One Amazing Thing (edition 2010)

How am I suppose to write a review for an unmemorable book? ( )

“One Amazing Thing” is an engaging book that reinforces the idea that all of us are unique and different, and that we all have a story to tell. We can all connect or see one another if we are willing to take the time to listen.

When an earthquake traps nine very individual people who happen to be in the same place at the same time, the way that their lives intersect and become connected comes vividly to life. Prejudices, fears and bullying are all touched on in the situation where people who would not normally be involved in each others lives, come to depend upon one another.

I was fascinated by the stories in this book. It would help each of us to remember that there are experiences and circumstances in the lives of the other people that we meet and know that can make our lives richer if we are open to understanding and experiencing their stories, and accept and embrace ideas and beliefs that may be beyond our current comfort levels. Everyone does have at least one amazing story, and when we tell it to ourselves and then a few others, it becomes more real in the telling. This is a great book club discussion book. I give it 4 plus stars. ( )

By adopting Geoffrey Chaucer's structure in the Canterbury Tales, Divakaruni attempts to make a novel from a collection of short stories. This attempt is largely unsuccessful in my opinion in part because of the mismatch between the conception of her frame and the nature of her individual tales. The post-earthquake struggle for survival that constitutes the frame comes across as a kind of terrestrial Poseidon Adventure without the research, imagination, and sharp characterisations that made that novel so gripping. Some of the stories told by her trapped victims are successful and readable, but within the mediocre writing that surrounds them they fail to stand out as they should. Short story collections do not generally sell as easily as novels, but pasting together a story collection to form a novel does not in this case serve the stories well and creates a disappointing novel. ( )

Interesting concept. Started out great, but kind'a fizzled out toward the end I thought. ( )

One Amazing Thing is a lovely book. Nine people with no connection to eachother find themselves trapped in an office building after an earthquake. Nine separate people, with nine separate personalities must figure out how to live together while waiting for rescue. There are hurt feelings and power struggles. There are the best possible traits of humans and there are also the worst.

To try and bring the group together, one of the nine suggest that each person tell an amazing story about themselves and their lives. After some initial resistance, each of the nine shares a story. While each story was not necessarily amazing taken by itself, each one did have a profound impact on the life of the one telling it. This helped the group (and us) to understand the others better and made it more possible to them to work together and care for eachother's welfare as they waited for their situation to resolve.

I enjoyed the book very much - I was interested in the characters and, most of all, I came to care for them as they told their stories. ( )