I mostly enjoyed this book, which had some similar threads as "A Widowers's Tale", another Julia Glass book which I loved. I can't quite figure out her "style"...but what she does for me is somehow take modern stories about family/life/love/work and make it smart and complex but totally clean. There's no craziness, rampant sex, violence, gimmicky weirdness, or hysterical emotion and I guess that feels like a breath of fresh air sometimes. The thing is, she stays on "the high road" without compromising the story or being frumpy and boring. It must be harder than it seems, I am thinking, because no one else gives me quite the same feeling as Julia Glass. Still, this wasn't a perfect book. She could have totally cut out George, in my opinion, and had a more credible relationship between Alan and Greenie because as it was some of the supposed dialogue of a 4- or 5-year-old was just so unbelievable, as was the sub-story with Diego because no good mother would move across the country among strangers and start leaving a child so young with some of those strangers so often! And a 4-year old being best friends and sleepover buddies with an 8-year-old? Nope. Doesn't happen. Most kids that young don't even do sleepovers except maybe at a family member's home. Alan and Greenie just didn't feel like parents to me. I understood their own relationship, though. I also noticed that I disliked all of the women characters in this book, oddly. The men were the ones that felt respectable to me, and I LOVED Walter. His parts were my favorite and I was always wanting to see what went on next with him. Greenie? Not so much. Saga? Meh. Fenno, Scott, Alan, Ray, Gordie, Stephen, Werner, Michael, Mr. Marsden, and even Stan kept me reading this one more than all the women. For some reason I raced through the first 3/4 of the book...the last little bit seemed to unravel somewhat and I started dragging. I was looking forward to how 9/11 would impact the story, but it just seemed too fast...or not enough for such a huge event. And why cram in a hot-and-heavy affair with Charlie in the interim before coming home? That seemed a bit off, but overall a good read if you like Julia Glass (I think I do).
Once again Julia Glass won me over with her characters. I loved her previous novel, Three Junes, and The Whole World Over, was just as great.The Whole World Over follows four characters. Greenie and Alan are a married couple going through a rough patch; Saga is learning to become independent again after a bad accident; and Walter is going through the agonies of raising a teenage nephew. Their lives all interconnect at points but their stories are independent. Julia Glass' novels are always character driven rather than plot driven, so if you are looking for a huge climax or a lot of action you are in the wrong place. Instead, she beautifully shows the tangled life we all lead. Greenie and Alan's marriage is not perfect but it feels real. What you used to love now is annoying or worse--boring. Saga is a very interesting and compelling character. She had an accident where she was hit on the head and her memory and some skills (e.g., vocabulary, numbers) were damaged. Since then she has lived with her uncle. She is struggling to overcome her injuries and learn how to lead an independent life regardless of her injuries. She was probably my favorite character for all her complexities and genuine kindness. Walter is one of Greenie's friends. He falls in love with a man who is in another relationship. He also decides to bring his nephew to live with him. Walter's story was the most over the place but he was equally as likable. There is a slight connection between this novel and Three Junes. Both books take place on the same street and some of the characters (e.g., Fenno) are in both novels, but this novel isn't really a sequel. The title refers to the idea that you can travel the whole world and yet you always find your way home (like migratory birds). The story is set around 2000-2001 and 9/11 is the climax where the characters are shocked into coming to terms with their lives. I really enjoyed this novel and I can't wait to read more by Julia Glass.
What do You think about The Whole World Over (2006)?
bleh. what an annoying pile of drivel. what a disappointing read by the author of Three Junes, a book I very much loved! gah! i was just so utterly disinterested in the characters in this book and even less interested in what they were going to do next - probably nothing - oh, wait, maybe they'll mull and think and wring their hands and still do nothing or maybe they'll actually do something and.... still, nothing will happen as a result. the real icing on the cake was my realization in the last 30 pages that the whole pathetic thing had been one long, annoying preamble to 9/11, going for the hollow attempt at an emotional denouement that fell awkwardly flat.had i not spent my own cash on this book, i would have considered revising my "i always finish a book" policy.
—Abby
Some great characters, strong moments, and skilled writing, but the whole never rose above, or even equaled, the sum of its parts. Much of it just didn't hold my attention or interest. I found the multiple narratives distracting and not particularly well done (I felt like the characters got unequal amounts of narration, but this might just be my perception because some were much more interesting to me than others) or illuminating. The intention behind this seemed to be to represent the intersection of lives in a place like New York City, and to elevate the story to one of universal themes, but I found the lack of a central narrative thrust to be a great weakness. I never warmed to Greenie, which was problematic as she is pretty clearly meant to be the central figure in the book, but I eventually just skimmed her sections because I didn't really care. It was good to see Fenno again, but he seemed quite different from Three Junes. I found the dialogue throughout pretty stilted and inconsistent--Glass's strength is definitely much more in reflective interiority, as opposed to dialogue. I hope Glass's next book has one focal character, as I thought both this book and Three Junes (which I loved anyway) would have benefitted from Glass just throwing herself into one worthy character and trusting that character to carry us through the narrative. Or even just limiting herself to TWO narrators. Less is more.
—Pei Pei
I remember loving Glass' previous book, Three Junes, so was excited to finally get her newest novel from the library. And mad props to Glass, b/c it did not disappoint--even though it's mainly the story of a bunch of New Yorkers just before 9/11. It revolves mainly around four characters--Greenie, who is suddenly being wooed by the governor of New Mexico, who needs a personal chef; her husband, Alan, a failing shrink; her friend Walter, a flamboyant restaurateur who takes in his teenage nephew; and Saga, a woman damaged from a past accident. This novel--despite its length--is something to savor (and I'm not just saying that b/c of all the descriptions of desserts!). Glass really brings these characters and their world--from a corner of a Manhattan neighborhood to the sprawling deserts of New Mexico and beyond--to life, and even the minor characters are interesting and lovable (though the governor is something of a caricature). I give it an A, even though I had some mixed feelings about the ending, b/c the writing and characters are just that good.
—Alicia
