Commonwealth: A Novel
The best-selling author and winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize tells the enthralling story of how an unexpected romantic encounter irrevocably changes two families’ lives. Spanning five decades, Commonwealth explores how this chance encounter reverberates through the lives of the four parents and six children involved. Their childhood becomes the basis for his wildly successful book, ultimately forcing them to come to terms with their losses, their guilt, and the deeply loyal connection they feel for one another.
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Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
322 pages
What’s it about?
In the early 1960’s Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating’s christening party with a large bottle of gin. By the end of the party Burt Cousens and Beverly Keating cross a line they choose not to back away from. Their actions that afternoon will have repercussions for both families in ways they can not foresee. This novel explores the next five decades in the Cousins’ and Keatings’ lives. In this novel Ann Patchett takes an unflinching look at a blended family.
What did it make me think about?
Ann Patchett does not back away from a difficult subjects. In "Commonwealth" she explores the pain, and bonds of a blended family. In particular- I found the relationships between siblings over time really interesting.
Should I read it?
Ann Patchett never disappoints. I found the first third of the novel slightly disjointed, but I enjoyed this book anyway. If anything I wish the book had explored some of the characters in more depth. Albie was so interesting and I never really got to know him well enough. This book is easy to read, and as always Ann Patchett has something to say.
Quote-
“ These days he worked for company out in Walnut Creek that made bicycles. He liked that. Christmas he sent his mother a plane ticket so that she could come and sit around a tree with him and his daughter and his wife. Sometimes the popcorn and the fireplace and the endless hands of Go Fish would overwhelm her and she will have to excuse herself and go to the bathroom just to stand beside the sink for a minute and cry. Afterwards she'd rinse her face and dry off again, coming back to the living room h=good as new. It what she had hoped for but never for a minute what she'd expected."
If you liked this try-
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
322 pages
What’s it about?
In the early 1960’s Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating’s christening party with a large bottle of gin. By the end of the party Burt Cousens and Beverly Keating cross a line they choose not to back away from. Their actions that afternoon will have repercussions for both families in ways they can not foresee. This novel explores the next five decades in the Cousins’ and Keatings’ lives. In this novel Ann Patchett takes an unflinching look at a blended family.
What did it make me think about?
Ann Patchett does not back away from a difficult subjects. In "Commonwealth" she explores the pain, and bonds of a blended family. In particular- I found the relationships between siblings over time really interesting.
Should I read it?
Ann Patchett never disappoints. I found the first third of the novel slightly disjointed, but I enjoyed this book anyway. If anything I wish the book had explored some of the characters in more depth. Albie was so interesting and I never really got to know him well enough. This book is easy to read, and as always Ann Patchett has something to say.
Quote-
“ These days he worked for company out in Walnut Creek that made bicycles. He liked that. Christmas he sent his mother a plane ticket so that she could come and sit around a tree with him and his daughter and his wife. Sometimes the popcorn and the fireplace and the endless hands of Go Fish would overwhelm her and she will have to excuse herself and go to the bathroom just to stand beside the sink for a minute and cry. Afterwards she'd rinse her face and dry off again, coming back to the living room h=good as new. It what she had hoped for but never for a minute what she'd expected."
If you liked this try-
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
I have said it before and I will say it again, Ann Patchett can write prose like none other, but I really just needed more plot. There were so many threads that were enough to hold my attention, but they never fully materialized before moving on to something else. I found myself constantly comparing this one to The Dutch House, which just handled similar subject matter better. Ultimately, it was okay, just not the book I had wanted it to be.
Like her award-winning novel Bel Canto, I found myself enjoying Commonwealth while I read it, but it instantly seemed forgettable after I finished it. None of the characters (and there are many in Commonwealth) were either very endearing or special in any way.
This is the story about how two families are broken up by an affair that begins at the christening party of little Franny, and an uninvited guest sees her gorgeous mother and kisses her. From this, six children get hustled around between parents, who often behave so irresponsibly it's remarkable the kids weren't taken away from them.
Mostly, this is supposed to be a story about how the relationships between and among the siblings and step-siblings evolve, particularly after a devastating event that I will not describe to avoid spoilers. A major subplot involves the grown-up Franny and her affair with a much older, famous novelist, whom she allows to mine her family's dramatic story, much to her own eventual regret.
Sadly, there are no universal lessons or insights here that one can come away with -- perhaps other than "Don't start kissing someone, no matter how attractive, if that person is married to someone else." How hard is that, really?
This is the story about how two families are broken up by an affair that begins at the christening party of little Franny, and an uninvited guest sees her gorgeous mother and kisses her. From this, six children get hustled around between parents, who often behave so irresponsibly it's remarkable the kids weren't taken away from them.
Mostly, this is supposed to be a story about how the relationships between and among the siblings and step-siblings evolve, particularly after a devastating event that I will not describe to avoid spoilers. A major subplot involves the grown-up Franny and her affair with a much older, famous novelist, whom she allows to mine her family's dramatic story, much to her own eventual regret.
Sadly, there are no universal lessons or insights here that one can come away with -- perhaps other than "Don't start kissing someone, no matter how attractive, if that person is married to someone else." How hard is that, really?
I love Ann's writing. Her character descriptions, the scenes she sets. It's all amazingly vivid and real. It does bring to mind my own childhood (there were 6 of us too), running free during the summer days, coming in for dinner at the ringing bell. I actually thought this story flowed seamlessly, even if in the moment I wondered why it jumped from one sibling's story to the next. The emotions evoked by the descriptions of each of the Keating and Cousins children were so familiar, because they were so like my own family's.
I tried. I really really tried. My all-time favorite book is Bel Canto. I gave this book 95 pages to get me interested, and I just can't try anymore. I don't care. I'm bored. The characters are flat. It's confusing. There were at least two grammatical errors in the first few pages. So I quit. I'm extremely disappointed because I absolutely have loved the author in the past. But I just can't do it anymore.
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