15 January 2011

The Dive From Clausen's Pier


ANN PACKER

I loved this book. Loved it! When I picked it up at a thrift store in February 2005, I didn't know anything about it, other than the fact that I'd seen it a lot and it seemed to be popular, and it was a real nice hardback that was cheap. I had no idea what the story was.

In case you don't know what the story is: Carrie Bell, age 23, is engaged to her high school sweetheart, Mike, but has become discontented and is beginning to question their relationship. Then Mike is seriously injured, and Carrie has to decide whether to stay with him or, or put herself first. It is a long journey of self-discovery. Ann Packer's writing just flows across the page. I am always drawn more towards novels that are character driven over plot driven, and this is a wonderful character study. Sort of like Margaret Atwood, and to a lesser extent, Alice Hoffman. I'm very anxious now to find everything else Ann Packer has written.

The book was made into a Lifetime TV movie, starring Michelle Trachtenberg. I discovered this fact while I was about halfway through the book, and immediately put it at the top of my Netflix queue. Unfortunately, I found the movie a little disappointing, though I usually enjoy Lifetime movies. I think if I'd watched the movie first, then read the book, I would have liked the movie much more. But it was just way too much book to cram into a two-hour-minus-commercials-time movie, and there was just too much of the book left out.

(I purchased this book used from a thrift store.)

No comments:

Post a Comment