Friday 17 February 2012

The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler

I finished this book a couple of days ago and I've been avoiding writing a blog about it ever since. I'm struggling to find the right words to tell you how I feel about this book without sounding trite.

I could say I loved this book from start to finish.

I could tell you how complete and satisfying this book was for me.

But none of the above does justice to the elegance and emotional truth that Tyler uses to describe the relationship between Aaron and his dead wife, Dorothy.

I've always enjoyed Tyler's gentle writing style, but some of her previous books have been a little hit and miss for me in the emotional department.

Not so, The Beginner's Goodbye. The idea of a widowed spouse trying to come to terms with grief and loss and unfinished business affected me deeply.

Perhaps it is simply best to say that I was moved beyond words.

This is a book to savour slowly.

Release date: April 2012 Chatto & Windus

4 comments:

  1. Did it feel short? When I saw it was just over 200 pages, I wondered at the length... She averages close to 300 usually.

    I so look forward to when I get to read it too.

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  2. Perhaps because of the topic and the fact that I stopped at the end of a number of chapters to simply savour the moment, it felt like a longer read than it actually was. Tyler manages to convey a surprising amount in just 200 pages. For me it was very close to perfect :-)

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    Replies
    1. She is my favorite author so I'm very excited. Thanks for your response.

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    2. Anne Tyler's book are always deeply emotive...I love that about her. Thanks for sharing your thoughts about this book. I'm very much looking forward to it now.

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