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There are currently 18 member reviews
for The Art of Saying Goodbye
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Mary Q. (Greeley, CO)
Left Wanting More
I felt initially that the stated ingredients in this book, close friendships and all of them dealing with one of the women battling a serious illness, would guarantee a satisfying read for me. However, the vast majority of this book was written in a very surface style which made me not care nearly enough about any of the characters. It was easy to pick up, yet also very easy to put down. I never considered giving up on it. It just won't be very memorable for me, nor will I recommend it to any my friends who prefer books with more substance to them.
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Gail L. (Maitland, FL)
Unexpectedly Disappointing
Initially I thought the book was going to be a story about women who were extremely close (having lived in the same neighborhood for a long time) going through the experience of losing one of their best friends. I was very disappointed that Ellyn didn't give the characters more depth because the story line was simplistic and had too many characters. As I read, the book just didn't hold my attention because I knew Paisley's ultimate outcome. I kept hoping the plot would go deeper, but it was disjointed and disorganized. I would not suggest this book to my book club.
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Julia A. (New York, NY)
Part soap opera, part chick-flick
The "Art of Saying Good-bye" runs a serious risk of descending into over-sentimentality or "Love Story"-like saccharine prose. However, it stops just short of that. By using one woman's death to tell the story of four other women's adult lives, Ellyn Bache manages to weave together five very different lives (more, if you count the spouses and children) into a cohesive narrative. I admit that I found the book slow-going for the first 100 pages or so, but read the final 200 in a single sitting. This is not to say the book is riveting; it is more a question of starting to care, in spite of myself, about what happened to Andrea, Iona, Julianne, and Ginger as they came to terms with Paisley's impending death. Don't come to the book expecting profound insights, but do keep an open mind about the human drama that unfolds. I can picture the film that could be made from this novel, but I can't picture either a male reader or a male film-goer finding much to identify with or enjoy, outside of a few pages devoted to stereotyped male characters.
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Mary S. (Hilton Head Island, SC)
Just Okay
I really wanted to like this book and stuck with it to the very end, but unfortunately, I knew how it was going to end after reading chapter one. The writing was simplistic and pedantic. The story line was not original. I felt as if the author wanted to tie up loose ends and provide some sort of mystery which was solved at the end. She never succeeded.
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Judy W. (Tucker, GA)
The Art of Saying Goodbye by Ellyn Bache
If you read for character discussions or analysis, this book has more per square inch than many "beach reads". The characters, of which there are too many, are not well developed. This title would provide good discussion for a book club whose members are in their 30s and 40s. I did not enjoy the book and would not recommend it.
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Sarah H. (Arvada, CO)
Well intentioned, poorly executed
Unremarkable characters and prosaic writing make an interesting premise unsubstantial. There are a few poignant lines, but they seem out of context. The author's intent and honesty come through to lend the book legitimacy, making it readable just not memorable.
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Mary Lou M. (N Royalton, OH)
The Art of Saying Goodbye
In my opinion, the characters lacked a true connection. Yes, Paisley was supposedly the connection to everyone, but as the reader, I never felt a connection to Paisley. Background information on the characters needed some punching up. Would not recommend this book to my book club, it might cause a mutiny.
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