2.5 stars. Started so well but went steadily, boringly, downhill with each successive chapter.

The story begins with a shooting, then moves back and forth between generations, their past in pre-revolutionary Algeria, their present in France. In spite of numerous pretensions and lies (lies they tell others and lies they tell themselves) they never find a happy fit. As the primary character grows to adulthood, she understands how the family is trapped in the past, but even she cannot escape it. Messud skillfully weaves a haunting web of memory, desire and loss.

Generous use of commas and parenthesis resulting in long rambling sentences. Lots of commentary, very slight story line. Toward the end I started skimming, was tempted to put it down, probably should have done.

Couldn't wait to finish it so I could read something enjoyable! Verbose and depressing.

very good,. I like this author. Will try emperors children again. took a long time to read. finished in Lima after Peruvian ceviche and my first pisco sour.




after

Can’t say that I actually enjoyed this novel but I still think Messud is an impressive writer. I find it hard to respond emotionally to most of her stories, though possibly that is changing with time. Couldn’t get past the first 100 pages of The Emperor’s Children (ugh, perhaps my least favorite regardless of high reviews), whereas I quite liked The Woman Upstairs. Who knows? I may eventually love something she writes.

Loved it

This is a relatively long book at 400 pages, but I was sorry when it ended. The protagonist had become a sort of friend and I was sad to say good-bye to her.

Claire Messud's prose is enough to make one gasp, ruminate, grab a dictionary, or all three at once. Her writing is so robust, this book can not be read quickly. It demands a slower pace, all the better to absorb the audacious phrasing.

This is the story of Sagasse, told in first person, and her coming of age. She learns to think for herself as her mother reveals some less than stellar family history. Her mother is American, her father French-Algerian, and he works for her grandfather at a high-end hotel in the south of France.

Go forth and read. Savor. Enjoy.

The prose in this book is beautiful at many points, and there are some interesting twists in the plot, but it's one of the few books I just couldn't read through. I found myself too confused (how old is the protagonist? why is she so unhappy?). There were times I wasn't sure if we were in Algeria or in France. I finally skipped most of the book and read the end, mostly because I was sure that I must have missed something amazing in this book that everyone else could see. I didn't find the end satisfying at all. I wanted to like this book but just couldn't.

Loved this book. The Algiers /France history/turmoil, interesting characters, and a coming-of-age story

I hated the style with oh so long sentences, and didn't much like the story nor the characters. Felt like a novel written by somebody who lives the sound of their own voice and who lives talking about their own lives.
So glad I managed to reach the end. My only question is why did I inflict that upon myself?

Only the beginning is interesting; the tale is long, drawn out, and uninspiring.