The Effects of Light

i like the idea of this book, and quite a lot of the writing. but there are some issues with characterization that make it hard to get as far into this as i wanted to, namely the emotional responses myla has to so much that happens, and samuel's motivation and reaction to almost everything. those are major things and it makes the entire book less believable. but i'm riveted by the underlying concepts in the book, about art and life and about photography and censorship and time and linearity and space, etc (although i didn't like when it felt like i was being lectured on these subjects). i don't know if this intentionally refers to a real life photographer and her real life nude subjects (sally mann and her beautiful photos of her nude show more children, collected in her book immediate family, which was surrounded by some of the same controversy in this book), but i find that subject almost endlessly intriguing, so this was easily my favorite part of the book and what kept me drawn in, even when the characters weren't keeping me as engaged as i wanted to be. i will say that some of the characters were drawn so nicely, so it was just myla and samuel that i had a problem with (but since they're main characters, this was hard). the other characters, though, were very well written and will stick with me.

all in all i liked much of this, while finding problems with it, but would definitely read her again. show less

Myla and Prudence are two young girls when Ruth, a friend of the family, starts taking pictures of them for her art. Though artistically rendered, some of the photographs involve the girls naked. As Ruth's photos are given more attention by the art world, Ruth and the family come under attack by the media for allowing the girls to be exploited.

Fast forward 13 years. Myla is a college professor who has been in hiding and known as "Kate" when she receives an unexpected letter from her past, beckoning her back to her hometown of Portland, OR. Though her sister Prudence and her parents are dead, Myla finds herself confronting her past experiences with the help of family friends and the writings her father left behind. This novel is half show more mystery- half art philosophy as the author explores how photographs capture the life of the subject, which is based on the cultural experience of the viewer.

Though interesting, I found the novel too philisophical and in need of some editing. The storyline was compelling but all of the meandering around about what constitutes art and how straight lines are a cultural phenonmena, blah blah blah.... get back to the story! It was a quick read but I started scanning past the diatribes towards the end. The concept of naked children as art and where the line is drawn with pornography is a challenging one, however, which will be fun to debate in our book club as we review this novel. show less

I liked this book a lot -- more than I'd expected to. I wasn't going in with bad expectations, but I wasn't familiar with the author & hadn't really heard any hype, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. Told from alternating viewpoints of two sisters, one in the present & one in the past, the story is gradually unfolded and presents a complicated and somewhat controversial subject matter. The two sisters, as children, are the subject of a family friend's artistic photography. Because many of the photos include the girls without clothes on & because the photos are eventually publicly displayed, there are varied opinions expressed by the public. There's a lot to this story, including some mystery, so I don't show more want to reveal much as far as storyline. I like the fact that it was a multi-layered novel, but that's also one thing that I think wasn't quite pulled together as well as it could've been. It seemed some aspects of the novel really didn't much to the story and were almost unnecessary. I also found the main character a little bit fickle with the way she built relationships with people -- one minute acting one way, and then changing her mind the next. But overall, an impressive and enjoyable debut novel. Also should prompt good discussion. show less

Two young girls are captured in a series of photographs as they are growing up. When the exhibit is shown to the public, however, both the girls and the public must ponder their own ideas of decency and indecency, with tragic results. Not a linear read, certainly, but compelling in its questioning of what is art, what is pornography, what do we bring to art, etc.

I read The Effects of Light in one sitting. I was hooked shortly into the book and then couldn't put it down. I was unexpectedly moved to tears early in the story and was emotionally invested thereafter. I only have two critiques. First, the non-linear arguments tended to get heady. I heard this argument from other sources within the past month so I was able to follow the thought process. I wonder how the rest of my book club will do with the argument. Second, if he hadn't seen the pictures, then how did he know it was her? Maybe you can answer this second question after you read the book. I recommend that you do.

Interesting topic. The characters were well written. For some reason I did not enjoy the writing style. Just do not have a lot to say about this book.

I thought this was a very dry book. Interesting views on art and reality, but other than that, not particularily engaging.