - I wish I'd listened earlier. This woman writes like I imagine angels sing.

While on their honeymoon trip to England with his wife Dorrie, Larry, a Canadian florist becomes inspired by the lush English hedges. During a visit Hampton Court Palace, Larry becomes totally besotted by mazes, and thus is born a life calling.

Besides being about mazes, this book is a maze. Each chapter jumps forward to a new point in Larry's life, but keeps twisting and turning and reflecting back on previous episodes; some that were life-shattering at the time, become mere asides when viewed from a different angle. As Larry meanders through life, two marriages, fatherhood, career changes, etc., he remains beset by same inadequacies, failings and fears of his youth. His life just seems to happen around him. But since this book is a maze, we know it must have a goal, and when achieved, it is surprising, poignant and triumphant. Then you realise he still has to get out of the maze.

I feel I might have some chance of understanding men better having read this book. Carol Shields has obviously studied men intensely to come up with his incredibly believable character, an ordinary man. All of the characters are well constructed and the dialogue is real. The words melt together into flawless storytelling; a gem of a book.

Rating:
Summary: Intelligence mixed with warmth
Review: Larry Weller's twenty year examination by Carol Shields is a profound revelation. His life parrallels that of the average late twentieth century man who is constantly searching for meaning and grace. He finds it in his passion for mazes--a perfect metaphor for this twenty year journey.

Shields portrays Larry perfectly. His early choice of work by accident, his doomed first marriage, and the subsequent chances he later takes--Shields writes them in a matter of fact style that almost makes this novel seem like a documentary. Her description of places, and the details she sketches to every other character in the novel are no less than outstanding. The dialogue each brings to the novel is bracingly real. I found myself empathetic to Larry Weller, and hope that eventually Shields follows his story in future novels.