I unabashedly fell for the film version of this book, winner of the Best Picture Oscar in 1983, a beautifully acted character-driven comedy drama about the lives and complicated relationships of a mother and daughter, in Houston and the Midwest, respectively, with a final 15 minutes that reduce me to a puddle of tears every time I see it. Who could ever forget Shirley MacLaine screaming in a panicky rage at nurses to give a patient an overdue painkiller, or Debra Winger bravely saying goodbye forever to her young sons from her deathbed? Omg, I'm going to cry right now, just thinking about it! It's been dismissed by many as the forerunner of the "chick flick" (an insulting, even misogynistic term), as well as a totally shameless tearjerker (see examples above). The latter is doubtlessly true, but as long as it works what harm is there in that? I for one enjoy a good cry (again, see examples above). Anyway, knowing the film so well, I was not liking this book during much of its considerable midsection. It is a very different story, focusing as it does largely on the Aurora character (the mother) and her many suitors far more than on Emma, her daughter. Emma's struggles in her marriage to a weak-willed, philandering academic has always struck me as the more urgent, true to life and relatable part of the story than the light, excessively quirky comedy of the eccentric Aurora and her wacky beaux. Being that I wasn't enjoying Aurora much, this section seemed to drag on way too long. But the last chunk of the book, when the focus goes back to Emma, and to inevitable tragedy, is beautifully written - even hauntingly so. Though I found McMurtry's The Last Picture Show a far more consistent work, this one proved itself in the end, better late than never, bumping up my rating a whole (evening) star. Fans of the film version are advised caution, however.
I could find nothing to like about any of the characters in this book and yet I was somehow unable to put the damn thing down. McMurtry is a versatile author and one of the few male writers who can write convincingly in the voice of a woman (or in this book's case, several women).It's fun to read books set in your own city, a treat I suspect is limited mostly to people who live in New York, Chicago or LA. There aren't many books based in Houston, but McMurtry has written five of them. It's fun to read about imaginary characters going to real places like Last Concert Cafe and the Mecom Fountain (which one character wants to have sex with (?!)).My friend Lance, a huge McMurtry fan, commented that no one ever says "I love you" in McMurtry's books, and he's pretty much right. I didn't think this books was terribly sad, most likely because I was too busy getting frustrated over the characters' unwillingness to change, but there was one passage, at the end, that almost got to me:"Tommy, be sweet," Emma said. "Be sweet please. Don;t keep pretending you dislike me. That's silly.""I like you," Tommy said, shrugging tightly."I know that, but for the last year or two you've been pretending you hate me," Emma said. "I know I love you more than anybody in the world except your brother and sister, and I'm not going to be around long enough to change my mind about you. But you're going to live a long time, and in a year or two when I'm not around to irritate you you're going to change your mind and remember that I read you a lot of stories and made you a lot of milkshakes and allowed you to goof off a lot when I could have been forcing you to mow the lawn."I think the next book of his I'll read is "All My Friends Are Going To Be Strangers," also set in Houston.
What do You think about Terms Of Endearment (2000)?
I saw the film many years ago and was quite surprised that the book was so different from the screenplay. McMurtry's story is much darker and more complex than the film, and focussed on Aurora and her various relationships. I found Aurora an irresistible character--not necessarily likeable, but beautifully wrought.Her daughter Emma is a pale foil, but I liked the way the author created another strong female character in Aurora's only granddaughter.A couple of things got in the way for me. One was the largely weak, lazy, stupid or otherwise one-dimensional male characters. The other was the way the book was divided into mother and daughter sections, with the daughter section being a mere snippet.As well as providing the expected sad ending, this book is full of great humour--even if it is often at the expense of a witless man.Overall I enjoyed the book very much, mostly due to Aurora.
—Serena Janes
The writing is what makes this story. My very favorite thing about the book is Aurora's love of language and how she focuses on the way people speak. It's kind of uneven in plotting, and all of Aurora's dates made me yawn. Most of the first part of the book is focused on her dating life. The end turns to Emma, who I found much more interesting but whose motives were harder to understand. The end, even though I knew what was coming, felt like an easy way out to tie up things up.(view spoiler)[ The domestic violence was strangely written, and I can only guess this is because McMurtry is a man. Not that I'm saying he is okay with it (though I really can't say either way), but he didn't make me feel like a (pregnant) woman just got punched in the mouth. Also, if it weren't mentioned repeatedly, you wouldn't even know Emma was pregnant. So maybe he was limited by simply not being a woman. (hide spoiler)]
—Amy
Aurora Greenway and her daughter are the subjects of this tale, but Emma (the daughter)is mostly invisible; standing in the huge and flamboyant shadow cast by her Mother. Being raised by a 'Princess' myself, I was initially put off. But really - Aurora's hilarious repartee, her ongoing criticisms of her many suitors -- had me in stitches. In her own quieter way, Emma holds her own and in ways is as intrigued by her Mother's outrageous entitlement as all the other people Aurora shuffles in and out of her kitchen. And then there is the irrepressible Rosie and her tribulations. I would classify "Terms" as an action-adventure and a divine comedy until the last 20 pages when Emma's true nobility is revealed. Having grown up in times when "the generation gap" was an everyday term, I found the extra-generational sparring absolutely satisfying. Here is one of the character's musings immediately after a car accident: "(He) felt a little desperate. Long ago his own Mother, a stickler for cleanliness, had assured him that if he didn't change his underwear at least twice a week he was sure to be killed in a car wreck someday wearing dirty underwear, a fact that would lead inevitably to the disgrace of his whole family."
—Lois
