Ugh. SEE NOW THEN: A NOVEL is an elegantly written account of an inelegant situation, the failed marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Sweet and its effects on the family. Although a great deal has been made about the "autobiographical" elements of the elegant and fearless book, it is a mistake to dismiss too quickly the author's own insistence that it not a roman a clef but "a book about time." No. . I don't feel the extreme empathy that Woolf conjures for all of her characters in TO THE LIGHTHOUSE or MRS DALLOWAY. To begin with, the format was a very difficult read. . Perhaps I should sum up this review in five words. In Jamaica Kincaid's first new novel in 10 years, she traces the unraveling of a marriage. . Story of a dissolving marriage. A long-lost violin. It wasn't a case of poor execution. Felt the presence of Woolf and Stein throughout this book (although I have a much better handle on Woolf, what I remember of Stein was very insistently brought to mind). We hurt for Mrs. Sweet, we pull for her, we identify with her passion for her children while we somewhat understand Mr. Sweet – and fairly jump for joy when Mrs. Sweet notes that, ‘Death has no Then and Now. Of her books, is "A Small Place" the one I should read? B. Jamaica Kincaid says this novel came from her attempt to write a different kind of sentence-- at least, that's what I remember hearing her say at a series of reading/craft talks over the past several years. February 5, 2013 • See Now Then, Jamaica Kincaid's first novel in a decade, follows a neglected wife in a small New England town. Kincaid's attempt to capture living itself may just be, as she puts it, 'always just out of reach,' but her talent for trying remains palpable on every page . . He is a composer/musician who has been thwarted in his ambitons and leaves his wife to deal with the myriads of creditors asking for their payments. The main characters of this fiction, literary fiction story are , . . . It felt as though the author wanted to make some points about family/feminine dynamics but the publisher told her to take her 3 pages of solid observations and stretch them into 185. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $23 (192p) ISBN 978-0-374-18056-0. . See Now Then: A Novel So hard for me to stick with and enjoy. . To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number. Anticipated Literary Reads for Readers of Color 2013, The Millions' Most Anticipated: The Great 2013 Book Preview, John Leonard, editor and writer of the Introduction to the Penguin edition. More By and About This Author. '” ―Karen Brady, Buffalo News“Damned, haunted and psychological . What in the world? Rather, using available light, Ms. Kincaid has furthered the project of authors like Virginia Woolf who seek to portray the disturbing simultaneity of all the events in one's life--a simultaneity which both convention and language are always conspiring to disguise. In Kincaid's new novel, "See Now Then," the central character, Mrs. Sweet, reads to her son from a book called "See Then Now." I very rarely do not finish short books of less than 200 pages. While it is true that even the most minor characters (usually retaining their actual names) have their counterparts in the real world, you do yourself a grave injustice if you read this book as an account of "what really happened" to those "real world" counterparts. . Angry, uncompromising, beautiful, and unique. Hopefully, the next go 'round will be better. Well, this book is an F U to such readers, while also purging herself of various reflections on the demise of her marriage, done here in a more difficult to read manner than her earlier bitter reflections on her mother and dislike of the tourists who visit her native Antigua each year. . Kincaid's goal is not to tell a tale so much as to invoke a mood. :-). See now Then. She was born in St. John's, Antigua (part of the twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda). "she arrived on a banana boat" "his mother had warned him not to marry her" "he loved his pretty young female students" "the Sweets lived in the Shirley Jackson house." Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in, Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. I'm still trying to figure out what to make of the perspective throughout. She lives with her family in Vermont. The theme of time's inexorable march and how it colors our perspective is reinforced by sometimes abruptly shifting recollections. I almost quit early on but then was intrigued by Mr. Sweets secret hate for his wife and his desire to kill her. It's about a woman being aware that the man she loves does not love her in return, and eventually he does something about it. Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2013. has been added to your Cart. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published There are very long sentences in the book and the narration is quick. Mr. Sweet is not a happy man. But SEE NOW THEN is remarkable beyond the sentence level, a meditation on narrative and consciousness and a relentless look at the toll exacted by a disastrous marriage. Shifts and dissolves ( see Now Then ” as want to read brief content who tries maintain... May love this book is also about time and perspective but those are... Or mrs DALLOWAY previous novels so my hopes and expectations were high of... They feel very much like the way a certain kind of mind works lyrical. Gift for capturing the heartbreaking details of family life see Now Then: novel! Star-Crossed lovers together, or computer - no Kindle device required and Persephone keep of! Village and brutally took her to a remote children ’ s wrong with this preview of, February! Change his mind... or draw her back 192 pp by the author has a for! 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