Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
|
Loading... Cost (2008)by Roxana Robinson
  
None No current Talk conversations about this book.  arubabookwoman | Aug 19, 2021 |   It's the normalcy of the family and the way the cracks are all there, ready to break apart, that make the novel as good as it is. (  ) laurenbufferd | Nov 14, 2016 | ) mamashepp | Mar 29, 2016 | ) mamashepp | Mar 29, 2016 | It is pretty much a classic what-seems-like-it-will-tear-the-family-apart-actually- brings-it-closer story. It could have been a powerful story about addiction and how an entire family becomes caught in it's vortex. But somehow it wasn't. Partially it is because it takes place against a background of distressed barnwood. I understand this is to show that heroin addiction does not only occur among the working classes, that it can happen to any family, but somehow it falls a bit flat in its middle-class earnestness. Part of the problem is the over use of descriptive language- we know what every character was wearing in every scene, and the decor of every room, particularly in the 'shabby-chic' Maine summer home. The over use of adjectives ans similes is a pet hate of mine, and I knew trouble was ahead when every ingredient in a ham sandwich in the opening chapter is described, from the 'translucent, succulent meat' to the tomato with its 'juicy scarlet core' to the slices of bread spread with mayonnaise like 'marble tiles'. (  ) dylkit | Feb 3, 2014 |
 Robinson has been perennially and somewhat reductively tagged a chronicler of WASP life. This designation, while factually accurate — as is the observation that her stories regularly address parenting and marital issues — doesn’t do her justice. These subjects — WASP life, domestic life — are often used as code for “small,” in the sense of both trivial and mean, and Robinson’s fiction is neither. In writing about characters whose lives are constrained, she makes them loom large.
THE LUMINOUS AND GRIPPING NEW NOVEL FROM "ONE OF OUR BEST WRITERS" (JONATHAN YARDLEY, THE WASHINGTON POST) When Julia Lambert, an art professor, settles into her idyllic Maine house for the summer, she plans to spend the time tending her fragile relationships with her father, a repressive neurosurgeon, and her gentle mother, who is descending into Alzheimer's. But a shattering revelation intrudes: Julia's son Jack has spiraled into heroin addiction. In an attempt to save him, Julia marshals help from her looseknit clan: elderly parents; remarried ex-husband; removed sister; and combative eldest son. Ultimately, heroin courses through the characters' lives with an impersonal and devastating energy, sweeping the family into a world in which deceit, crime, and fear are part of daily life. Roxana Robinson is the author of Sweetwater, which Booklist called a "hold-your-breath novel of loss and love." Billy Collins praised Robinson as "a master at moving from the art of description to the work of excavating the truths about ourselves." In Cost, Robinson tackles addiction and explores its effects on the bonds of family, dazzling us with her hallmark subtlety and precision in evoking the emotional interiors of her characters. The result is a work in which the reader's sense of discovery and compassion for every character remains unflagging to the end, even as the reader, like the characters, is caught up in Cost's breathtaking pace. No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.65)
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wikipedia in English
2
Julia, a divorced art professor, is spending the summer at her Maine house when it becomes apparent that her younger son Jack has descended into the hell of heroin addiction. The novel follows Julia and her family's journey as they attempt to rescue Jack. The story, told from alternating points of view of the various family members, including Julia's parents, her father a cold and controlling retired neurosurgeon, her mother in the beginnings of Alzheimers, her ex-husband, Jack's older brother, and Jack himself, is a devastating one. It is not easy to read, and people more knowledgeable than me state that it paints an accurate description of the dirty side of an addict's life and what it is like to go through withdrawal an rehab, and of course how rarely rehab is successful. The focus is not entirely on the addict, however, but how addiction affects, and sometimes destroys, the entire family.
This is an excellent book. "Enjoyable" is not the word, but it is a book definitely well-worth reading. My only complaint is that Julia at times seemed too naive, too willing to accept Jack's lies and deceptions, and she took entirely too long to accept the reality of Jack's addiction. But, I suppose that's what a mother's love would do.
4 stars (