Here on Earth

This is a hard book. Not just to read, but to accept. This book talks about obsession in love, to the point of destruction. It address the taboo subject of domestic violence in the world of “mind your own business.” It addresses seeing and doing nothing. Of pretending what we do not wish to see really isn’t there; for victim, abuser, and bystander. Especially when it comes to the ones we love. I hated Hollis. I hated March for not being able to wake up to what is happening to her, her daughter, her life. But, that is the reality for so many people who suffer from domestic abuse. Alice Hoffman does a heartbreaking, raw, and horribly accurate job of portraying what domestic violence is capable of inflicting in both it’s physical show more and mental capacities. It isn’t pretty and I put this book down many times because it was too hard, too ugly, too aggravating, and I too unwilling to see what was playing out. March got away, but not without suffering and not without cost. Not everyone has the chance to get away. Not everyone can. We as people see what we want to see and believe what we want to believe. Whether or not those things are true is another story. Books like this one demonstrate that reality in a brutal way. show less

March Murray has returned to her small New England town with her teen-aged daughter Gwen to attend the funeral of the family housekeeper who helped raise March after March's mother died. March was 11 years old, her brother Alan was 21, when March's father inexplicably brings home a homeless 13 year old boy named Hollis. Alan immediately dislikes the boy and is cruelly jealous; March, however, is infatuated and as they grow older she and Hollis become inseparable and finally lovers. When March and Alan's father dies Alan finally has the upper hand and lets Hollis know that he is no longer wanted. A brokenhearted March watches Hollis leave town vowing to wait for his return. After several years with no word from Hollis March marries and show more moves to California. During the next 15 years Hollis returns a wealthy man and buys up most of the small New England town. When March returns for the funeral she is destined to face Hollis and the past she left behind. But Hollis has changed and March is about to enter a dangerous relationship.

I hated Hollis, I hated March and I hated this book. March easily wins the prize for the stupidest woman in fiction. Seriously, she is so blinded by lust that she forgets she has a daughter, forgets how to dress and bathe, and debases herself for a man? Hollis is a cartoon - every woman wants him and every man hates him. It's a good thing part of my job is to do book repairs at the library because I so want to tear this book from its binding. Did I say I hated it? show less

Cumbres Borrascosas en el presente y con el punto de vista exacto .

Vayamos al grano ...

A la novela de Alice Hoffman , que es una visión moderna sobre el clásico de Emily Bronte .

Y acá está March Murray (Cathy Earnshaw) , y su hija Gwen (Cathy Linton-Heathcliff) volviendo a Fox Hill (Cumbres Borrascosas) sólo por un funeral , pero también por el motivo oculto de la madre de volver a ver a quien ha herido en el pasado . Y quién más puede ser que Hollis (Heathcliff) , que la ha esperado toda su vida , demasiado orgulloso para buscar pero sí demasiado malvado como para sentarse a esperar .

Ahí comienza HERE ON EARTH .

Alice Hoffman es una de las pocas autoras que ha entendido realmente la naturaleza de Heathcliff , la única show more quizá (de las que leí , obvio ) que ha comprendido porqué el personaje actúa como lo hace y cómo se portaría realmente en el día de hoy . Y Más bien , como lo veríamos hoy las mujeres . Porque Hollis no es más que un abusador , un hombre que escapa a la cordura y no ve más allá de tener y tener sin prestar . Ve las cosas como posesiones a conseguir y a la mujer que ama como una cosa , siendo el resultado de esa manera de verla , lo que los llevará a los dos a un futuro deprimente y solitario para ambos .

Hollis es el psicópata en el que pensamos cuando se habla de violencia de género y sus hechos son imperdonables .

Cuando Emily Bronte escribió Cumbres Borrascosas , nunca fue su idea que Heathcliff fuera tratado como lo fue (ese ídolo Byrónico que enternece a las mujeres ) . Lo demuestra en su novela , pero la mayoría parece haberse olvidado que era él quien cagaba a palos a Isabella , a su hijo , a Hareton y a Cathy Linton . Todos se olvidan de la segunda parte de Cumbres . Parecen querer quedarse con la muerte de Catherine Earnshaw y dejar de lado el acabóse que viene después . Y siendo así , todas las lectoras son como la soñadora Isabella Linton , o como las amantes de Hollis y , más que nada , como la lectora de trece años que pensaba que el amor estaba en la violencia .

EN Here on Earth no hay grises . Las cosas son como son . La violencia no es pasión y Hollis no es un héroe romántico , y esta es una de las pocas autoras que supo retratarlo con realidad , con una prosa que es un deleite para los ojos y la mente ; con profundidad y sin el romance idiota que todas le adjudican a el pasaje oscuro de Cumbres Borrascosas pero que nunca existió .

Recomendado para mujeres realistas ... y para las románticas incurables también ... show less

This story mirrors that of Wuthering Heights but is set in the near past in a small town in the US. There are marshes rather than wild moors and a horse. It is the relationships that mirror those in Emily Bronte's masterpiece and these are just as disturbing and unfathomable. Essentially this is a novel about abuse and it is never going to be a pleasant read. March becomes such a ghost of herself, she is hardly present as she falls back into a relationship with Hollis, leaving her teenage daughter to navigate her own relationship. Cruel and strangely compelling.

A well-written story about love and obsession. March Murray returns for the funeral of the woman who raised her, and finds again the love of her youth. Hollis, who was raised in March's home, has been waiting for her return, for the one thing he never found. The story of Hollis and March, and of March's daughter Gwen, the story of how love in a small town changes them irrevocably, is excellent reading.

Hoffman's characterizations are believable, but a large part of what I enjoyed about the story was the descriptions of the Massachusetts town and countryside as the seasons progressed. Hoffman can really make a picture come to life with her words.

An enjoyable read even tho my opinion about this book kept changing. At first, I noticed the imagery, and enjoyed the way she describes things: "so many orchards circled the village that on some crisp October afternoons the whole world smelled like pie" (p 4), "The sky is so flat and gray Gwen has the urge to put her arms over her head for protection, just in case stones should begin to fall from the clouds." (p40)
The focus of the novel shifts a good way in, and I begin to think we're just being given a standard romance plot and I'm disappointed that I won't learn anything from this book. And after a bit the emotional tone changes, becomes more obsessed, and I'm sure I can see where we'll end up, agreeing with another reviewer about show more being disgusted by the dysfunction. However, one of the characters has more strength than I gave her credit for, and the ending is not what I expected. The book is divided into 3 parts, which somewhat mesh with the shifts I noticed, but not precisely since the story is a smooth progression, so there is a gradual introduction of the shift before the next part. What with the imagery and the ending, I'm happy that I stuck it out. There really are some insights gained by the characters.
I was pretty bothered by not being able to figure out for quite a long while the when and where of the setting. There is a mix of time, beginning with March as a mother of a teen and frequently jumping us back to her own teen years. Her description of the village seems so old-fashioned, almost 1930's, which would make "now" 1950's or '60s but her daughter Gwen has such a modern tone of voice. I wonder if that just shows the universality of teen resentment of parents? Her clothes & hairstyle seems too modern but there is no mention of ubiquitous cell phones or computers. I finally decide "now" is 1990's when an adult buys a computer. That would make "then" 1965, however, and I still can't figure out how the village social services are run by "the library board" or how orphaned kids can be taken into a home without a lot of Social Service oversight and inspection. And where? Hoffman doesn't write dialect. Obviously east coast, since there are tidal marshes. Because I get a flash of Beans of Egypt Maine, I guess Maine for the setting, as likely being the most different in village structure and the most "keep your nose out of others' business", but it doesn't seem cold enough. The presence of race horses makes me guess Virginia,perhaps the islands, but midway thru we are told New England.
I also had quibbles with some of her statements but wasn't sure my grasp of facts was all that accurate: spring peepers calling in August (p 20), the horses that were "worth more money than her father would ever manage to earn" (p 27). Later we are told how much a horse can be worth, and I see this could have been a true statement for a teen. show less

Horrible novel- how'd it make it on Oprah's list? Hoffman spent so much time trying to align the plot to "Wuthering Heights" that she forgot to be original and make the story her own. The result is a perversion of Emily Bronte's tale that completely misses the point.

March travels back to her hometown with her teen daughter Gwen for the funeral of her Nelly Dean-esque housekeeper. There, she meets up with Hollis, her childhood love that got away. The renew their love, but Hollis is bent on revenge and abuses her physically, emotionally, and sexually. Meanwhile Gwen finds romance with her Hareton, and all find themselves caught in Hollis' sick trap. There is no redemption for any of the characters; the survivors are only lucky to have show more escaped -- a denouement with the character development worthy of a Vincent Price film.

Hoffman just doesn't get it- what makes the reader fall for Heathcliff despite his tyrannical ways is his undying passion for Catherine. He can abuse Isabella and trap young Catherine Linton into a loveless marriage, but the sheer force of his passion for his Catherine blows it all away. Hollis has no such passion for March. He is only fueled on revenge. Besides the physical abuse, Hollis cheats on March once he has her, completely disregarding any notion that he may actually love or feel passion for her. Hoffman seems to have confused passion with rape. Their romantic scenes read like the worse bodice ripper. To complete the characterization of Hollis, Hoffman should have given him a long Snidely Whiplash mustache to twirl.

Instead of spending so much time trying to get the characters to fit their "Wuthering Heights" mold so closely, Hoffman should have instead used the novel as a guide for exploring the relationships in her story. A more talented author could have made the distinction between healthy love and obsessive love without playing a game of "How perverted can I make this guy?" In fact, a more talented author did, and Hoffman was way over her head meddling with Bronte. As is, her treatment of March, and March's acceptance of it, is downright misogynistic and Hoffman should have known better, as should have Oprah. show less