click for review ( )

So slow-paced to start with, that I almost lost interest, but as the story developed I found it more involving. The skill of the writer lies in evoking small details and a sense of landscape. A faster pace probably wouldn't have worked for a romance between these particular characters. ( )

Three times married Harley Savage is a master quilter and has a "dangerous streak." Douglas Cheeseman is a gawky engineer who's former wife has described him as a "bridge bore." They both arrive in Kararakook, NSW, she to help set up a pioneer heritage museum and he to direct the tearing down of the old bridge that has been deemed unsafe. Their developing relationship is explored in Kate Grenville's 2001 Orange Prize winning novel and within its' 400 pages lies a gem of a story.

The beauty of this book is the detailed development of these two quirky characters, both so unsure of, and reticient to share too much of, themselves. Grenville masterfully, brings them together, and because of her attention to detail, you find yourself cheering them on and hoping that the author doesn't disappoint in the end. She doesn't. Douglas states early on the main theme of the book, "How do people get on?" We find, through these two and other characters, all flawed in their own ways, that most of us struggle with that question in one way or another. Later in the book, Harley states, when talking about the quilt she is making for the town, "Donna's pieces had got her excited, but everything looked good in the beginning. It was only later, putting the pieces together, that it turned into something less than you had hoped. It seemed she would never learn that was the way things always were." Just like life itself.

Grenville uses many metaphors to relate her theme through the quilt and the bridge (the Bent Bridge), because they are both alike in many ways. From a distance, through the window, Douglas watches Harley work on the quilt, fitting pieces together, playing the light and the dark off of each other,allowing them to fit without concern that their seams line up, making it all come together so beautifully. At another point, Douglas explains to her what a beautiful, natural product concrete is, how it has no form of its' own until you determine what it will be, how when you combine the flexibility of steel with the strength of the concrete, you get the best outcome for a bridge that will last forever. And isn't that what relationships are all about? The fitting together, playing off of each other, combining qualities of each to complement the whole? Grenville does this so adroitly that I caught myself holding my breath at the beauty of it.

The book's title explains, through the characters, what we all expect of ourselves and yet have a very difficult time maintaining. And through the secondary character Felicity, we learn that the idea of perfection is, in itself, flawed.

I can't say enough about the beauty of this book. The elegant prose is only part of it. It's also the emotional wallop it provides and its' ability to make the reader sit back and think, "I know exactly what she's/he's feeling. Wonderful read! ( )

The story alternates between two central characters, Harley and Douglas and occasionally a third one, Felicity. All three are trying to run away from something and have ended up in a little town in rural Australia. They find, however, that in Karakarook there can be no hiding from themselves. In the small, open town where everybody knows everybody, the things they are scared of become ever more exposed.

Grenville takes the reader right into the inner worlds of the three characters, none of whom are comfortable in their own skin. Harley's past has left her feeling she is bad and dangerous, Douglas yearns to be a 'real Australian man' and Felicity is a perfectionist who doesn't kiss her husband for fear of getting wrinkles.

The town of Karakarook is also drawn in perfect detail. I could almost feel the heat and sense the dust as I was reading. The town's bridge serves as a metaphor for the characters feelings of inadequacy and imperfection. It is battered and crooked but Harley and Douglas find a beauty in it. He sees the engineering skill and work involved. She sees the artistic beauty.

There is a wry humour to the book, but it is a gentle one. I found the book to be an exceptionally well-written, perceptive and moving read. ( )

The Idea of Perfection is another book I’ve read for the Book Awards Reading Challenge. Sadly, it’s another award winning book that I just couldn’t like. This novel by Kate Grenville, an Australian writer, won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2001. The truly curious thing is that same year, Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin was shortlisted for the same prize. I had read that long before I started this blog, and it is a far superior novel.

This book hosts the most unlikely cast of characters one could imagine. The principle characters are supposed to be Harley Savage and Douglas Cheeseman. They are strangers on temporary work assignments in the fictional town of Karakarook, New South Wales. Harley is in town to help build a “heritage museum”. She is a textiles expert from a museum in Sydney. Douglas is an engineer, who has been sent to supervise the destruction of an old, worn-out bridge, and the construction of its replacement. They are both incredibly self-involved. They question every move and conversation-who has time for that?

A portion of the book is devoted to the story of Felicity Porcelline, the prim wife of the bank manager. In fact, she seems to be more of a main character than Harley or Douglas. Far too much of the book is focused on Felicity fantasizing about the town’s Chinese butcher/photographer, Alfred Chang. Talk about an unlikely character.

I really had to force myself to read this book all the way through. Is it too much to ask that a book be well-written and have interesting characters that I could enjoy reading about? ( )