Reviews for Private Life

The average rating for Private Life based on 2 reviews is 1 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-02-22 00:00:00 Donald Walker Ok, that's it. No more Jane Smiley for me. Hubby and I have tried 1000 Acres and wound up giving up on that finding Smiley's focus on the mundane details of EVERYTHING to be incredibly tedious, characters unappealing, and totally in need of a good editor to cut it down by 75%.. Now comes Private Life, which from the publisher's blurb sounded like an intriguing story. Not. It is a character study straight out of DSM - see Dependent Personality Disorder. And, while this could be fairly interesting, given Smiley's penchant on describing EVERYTHING in minute detail, it is simply unutterably mind numbing. The book is about Margaret, a disengaged 27 year old woman who at the turn of the century (19th) is considered a spinster. Her father committed suicide when she was just a child - you might ask who cares about this detail because it is not salient to the character or her development. Wait! There is no development. So, Margaret marries Alexander Early, a repressed, rigid and obsessive scientist and enters into a joyless marriage. Ok, so what, big deal. Does anything happen in this book? Not really. Smiley divides it into sections that begin with Margaret visiting some Japanese friends and then jumps through time examining the role of women from the late 1800s to mid 1900. Never once did I have a good idea of Margaret as a person in spite of this. What were her motivations? Did she actually have a personality apart from her husband and what was expected of her? Maybe her personality was indeed that of a Casper Milquetoast, in that each time a situation presents itself where Margaret actually could come to another's aid or step outside her autistic like existence, she makes a half hearted attempt and then withdraws. She does not learn anything from experience and she has little insight into how she has been manipulated by others and how devastatingly their actions have impacted her life. When she does muster up such a glimmer, what does she do? Nothing. She simply lives a totally and completely repressed and bland life with everything subordinated to others- and to her own fears. She is disengaged and lives a bland existence that in the end leaves no mark upon the world nor any important contribution. She seems afraid of everything - including facing the truth, turning away from anything that might upset her bland world. She sort of reminded me of an emotionally abused wife - which I guess she really was. She was completely subjugated to the needs, wants, and desires of her husband and everyone else. Truth had no place in her life, nor introspection, nor taking any risk to learn anything new about anything. Perhaps it was Smiley's intent to paint this picture - and I do admit there are women like this. But I don't really want to read an entire novel about them unless it is a novel of growth and gumption to break out of this emotional prison in which they find themselves. One might say that this is an unfair assessment. Women did not have much in the way of options at the turn of the century. To this I say balderdash. There are many ways to make one's mark in the world and always have been. Mousehood and withdrawal from reality (unless one is psychotic and can't help it) is not one of those. So, I didn't like the character and I really don't like Smiley's writing style. What's up with the Pulitzer committee? Who does she know?

Review # 2 was written on 2010-05-24 00:00:00 Pppppp Vvvvvvvvvv I am a great fan of Jane Smiley. And because I am I kept waiting patiently for the story to pick up. the story takes place between 1883 and 1942. The main characters Margaret a sweet but not particularly dynamic woman who at 27 marries Dr. Andrew Jefferson Early a Navy Captain and scientist. I found it disturbing witnessing 30 years plus of marriage with Andrew never stopping to be selfish and even worse creating insane scientific hypothesis. The period of time covered was a dramatic exciting time in civilization yet that marriage and life was painfully bleak...suddenly I realized.....wait a minute I don't have to hang around and continue punishing myself even though Margaret did not give up....so i did....I stopped three quarters of the way through. Perhaps others have more wherewithall than I. addendum: I feel redeemed. i just finished reading today's ny time review on this book by michiko kakutani... poetically described..."a gray, potted stew of a story that's as depressing and tiresome...." phew its not just my ADD kicking in and dialing me away from some masterpiece...hahhahhah