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    Monkeys
    Monkeys
    Monkeys
    Ebook148 pages1 hour

    Monkeys

    By Susan Minot

    3.5/5

    ()

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    About this ebook

     

    Minot’s bestselling debut: A moving novel of familial love and endurance in the face of shattering tragedy Monkeys is the remarkable story of a decade in the life of the Vincents, a colorful Irish Catholic family from the Boston suburbs. On the surface, they seem happy with their vivacious mother Rosie at the helm. But underneath, the Vincents struggle to maintain the appearance of wealth and stability while dealing with the effects of their father’s alcoholism. When a sudden accident strikes, their love for one another is tested like never before. Written by the bestselling author of Evening, Monkeys is a powerful story of one family’s struggle to overcome life-changing tribulations and Minot’s wrenching ode to the ties that bind even the most wounded of families. This ebook features a new illustrated biography of Susan Minot, including artwork by the author and rare documents and photos from her personal collection.

     

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Media
    Release dateOct 26, 2010
    ISBN9781453202944
    Monkeys
    Author

    Susan Minot

    Susan Minot is an award-winning novelist, short-story writer, poet, and screenwriter, author of ‘Monkeys’, ‘Lust and Other Stories’, ‘Evening’ and ‘Rapture’. Her first novel, ‘Monkeys’, was published in a dozen countries and won the Prix Femina Étranger in France. Her novel ‘Evening’ was a worldwide bestseller and became a major motion picture. She lives with her daughter in New York City and Maine.

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    Reviews for Monkeys

    3.5/5

    75 ratings5 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Uh oh. I started this before I saw the description on Goodreads that includes the dread word "luminous."Well it didn't live up to that (I'm not sure what would.) Vignettes of a large family over the years through various ups and downs. I feel a little bad that I didn't get more out of it but it was mostly bland. Maybe I'd enjoy it more if I had siblings.Next up is In a Lonely Place. I'm in the mood for noir.
    • 3/5
      There are writers who make mistakes. If their words were a house, some measurements might be askew, some paint could be found on the carpet, perhaps a door doesn't open just right. It's bound to happen, and readers should be forgiving of those writers who blunder occasionally.

      There are also writers who make mistakes. Big ones. They pour the foundation for their house without noticing their own feet are right in the middle of it. They bury themselves in their stupidity, and one can't help but scream, "How could you not see that?"

      Clearly, I'm setting up Monkeys as the later example. Overall, the stories are okay; they're not that intriguing, but they fit together nicely. The characters are numerous and there are a couple with potential, but they're not properly developed. The whole thing is mildly touching, yet leaves more to be desired. Truthfully, Monkeys didn't have to be a bad book--oh, but there's the author, burying herself in the very first story.

      The opening story, "Hiding," is told from the first person perspective of Sophie ("Caitlin is the oldest and she's eleven. I'm next, then Delilah, then the boys.") Okay, so we have a book from the perspective of one of the children. Fine. The next story, "Thanksgiving Day" is outside of Sophie ("For Sophie, the best thing was..."). So now we're in third. Still fine. There's no reason an author cannot switch perspective, especially in a collection of stories. So after reading two stories, the precedent has been set--each story will have a unique, or at least rotating, point-of-view.

      But the next story and the next and the next are all in third. Every story from that second one on is set in third. This sort of thing could be acceptable if it made sense, artistically speaking, but it doesn't here. What seems likely to have happened was that the author at some point changed her point-of-view, but failed to make the change in the first story. And how did no one catch this? Honestly, I don't know. It seems like it would have caught someone's eye. I mean, how exactly does one not notice the architect cemented to the basement floor of their house? Perhaps they noticed, but just didn't care to exert themselves for a design which wasn't that interesting in the first place.
    • 3/5
      A novel which shows its roots as short stories (as in, characters getting constantly reintroduced). The story of the children of a WASP father and a Catholic mother, growing up in a community that resembles Ipswich or Marblehead, Massachusetts. It is remarkable that 3 or 4 of the 7 kids show much distinct personality, though the boys are less well drawn. The way they all deal with growing up and tragedy without talking is impressive.
    • 4/5
      Monkeys was the term of endearment Rosie called her seven children. Cheerful and silly Rosie was the glue that held this large family together. When she is tragically killed the children are left to deal with their grief and an alcoholic father who can't focus on his responsibilities. As a stand alone novel of vignettes Monkeys seems disjointed and fuzzy; not very well thought out, but when you consider Monkeys as a transparent autobiography, it makes way more sense. Minot herself has six siblings. Her mother was killed at a train crossing, just like Rosie. The first story (told in first person) very well could be Minot herself, reliving her childhood memories. The rest of the stories are in third person and could be true events about her siblings. As an aside, it would be interesting to read Monkeys along with with the works of her sister (The Tiny One) and brother (The Blue Bowl) for comparison.
    • 3/5
      We meet Caitlin, the oldest of the seven “Monkeys,” when she is eleven and follow the family through more than a decade. Rosie, the Irish-Catholic Mum, holds the family together with a certain charming innocence. In contrast, Gus, the WASP father, seems to care more about the bank, his garden, and a gallon of bourbon than he does about his many children. The incidents, scattered across time, are intended to reveal the siblings’ characters and their relationships to one another, but the book fails in this. In spite of Minot’s truly elegant descriptions, in the end, it is difficult to clearly distinguish the characters or feel much empathy for them. There are many more engaging stories of 20th century American families.

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    Monkeys - Susan Minot

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