The Memory Keeper's Daughter

My mom and I loved it, too. We, too, are waiting anxiously for the Lifetime movie this Saturday.

SuzyB said:

I'm on the last chapter of THE MEMORY KEEPER'S DAUGHTER and so looking forward to the movie version of it coming out this Saturday!

I began reading this book because I wanted to expand my taste in books. I always read the same kind of books and I decided to take a chance with this one. PLUS, I like to read books that become movies later on so I can compare (And it is so true the books are always better!)

But if anyone on here has read this book, it is soooo good, and sad, and life-changing. It really is. I'm surprised how much I got into the story, and all these characters. The book is also chilling, and you can't seem to put it down once you start.

They call this book "mesmerizing" and that is sooo true!

Thoughts!

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I think I recommended it in this forum earlier... My granddaughter and I both loved the book. It really is life changing. I am anxiously awaiting the movie also.

My book group read this book several months ago. I did not care for it. The time line skips around too much. There are passages that drag, then suddenly you're someplace else with only cursory coverage of important details. I found it impossible to have any sympathy for the father, but still found the mother unlikeable! Our group did have a good discussion, though.

It annoyed me, especially the constant references to "Down's syndrome"; there is no apostrophe. The condition is called Down syndrome because it's named after the 19th century physician John Langdon Down.

Minor point, but you'd think that would have come up in the research.

cress8 said:

My book group read this book several months ago. I did not care for it. The time line skips around too much. There are passages that drag, then suddenly you're someplace else with only cursory coverage of important details. I found it impossible to have any sympathy for the father, but still found the mother unlikeable! Our group did have a good discussion, though.

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I read it last year, and this was basically my opinion. I felt like it tried to be so literary it lost any real point. I will give it kudos for a good opening chapter, though - I picked it up on the front tables at the book store and it hooked me enough to buy it!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't like this one -- I couldn't make it past around p100, & was baffled by the hype (it was on the Powell's bestseller list for weeks).

Lifetime Movie

Well, I think they did a pretty good job with the movie, although I feel the characterizations of Caroline and Phoebe were better than those of Nora and David. I didn't feel as moved by their predicament as I should have.

I know they only had two hours, but I felt there could have been more emotion.

WriterInChains said:

I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't like this one -- I couldn't make it past around p100, & was baffled by the hype (it was on the Powell's bestseller list for weeks).

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I liked this, but I'm not sure why. The title character is hardly in it, for one, and both the father and eventually the mother were both unsympathetic characters. Well, unlikable, at least.

I could only sit through about five minutes of the movie. I hate to say this (especially since I personally know so many people who disagree with my opinion) but I think Lifetime movies suck! I hoped this one would be an exception, but, um... NO.

As for the book, I thought it was interesting and eloquent, but I agree that many passages just draaaaaaaaagged. Hence why I never finished it. I keep meaning to get back to it though, because I find the theme of family secrets and their strain on marriages very interesting. I felt for both the mother and father, because they were complex people that made bad decisioins and fully accepted the painful consequences of those decisions. (At least they did in the parts I read - who knows, they may have turned out to be @$$hats in the last half of the book.)

Off-topic: has anyone else read The Time-Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger? I read an article about her and found her work fascinating, so I bought a copy of the book for myself and my sister. My sister devoured it and said it was the best book she'd ever read. I never got past page 50; the story skips around a LOT.

I didn't read the book but the movie was really flat. I felt no interest or sympathy for any of the characters, and I couldn't figure out why the father took such a burning interest in his daughter. Then when he died that seemed to ruin any chance at any redemption. Even when mother and son met daughter/sister, I thought there'd be some interest but they didnt seem to skip a beat. Waste of time.

cress8 said:

My book group read this book several months ago. I did not care for it. The time line skips around too much. There are passages that drag, then suddenly you're someplace else with only cursory coverage of important details. I found it impossible to have any sympathy for the father, but still found the mother unlikeable! Our group did have a good discussion, though.

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I agree with this. I thought that some of it was very good, and the concept of the story was unique. But honestly, the story ended for me pages before the book actually ended. I didn't read it to the very end because I found out what happened before the very end. And I honestly skimmed a lot of the longer passages. I hate to say that, but there it is.

I just finished reading it, and I didn't think it was all that great. I did think the author did a good job capturing the Norah's grief in the beginning. I wondered what the character Rosemary did, except to lead to Norah and David's divorce, but that could have been handled in other ways.