Magic
I preface my remarks here by stating that I don't like books that are just about people's lives. I just don't. I don't say this from lack of experience, but rather from too much experience. I have read a bunch of them, and I just prefer fantasy, science-fiction, mystery, space opera, and even some historical fiction.
For example, when I turn to the bookshelf that is to my right while I'm sitting here, I see Tom Clancy x2, Michael Crichton, Douglas Adams, Huebner, Anne McCaffery x5, Orson Scott Card x3, The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, a Sherlock Holmes collection, Mercedes Lackey, a history of Kane County UT (family history), and 4 books of coins from my childhood collection.
See any "people" stories there? My mom loves them. My sister likes them too, I think. But I tried Cold Sassy Tree, Homeland, Like Water for Chocolate, and many others. People live. They die. They have children. They don't have children. Life is depressing. Life is normal. Life is happy. People just seem to exist in these books without there being any point.
Full post - you probably want to wait until you've read the book
So now you know the prejudices with which I started Magic. I was prepared to suffer through it for the good of the group, since other people seem to like that sort of book. I thought I'd be able to post a little rant about how boring it was, and what I could have done with the hours I wasted reading it, etc.
But.
Yes there is a but. I'm not afraid to admit that I was wrong. Oh, not completely wrong - there are far too many books without interesting plots that I just don't want to read, even if many many people find them fantastic. But Magic was just fine.
I think the biggest things that kept the book interesting to me were (a) the mystery - not knowing the story of how Livvy ended up pregnant; (b) Livvy's first person voice; and (c) the book actually went somewhere and did something.
And maybe it's a sign of growing up a bit that Livvy's story was interesting to me because it resonated with challenges I've had in recent years. No, I haven't been practically cast out of my family after falling in love with a soldier who abandoned me, leaving me stuck out on a farm which feels practically like another planet. But life just has a way of not following the course I plot for it. I think I see a future, I plan and plan for it - thinking of all the ways to make everything turn out the way I want, and it just falls apart. Nothing goes as planned. And then the future changes from a bright, happy place I've built in my imagination into a dark, uncertain place where anything can happen and there are no guarantees that I'll like what happens. And yet, as we do something new, it becomes more normal, more a part of us, and I find that maybe I would miss it if I hadn't had the chance.
By the way, I think this is called "growth" and "stretching" and "growing up" and probably other uncomfortable-sounding terms. Yes, life is uncomfortable. But it keeps us looking in new directions and hopefully becoming better people. I'm still trying to convince my self of that. Oops - enough personal philosophy there. :)
So Magic is okay - not fantastic - but it was a short and engaging story. I didn't really like Ray's almost slavish devotion to his new wife - there wasn't really a reason for him to even like her, much less fall in love with her. He just seemed too ... perfect? And I wanted to kick Livvy a few times and tell her to get her head back together because she kept trying to think of a way back to the life she had left. But really, she actually came around a lot faster than I ever have in real life. Months? That's pretty quick to redirect everything, from losing a mother and virtually losing a father, and losing your "chance" and your dreams - months was pretty fast to figure out that maybe life wasn't bad - just different.
As for Rose & Lorelei - I guess maybe their parallel story was kind of interesting, and it provided some plot or actions when nothing was really happening between Livvy & Ray. So, while some reviews that I read thought they were pointless, the story would either have been a lot shorter or pretty boring without them.
Will I read it again? Probably not. Do I regret reading it? No. Would I recommend it? Sure.
Anyone else ready to watch the movie soon?
For example, when I turn to the bookshelf that is to my right while I'm sitting here, I see Tom Clancy x2, Michael Crichton, Douglas Adams, Huebner, Anne McCaffery x5, Orson Scott Card x3, The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, a Sherlock Holmes collection, Mercedes Lackey, a history of Kane County UT (family history), and 4 books of coins from my childhood collection.
See any "people" stories there? My mom loves them. My sister likes them too, I think. But I tried Cold Sassy Tree, Homeland, Like Water for Chocolate, and many others. People live. They die. They have children. They don't have children. Life is depressing. Life is normal. Life is happy. People just seem to exist in these books without there being any point.
Full post - you probably want to wait until you've read the book
So now you know the prejudices with which I started Magic. I was prepared to suffer through it for the good of the group, since other people seem to like that sort of book. I thought I'd be able to post a little rant about how boring it was, and what I could have done with the hours I wasted reading it, etc.
But.
Yes there is a but. I'm not afraid to admit that I was wrong. Oh, not completely wrong - there are far too many books without interesting plots that I just don't want to read, even if many many people find them fantastic. But Magic was just fine.
I think the biggest things that kept the book interesting to me were (a) the mystery - not knowing the story of how Livvy ended up pregnant; (b) Livvy's first person voice; and (c) the book actually went somewhere and did something.
And maybe it's a sign of growing up a bit that Livvy's story was interesting to me because it resonated with challenges I've had in recent years. No, I haven't been practically cast out of my family after falling in love with a soldier who abandoned me, leaving me stuck out on a farm which feels practically like another planet. But life just has a way of not following the course I plot for it. I think I see a future, I plan and plan for it - thinking of all the ways to make everything turn out the way I want, and it just falls apart. Nothing goes as planned. And then the future changes from a bright, happy place I've built in my imagination into a dark, uncertain place where anything can happen and there are no guarantees that I'll like what happens. And yet, as we do something new, it becomes more normal, more a part of us, and I find that maybe I would miss it if I hadn't had the chance.
By the way, I think this is called "growth" and "stretching" and "growing up" and probably other uncomfortable-sounding terms. Yes, life is uncomfortable. But it keeps us looking in new directions and hopefully becoming better people. I'm still trying to convince my self of that. Oops - enough personal philosophy there. :)
So Magic is okay - not fantastic - but it was a short and engaging story. I didn't really like Ray's almost slavish devotion to his new wife - there wasn't really a reason for him to even like her, much less fall in love with her. He just seemed too ... perfect? And I wanted to kick Livvy a few times and tell her to get her head back together because she kept trying to think of a way back to the life she had left. But really, she actually came around a lot faster than I ever have in real life. Months? That's pretty quick to redirect everything, from losing a mother and virtually losing a father, and losing your "chance" and your dreams - months was pretty fast to figure out that maybe life wasn't bad - just different.
As for Rose & Lorelei - I guess maybe their parallel story was kind of interesting, and it provided some plot or actions when nothing was really happening between Livvy & Ray. So, while some reviews that I read thought they were pointless, the story would either have been a lot shorter or pretty boring without them.
Will I read it again? Probably not. Do I regret reading it? No. Would I recommend it? Sure.
Anyone else ready to watch the movie soon?
posted by Julie C | 3:56 PM
4 Comments:
Well, Julie...I guess that I'm glad that you at least "liked" it. :) I understand that those sorts of novels aren't for everyone (my sister hates Nicholas Sparks....me, I think he writes great stories that are just a fun read, she will go off on that one for a long while)
However, back to Magic....I love the book, but I guess that I just like the fact that perhaps Ray is too perfect, as you say.
I know that not many of us have even encountered too many men like that in our lives. Although you might be onto something in the fact that he loves her for no reason really. I mean, she really doesn't give him much reason to love her (you see it a lot more in the movie...speaking of which, I like the book more than the movie for that reason alone: Livvy's first person narative. You get a ton more emotional feeling from her about everything than you do from the movie, but you'll see that when you watch it)
I think that Ray is so endearing for me for that very reason. That even though he probably knew that she wasn't going to be gung-ho for this marriage with a stranger...he wanted to try and he didn't come into it with any expectations or assumptions about her or about her reasons for being there. He just wanted to love her the way his Daddy loved his Momma.
Yes, a little too sentimental perhaps, but romantic nonetheless.
I never really paid that much attention to the planning your life out and that just not happening theme in the book. Maybe that is why it is more captivating than it possibly should be; because we can all relate to that happening in our lives; for good or bad. I know that I can. I think that pervading theme throughout is what holds the novel together. And seeing lemondae in the lemons of our lives.
I hope that you all like the movie ok.
jules, can i borrow your book? or have you already returned it? i forgot to put it on hold. but i will right away just in case you don't have your copy anymore.
my mom asked to read it after me - I'll ask her how it's coming though. But if you put it on hold I'll have to return it anyway. :)
jules, i'm with you 100% on this one. i liked it but it wasn't the greatest book i've ever read. it started out superboring and then kind of grew on me. i, too, couldn't figure out what ray saw in this braty, immature girl. and parts of it just dragged on but there where a few surprises which always makes it or breaks it for me. i've got the movie from the library if anyone wants to watch it!
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