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"I love to lose myself in other people's minds. Books think for me."
Riven Rock
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Riven Rock
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4 journalers for this copy...
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Journal Entry 1 by 
From Library JournalWhen Stanley McCormick, the brilliant but highly strung son of the inventor of the Reaper, marries Boston socialite and MIT graduate Katherine Dexter, the papers call it the wedding of the century. But the marriage is never consummated, and after a disastrous honeymoon, a catatonic Stanley is moved to Riven Rock, a prisonlike mission in Santa Barbara. Diagnosed as a schizophrenic sex maniac, Stanley is to be kept entirely separate from women, including Katherine, who may speak to him only by telephone. Katherine goes on to become a major figure in the burgeoning suffrage movement and even smuggles a steamer trunk full of contraceptives into the country in support of Margaret Sanger, but she never divorces her husband or gives up hoping for a cure. Riven Rock resembles The Road to Wellville in its send-up of medical quackery in the early years of the century, but here the fact-based love story takes precedence over satire. This affecting and surprisingly mature novel is Boyle's best book since Water Music (1981). Reserved for bookray. |
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Journal Entry 2 by
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Journal Entry 3 by 
I was very mixed on this one. As usual, Boyle's writing was wonderful, descriptive, and puts you in every scene in the story. However, to me the plot seemed lacking. There didn't seem to be any momentum to the story. The same things seemed to happen over and over without change. I'll admit there were some fascinating aspects to the story of Stanley McCormick who was the mentally unbalanced heir to the McCormick reaper fortune. The story shifts between Stanley's inability to get along in society, his marriage to Katherine Dexter McCormick, their futile sexless relationship, and his time at Riven Rock in the care of several doctors and male nurses. Probably the most interesting character in the story was Stanley's longtime nurse Eddie O'Kane, who goes with him to California in search of ultimate wealth, but who has a weakness for alcohol and women. In the end, however, nothing seems to change as the story progresses: Stanley is insane and stays that way, Katherine tries to help and remains loyal, and Eddie never achieves his dreams and remains hooked on the bottle. I would still give this one a mild recommendation mainly on the basis of Boyle's excellent prose.
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Journal Entry 4 by
Released 2 yrs ago (7/8/2009 UTC) at Bookray, A Bookray -- Controlled Releases CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
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Released 2 yrs ago (7/29/2009 UTC) at Controlled Release, --by post or by hand (ie ring, ray, RABCK, trade) -- Controlled Releases CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
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Well this one left me with some mixed feelings and I have to agree with most of perryfran’s JE. Boyle writes brilliantly as usual, and brings the characters to life with an ease that is truly amazing but…The story lacks in momentum and towards the middle, especially in Doctor Brush’s time in starts to bog a little, the pace gets slower and it takes some effort to keep reading it. It reminded me of The Road to Wellville where somewhere in the middle of the novel things start slowing down until it feels that we’re bogged down in the middle of the narrative. None of this takes away the genius of Boyle’s writing but it does get a little tiring when it comes to read it. Anyway it was certainly worth the read, especially because I had no idea these characters really existed and what they went thru. Stanley and Katherine had everything to be one of the couples of the century but life had other plans for them. Stanley’s condition makes him a very interesting character but O’Kane ends up being the most interesting one in the novel. The innuendo on Katherine’s homosexual relationship with her friend is very well crafted by the author, and her replacement of Stanley and his love for all the other causes she picked up is also well achieved, but we never get to know why women made him freak out in such a way, do we?. Now katrinat is swamped with books and asks to be skipped (maybe she wants to try it later on?) so I’ll be sending the book along to Switzerland when I get an address. Thanks again for inviting me for this one perryfran. |
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