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The Pull of the Moon
by Elizabeth Berg
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$14.00 |
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$11.20 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. |
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$2.80 (20%) |
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Paperback
Publisher: Berkley Trade
ISBN13: 9780425176481
Condition: NEW
Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Now in trade-from the New York Times bestselling author of Range of Motion.
"Not a novel about a woman leaving home, but...a human being finding her way back."-Chicago Tribune
"Turning 50 seems to turn women crazy. When Nan hits this mark, she hits the road, leaving behind her home and husband. Driving west from Boston, she consults only her own pleasure. And while this sounds easy, it is often arduous for Nan, who can hardly remember what her own pleasure is...[The Pull of the Moon] is upbeat from beginning to end."-Boston Sunday Globe
"Measured, delicate, and impossible to walk away from."-Entertainment Weekly
| Customer Reviews: |
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| *sigh* Where to begin, where to begin... |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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(Apologies up front; my scattershot review will stand in stark contrast to Ms Berg's casual cogency.)
-I'm always more fascinated by the background of a situation than the actual event itself. So; why someone commits the crime rather than the dastardly deed. Or, the Comments section rather than the article the posters are responding to...or the product being discussed. I was not disappointed when I took a look around here, for 'The Pull of the Moon'. Good Lord! There are some incredibly bitchy, dissatisfied, ornery, mean-spirited people out there. (Enough for a novel in itself, especially one dealing with the notion that it's virtually impossible to have a strong reaction evoked within us by someone or something without there being something we're identifying in ourselves (on a subconscious level) that brings on this stridency.)
-Recently, I wrote an essay entitled 'The Laws of Film Attraction'. In a nutshell, it addresses why 'genre' flicks can garner accolades from lovers of that genre that seem to be unwarranted to the casual observer...or conversely, why some reviewers simply shouldn't review some products: they're inordinately biased against particular genres. Though I went into a lot more detail, the essay suggested this: that if you're inclined towards a genre, your review might be as much as 2.5/10 higher than if you weren't. And of course, if you can't stand a genre, then the same might apply...to the negative. The gamut the review scores run here is proof of my theory...especially if you take a look at the comments. Those who loved 'Moon' were already on-board. Those who hated it...weren't. (But you know, the same can be said for just about any element of Life. From entertainment to politics to sports to health...to the kind of transportation you prefer. Sometimes our biases are so profound that it's actually quite silly proffering an opinion at all.)
-Ms Berg's book isn't really a 'novel'. It's a hybrid 'memoir/letters to a spouse' affair. It's a meditation on aging...on identity...on regret...on Love.
-I've offered up 'Moon' to a friend who's endeavouring to become a more adept writer. Not because the book is some shining example of superb literature. It's not. (Because it's not a 'novel', and hardly even a 'story'; beyond what I suggested above, it's a series of snapshots lovingly taken.) What it *is*, is a simply-crafted, unpretentious effort that is marvellously illuminating...dispensing 'wisdom', if you will...while somehow managing to retain its humility as it unfolds. There's a wonderful mix of hard-earned knowledge and stuff she's straining to grasp and stuff she admits is beyond her for the moment...but she holds out hope she'll be able to embrace eventually.
-I'm a male. About the same age as the narrator. My emotional, psychic and social sensibilities run to the 'female' end of the scale; I consistently score more as a 'gal' than I do as a 'guy' in psychological tests. This novel reinforced long-held beliefs about my wiring; I haven't had Nan's experiences, I never will, but almost everything she wrote rang true for me. I laughed when she said something funny, I cried when she related something sad...and I got angry at some of the standard 'life in a patriarchy' references. (Because they're *true*, not because she was off on a tangent and needed to get a clue, the way some of the naysaying-reviewers would have you believe. Idjits.)
-There's an 'incomplete' element to the tale. It's not a perfectly-concluded tale of a perfectly-executed Hollywood road-trip-providing-transformation premise. I have no idea why Ms Berg took this tack. Not that I'm complaining. The Virgo-rising in me might have preferred something with more of a resolution...and yet... And yet there's something apropos about how this not-a-350 page novel tastes. Yes, there's so much more that could have been explored. Yes, it might have been nice to have seen Nan's husband's side of things. But as anal-retentive as I can be, I was charmed by the fact that loose ends were not tied up at the conclusion, that this adventure is not thorough, that it's not fashioned as a conventional novel constructed within the same premise might be. That I'm a writer, that this isn't the way I would have written this effort and yet I still came away affected and enriched...speaks volumes.
-People might disagree with Nan's behaviour. They may disagree with how she sees her life, her marriage, the world. But I can't imagine this book not having value to just about any open-minded reader wanting some confirmation of their own experiences, wanting to understand their spouse's, their mother's, their sister's, their aunt's. It might not be 'War and Peace', but in its own way, it deserves to be read. The world needs the kind of insight Ms Berg provides in 'The Pull of the Moon'; as much as it might enrage and dumbfound, it's bound to satisfy, comfort...and embolden.
Personal rating: 8/10
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| You will enjoy it. |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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It`s a great book who will keep you conected since your're star reading it. It`s also well written. I liked the style of writing; it was an involving story.
And for the people who didn`t read enough her are more sgreat titles you can`t miss:
If you're looking for more good stories you can`t miss these:
A Strange Disappearance
The Circular Study: By the woman who inspired Agatha Christie!
The Chief Legatee
The Filigree Ball: By the woman who inspired Agatha Christie!
The Woman in the Alcove
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| Martin's Response is Better |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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I am a huge fan of Elizabeth Berg, I have read most of her books, but this one just didn't live up to what I have grown to expect from her novels. The main character,Nan, was whiny and spoiled, not someone I could really relate to like Berg's other characters. Some of the plot devices were unrealistic. I didn't enjoy this book very much, frankly, I was happy to be finished with Nan. Something about her character seemed familiar to me though and so I looked in Berg's collection of short stories, Ordinary Life, and found "Martin's Letter to Nan." I like Martin's response better, I wish Pull of the Moon had been about him instead of Nan. I'll continue to read Elizabeth Berg's books though, she is an awesome writer.
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| Enjoyable! |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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I liked this book. I do wish it had included an ending after she returned home, but it was enjoyable.
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| I am ordering copies for all of my girlfriends- |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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I absolutely loved this book- I can identify with the time in life and a marriage when 'running away' can sound like a wonderful idea.
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