While I Was Gone (1999)

Boring.....i couldn't finish it... ( )

Wishy Washy ( )

I finally finished this after what feels like forever (not a problem with the book so much as a problem with my schedule). I think the drawn out reading time did not do the book any favors. Also knowing the ending ahead of time due to our book club discussion meant I was reading the last third with different preconceptions than before. Even so though, this is a difficult book because Jo, our main character, is not immediately likeable or sympathetic and the decisions she makes don't help improve the matter. Miller does an excellent job of creating characters that seem like very real people complete with flaws. The act and concept of forgiveness are central to the novel but with my reading so fragmented I don't feel like I got the chance to absorb what Miller was trying to say on the subject. Perhaps someday I'll have the time to read it again.

November 2007 COTC Book Club selection. ( )

Jo Becker recounts her life present and past, including her time living in a communal house during the late 60's, where she lived under an assumed name and where her friend and roomate Dana was brutally murdered. The book deals with truth, lies, acceptance of ourselves and the impact of others on us. Beautifully written. ( )

We have seen it all before, how years of trust and understanding can be ruined in one sweep. however, Miller has another element built in: a terrible secret that gets out, to hurt everyone. Unexpectable things happen, other, expected, do not. There is no fairness, and no clear line between good and bad - same things certainly turn out to be quite different for people involved, causing moral dilemmas on various levels. ( )