Thursday, August 21, 2008

The twist

What did you think of the twist ending? Is it a cliche? Does it work?

Also, did you see it coming?
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5 comments:

kc said...

I thought the ending was beautiful. I loved how it turned the Odyssean father quest into a mother quest. I mean, even if the probability of it is a bit challenging, the metaphor is lovely, and Barry has the lyrical skills to pull it off.

I didn't see it coming until the doctor was told to come to England in person. I guessed it then, but I wasn't sure.

I had noticed some similarities between our two narrators. Their writing voices sounded oddly similar. The things they dwelled on. The fact that they both really enjoyed sex and talked about it like it was something wondrous and sacred! Things like that made me think they were at least kindred spirits. But they were more. And the revelation of that more was like a homecoming.

3:24 PM, August 21, 2008
kc said...

One of the most moving sentences in the book, for me, was "we are in mourning for our mothers before even we are born."

It completely embraced the feeling I have of love and empathy and pity and admiration for my mom and the desire for this umbilical connection to her even through our vast differences and the many ways we'll never know or really understand each other.

8:28 PM, August 21, 2008
Erin said...

I agree. I'm generally skeptical of tie-it-all-together endings, but Barry handled it skillfully. I found it very touching -- the relationship they'd had, the way Dr. Grene had felt drawn to her, the longing she had felt for her child.

What did you think about the fact that we didn't get to see Dr. Grene reveal the truth to Roseanne?

11:41 PM, August 23, 2008
kc said...

That's a great question. Did it bother you that the actual telling wasn't included? I can see how it would, and you kind of want to know how Barry would handle that scene, how Roseanne would react. There were a couple of times in the book when she felt a curious warmth toward him, like she wanted to be near him or comfort him and she cared what he thought, and he obviously felt some kind of affinity for her, too, like when he blurted out to her that his wife had died. It's like they both felt related to the other without knowing they were related.

I guess I was satisfied with the doctor's explanation that "I will tell her. Just as soon as I can find the words."

Maybe Barry hadn't himself found the words to write a scene like that.

12:25 PM, August 24, 2008
Erin said...

I kind of wondered about it. I wondered what Roseanne's reaction would be. I sort of worried that Dr. Grene would put it off until it was too late. I suppose maybe we're just supposed to trust Barry that it will happen and it will be a positive thing for both of them.

9:42 AM, August 25, 2008

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