Group Read: Her Fearful Symmetry

Here's the thread for the group read of Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger.

I have my copy and am hoping to start next weekend.

Thanks for the reminder on this. I've been traveling for three weeks due to family matters. Let me see if I can get my hands on a copy.

The book was loaned to me in January. Besides needing to return it so it could be passed on to others, I just couldn't wait to read it. I'll be interested in everyone's comments, and hope I can still join in the discussion?

Definitely, ivy, just no spoilers.

Thanks, Cheli! I'll wait until others have posted their comments before adding mine.

I had missed (until now) that there was a GR, but I picked up a copy at a used book store earlier this year so I'm all set to join in!

I'm picking up my copy tonight!

I almost started early but was afraid if I did that I would finish before next month. I'll be good and wait until Saturday. It's not like I've run out of things to read, ha..ha.

I made a reservation at the library, so I'm hoping I'll be able to pick it up soon. I almost forget about this. And I'm feeling a bit hesitant, because so many were disappointed in the book, but I'd like to try nonetheless.

I've started and am about six chapters in. I think we're in for a treat!

picking it up today for the weekend... :)

I finished! Let me know when you are done and we can start discussing...

I'm behind but promise I'm starting tomorrow at the latest. I have it loaded on my MP3 and will take it with me to Physical Therapy.

I'm not sure I will be able to participate after all. I'm currently too busy with coursework. So you shouldn't hold back because of me. If I do end up reading it this month, I'll check back on the discussion and reply by that time.

Iris, don't worry about it. You do what you have to do and we'll just keep reading. If you manage to join us, that'd be great but don't stress out on our account.

I have almost completed Her Fearful Symmetry and must say I am enjoying this read a great deal. (I have long been awaiting a second read of Niffenegger, ever since The Time Traveler's Wife came out.) I am able to connect with all of the characters; I have come to care about all of the characters excepting for Julia, who seems rather cold & somewhat calculating on the whole. I like how they all have their little/major quirks & seeing how all of the other characters deal with those.
I must say that on the whole, the G/Rs of 2010 thus far have been rather outstanding. So I thank all of you who have put your brains together and chosen these books all across the groups. Well done & kudos.
b

I just finished Her Fearful Symmetry and like I said I enjoyed it greatly......................until the last few chapters. The book had, I guess, what I would consider a cheap ending; like the author just came up with the easiest & most convenient ending. So I was left with a bad taste in my mouth. Niffenegger is a much more capable author than those last few chapters exemplify.
There was a unique description in the book that fits me to a T. "I think Dad is always kind of confused, you know, sometimes Mom seems like she's just visiting, she's super detached, and then she'll be, like, really fun and sort of more present, you know?"
And that's all I have to say about that. Please pass the chocolates.
belva

Next up: Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs by Wallace Stegner.

It's slow for me - I keep hoping it will move faster.

Finished. Very interesting story - the relationship of the twins and Martin's OCD. The ending was odd. I don't think things happened as anyone expected, but perhaps most of them got what they deserved.

I finished a few days ago and I have to say I was terribly disappointed.
I loved Time Traveler's Wife but this book left me cold. About 2/3 in I was debating with myself why I was continuing to read this and realized it was simply because of the group. But I finished it.

I didn't like it. Maybe because it wasn't a happy ending or maybe because I think the concepts were just too weird, I don't know. I just didn't like it. I hope it doesn't start a whole new sect or resurrectionists.

has everyone else finished?

I read the book in January, and my opinion was much the same as Cheli's, though I might have liked it just a bit more since I didn't consider abandoning it.

When I was somewhere in the 2nd half of the book, it struck me that it was a significantly less accomplished novel than The Time Traveler's Wife -- it read more like a first novel than TTTW. Then, after I finished, I read the "extras" about Niffenegger being a tour quide at the cemetery, and a friend of Tracy Chevalier. I realized that the cemetery is the same one as in Chevalier's book Falling Angels (2001), which was her far less successful follow-up to her acclaimed Girl With a Pearl Earring (1999).

The information I read didn't say when they were tour guides, or that it was at the same time, but I find it pretty unlikely that women in their late 30s or early 40s, having just published international bestsellers would have then become tour guides at the cemetery. Instead, I can picture 2 young women (Niffenegger and Chevalier were born in 1962 and 1963), aspiring writers supporting themselves by working as tour guides, becoming friends, being inspired by the cemetery, and working on novels featuring the cemetery.

So... what I'm thinking is that these 2 books about the cemetery were written earlier than the bestsellers. Pulled out, dusted off, perhaps finished or improved -- I suspect that the story of Martin was originally a separate story or planned book that was later incorporated into the story of the twins. And if Niffenegger knew that Chevalier had published the novel she wrote years before, and she probably would have known, then it seems even more likely that she would have done the same thing.

Does anyone else think this is a possibility -- or am I just letting my imagination run amok?

****SPOILER ALERT****
I found this story very disturbing and the conclusion hollow. I had to put it down every few chapters because I found the dependency and lack of drive/curiousity of every character extremely frustrating and depressing. I kept asking myself "Are people really this uncurious about what happens around them? Are they really so afraid of what they'll find that they don't even ask questions?"

In the end, a few characters broke free of the apathy and dependency but it didn't feel triumphant (except for Valentina). Martin's was assisted, Elspeth had a new burden, Julia was apathetic, Edie/Jack were still oblivious and Robert just disappeared. In fact, the only person who didn't seem to have dependency issues was Theo, whose point in the book was difficult for me to figure out. Was he supposed to reflect normalcy?

ivyd: I haven't read the TTTW so I can't add to your hypothesis about when this was written. Seems sound though. This felt hollow to me.