Testimony by Anita Shreve
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Book Reviews of Testimony
Book Review: Not the expected puritanical take on "the youth of today"
Summary: 5 Stars
When I first started reading this book - and it gets to the point refreshingly quickly, with the discovery of a tape showing a "sex scene" among teenagers - I didn't find the subject that interesting. After all, the media make a hooha about this kind of thing quite regularly, so I didn't see how Shreve was going to make this tale anything other than banal. I also expected it to be written solidly from the viewpoint of the puritanical American establishment, with their quaint idea that human beings are "children" until they're around 20, and are expected to remain as innocent as 10-year-olds during that time.
To her great credit, Shreve gives us the point of view of a large number of the people concerned - some being only at the outer edge of the main event - and plenty of them don't comply with the "moral outrage" point of view. The "victim" herself is masterfully portrayed as a rudderless person: self-absorbed, shallow and not too smart. But very beautiful - and rich - which enable her to do a lot of collateral damage.
The other least lovely protagonist is "J Dot" - another amoral person, but not as self-destructive as the "victim". J Dot is cynical - and why wouldn't he be? I imagine him becoming a very rich, successful senior manager in adulthood, even if a lot of people don't much like the guy.
The truth that comes through time and again in this book is as old as the hills: sexual attraction is so powerful, and human beings so inadequate to resist it, that it knocks aside all our most dearly loved social taboos very easily indeed. Adults are helpless once in its clutches - so why would their kids be different?
To Shreve's credit, she gives the final say to a brilliant young man who expresses this - for Americans and parents - difficult truth: the sexual power of young girls is something beautiful. It is what it is. We are made that way. And also: people's lives are not ruined, except by death. In that respect, two people's lives are ruined. Others go through various degrees of shock, grief and depression - but they come out the other side, and in some cases come out wiser.
Book Review: Couldn't put this down!
Summary: 5 Stars
WOW, just wow. This book was a masterpiece. You know, I was very excited to read it. I started it, and for some reason the first 30 pages didn't really grab me so I set it down for a few days. I picked it back up and never let go! The book definitely keep me in its grips from that point forward.
There are many powerful things going on here. For one- the variety of perspectives and voices makes this about the easiest book to read, there is no chance of getting bored when the voice rotates from person to person (the kids involved, the headmaster, parents of the kids, and people living in town). Though, at first I have to re-remember who each person was, but once I really got going I knew exactly who was who.
Also, the way the story was revealed, going from the aftermath to the event its self to what led up to it. It was a puzzle that put itself together piece by piece. I also really liked how the different characters lives intertwined and how each character affected the others.
The topic of 18-19 year old boys having sex with a 14 year old girl definitely creates strong emotions and sides. Who was to blame? Were the boys only to blame, should the girl share in the blame? My opinion is that no one is completely innocent and no one is completely to blame. I think it was a collective bad move on all of their parts and no one had the sense to step back for a moment and consider what was going on, until after the fact. Very unfortunate. Each person has a different reason for being there and for the most part in the book you find out what lead them to this place.
All of the characters had something to offer but I think my favorite character was Noelle- the girlfriend of one of the boys. I also really liked Laura's perspective, she was the roommate of the girl involved in the incident.
Hands down- this was a very engrossing read and I definitely know it will be talked about for years to come!
Book Review: "The consequences of that one night have been catastrophic."
Summary: 5 Stars
A firestorm erupts when a dormitory parent confiscates a tape in which three boys engage in intimate acts with a fourteen-year-old girl at a private school. The young people who appear in the tape attend Avery Academy in Vermont. Anita Shreve's "Testimony" examines this incident from every possible angle, using a Rashomon-like approach. She demonstrates how difficult it is to learn the truth when various witnesses offer conflicting opinions about what happened and who should bear the responsibility.
Mike Bordwin, the headmaster of Avery Academy, is shocked when he views the tape and sees Robert Leicht, and Silas Quinney, both eighteen, and James Robles, nineteen, behaving inappropriately with a pretty young freshman after an evening of heavy drinking. The author provides many perspectives besides Bordwin's, including those of the participants, the parents, Silas's girlfriend, a newspaper reporter, a roommate of the victim, a police officer, a cafeteria worker, an ER nurse, the dean of students, and a law professor. It soon becomes apparent that the story changes according to who tells it, and that there is plenty of blame to go around.
Using a straightforward and powerful prose style, Anita Shreve explores a number of thought-provoking and timely themes: The abuse of alcohol among young people is "starting at an earlier age and [is] both more habitual and more intense that it had been just a decade before"; students who attend private schools and who are athletically talented may behave recklessly because they feel "privileged"; when reporters grab hold of a scandalous story, they often transform a human tragedy into a media circus; our misdeeds may destroy not only our lives but also those of our friends and family. "Testimony" is a searing and powerful indictment of a society that, in many ways, has lost its moral compass, and for that, everyone pays a price.
Book Review: Forbidden Temptations...
Summary: 5 Stars
In a small Vermont village, most-known for its private boarding school for the privileged children of the wealthy, and some who are there on scholarships, a scandal is brewing.
We see the story unveiled, piece by piece, in the voices of the participants. First we learn of a tape, discovered by Mike Bordwin, the headmaster of Avery Academy. It is a sex tape and it reveals the activities of some of the best and brightest - along with the unfortunate
appearance on the tape of a fourteen-year-old girl - which makes the action unlawful in the state of Vermont.
Next, we find Ellen, the mother of one of the boys, receiving a disturbing phone call, followed by a headlong rush to Avery, to learn more about her son's misdeeds.
Over the next several chapters, the voices include the boys, the parents, the girl, the girl friend of one of the boys, the law enforcement officials, and even journalists and researchers - all eager to peek behind the scenes and uncover the antecedents to the behavior of these
adolescents on one horrible night in January.
In cleverly paced story-telling, the author peels back the layers until finally, at the very end, we see how the events began - or so it would seem - with one illicit action between two adults, which set a chain of subsequent events into play.
Intriguing, suspenseful and haunting, this tale reveals how simple desire and need can lead to transgressions with consequences that seemingly unfold over the indefinite future.
Testimony: A Novel is Anita Shreve at her best.
Book Review: gripping spellbinder
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the seventh novel that I have read by Anita Shreve. With one exception I consider all of them to be excellent. In my opinion this is the best one yet. It is so captivating that I could easily have read it at one long sitting, but I have learned that one can get more pleasure and understanding from a taut story like this by spreading it out over several days of reading, and thinking about it. When I put it down each day I immediately looked forward eagerly to the next day when I could resume reading it. The basic story framework is simple. The scene is an exclusive private high school, Avery Academy, located in rural central Vermont. The student body is mostly boarders, although there are a few commuters from local families. The event that drives the story is revealed on the very first page. The Headmaster, Michael Bordwin, has just received a videotape showing some Avery students engaged in drunken sexual acts in a school dormitory. A 14-year-old female freshman student and several well-regarded male students are directly involved. The tape is soon posted on the Internet for the entire world to see. The effects that this incident has on the students, their families, the school, the local population and even national news reporters are traced in a form similar to that of testimony that might take place in a formal investigation. The story unfolds through the eyes of many individuals who are directly or peripherally involved. Students are expelled, marriages are destroyed, the elite fabric of the school is torn, there is upheaval in the town, and at least one death results. For me this story was an intensely gripping spellbinder.