macca
Sitting For The Newtons
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Post by macca on Apr 27, 2006 3:09:32 GMT -5
Hmmm, where to start... I think this was a much more realistic look at death than what was portrayed in MA and the Memory Garden. Characters seemed to react appropriately, given their individual personalities and relationship with Mimi, unlike Memory Garden, in which the entire planet went into mourning, plagued by horrendous crippling grief. The reactions seemed a lot more genuine, natural and un-forced - the fact that Ann wrote this book as opposed to a ghostwriter is very obvious. As for the Corrie Addison subplot... ... what kind of 13 yr old kid lectures a child's mother on the amount of time or lack thereof she's spending with her child?? excuse me?!?!
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Post by sotypical42483 on Apr 27, 2006 12:44:59 GMT -5
I honestly didn't like how Claudia dealt with Mimi's death. I should probably re-read or at least skim the book for examples, cause I can't think of specific things that happened, I just remember reading it and not liking Claudia very much.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
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Post by macca on Apr 27, 2006 17:42:35 GMT -5
^ well, that's the thing, she doesn't react with the 'standard' response. She found it difficult to cry at the funeral (can definitely relate to that), she threw herself into other activities, not wanting to grieve for Mimi and she ended up being ANGRY with Mimi for "leaving her". There was a bit more depth to it than just 'Mimi died and Claudia cried her eyes out so much she had to see Dr Reese, who changed her life forever'.
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Post by sotypical42483 on Apr 28, 2006 11:28:47 GMT -5
I guess I just don't relate to how Claudia reacted. When my grandma died, I was totally depressed. Chalk me up to being a Mary Anne, not a Claudia when it comes to death, I guess.
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Post by sparklymouse on Apr 28, 2006 13:00:22 GMT -5
I felt worse for Mary Anne than Claudia. Mimi knew all the little stuff about Mary Anne's childhood that Richard couldn't share with her. Though I did feel bad for Claud when she went back to school that first day. It was very real how everyone just couldn't stop looking at her but didn't try to talk to her. Janine started digging around in Mimi's room a little too quickly for me. Sure it's gotta be done, but she really should have let her mother decide when the time was right.
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inge
Junior Sitter
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Post by inge on Apr 28, 2006 16:35:06 GMT -5
I didn't like Claudia's response either - couldn't relate to her at all. I know she was botteling her feelings up, but she seemed a little selfish to me, even, sometimes. I can't remember exactly why though, I haven't read the book in a while.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
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Post by macca on Apr 28, 2006 18:54:17 GMT -5
I guess I just don't relate to how Claudia reacted. When my grandma died, I was totally depressed. Chalk me up to being a Mary Anne, not a Claudia when it comes to death, I guess. Oh yeah, everyone reacts differently. I can totally see how Claud's reaction seemed a little tasteless. But as someone who doesn't have the standard response to death, I was glad they addressed the fact that people, particularly teenagers, do not always react traditionally. To me, it seemed like Mimi's death was so overwhelming for Claud, her true emotions about the event kind of "shut down" so to speak, which is a classic reaction from people who've gone through a traumatic experience. But again, I'm analysing these books way too much. I felt bad for MA too. I remember that book - Truth About Stacey - I believe, where Mimi told MA the time she was born.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2006 5:03:09 GMT -5
I could totally relate to Claudia's reaction of anger towards Mimi. When my grandfather ided, I kind of swung between being angry at him for dying (For the same sort of reason Claudia was mad at Mimi - somewhere they say somethig about how Mimi knew her time was coming and just stopped living. With my grandad, he knew that if he did keep living he'd be dependant on others for the rest of his life, and just sort of gave up.) and angry at myself for not spending our last time together how I would have liked to (had I known it was going to be the last time I would see him). Felt really sorry for Mary Anne here too. Mimi was her mother figure after all, and although she got Sharon in the end, Mimi had always been there and yea I don't know where this post is going!
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ktag
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Post by ktag on May 25, 2006 15:06:32 GMT -5
Claudia went through most of the stages of grief (denial, anger, etc), so I didn't think there was anything wrong with it. She did act stupidly in some ways, but I chalk it up to her being 13 (despite their pretending to be mature adults, it's nice to see that they're not). Like when she got mad at Mallory...poor girl is always the punching bag. Her "Be quiet!"s were just as bad as if she'd said "shut up!" Intense. I also thought Kristy's tactless notebook entry was perfectly in character. Basically congratulating her for acting like nothing happened--totally Kristy and her not dealing with emotional stuff. It had been at least several weeks when Janine opened Mimi's room. I have no idea whether that's "long" enough. Mimi was apparently expecting them to do it earlier though, what with the obituary she wrote. I did think it was odd that they rehashed the whole "Janine's busy studying so Claudia has to take care of Mimi because she has nothing better to do" stuff. Didn't they take care of that in the stroke book? The Addisons, another set of absent parents. Do we ever see them again? I didn't buy that Mrs. Addison suddenly understood and started crying after Claudia's speech. They must be really dumb for not noticing the problem, cause I would have thought they'd just be assholes who wouldn't care what their babysitter thought. Where exactly did Russ and Peaches live? I thought it was odd that they never visited Mimi when she was sick. But LOL to Russ being " American American." If the chapter twos all said "Jessi is African-American, but Mal is American-American," someone would get their ass kicked.
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starrynight
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Post by starrynight on May 25, 2006 15:25:19 GMT -5
This is one of the books I can read over and over again. I've always thought it was relatively well-written, and I totally bought Claudia's reaction to Mimi's death. Maybe that's because I myself am more likely to shut down at first than cry my eyes out over bad stuff. I also never gave a second thought to Janine going through Mimi's things. Not only did she never seem as close to Mimi as everyone else in the family, but she also seems like the type who would accept what had happened quickly.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
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Post by macca on May 25, 2006 20:40:32 GMT -5
Yeah, she seemed like a very coldly logical and rational person. Not to say she doesn't have emotions, but she can seperate her heart and head.
Ooooo... ouch ;D
Not that I'd blame them particularly, in this case. What 13 yr old lectures grown adults on their parenting skills? Besides, it wasn't as if their indifference was anything remarkable in Stoneybrook.
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lyricalangel
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Post by lyricalangel on Apr 5, 2007 17:49:15 GMT -5
I can really identify with Claudia in this book. I recently lost both of my grandparents and I can see where she was coming from. I'm a hold-it-in-until-it-breaks person when it comes to death. Sort of like Claud.
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Post by booboobrewer on Apr 5, 2007 20:02:35 GMT -5
I felt worse for Mary Anne than Claudia. Mimi knew all the little stuff about Mary Anne's childhood that Richard couldn't share with her. Reminds me of the part in Mary Anne and the Secret in the Attic when she is in the cemetery looking for her mother's grave, and comes across Mimi's. She starts crying thinking of their relationship and how if she were alive she'd be able to tell her more about her mother. I think that's such an emotional moment, and very sad. MA's love for Mimi and vice versa was so sweet.
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msstock87
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Post by msstock87 on Apr 5, 2007 20:49:40 GMT -5
Claudia's reaction wasn't the typical reaction most people would expect, but it is a reaction that sometimes happens. When I lost my great aunt, I didn't cry or really feel anything at first, I think it was because I was still in shock, however when I lost another member of my family I cried my eyes out immediately. I think it just varies from person to person. Sometimes we don't know what kind of emotions will come out of us in circumstances like that.
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Post by aln1982 on Apr 5, 2007 23:20:14 GMT -5
I was just going to post on this thread - lyrical angel and I must be reading the same books Sorry about your grandparents, lyricalangel. I also can relate to Claudia's grief right now - lost my grandfather 10 years ago this Monday. Like Mimi, he was the grandparent who "understood" me and we were really close. My reaction was different from Claudia's as I'm a very emotionally expressive person but I can see a variety of reactions to death. I sometimes feel coldhearted because I tend to cry more over a bad day than a death of a beloved family member. There were lots of other things I could relate to in this book, too. One that comes right to mind is Corrie getting dumped on Claudia - this happened all of the time when I was a 4h teen leader and had meetings at my house - very annoying. This book was really sad but there were parts that I thought were sweet. I thought Janine was really nice to Corrie and liked how Jamie was trying to "help" Gabbie with her art and gave her a "J Plus". Surprisingly, I was more touched by some of the parts that weren't meant to be emotional than by the main plot but like I said, I tend to have reactions like that. Little things get to me more.
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