( 11 reviews )
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Posted: May 28 2009
This is a book written for a certain type of person, which is perhaps a strength and is definitely a weakness. Yet, it overcomes its inherent weakness to be quite moving at times, while touching on themes that are very current in our society. The basic premise: The favored, ultra-smart daughter (Ellen) of a haughty college professor quits her job as a New York City magazine journalist to care for her mother, who's dying of cancer at age 45. In the six months or so of care, Ellen learns about her mother's true strengths and, along the way, learns about herself. Those realizations lead Ellen to question her path in life, though she would not have necessarily actually changed it. But Ellen is accused of murdering her mother -- that is, putting her mother out of her misery -- and that public humiliation is the final push she needs to break with her past. The book is written for well-educated women who feel the twin pressures of family and career. It hits all the obvious spots: a distant and demanding father, a domestically oriented mother, Ivy Leaguers, 20-somethings building careers in the big city, meaningless but awesome sex with handsome men, a gay brother, too much drinking, cathartic tears, best girlfriends, etc. Just about the only thing it doesn't do is sprinkle name brands throughout the text, in the manner of lesser writers. Also, the book has just enough intellectual references that a liberal-arts graduate can have some vague notion of what's being mentioned (and thus feel smart), but then explains the references because for most readers, the authors and philosophers are nothing more than names once memorized for a test. In those ways, the book feels very calculating; it's designed to appeal to women who buy books. Yet, despite all the cliches, the book is quite moving. Ellen's contempt for her mother's chosen path is well-described, and it makes her transformation to an understanding of what domesticity meant to her mom very believable. The depictions of Ellen's father as distant, cold and demanding do an equally believable job of presenting a marriage that has faltered. The scenes as Ellen's mother gets more ill brought a lump to my throat and gave me a glimpse of how I will feel when my parents grow feeble. The images of a dying parent and the regrets that arise in each of our lives will stay with me for a while. In sum, "One True Thing" is a good book if you like to contemplate family dynamics. But many of the characters, including Ellen, are only occasionally sympathetic. If you despise Ivy League achievers, then don't read it, because this is a book about an Ivy Leaguer who can take a timeout from life to help her mother, then reflect on the experience, and then rather effortlessly build a new career and life.
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Posted: Apr 13 2009
This book is a gripping, well-written novel about a young woman's changing life as she sets aside her career and aspirations to care for her dying mother. Dynamics of family triangles, collusion and secrets are all explored. The portrayal of the arrogant, academic father is almost visual. The writing is rich and evocative. Ellen, the daughter, grows to see her mother's unspoken strength and influence. She also learns to acknowledge her mother's place, and hence her own, in the family. All of this makes for a very rich and readable book.
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Posted: Feb 12 2009
I very much enjoyed this book - and I am happy that I have two of her other books. It is really a prime example of literary fiction, with all of the discussion of classic novels, though at its heart, it is a story about family. It was quite an engrossing book and a fast read. Yet for being less than three hundred pages it seemed full of words... concise, but flowery... an oxymoron, I suppose, but somehow fitting.
