Rating: 
Summary: interesting but labored
Review: "Le Mariage" is the tale of a wedding, a marriage, and an international crime. Clara, a beauty and erstwhile actress, is not-very-happily married to Serge, a famous filmaker. Anne-Sophie, a flea market dealer, is about to be married to Tim, an American journalist. The two couples are brought together by Delia and Gabriel, American antiquers and millenial cultists who happen on the scene of a murder. A large cast of minor characters - Anne-Sophie's mother, the wedding coordinator, a mayor, Serge's neighbor - tumble in and out of the story, which, at its best, is an energetic interweaving of several unusual plotlines.Unfortunately, the story is not always at its best. The narrative begins in an abrupt manner, switching points of view rapidly and not focusing on characters long enough to allow the reader to become accustomed to them in the crucial first third of the book. The latter pages are much easier to read; however, the narration is often grating, with its heavy-handed suggestions about the American expatriate community in France and the differences between American and French culture. The other apparent theme of the book - the discrepancy in perception and priorities between men and women - is explored with an equal lack of subtlety, and while the characters are animated and entertaining they are also rigidly stereotyped. Finally, the book's ending is abrupt and overdramatized, closing the action without resolving any of the complications introduced in the exposition. There is much that is good in "Le Mariage": lively writing, well-drawn characters, intricate and offbeat plot. It inhabits a world unfamiliar to most potential readers, and this adds to its charm. But the story seems to escape its author, who seems capable of only the coarsest commentary on the delicate characters and situations she has created. The story is enjoyable for much of its length, and not an unworthwhile read, but the ending is flat and disappointing, leaving readers with the promise of a great story that was never fulfilled.
Rating:
Summary: interesting but labored
Review: "Le Mariage" is the tale of a wedding, a marriage, and an international crime. Clara, a beauty and erstwhile actress, is not-very-happily married to Serge, a famous filmaker. Anne-Sophie, a flea market dealer, is about to be married to Tim, an American journalist. The two couples are brought together by Delia and Gabriel, American antiquers and millenial cultists who happen on the scene of a murder. A large cast of minor characters - Anne-Sophie's mother, the wedding coordinator, a mayor, Serge's neighbor - tumble in and out of the story, which, at its best, is an energetic interweaving of several unusual plotlines. Unfortunately, the story is not always at its best. The narrative begins in an abrupt manner, switching points of view rapidly and not focusing on characters long enough to allow the reader to become accustomed to them in the crucial first third of the book. The latter pages are much easier to read; however, the narration is often grating, with its heavy-handed suggestions about the American expatriate community in France and the differences between American and French culture. The other apparent theme of the book - the discrepancy in perception and priorities between men and women - is explored with an equal lack of subtlety, and while the characters are animated and entertaining they are also rigidly stereotyped. Finally, the book's ending is abrupt and overdramatized, closing the action without resolving any of the complications introduced in the exposition. There is much that is good in "Le Mariage": lively writing, well-drawn characters, intricate and offbeat plot. It inhabits a world unfamiliar to most potential readers, and this adds to its charm. But the story seems to escape its author, who seems capable of only the coarsest commentary on the delicate characters and situations she has created. The story is enjoyable for much of its length, and not an unworthwhile read, but the ending is flat and disappointing, leaving readers with the promise of a great story that was never fulfilled.
Rating: 
Summary: The Edith Wharton of Our Time
Review: After reading Le Mariage I was quite impressed as I was after reading Le Divorce. But Le Mariage seemed a bit more "meaty" and interesting in its character development. I found the characters intriguing and witty. I especially liked Anne-Sophie and how her mother's riskee writing influenced her development as a woman. Johnson does a tremendous job of getting the reader involved as a detective in the manuscript mystery. I loved the details of the decor and habits of the French. They were quite real and I felt as if I were too living with this odd mix of people. Totally unpredicatable and worth reading if you enjoy Parisian culture and habits. I especially loved the undercurrent theme of the novel of reading between the lines and getting to the "bottom" of the real emotions of the characters. You really see the thought processes behind the characters. Serge especially becomes a character hard to forget! Enjoy and bon sois!
Rating:
Summary: The Edith Wharton of Our Time
Review: After reading Le Mariage I was quite impressed as I was after reading Le Divorce. But Le Mariage seemed a bit more "meaty" and interesting in its character development. I found the characters intriguing and witty. I especially liked Anne-Sophie and how her mother's riskee writing influenced her development as a woman. Johnson does a tremendous job of getting the reader involved as a detective in the manuscript mystery. I loved the details of the decor and habits of the French. They were quite real and I felt as if I were too living with this odd mix of people. Totally unpredicatable and worth reading if you enjoy Parisian culture and habits. I especially loved the undercurrent theme of the novel of reading between the lines and getting to the "bottom" of the real emotions of the characters. You really see the thought processes behind the characters. Serge especially becomes a character hard to forget! Enjoy and bon sois!
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: As a devoted Francophile, this book had been given to me as a gift and was my first time reading Diane Johnson. I found the novel to be delightful and enjoyable. The humor was entertaining causing me to laugh out loud at certain points. I also feel she truly captured the very unique mannerisms and customs of the French people. The plot was a bit weak especially concerning the theft of the manuscript where I got momentarily "lost" at the end, having to re-read a few paragraphs to "pull it" all together. But if you're a lover of France and the French...then I recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Promising plot that never delivers...
Review: Because I enjoyed Johnson's previous book 'Le Divorce' so much, I assumed that I'd find this one at least amusing - not so. While I enjoyed the glimpse of Americans living in France, the surrounding story and attempt at a suspenseful plot did nothing for me. Murder, Ancient Manuscript Theft, Love Affairs - this book could have been so promising, yet the storyline never delivered. Save yourself some time and read 'Le Divorce' instead (although don't rent the movie, even Kate Hudson couldn't save that one!)
Rating:
Summary: Strong on characters, weaker on plot
Review: Diane Johnson's novel Le Mariage presents the reader with a fun cast of characters, focusing on Americans in Paris and their French connections. The French Anne-Sophie and the American Clara Holly, the female halves of the two couples who are at the center of the book, are the most interesting characters. Anne-Sophie's bewilderment about, and fascination with, American customs and Americans is well done, especially in the trip to Oregon near the end of the novel. Adding a Parisian-in-America aspect puts a new twist on the themes Johnson explored in her previous novel Le Divorce. Clara Holly, an actress from Oregon now living outside Paris, has more depth than Anne-Sophie and presents another side of the American-French story. The reader watches her struggle with her feelings about living in France, her relationship with her mother, and her responsibilities as a wife, both to her husband and to herself. The emotional intricacies of the characters and the culture clashes that result when the Americans and the French interact are the best part of the novel. Although the French phrases Johnson scatters around seem more jarring than authentic, she does a very good job of showing how members of the two different cultures react to the same events. These reactions are funny and sometimes illuminating. The plot of the novel, however, is convoluted and, especially when dealing with the Oregon millennialists, a little bit out there. By the end of the novel, the main plot lines have come together, but it doesn't really matter. At that point, the characters have already become more interesting than the plot. There are some loose ends that never get tied, though, and some issues are never resolved. Still, the novel is fun, and definitely worth reading for anyone with an interest in seeing French culture through American eyes and vice versa.
Rating: 
Summary: Witty and sophisticated
Review: Following "Le Divorce," a National Book Awardfinalist, Diane Johnson's latest novel, "Le Mariage," isanother comedy of manners set in the expatriate American community inParis. Johnson, who divides her time between Paris and San Francisco, casts an insightful eye over the cultural differences, wholesale assumptions and misperceptions of national character embraced by the French and the Americans who live among them. The story centers around the upcoming nuptials of American freelance journalist Tim Nolinger and his stylish French fiancée, Anne-Sophie. A horse-oriented antiques dealer, Anne-Sophie's bourgeois ambitions puzzle her famous novelist mother, Estelle, who cultivates a bohemian public persona while harboring highly practical concerns over Tim's ability to provide for her daughter... The novel's framework, with its increasingly zany and convoluted but believable plot lines, offers a solid scaffold for the dynamics of relationship that feed Johnson's witty observations on marriage, infidelity, morality, bureaucracy and cultural chauvinism. Her humor is dry and tart, but, for the most part, sunny. And her characters are delightful. A sophisticated treat.
Rating:
Summary: Witty and sophisticated
Review: Following "Le Divorce," a National Book Awardfinalist, Diane Johnson's latest novel, "Le Mariage," isanother comedy of manners set in the expatriate American community inParis. Johnson, who divides her time between Paris and San Francisco, casts an insightful eye over the cultural differences, wholesale assumptions and misperceptions of national character embraced by the French and the Americans who live among them. The story centers around the upcoming nuptials of American freelance journalist Tim Nolinger and his stylish French fiancée, Anne-Sophie. A horse-oriented antiques dealer, Anne-Sophie's bourgeois ambitions puzzle her famous novelist mother, Estelle, who cultivates a bohemian public persona while harboring highly practical concerns over Tim's ability to provide for her daughter... The novel's framework, with its increasingly zany and convoluted but believable plot lines, offers a solid scaffold for the dynamics of relationship that feed Johnson's witty observations on marriage, infidelity, morality, bureaucracy and cultural chauvinism. Her humor is dry and tart, but, for the most part, sunny. And her characters are delightful. A sophisticated treat.
Rating: 
Summary: Caveat Emptor
Review: I bought this book because I wanted a change of pace, something light and entertaining that didn't require me to think...too much. This book fulfilled one of those requirements, in spades. I certainly didn't have to think too much. In fact, the only way to read this book is not to think about it. At all. To simply close one's mind to its many mistakes and inane instances of what can only be termed, "sheer stupidity." On the surface, this book is supposed to revolve around a rather outlandishly innocent thiry-year-old Parisian bride-to-be, Anne-Sophie, and her far more worldly American ex-pat journalist-in-Paris fiance, Tim. As this lethargic duo plan their nuptials, Tim ostensibly becomes involved with a criminal case (and Delia and Gabriel) and is smitten with Clara Holly, an actress who doesn't act and who just happens to be married to Serge Cray, a director who doesn't direct. Throw in Clara's desire for amorous adventures with an attractive member of the local "chateau gentry" of Etang-la-Reine, and you have the makings of a madcap comedy-of-manners with plenty of opportunities for high hilarity. Or so one might think. But, let the buyer beware. And beware yet again and again. The above is no doubt what the author set out to write about; the trouble is, her story seems to have gotten away from her much in the way a heavily-greased pig keeps escaping the grasp of the fellow chasing it. The plot just never comes together, never gels, and it's almost painful to watch Johnson chase it, in vain, for all 322 of this book's pages. The characters have absolutely no depth whatsoever. These are the quintessential cardboard cutouts. Anne-Sophie is impossibly "clueless" in just about everything (she can cook blanquette de veau) and Tim seems to exist solely because Anne-Sophie, much to her surprise, really does require a groom in order to carry out the semi-lavish wedding she's planned in Val-St.-Remy. I've read bad books before, but all of them had at least one redeeming quality. If the plot meandered, the characters might have been lovable; if the characters were wooden, the setting might have been hauntingly beautiful and atmospheric; if all else failed, at least the prose might have been first-rate. This book has no redeeming qualities at all. This is, without a doubt, the worst book I have ever read. Usually, when someone makes a statement like that, it is pure hyperbole, but in this case, I mean it. Most sincerely. There is one note that could be construed as positive by the overly-optimistic: the book is not uneven. It is uniformly horrid from the first page to the last. It does not "get better" as the "story" moves along. It ends with the same sour note on which it was begun. In that sense, I suppose the ending did fit, but did it satisfy? I can only speak for myself, but precisely because I actually finished this book I felt as though I might need help for possible masochistic tendencies. It was that bad. Needless to say, I was not entertained and I don't recommend this book...for anyone.
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