 |
|
Title: Loving Frank: A Novel
ISBN: 0345495004
Author:
Nancy Horan
Publicate Date: 2008-04-08
Publish: 2008-04-08
List Price: $14.00
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Paperback
 |
|
|
|
|
Amazon Lowest New Price: $7.76
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $7.71
Amazon Merchant Price: $11.20
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Customer Review: |
|
1: Dewey, the special library cat.
This is a very touching story of an extraordinary cat who becomes the "King" of the a local Iowa library. He brings in people of all ages to the library to read, check out books, listen to stories read and/or to just sit and snuggle with Dewey, the orange marmalade tabby cat. It is a enjoyable read and very emotional. My only complaint was that the author spent too much of her time telling her story and all of the problems of her family instead of just letting Dewey be the star. She injected too much of her into the book and I felt it was distracting and took away from Dewey's story.
|
2: Excellent story blending fiction and nonfiction
Fantastic story -- takes a bit of time to get into the plot, but provides many thought-provoking issues which are still applicable today.
|
3: Dull dull dull
I was extremely excited to read this book. Note on the 'was excited'....bottom line is this book was plodding at best. I found I had to force myself to read it and often times used it as a sleep aid!
Although FLW was undoubtedly an amazing architect he was by far one of the least likable humans on this earth! Selfish and self-absorbed even with those that he supposedly loved! Mamah was also selfish and self-absorbed AND totally annoying BUT at least she had moments of clarity where I think it bothered her that she had chosen the path she chose and she at least had a bit of guilt over what she had done to her family and her children.
I found Nancy Horan's writing akin to watching paint dry. She seemed to spend a lot of time on nothing and very little time and effort on the parts that deserved the attention,
I must say that at the end of this book I felt like someone had slammed my head against a wall after a verrrrry long slow train ride that at the last second sped up and took a sharp left turn! OUCH!
|
4: Loving Frank
This is a compelling story which for the most part is conveyed in plain, simple, and often pedestrian prose. No doubt the author decided that the plot was so riveting that the appropriate style should be understated, but I think she took this approach to far. Most of the book could have benefited from the kind of lyricism displayed in its concluding chapters. I am nonetheless glad I read it. I had seen the PBS documentary on the Wright-Borthwick romance, so the events were not a surprise, but the novel did bring them to life. This is not a great book, but its story is worth hearing. In some respects Wright and Borthwick were ahead of their time, but whenever the well being of children is a factor whether to stay or leave a stale marriage remains a difficult dilemma.
|
5: Quite an intriguing story...
As a designer living in Los Angeles, FLW looms fairly large in my world as a general influence on the architecture and aesthetic of the 20th century. I don't know much about him, but I know I can't throw a rock without hitting a FLW building, FLW furniture at the flea market, or some kind of design element influenced by him. Therefore, even on a base level, it was interesting to read this book just to glean some insight on the history of his career, if only for the period of time he was with Mamah Cheney. However, I found myself enjoying the novel purely for the fictionalized aspects of the relationship as well as the elements of truth.
The thing that always gets me about biographies is that somehow, they are all the same. Perhaps it's the lives that are chosen to be depicted, or just the structure inherent in describing the course of a life, but they always follow the same pattern, a sort of rise-fall-rise so we're left with the idea that we should be elevated by how this person pulled themselves out of the pit to end in triumph. Interestingly, this is not the case with this book, which might also be its problem. I had no idea who Mamah Cheney was, much less about her life works and what happened at the end of her life, so things were somewhat of a shock to me because they lacked the typical rigid structure I've always found in biographies. Mamah's actions happened with little preparation and played out with even less understanding. This might be the way it actually happened, or, by the author's own admittance, it might not; but regardless, it was a curiously jarring series of events culminating in a truly bizarre conclusion.
|
|
|
|
|
