That Night by Alice McDermott
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Book Reviews of That Night
Book Review: Another verbal window into the past
Summary: 2 Stars
Once again,McDermott's verbal mastery takes you to the place of which she writes as clearly as if looking through a window on the scenes she describes so vividly. However, compared to "Charming Billy", this piece is disappointing. While very well written descriptively, I found it slow. The opening act caught my attention and I continued to read hoping for more of the same alure...it was not to be found. I actually skipped paragaphs and entire pages and was able to continue as if the skipped parts were of no importance to the story at all. While I would recommend Ms. McDermott's work, I would not recommend this particular book.Book Review: That night review
Summary: 1 Stars
The movie "That Night," was a wonderful love story between the town sweetheart and the rebel, taking place in the late 1960's. Sheryl and Rick were the ideal couple, except for the fact that Sheryl's family and town had a big problem with Rick. As told by the watching 10-year-old neighbor Alice, she follows the relationship as if it were her own. The book on the other hand should not even be touched. It had no connection to the movie's main theme of love. In the movie, the more Sheryl and Rick's love grows, the more the townsmen start to hate Rick and his bad-influence friends. When Sheryl becomes pregnant and is forced to leave Long Island and move to Ohio, Rick is heartbroken. Alice then secretly helps Rick find Sheryl and rekindle the love they once had. The book "That Night," by Alice McDermott takes on a whole other scenario, which was not significant in the movie. This makes it confusing to the reader. "That Night," in the book refers to the night Rick and his friends came looking for Sheryl and got into a huge fight with the town husbands. "That Night" in the movie refers back to the night where Sheryl and Alice snuck out of their homes and met up with Rick. The book throws the reader off, with all the flashbacks and referring to the night of the fight. You can't feel the characters in the book, or even try and relate to them. You have the usual love story with twp kids in love and a town trying to break them apart. The author shows no connection to this problem, or what actions they took to try and fix it. Instead, the narrator, Alice, referred back to the fight way too many times, and after a while, you lose interest. In the movie however, you can distinctly identify the problem, and relate to it. Rick's love for Sheryl was undying, even when she did get pregnant and had to move away. You physically saw the tight bond between them and the measures he took to find and save her.
I definitely give this book two thumbs down. It was too confusing for the reader and you weren't able to personally connect to their relationship. I do not recommend it to anyone who liked the movie, or just wants to read a nice love story. I recommend the movie more than anything, which was great. It showed the unlimited measures one guy took to see his true love again and spend the rest of his life with her.
Book Review: nothing extraordinary
Summary: 1 Stars
i had to read this book in school. it's horrible. it's annoying. There is no point to the story. It isn't even fun to read. I would keep reading, expecting something great to happen, but nothing ever happened. i skimmed the last 25 pages--it was that boring. there are quite a few typos in it as well. everything about it is pure cliche. the first few pages are good, then it stops. it's like, mcdermott had imagination when she began writing it, then she went braindead. i would not recommend it to anyone.Book Review: This Book Robs The Human Spirit Of Any Dimension
Summary: 1 Stars
For some reason, people keep recommending this book as a romance. This book mocks romance with all the cold-blooded WASPy detachment of its setting. The only interesting thing about it was that there was a character with the same name as me, which is rare, but that's not a good enough reason for anyone else to read it.