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There are currently 27 member reviews
for Hieroglyphics
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Kathrin C. (Corona, CA)
Hieroglyphics - Somewhat Misty and Nebulous
You know that comfortable feeling you can get when you begin reading a new novel and feel that maybe it's going to be a very, very good reading? That's how this book started out for me. It revealed the stories and histories of four people, Frank and Lil, a married couple reaching the sunset of their lives, and Shelley and her son, muddling in the middle of hers. You eavesdropped on their thoughts, memories, regrets, musings ... back and forth over their years and decades. Very beautiful writing and many pieces interspersed throughout that touched me in remarkable ways. But somehow this novel lost me along the way. Perhaps it is because now, during our pandemic time, I really crave clear delineated messages and feelings that are more happy than sad and worried.
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Debbie M. (Grand Junction, CO)
Hieroglyphics
As we age, we spend more time thinking about the events of the past that make us who we are. Each story is unique leading us to who we are today. Hieroglyphics is the story of three people remembering the stories that made up their lives. These stories bring them to today and how their stories connect. What fears and mistakes that carry over to their actions towards each other. If we could understand what lies behind each person, we would realize it isn't something we've done to make them act the way they do towards us, but the past that shapes their actions.
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Carol Pawleys Island SC
Missed Connection
I was so excited to read another Jill McCorkle book. "Life After Life" was one of my favorite reads. I loved the storyline and enjoyed characters so much and recommended it to everyone. Not so much her new book "Hieroglyphics."
Lil and her husband Frank are seniors the have retired to NC and Shelley lives with her son Harvey in the house that Frank grew up in. There is really not much more of connection to these characters than that.
The novel peels back the layers of each of their lives and the story travels back and forth revealing their past. It felt a bit disjointed and confusing at first but the real problem was that even after learning their stories, I didn't feel an emotional connection or empathy for anyone except the young boy Harvey. As usual, the writing was excellent but I just couldn't connect with this one.
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Sylvia G. (Scottsdale, AZ)
Not McCorkle's best
I wanted to like this book. The fact that it's told in different voices is one of my favorite structures and I've read other McCorkle books and enjoyed them. But, this book was airless and claustrophobic. Filled with the unimportant minutiae of details and dull musings, it's heavy and overloaded. You have to sift through all the extra sand to find the few nuggets of gold and it's way too hard a job.
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Mary M. (Lexington, KY)
Dreary
I did not like this book. The story is told by four different characters. I found it hard to follow and the characters of Shelley and Harvey were not interesting to me. The character Lil was the most interesting and I might have enjoyed the story if it had been told only from her perspective.
I stuck with it hoping it would get better or make some sense in the end but it didn't.
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Jo
Sounded great
I really wanted to like this book. The description sounded like the type of book I usually like but this one just didn't come together for me. It does contain reflections on Lil's and Frank's lives but they were too disjointed and random. I couldn't find cohesiveness in the story. This may be how we think when we are reflecting but I struggled reading this one.
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