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The Three Weissmanns of Westport


"Schine's homage to Jane Austen has it all....A sparkling, crisp, clever, deft, ...
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One could argue that this is a novel "where no relationship works." Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Created: 08/11/11

Replies: 13

Posted Aug. 11, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3442

One could argue that this is a novel "where no relationship works." Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

One could argue that this is a novel "where no relationship works." Do you agree or disagree with this statement?


Posted Aug. 11, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
dave s

Join Date: 05/19/11

Posts: 20

RE: One could argue that this is a novel "where no relationship works." Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Perhaps, but it is probably a more accurate portrayle of "real life"---that there are few "happy endings", but rather just adjustments to what life throws in front of you.


Posted Aug. 11, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
rebajane

Join Date: 04/21/11

Posts: 320

RE: One could argue that this is a novel "where no relationship works." Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Of course, but that's what makes this book so great. What relationships truly "work" in real life? We constantly have to work at them; they are constantly changing.


Posted Aug. 11, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
joycew

Join Date: 06/13/11

Posts: 107

RE: One could argue that this is a novel "where no relationship works." Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

In the real world some work and some don't. I believe Miranda's relationship is working at the end of the book and it explains why all of her male relationships went nowhere. If all three women would have fallen in love with their first attraction, I would have stopped reading the book and slotted it in the chick lit, fairy tale category. I kept reading because the characters seemed real as well as flawed as all of us are.


Posted Aug. 11, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
gwendolyndawson

Join Date: 10/20/10

Posts: 63

RE: One could argue that this is a novel "where no relationship works." Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

What does it mean to say a relationship "works"? For me, all these relationships "work" in their own way, even if they are not meant to last forever. Betty and Josie's marriage seemed to work just fine for almost fifty years. The fact that they're not together at the end of the book doesn't mean the relationship didn't work for those years, in my opinion. Same with Kit and Miranda. Their relationship made them happy and filled some need for a finite period of time. It worked for awhile. Relationships are dynamic. What works one day might not work the next, and what doesn't work at first may eventually be exactly what we need (see, e.g., Annie and Roberts)!


Posted Aug. 11, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
sarahd

Join Date: 10/16/10

Posts: 84

RE: One could argue that this is a novel "where no relationship works." Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

@Gendolyn: You raise a good point. There should be different measures of how a relationship works or fails. Popular culture and fairy tale argue for the"happily ever after forever scenario," but that might be unrealistic. One could argue that Josie and Betty's relationship was successful for a time, as you said. I do think, though, that the book pushes us to analyze what about relationships can make them successful - either in the short or long term. Clearly, love doesn't have much to do it, but respect, similar world view, etc may. I think that is a point Schine is trying to make. Using this criteria, few of the relationships work. What do you think?


Posted Aug. 12, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
dave s

Join Date: 05/19/11

Posts: 20

RE: One could argue that this is a novel "where no relationship works." Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Gwendolyn and Sarah make good points--there were several good relationships especially Betty's. The fact that it ended abruptly didn't mean the relationship was bad, rather it was due to Josie's immaturity and the "menopause" that many men seem to go through in suddenly needing a younger woman


Posted Aug. 14, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
randih

Join Date: 08/14/11

Posts: 8

RE: One could argue that this is a novel "where no relationship works." Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

I definitely don't agree that "no relationship works" in this novel. I think Betty's relationship with her daughters is a good one, even if they occasionally fall back into their traditional roles. As for romantic relationships, that's a bit trickier with this book, but even there I'd argue against the statement. Some things aren't meant to last forever, so just because there isn't a successful relationship at the moment, doesn't mean that the relationship never worked. I agree with Gwendolyn and Sarah on this.


Posted Aug. 15, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
annettes

Join Date: 04/15/11

Posts: 35

RE: One could argue that this is a novel "where no relationship works." Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

How about the relationship between Miranda and Henry? I think that one helped heal Miranda after her failed career and impending lawsuits. It brought out her nurturing side, and she truly adored Henry. Relationships don't always mean it will lead to "adult" love.


Posted Aug. 17, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
theresej

Join Date: 05/28/11

Posts: 5

RE: One could argue that this is a novel "where no relationship works." Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

How about the relationship of author and reader? Of character and reader? My relationship did not work with this book. We had little affinity, and a relationship failed to develop.


Posted Aug. 17, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
jeannec

Join Date: 07/20/11

Posts: 3

RE: One could argue that this is a novel "where no relationship works." Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Each of the main characters seemed to end up in disappointment and relationship failure, in my point of view. I thought that of the three main characters, at least one of them could have found a more meaningful relationship. The book is funny, which gives it a light-hearted feel, until the end, with its disappointment and grief.


Posted Aug. 17, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
odwazny

Join Date: 08/17/11

Posts: 2

RE: One could argue that this is a novel "where no relationship works." Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

I really just agree with theresej and jeannec. Even though I thought there were lots of moments they never connected me to the book or to the characters.


Posted Aug. 22, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
andreas

Join Date: 06/16/11

Posts: 5

RE: One could argue that this is a novel "where no relationship works." Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

I don't agree that none of the relationships work. As others have commented above, relationships work for a while and then change, for the better or worse. Relationships with the opposite sex seemed to be no more difficult than relationships with siblings or parents. All the characters had relationships that had shaped them, and continued to shape them. They all seemed to learn from them as well. I think Josie learned too late that he had a relationship that had worked. Annie was just opening herself to a relationship at the end, and Miranda had begun a new relationship. For all these characters, the care and feeding of relationships is an ongoing theme.


Posted Aug. 29, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
sallyg

Join Date: 05/14/11

Posts: 21

RE: One could argue that this is a novel "where no relationship works." Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

This depends on the relationship. If you mean between husband and wife, then I would answer, "No". We never find out if the Robert and Anne relationship works. The only relationship that worked in marriage was between Cousin Lou and Rosalyn.
Now the child parent relationships all worked from Rosalyn and Mr. Shpuntov thru the mother and daughters, and mother and sons.


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