Although I found The Sorrows of an American not too difficult to read, I often stopped reading wondering what the author was trying to say. I did enjoy the history of the characters and liked the middle American theme. I loved the way she described her characters and was intrigued to find out what the big secret was. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about the American family. It is not a high action, deeply involved mystery, but a very involved story of a widowed woman and her psychoanalyst brother dealing with a deep family secret.

A book about how memories of traumatic events – catastrophic illness and injury, infant and childhood mortality, mental illness, addiction, poverty, discrimination, violence, adultery, divorce, a parent’s death, profound loneliness, etc. – play out in our lives, and in art, literature, film, philosophy, psychiatry, journals and letters, and even school plays and doll-making. Ms. Hustvedt’s novel resembles the photography exhibit assembled by her character, Jeffrey Lane, in which the photographs as memories are partially excised, intentionally distorted, at once both banal and graphic, strange and familiar, threatening, covered up, or even entirely missing.

Based upon the review excerpts printed with the book, I had expected that The Sorrows of an American would contain descriptive material relating to the Minnesota landscape, the Norwegian pioneer experience, and the lingering effects on the American psyche of the Great Depression and World War II. However, upon completing the book, I found its discussion of place and history to be rather limited and shallow. There are also many passing references to 9/11, but relatively little to convey the extent and depth of the effects of that terrible day, other than one young adult’s wish not to have experienced the horror. To my thinking, the novel did not provide any new insights into the American experience of these events, nor to place. If the descriptions of Minnesota are spare, then the descriptions of New York City, where the bulk of the novel takes place, almost non-existent.

Instead the book is more a collection of ideas and observations about many very unhappy, self-absorbed characters whose lives are intertwined to varying extents. I did enjoy seeing how their issues and secrets began to resolve themselves over time. ( )

I was very excited about reading this book, since I had been quite impressed with the author's first novel. Unfortunately this second novel didn't live up to my expectations. While the writing is strong, the novel itself was slow and a bit depressing. Sadly I would not recommend this one. ( )

I found this a difficult book to read. I went in expecting a tale of a son exploring his father's youth, and to be sure there is that element to the book. What I did not expect is that that exploration would be only the backdrop for several other plots which all seemed to involve emotional trauma and mental instability, including the protagonist's entanglement with his boarder's ex, which leads him at points to question his own stability. It is, without a doubt, a well-written book, and one worth reading again. But it is not a comfortable book, and thus far I have been unable to brave that re-reading. ( )

This is the convoluted story of a man's search to understand the people around him. He is well-equipped to do this, he is a psychotherapist. The problem arises with the death of his father. That death, and questions of some actions of his father found in a cryptic letter among his papers, leaves both the psychotherapist son and father's daughter in a quandry. Sub-plots all seem to point to the idea of past events pushing us to become who we ar today. Miranda with her uncle she loves, but later finds out to be homosexual. Miranda's lover is driven to picture others because of events in his past. Erik's sister, Inga, is haunted by a dead husband and who he was. Her daughter, Sonia, is haunted by the same man, but in a different manner. Much is made of the father's service in WWII, with returning to the events of the time in New Guinea thoroughout the book. The same is made of the grandfather of the psychotherapist and the struggle to survive in the Upper Midwest farming.
I found the book and enjoyable read, characters are drawn well enough, the story line is separated by sections through the book. Made me think about critical events we all experience, how those events then affect how we touch others. Almost like cultural or family DNA with some things being always the same "don't cry in front of others" but somethings defining who we are. I will read another of her books. ( )

The Sorrows of an American is a thoughtful, complex novel of a brother and a sister who examine their lives and relationships after the death of their father and a mysterious note they found among his possessions. It is about secrets and dreams, and how the past informs the present and the future, illness and recovery, listening, loneliness and memory. it is about how essential and critical it is to, as the eleventh century poet Rumi says: "Don't turn away. Keep looking at the bandaged place. That's where the light enters you."
The Sorrows of an American is a patient, compelling and quietly disturbing novel and well worth reading. ( )

A beautifully written book that explores grief, memory, family, love. Erik, Davidsen, the narrator, is coming to terms with his father's death. Erik is going through his father's papers and discovers a letter that hints at a dark secret. We follow Erik as he explores his father's life, and as his sister deals with the repercussions of her husband's death.

I really enjoy Hustvedt's writing, although I think a lot of the psychology and deeper meanings are lost on me. This is a post-9/11 book, the attacks are witnessed by Erik's grand-daughter and have a profound affect on her. Is the book then about a wider grief, one felt by American society in the wake of this event? ( )

I found the first part of the book to be beautifully haunting and I did not want to put it down. There are many themes in the book about love and family and traumatic experiences, etc...The observations about knowing others, not knowing them, or wanting to be known are the ones that stuck with me. I guess that could be described with an overall term such as lonliness. It was in the second part of the book that I started to lose interest - the story line of the downstairs neighbor's boyfriend and that of the main character's sister, specifically in relation to her dead husband's letters, just didn't hold meaning or fully develop for me. ( )

I have focused on ascertaining the theme of this book. Certainly family secrets play a vital part of this book, but even stronger is the theme of lonliness. The main character, Erik, even verbalizes his lonliness several times. He says it alone and to himself. We learn of his losses, his wife through divorce and his father through his recent death. Erik is a psychiatrist living in Brooklyn. This makes for an interesting contrast with the reality of his life. At times Erik is self-aware and yet he really misses the point of why he is so alone. He is unable to appropriately connect. The description of the landscape of Minnesota where his immigant parents lived better fits Eriks's inner landscape. Erik is most connected to his sister and as the novel progresses, his sister discovers true lonliness beyond her widowhood, and that is finding out that she did not know her husband.

The characters are unique and are slowly revealed. I enjoyed Ms. Hustvedt's style of writing and her ability to describe people, events, and settings. I look forward to reading more of her books. ( )

This book takes place in post 9/11 New York, and is told through the eyes of a psychiatrist. A divorced man who too often has a hard time separating his emotions from those of his patients, he tries to fix the lives of the women around him while trying to figure out his own. There's his sister, who is the widow of a famous author; the woman in his building who he is attracted to but still has a strange relationship with her child's father; and his mother, who he feels the need to protect from his father's past, most of which is still a mystery. In order to define himself, he decides to learn about his father's past, which takes him through war and the Depression. It's a good character study at the things that make us weak, the things that make us strong, and ultimately, what makes us who we are. ( )

I started reading this book while (coincidentally) in Minnesota on business thinking that it would be one I'd love. Unfortunately, it did not meet my expectations. Every character seemed to experience psychological trauma of one sort or another. In the end, I became weary. There was seldom a moment to gather energy. At almost every turn, a reaction was triggered, a disturbing memory was brought to the fore or past dysfunction was symbolically described. Yet, despite the emotional power of the story, it did not feel natural. To me it was as if the author was trying too hard. It was as if one could not be a character in the book without displaying emotional scars. Still, the theme of discovering secrets and opening doors and windows which shed new light on ones we love - and ones who have died - is not foreign. It is quite real, quite disturbing. Hustvedt's writing does not shy away from it. The images and feelings described evoked prolonged visceral reactions. It was hard to suppress the feelings upon setting the book aside for an hour or a day. That is likely a mark of powerful writing, but once again, it proved too much for me. One way to describe it: the book was quietly relentless. I would not dissuade anyone from reading it, but personally speaking, it is not a book that brought joy or solace on the journey. ( )

Hustvedt tries to take on to many stories at once, making "the sorrows of an American: a novel" difficult to follow.... ( )

This is a wonderful story about love and loss and how little we may truly know about ourselves and the people closest to us. The characters and their relationships are complex but the story flows smoothly. Very enjoyable. ( )

An excellent and complexly written novel about family, family secrets, love, and loss. A brother and sister delve into their father's past to learn the story of a note found among his things after his death. Each has their own trial to deal with which brings the novel to a whole different level. For example, Erik, a psychiatrist, talks about several of his patients who seem to have problems that are intricately related to his own issues. This istrospection is wonderfully written and an excellent example of the author's ability to write a truly rewarding read. ( )

Intense, introspective novel about the darkness which inhabits, informs and isolates human beings. ( )

One of my most satisfying reads of 2008, despite the haunting sadness. 5 stars ( )

There are some parts of this book that I really liked, the exploration of loneliness is very well done. The main character has just lost his father and his wife. He explores the relationship he had with his father and family. Strange he does not explore why the marriage failed. Anyway that part of the novel is beautiful. The part of the novel I disliked and the reason I only give it three stars, was the post 9/11 aspect. Certainly 9/11 had a huge effect on people but it seemed to me to be a cliche in this novel. ( )

This is a beautifully written complex tale of a brother and sister, Erik & Inga, sorting through their lives in the wake of the death of their father and the discovery of a mysterious note found among his papers. Inga has recently lost her husband Max, a famous writer and director. Her daughter Sonia is dealing with the loss of her father the memories of witnessing 9/11 from her school windows. Erik is a divorced therapist who becomes embroiled in the unusual lives of his new neighbors, Miranda and Eglantine as they are pursued by Eggy's father, a bizarre photographer, Jeffrey Lake. The novel focuses on the point in all their lives where fundamental assumptions no longer hold up. Hustvedt's exploration of this is very perceptive, nuanced and patient. ( )