Don't forget to drop by Bibliophile By the Sea and read Diane's selection this week and be sure to visit and read the contributions of other participants in this terrific meme who can be found in the comments!
When Joseph Weissmann divorced his wife, he was seventy-eight years old and she was seventy-five. He announced his decision in the kitchen of their apartment on the tenth floor of a large, graceful Central Park West building built at the turn of the last century, the original white tiles of the kitchen still gleaming on the walls around them. Joseph, known as Joe to his colleagues at work but always called Joseph by his wife, said the words “irreconcilable differences,” and saw real confusion in his wife’s eyes.
Irreconcilable differences? she said. Of course there are irreconcilable differences. What on earth does that have to do with divorce?
In Joe’s case it had very little to do with divorce. In Joe’s case, as is so often the case, the reason for the divorce was a woman. But a woman was not, unsurprisingly, the reason he gave his wife.
Irreconcilable differences?
What are your thoughts about these 2 opening paragraphs? Would you read this book based on these paragraphs?
Posts
Overall, this book looks a bit light for me, but I would give it a chance based on that paragraph.
ReplyDeleteHow've you been, Amy? I hope you are feeling better. I've been okay. Just getting a bit antsy or Christmas stuff but okay overall. I allow myself to get all worked up sometimes.
Hmmm. It sounds good. I'll be anxious to hear more, because like Ti I had the impression it was fluffy. Hope all is well with you!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like fun to me. I bought it at a library book sale, but have been holding off because I want to reread Sense & Sensibility first. Will be curious to see where it falls on the 'fluff meter'... maybe a good vacation read?
ReplyDeleteHope you're having a good week, Amy!
Interesting that even in his seventies, Joe has "another woman" ... good grief!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this book. Hope you do as well.
ReplyDeleteThis one sounds terrific! Adding it to my TBR pile.
ReplyDeleteThat intro made me chuckle...I would try it (maybe even the audio version). enjoy Amy.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely read this one based on those two paragraphs, and think that it sounds like a very snappy and provocative read. I can't wait to hear what you think!
ReplyDeleteGreat opening! I would definitely read more!!!
ReplyDeleteI found this opening interesting. I would definitely read further.
ReplyDeleteTi: I agree with you that this book seems light but what I completely forgot to say in this post is this is a modern retelling of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I loved Sense and Sensibility and having read one of Cathleen Schine's books years ago, I wanted to read this.
ReplyDeleteI find that when I'm not feeling well or having a bad day with pain and cannot concentrate on the books I'm reading, I can focus on lighter books. The problem is finding lighter books I want to read. Many I lose interest in after reading for a bit! More often than not I read mysteries and thrillers on these days/nights or reread books I enjoyed!
SANDY: The reason I decided to give this book a try I completely forgot to include in this post! This is, supposedly, a modern retelling of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. I love that JA book and so I wanted to see how Cathleen Schine handled the story. It is a light book, entertaining, too. I'll see how it goes!
ReplyDeleteJoANN: I omitted from this post the connection to Sense and Sensibility which was a major Oops for me since that's what initially interested me in the book. Oh well! I think you're right that it's great for vacation. I've read some of it and it's light and entertaining. In some ways it's very different than Sense and Sensibility but I haven't met all of the characters yet.
ReplyDeleteI adore Sense and Sensibility. I hope you like it!
RUTHI: And, of course she's quite a bit younger than him and he has a lot of money! But it seems to happen to well-known or wealthy men anyway such as Tony Randall!
ReplyDeleteNISE': Great,I'm happy to know this! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteDC METROREADER: It's received very good reviews. It supposedly based on Sense and Sensibiity by Jane Austen, sort of a modern version of that story.
ReplyDeleteI read one of Cathleen Schine's book years ago when I was working in the DA's office and I thought it was very good.
I hope you like this book when you have the chance to read it!
Diane: It's light and entertaining so far! It's loosely based on Jane Austen't Sense and Sensibility - similar themes and characters who echo those in JA's book. The Austen connectionwas the attraction to this book for me - I wish I'd noticed I forgot to include that info in this post! I think I've been a little distracted recently. I will be reviewing it when I finish so I'll let you know how it is!
ReplyDeleteZIBILEE: I'll definitely let you know how the book is! I'm enjoying it so far. It's entertaining and I like the characters. It's supposed to be based on Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen with a lor of characters who are similar to the ones in Sense and Sensibility. I haven't met them all yet but I'm looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteJENNERS: I love your enthusiasm! I'll be reviewing the book and hopefully these paragraphs are an indication of the rest of the story!
ReplyDeleteJust so you know, I forgot to include in this post that this book is supposed to be a modern version of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, a book I love. So I was curious about this book.
SWEET VIRGINIA BREEZE: I liked this opening, too. I read this book was inspired by Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility which is what attracted me. So far, so good!
ReplyDeleteVery intriguing!
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