Within Arm's Reach: A Novel (2005)

Book Info

Author

Ann Napolitano

Genre

Fiction

Rating

3.18 of 5 Votes: 3

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ISBN

1400083222 (ISBN13: 9781400083220)

Language

English

Publisher

three rivers press

Shops

Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble

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About book Within Arm's Reach: A Novel (2005)

I picked this up at a library sale at some point and it's been waiting for me. I'll have to say I was surprised to find it was signed by the author, so I may not pass it along.The story was good and I'm always glad to find female literary writers. It is lit fic and the plot was not much of a plot, which is fine and should be accepted in lit fic, but readers should be aware that it is slow paced and thoughtful. It's not a "what happens next" story. It's a "why did they make those choices" story, which I enjoy.That said, the style of the writing bothered me. It's first person by six different characters with their own altering chapters, but the writing for every character was stiff and distant. A 29 year old woman whose favorite thing to do is pick up strange men in bars would not use proper English without contractions. She'd say "I didn't hang around" or "I didn't wait" not "I did not wait..." etc. There were no contractions used anywhere, from any point of view. There was little to no voice difference between different characters. It read far too much like a school essay being graded on its grammar.It's a shame because the book has a lot to offer as far as the story it was telling, and in third person with more voice difference, it could be very powerful. I didn't like the characters - any of them. Now and then I would start to like one or the other and then they'd make another bad choice and I'd change my mind again. I'm not that hard to please. I forgive characters for their faults when there's reason and when they don't drag it out or use it as an excuse. There was too much excuse making for me and not enough real depth.The ending did get to me, so I might go as far as 3.5 stars if I could.

I think that anyone with a family will enjoy this book. (I suspect that includes most of us.)Kim and Pam and I will have a different view than people who grew up in a large family withinshouting distance. We 3 grew up with limited family that we didn't see very often. My familymoved about 500 miles away from many family members when I was about 7. My grandparents wereall deceased by the time I was about 13. Kim and Pam just don't have a lot of immediate family.I found it very interesting to see how 3 + generations related to one another. It was disturbing to realize that not everyone appreciates the large family scenario. But having read the book, Ican see that the family has some advantages and some disadvantages. Good descriptions and wellthought out plot.This is certainly a saga but only has about 300 pages. Not one of those 1000 page door stops.EnjoyJudy

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Imagine my surprise at going to the library to find a book to read, spending about 20 minutes, finding one on the "Summer Reads" table, bringing it home and realizing that I have read it before. What does this says about my memory, and about reading in general? And not only that, as I was walking home, I started to think about this very book, wishing I could find another like it, which I had not yet realized that I had read before! (Having read the first few paragraphs must have jogged my unconscious.)Anyway, I liked the voices, and the main character, and the interplay between the sisters. But I don't think I'll read it again.
—Mary