Books : The Almost Moon
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780316067362
ISBN: 0316067369
Label: Back Bay Books
Manufacturer: Back Bay Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 320
Publication Date: September 08, 2008
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Sales Rank: 19629
Studio: Back Bay Books
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
A woman steps over the line into the unthinkable in this brilliant, powerful, and unforgettable new novel by the author of The Lovely Bones and Lucky.
For years Helen Knightly has given her life to others: to her haunted mother, to her enigmatic father, to her husband and now grown children. When she finally crosses a terrible boundary, her life comes rushing in at her in a way she never could have imagined. Unfolding over the next twenty-four hours, this searing, fast-paced novel explores the complex ties between mothers and daughters, wives and lovers, the meaning of devotion, and the line between love and hate. It is a challenging, moving, gripping story, written with the fluidity and strength of voice that only Alice Sebold can bring to the page.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
This was the first novel by Sebold that I've read. I was moved by it. There were characters in her book that I found myself feeling I have known my entire life. Her mother's mental illness really hit home. Having grown up in a home full of mental illnesses, I understood the loneliness that the main character felt growing up. Yes, I admit that some of the things she says or does are strange and don't make much sense but that's life. Not everything makes sense and it doesn't have to. That's the beauty in life. It is a dark novel, yes, but it is one you have to dive into with an open mind. I am surprised so many people disliked this novel, but humans have a tendency to dislike things they don't understand. Such as the main character, who killed that which she couldn't understand. Is she to blame? No, she was as much victim as her mother.
Rating:  -
I automatically thought this would be great, because I loved Lucky and The Lovely Bones. Like LOVED them. But this one was different. It started out ok...gripping storyline...but never really delivered. I never empathized with the main character, and it kind of felt a little all over the place in terms of the additional characters. All of a sudden the main character is sleeping with some random guy after killing her mom! Just didn't work for me.
Rating: -
I actually found this quite a gripping book, which after reading the reviews on here, I wasn't expecting.
The story is told in the first person, by 50 year old Helen who is worn down and tired from looking after her elderly mother. I'm not giving anything away by saying that she kills her mother and then over the course of the book we learn more about Helen, her parents and childhood, and her life now. I've not had to deal with any of the issues in the book myself, but I could empathise with the main character, her feelings seemed understandable and even normal in a depressed kind of way. I could imagine the awfulness of looking after someone with dementia. She still had humour...albeit very black - but it appealed to me.
I found myself liking the child Helen more than the adult Helen but this was probably intentional on Sebolds part, and made understanding the adult she became a little easier. As her life opens up to the reader we discover more about her parents and her neighbours and their impact on her. In parts I was reminded of 'To Kill A Mockingbird', the ignorance and the insight of various characters.
I did find myself understanding Helen more as the book went along...but not always. She liked one of her daughters more than the other which I found hard to relate to, and she had an obsession with dismemberment which was a bit disturbing. Bearing in mind that I haven't experienced mental illness, I did accept the wanderings of her ... Read More
Rating: -
Well, maybe sense of humor is the wrong term. Maybe an appreciation of a dark sense of the absurd. I give this a higher rating than the other reviewers; the writing is captivating and hypnotic. I didn't like her other books that much to consider this a strong departure from her norm. I have had larger disappointments with what I consider stronger authors--Ann Tyler, Margaret Atwood. I appreciate that she is trying something really different. For $10 at Target, I think this book is worth a try.
ps: I find I am struggling to make it through the rest of this book. To quote myself, "hypnotic and captivating" are only good for so long. Then it just gets boring, esp. when you really do not like the main character and the story is going nowhere. Or the story just keeps repeating itself. Also, I am finding the prose to be stilted. She writes "perhaps" instead of "maybe," and stupid lines like "I have always preferred the fall." That might sound nit-picky, but when the writing does not ring true, I lose interest.
Rating:  -
I've read Seabold before and despite some mixed reviews have enjoyed her other books, so I looked forward to "The Almost Moon" with some degree of anticipation. Not sure what happened here, but Seabold hasn't taken a turn for the better (or even the same) - crash and burn is the descriptor that really pops to mind. Starts off a little creepy but that's just the tip of the iceberg - in fact creepy can be a good thing in certain cases (if done well). Not so here. I made it about halfway through the book before I gave up - it's really just creepy for creepy's sake - there doesn't seem to be a point to it except possibly shock value (and even that is contrived at best). And the scene with the best friend's son was just...just...over the top, for lack of a better description (like perhaps "plain silly"). Lots of flashbacks about how the daughter was mistreated as a child come off VERY whiny and rather empty when paired with all the purposeless activity in the book (think: arm flailing). For me, lack of purposeful activity in a book = a wasted read. Couldn't bear to go on, and this is only about the 2rd book in my lifetime (of many, many reads) that I've simply had to put down to avoid sacrificing brain cells trying to find some redeeming value that just isn't there...if I could give it zero stars I would.
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