by Emily Giffin
For whatever reason, I liked this book so much more than Something Borrowed. Perhaps because it wasn’t about someone supposedly perfect who had a bit of a fall from grace. I think there’s something more redeeming and interesting about someone trying to improve themselves than someone feeling justified in her wrongdoing. In Something Borrowed, Rachel kind of felt justified because she had been a doormat her whole life and she was sick of it. But in reality, if you’re a doormat, it’s really your fault for letting people treat you that way without ever saying anything about it. You can’t justify awful behavior based on how you’ve been treated.
I liked Darcy’s fall from grace and the true friendship she had with Ethan. Only a true friend will tell you your faults, because only through confrontation can you ever really become a better person. Rachel never tried to help Darcy become a better person, maybe she just felt good being treated badly so she could feel more saintly. Maybe, maybe not. But I liked how Darcy and Ethan’s relationship evolved and how they were able to find happiness by being open, honest and willing to change.
Wasn’t really as good as I thought it’d be. I mean, you can’t really expect that much, but I thought the acting was pretty weak. I’m glad it was a freebie from AMC, since I got a re-admit from a movie gone wrong previously. I just couldn’t really find that much lovable about either of the characters. The girl was idealistic good and the guy was stereotypical cool. But the two never really added up.
There were moments of potential depth, like the housekeeper whose children were still in Haiti and the brief moment of Beastly and the girl at the dance, but really that was about it. I liked Mary-Kate, but hated her shoes. Haha, that’s about all I have to say about that.
by Leonard Sax
I really don’t like this author much. I find the insights he’s having pretty common sense and he’s not really eroding a lot of insight into why girls act the way they do and what society and parents can REALLY do to change any of it. I find that he has a pretty nostalgic look on society and is completely biased. I guess as a doctor he must see a lot of f*ed up cases, but I don’t find the book positive or engaging. More like a bitter lecture.
The 2 things I thought were cool and will try to keep in mind if I have a girl is that she should drink milk and do a lot of jumping. Apparently there’s something in specifically milk that help build strong bones. And jumping repeatedly helps to strengthen bones and make them denser than if you don’t jump a lot. Interesting. But that was really the only 2 things I walked away with that I really appreciated. Most of the other information was I felt shallowly researched and more of his personal opinion than fact. Would not recommend.
by Emily Giffin
I picked the book up because I’m looking forward to the movie (which won’t be out for another few months). And all I can really do is hope that the movie is better than the book. It looks like it will be. It has a good cast and seems to be funny in all the right places (trailer style), but more I just hope it brings a little bit more to the story, makes the characters a bit more likable and people I can empathize with.
Because honestly, in the end I didn’t like any of the characters. I don’t think any of them were victims, I don’t think any of them were heroes. In the end, I thought they were all a little ugly. I got really tired of Rachel’s self-pity and how she’s the constant victim of Darcy’s selfishness. Yes, Darcy is selfish and self-centered, but Rachel never stood up for herself, she never had the courage to do anything. She really led a life of a coward and just used Darcy as a scapegoat for all her past wrongs. Darcy was bitchy and used people and so I never really felt that sorry for her, especially when you find out that she cheated as well and is going to have a baby with another guy. And Dex, he was such a coward as well. Just kind of went with the flow, but never really put himself out there till the end. I guess I’m glad they all kind of made it right in the end.
Yet, somehow I’m intrigued enough to want to read the follow up, Something Blue. I guess there are always two sides to every story and I’d like to hear Darcy’s. Because has evil as she seems in Something Borrowed, I don’t really believe that she is the ultimate bitch.
I liked this movie a lot. I think the part I liked the most was when Matt Damon’s character, David, asks Harry, “Are you the chairman?” Like it would be that easy. Like Oz would be unveiled in that way. And I loved the 1950’s feel of the men in suits with fedoras. Classy world controllers.
It was a really interesting theory on how the world works. I wonder if the book is better or worse. And to think, even a God or Chairman can’t get it perfect all the time. Even they make mistakes or even sometimes things are outside their ultimate power. I wonder if that’s why things on earth can’t always be completely rationalized or explained. Sometimes shitty things just happen and there’s nothing we can do about them. Like in the movie, David’s mom, they didn’t adjust her, that was chance.
Can chance and plans exist at the same time? Can the chaos of chance fuck with the tidiness of plan? Does what people believe make them so? Do they both exist because people believe in both? And could human kind ever really govern ourselves, live a balanced life, without the presence or the belief in something greater than ourselves? Do we need to believe in something bigger than ourselves to imagine we have free will? That there’s something to rebel against? Hmm, maybe the book would be a really great read.
by Joshua Braff
I often wonder how autobiographical some books are. Did the author use this experience as an opportunity to heal parts of his childhood? Did a little digging and he’s the second of four siblings. Older brother, Adam, himself, younger sister and youngest brother. Seems pretty familiar. Parents remarried and his father was an attorney who did stage work…
But all I can really say is what a horrible father. And quite a selfish mother as well. I can understand her trying to escape and gain a sense of self, but it seems like she did it at the expense of her children. She’d run off to all these conferences and enjoy this life of purpose, but meanwhile, she would just dump her children with their abusive father so she could go off and enjoy her interests. And it wasn’t even like she gave them any tools to deal with him. Just off she went.
I liked the way the book ended. You don’t really know where that boy is running, but you get the sense that he’s not running for anyone else but himself this time. I liked how his older brother had to tell him that it was his time to go and that he had to go alone. Sometimes you can’t save anyone else but yourself. But I think what was different about what he did and what his mother did was that he admitted it. And it was never his responsibility to save his brother. It was just fact that it was his time to move on. But he did try and help Jacob find his own way.
“‘I get to go alone.’”
“I look down at the floor, trying not to cry, trying to see who I am without this parachute I’ve stitched. And it’s vicious I’m afraid, this lonesome I taste.”
TPL DVD: I found this movie a nice change. It was sweet and simple and just one of those stories that makes a better movie than a book. Although I can only assume so, because I didn’t read the book. But I’m not all that interested in picking it up either. There really wasn’t anything new or astonishing about it. Just a typical story about friendship and romance. Quite enjoyable.
by Chris Crutcher
Wow, what an intense book. I have to admit, I’m glad they have a new cover out for it. I didn’t really get how the main character is a Japanese-black-white teen, but the cover picture is a pure white guy. I mean at least they got it right with the C on the letter jacket (unless they decided to portray Mike), but in the end TJ doesn’t even get a letter. Anyway, small technicality, but I’m glad that they have updated the cover to be a little more correct.
It’s pretty unbelievable the amount of hate in this world. And it’s great to see books being published that talk about race and hate and abuse in such an upfront and honest way. You can see how Crutcher’s experience as a social worker has really led to some profound insight that people might never really be exposed to, except in the darkest of places. I wonder how much of this is his own personal means of therapy. That maybe somehow he writes of the horrors he’s witnessed to try and pay something forward. I wish these books were more popular, I don’t even know if they’re on the shelf at work.
It was pretty heartbreaking how Heidi wanted to try and scrub away her color. How someone would feel so small that they were threatened by the existence of a little girl. And then try and kill her. But I think a lot of this stuff can’t be made up, it happens everyday.
“My parents have always encouraged me to be loud when I run into racism, but I can’t count on racism being loud when it runs into me.”
