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The Invisible Circus
Phoebe O'Connor, eighteen in the summer of 1978, is too young to have partaken of the riotous carnival of the sixties, but old enough to feel the anxiety of its influence. Living in San Francisco with her widowed mother, Phoebe drifts along the edges of her life, obsessed by the memory of her charismatic older sister, Faith, a true flower child who died mysteriously in Italy eight years before. Believing that her sister's fatal journey holds the key to her own transformation, Phoebe bolts to Europe.
Phoebe follows the itinerary Faith had spelled out in postcards home - London, Amsterdam, Paris - but the millennial excitement of Faith's Europe has vanished, and Phoebe finds herself vulnerable and isolated. Finally she reaches Italy and traces her sister's last steps. But the truth Phoebe discovers is darker and more complicated than anything she has imagined, and finally she must face the human price her sister paid for taking her quest for personal liberation to the very edge.
Only by dispelling the ghosts of a romanticized past does Phoebe come into full possession of her world. Jennifer Egan portrays this fundamental passage with a mastery of riveting narrative extraordinary in a first novel. As it confronts the ambiguous legacy of the sixties, The Invisible Circus also beautifully and powerfully describes a journey essential to all of us.
Phoebe follows the itinerary Faith had spelled out in postcards home - London, Amsterdam, Paris - but the millennial excitement of Faith's Europe has vanished, and Phoebe finds herself vulnerable and isolated. Finally she reaches Italy and traces her sister's last steps. But the truth Phoebe discovers is darker and more complicated than anything she has imagined, and finally she must face the human price her sister paid for taking her quest for personal liberation to the very edge.
Only by dispelling the ghosts of a romanticized past does Phoebe come into full possession of her world. Jennifer Egan portrays this fundamental passage with a mastery of riveting narrative extraordinary in a first novel. As it confronts the ambiguous legacy of the sixties, The Invisible Circus also beautifully and powerfully describes a journey essential to all of us.
338 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 1994
309 people are currently reading
6771 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Egan
54 books8,534 followersJennifer Egan is the author of several novels and a short story collection. Her 2017 novel, Manhattan Beach, a New York Times bestseller, was awarded the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and was chosen as New York City’s One Book One New York read. Her previous novel, A Visit From the Goon Squad, won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Los Angeles Times book prize, and was named one of the best books of the decade by Time Magazine and Entertainment Weekly. Also a journalist, she has written frequently in the New York Times Magazine, and she recently completed a term as President of PEN America. Her new novel, The Candy House, a sibling to A Visit From the Goon Squad, was published in April, 2022, and was recently named one of the New York Times’s 10 Best Books of 2022, as well as one of President Obama’s favorite reads of 2022.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 708 reviews
April 21, 2009
Egan's freshman novel, about a girl who, along with her widowed mother, is frozen in time since the suicide of her hippie sister the decade before. Set in 1970s San Francisco and Europe, where the protagonist traces her sister's footsteps. Started off a bit rough but it's smooth now, and quite vivid. One scene on the beach with the sisters and the dying father made me put the book down for a few days -- the narrator's childhood memory was so real and painful. By the end, Phoebe has shed a great deal of her naivite and bravely come to face painful truths about her family and her idealization of them and of the flower-child generation she just missed growing up in.
One thing Egan does beautifully that I really appreciate is to not tie anything up neatly. Like a more internalized Iris Murdoch, Egan doesn't let a character abruptly graduate to peace, acceptance, comfort -- she'll describe, e.g., a Zen moment that Phoebe experiences, and then slap her right back down into misery, the way real life works. Change comes with time and patience and with repeated slips backward. I was left thinking about this book for many days.
One thing Egan does beautifully that I really appreciate is to not tie anything up neatly. Like a more internalized Iris Murdoch, Egan doesn't let a character abruptly graduate to peace, acceptance, comfort -- she'll describe, e.g., a Zen moment that Phoebe experiences, and then slap her right back down into misery, the way real life works. Change comes with time and patience and with repeated slips backward. I was left thinking about this book for many days.
April 25, 2013
Jennifer Egan is one of my favorite authors. Like many readers, I was wowed by "A Visit from the Goon Squad" (2010), but I was dazzled just as much by the novel that preceded it, "Look at Me" (2001), whose intricate plot is part thriller, part social satire, and part multi-layered identity drama. In addition to being stylistically unique, the narratives in both these previous books shift around in time, even looking ahead into the near future. "Look at Me" was even uncannily prescient about Facebook, which had not yet become a “thing” when the book was written, and the terrorist mentality that led to 9/11. Given all this, I really looked forward to reading the first of Egan’s four novels, The Invisible Circus (1995), especially since it deals with many issues that interest me: coping with grief, the time period of the Sixties and Seventies, the reverberation of youthful experiences on adulthood, and a female protagonist coming of age.
Parts One and Two are interesting enough, and very vivid. However, as parts Three and Four wear on, something goes terribly awry with this novel, so much so that, as the plot twisted—confoundingly, implausibly—through one gratuitous passage after another, I wondered whether any editor had laid eyes on it prior to publication. “Okay, we get it!” I thought. “She was overshadowed by her sister! She’s young and insecure! She wishes she’d been part of the Sixties!” etc. Because it was Egan, I was unprepared for the tedious belaboring of themes. Nor did I expect to have my credulity challenged. At first I bought the amazing coincidences that landed Phoebe in the Munich apartment of Faith’s old boyfriend, Wolf. It is not until we learn that he has withheld the circumstances of Faith’s death—and the fact that he was present at it—that Egan loses me entirely, so obvious it is that this withholding of information is purely for the convenience of the plot. Worst of all, she introduces an awkward structure to tell Wolf’s and Faith’s backstory, moving between (and sometimes blurring) accounts by Wolf in first person and flashbacks told in close third, both styles containing many fine details that would not be included in such an account.
Did I say the awkward structure was worst of all? Sorry, I meant the 20-page “lost week(end)” sequence in which Phoebe and Wolf become sex addicts on their way to the scene of Faith’s suicide, barely leaving their hotel room for days on end. Is this supposed to be a nod to the excesses of the Sixties? An indication of how freaked out they are by the prospect of confronting their traumatic memories? I can’t figure out what purpose these pages serve with respect to either the plot or the characters. And twenty pages of belabored prose that serve no purpose? Practically unforgivable.
I still admire Egan greatly, but in the end, perhaps the greatest value I derived from reading "The Invisible Circus" was insight into her development as a writer and how she cleaned up her excesses in subsequent works.
Parts One and Two are interesting enough, and very vivid. However, as parts Three and Four wear on, something goes terribly awry with this novel, so much so that, as the plot twisted—confoundingly, implausibly—through one gratuitous passage after another, I wondered whether any editor had laid eyes on it prior to publication. “Okay, we get it!” I thought. “She was overshadowed by her sister! She’s young and insecure! She wishes she’d been part of the Sixties!” etc. Because it was Egan, I was unprepared for the tedious belaboring of themes. Nor did I expect to have my credulity challenged. At first I bought the amazing coincidences that landed Phoebe in the Munich apartment of Faith’s old boyfriend, Wolf. It is not until we learn that he has withheld the circumstances of Faith’s death—and the fact that he was present at it—that Egan loses me entirely, so obvious it is that this withholding of information is purely for the convenience of the plot. Worst of all, she introduces an awkward structure to tell Wolf’s and Faith’s backstory, moving between (and sometimes blurring) accounts by Wolf in first person and flashbacks told in close third, both styles containing many fine details that would not be included in such an account.
Did I say the awkward structure was worst of all? Sorry, I meant the 20-page “lost week(end)” sequence in which Phoebe and Wolf become sex addicts on their way to the scene of Faith’s suicide, barely leaving their hotel room for days on end. Is this supposed to be a nod to the excesses of the Sixties? An indication of how freaked out they are by the prospect of confronting their traumatic memories? I can’t figure out what purpose these pages serve with respect to either the plot or the characters. And twenty pages of belabored prose that serve no purpose? Practically unforgivable.
I still admire Egan greatly, but in the end, perhaps the greatest value I derived from reading "The Invisible Circus" was insight into her development as a writer and how she cleaned up her excesses in subsequent works.
July 31, 2011
I like Jennifer Egan's writing, in its fluidity. The story itself often makes me feel like I am swimming in words. But sometimes, I feel like I am being deceived - the characters only appear to have complexity and vulnerability. It is like watching a movie that you like because it has a lovely way of unfolding, but there is nothing that will linger, afterwards. I feel often like the language is much more meaningful than the meaning it is trying to (or not trying to) convey.
November 2, 2011
This book was recommended by a friend. I see now that it is in part 'her story', i.e. dead father, suicide sister, etc. so I'm not surprised that she enjoyed it. I, however, feel that I learned absolutely nothing from this book. The main character is an immature young woman, self-indulgent, self-referential, passive-aggressive in her behavior, not particularly likeable. The dead sister's boyfriend is a typical predatory male of the 'I couldn't help myself' variety, prepared to hit the road on a whim & fuck his dead lover's little sister having left his understanding fiancee behind in their Berlin apartment. All very cliched and dull ... painfully long scenes of the lustful couple banging away at one another in rooms, cars, in parks, behind rocks, etc. Recommend skimming or speedreading if you want to attempt this one. [How do these people win Pulitzer's?? friends on the panel????]
October 9, 2007
After a promising start, this book failed to go anywhere. I lost all patience with the annoying main character, and really had no interest in her quest to find "answers" about her sister after awhile. Her naivete grew wearying, and I longed for the ability to reach between the pages and slap her.
Egan has a gift for description, but needs work on her pacing. Perhaps that improved with her subsequent works.
Egan has a gift for description, but needs work on her pacing. Perhaps that improved with her subsequent works.
January 6, 2021
All done, Jennifer. Next! (Impressive debut, but understandably not my favorite.)
Officially read your ouevre- 5 novels, 1 short story collection, 1 short story for The New Yorker.
Waiting on you now!
----
The Invisible Circus (1994)
Author: Jennifer Egan
Read: 12/27/20
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
As of this review, the last of Jennifer Egan's ouevre- including five novels, a short story collection, and short story for The New Yorker. I am now up to date and comprehensively read everything! I did also meet her a couple times at book signings in Austin, Texas. Have a great respect for the woman's writing, and believe this to be a respectable debut novel- That being said, glasses include: format and pacing problems with unexpected switches from third person to first person and heavy reliance on flashbacks but without smooth transitions, heavy circumlocution (especially in the latter parts of the book), trying too hard with flowery language, self-indulgent writing (especially with what seems to be a compulsion to mention various European landmarks), and an irritating protagonist that could use some work to make the novel more readable. There is clear room for improvement, which we can now confirm was no doubt achieved in her later works.
Where this novel really shines is what Egan does best- taking apart the complex psyches of a character. It is really about identity and the protagonist finding out- or trying to find out- who she is once she walks out from under her sister's shadow. Both insecure and self-indulgent, she is either unable or unwilling to let go of the fantasy image she has of her sister- an almost saint-like idolatry. Although this quickly becomes grating- in fact, precisely because Egan paints such an accurate picture of how an individual struggling psychologically with something like this would likely be acting and thinking- we see how trapped Phoebe is as she moves through her young life, her obsession with Faith preventing her from seeing much of what is right before her eyes; from appreciating what is left of her family and allowing herself to grow as an individual, seperate from her idolized ghost of a sister. There is also believable and relatable psychological insight into the sibling dynamics and how they each had their own ways of dealing with their father's early death.
Ostensibly, a part mystery, part coming of age tale about a girl who backpacks through Europe, following her late sister's footsteps, trying to solve the mystery and details shrouding her last days. There's the Fodor's-like tourist guide destination mentions, the can't-keep-their-hands-to-themselves intense infatuation romance with her dead sister's boyfriend. There's even a father who died from Lukemia, and a rocky relationship with her older brother and mother. Since the death of her father (over 13 years ago) and sister (8 years ago), her brother has moved out and she has been living alone with her mother ever since. Alas, much to Phoebe's dismay, her mother has decided to (finally) move on romantically- and in a move that emphasizes her immaturity, her response is to run away to Europe, leaving nothing but a note. She backpacks through Europe for the next couple months, and Egan adds one too many events that are unlikely but convenient for the plot- like randomly running into her late sister's ex-boyfriend. Their whirlwind romance is predictable and trite, the loss of innocence, even an obligatory rite of passage before the author can allow her character to begin the healing process of actually getting over her sister. It isn't until very late in three novel that our protagonist finally reaches the destination she set out to reach since the very beginning- the cliffs where her infamous sister breathed her last breath before falling to her untimely end. And at this point, readers might be hard pressed to still care what actually happened that day. Conclusion of the novel certainly feels anticlimactic. Overall, still commendable for a debut.
Title Meaning: Refers to a night during the protagonist Phoebe's childhood, when she came downstairs to find her older sister, Faith, surrounded by a group of counter-culture hippies. They are dressed up as characters from Alice in Wonderland, having returned from the "Be-In" at the Glide Methodist Church in the Tenderloin of San Francisco (page 53). An event involving psychedelic drugs, funhouse theme, colored lights, etcetera, inducing a dreamlike experience. (Possible that this was a real life event, Be-Ins were a real thing, and Glide Methodist Church stands proud to this day as a counter-culture go-to venue) "It felt like watching ourselves happen, this incredible feeling, standing out outside, seeing the thing unfold. Like tripping… I have no answers about that time, only questions. What happened? Why didn't it work? Or did it work, but for some reason I can't see it?" (page 183). This one scene succinctly symbolizes the overarching theme of the novel- feeling left out, as if watching yourself from above; trying to uncover who your are and what one is meant to be doing. More literally, the aftermath of this scene (their older brother demanding the partygoers leave, Phoebe forced to choose sides between her sister and brother for the first time, a frisson being established between the three siblings) marked a turning point in Phoebe's adolescence.
#60s #activism #artistlife #beach #bereavement #castle #Catholicism #comingofage #deathofparent #deathofsibling #debutnovel #drugs #epistolaryparts #Germany #flashback #France #identity #infidelity #Italy #livinginshadow #motherdaughter #multiplepointsofview #fatherdaughter #onatrain #pagetoscreen #politics #religion #roadtrip #romance #SanFrancisco #secretsociety #siblings #sisters #suicide #terminalillness #terrorism #youngdeath
Officially read your ouevre- 5 novels, 1 short story collection, 1 short story for The New Yorker.
Waiting on you now!
----
The Invisible Circus (1994)
Author: Jennifer Egan
Read: 12/27/20
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
As of this review, the last of Jennifer Egan's ouevre- including five novels, a short story collection, and short story for The New Yorker. I am now up to date and comprehensively read everything! I did also meet her a couple times at book signings in Austin, Texas. Have a great respect for the woman's writing, and believe this to be a respectable debut novel- That being said, glasses include: format and pacing problems with unexpected switches from third person to first person and heavy reliance on flashbacks but without smooth transitions, heavy circumlocution (especially in the latter parts of the book), trying too hard with flowery language, self-indulgent writing (especially with what seems to be a compulsion to mention various European landmarks), and an irritating protagonist that could use some work to make the novel more readable. There is clear room for improvement, which we can now confirm was no doubt achieved in her later works.
Where this novel really shines is what Egan does best- taking apart the complex psyches of a character. It is really about identity and the protagonist finding out- or trying to find out- who she is once she walks out from under her sister's shadow. Both insecure and self-indulgent, she is either unable or unwilling to let go of the fantasy image she has of her sister- an almost saint-like idolatry. Although this quickly becomes grating- in fact, precisely because Egan paints such an accurate picture of how an individual struggling psychologically with something like this would likely be acting and thinking- we see how trapped Phoebe is as she moves through her young life, her obsession with Faith preventing her from seeing much of what is right before her eyes; from appreciating what is left of her family and allowing herself to grow as an individual, seperate from her idolized ghost of a sister. There is also believable and relatable psychological insight into the sibling dynamics and how they each had their own ways of dealing with their father's early death.
Ostensibly, a part mystery, part coming of age tale about a girl who backpacks through Europe, following her late sister's footsteps, trying to solve the mystery and details shrouding her last days. There's the Fodor's-like tourist guide destination mentions, the can't-keep-their-hands-to-themselves intense infatuation romance with her dead sister's boyfriend. There's even a father who died from Lukemia, and a rocky relationship with her older brother and mother. Since the death of her father (over 13 years ago) and sister (8 years ago), her brother has moved out and she has been living alone with her mother ever since. Alas, much to Phoebe's dismay, her mother has decided to (finally) move on romantically- and in a move that emphasizes her immaturity, her response is to run away to Europe, leaving nothing but a note. She backpacks through Europe for the next couple months, and Egan adds one too many events that are unlikely but convenient for the plot- like randomly running into her late sister's ex-boyfriend. Their whirlwind romance is predictable and trite, the loss of innocence, even an obligatory rite of passage before the author can allow her character to begin the healing process of actually getting over her sister. It isn't until very late in three novel that our protagonist finally reaches the destination she set out to reach since the very beginning- the cliffs where her infamous sister breathed her last breath before falling to her untimely end. And at this point, readers might be hard pressed to still care what actually happened that day. Conclusion of the novel certainly feels anticlimactic. Overall, still commendable for a debut.
Title Meaning: Refers to a night during the protagonist Phoebe's childhood, when she came downstairs to find her older sister, Faith, surrounded by a group of counter-culture hippies. They are dressed up as characters from Alice in Wonderland, having returned from the "Be-In" at the Glide Methodist Church in the Tenderloin of San Francisco (page 53). An event involving psychedelic drugs, funhouse theme, colored lights, etcetera, inducing a dreamlike experience. (Possible that this was a real life event, Be-Ins were a real thing, and Glide Methodist Church stands proud to this day as a counter-culture go-to venue) "It felt like watching ourselves happen, this incredible feeling, standing out outside, seeing the thing unfold. Like tripping… I have no answers about that time, only questions. What happened? Why didn't it work? Or did it work, but for some reason I can't see it?" (page 183). This one scene succinctly symbolizes the overarching theme of the novel- feeling left out, as if watching yourself from above; trying to uncover who your are and what one is meant to be doing. More literally, the aftermath of this scene (their older brother demanding the partygoers leave, Phoebe forced to choose sides between her sister and brother for the first time, a frisson being established between the three siblings) marked a turning point in Phoebe's adolescence.
#60s #activism #artistlife #beach #bereavement #castle #Catholicism #comingofage #deathofparent #deathofsibling #debutnovel #drugs #epistolaryparts #Germany #flashback #France #identity #infidelity #Italy #livinginshadow #motherdaughter #multiplepointsofview #fatherdaughter #onatrain #pagetoscreen #politics #religion #roadtrip #romance #SanFrancisco #secretsociety #siblings #sisters #suicide #terminalillness #terrorism #youngdeath
July 17, 2022
Un libro vivido, intenso, ma soprattutto umano. Non avrei altro da aggiungere
September 7, 2012
If you're coming to The Invisible Circus after reading A Visit from the Goon Squad or The Keep, as I did, you're likely to be disappointed. It's different kind of book, more straightforward, with all the earmarks of a novel whose protagonist, Phoebe, is destined to lose her innocence.
“The dullness of Phoebe’s bedroom met her like a blow: polar bear wallpaper, rows of faded stuffed animals, a wicker chair that crackled when you sat in it.”
After graduating from high school, Phoebe decides to travel to Europe and follow in the footsteps of her elder sister, Faith, who made a similar trip 10 years earlier. The problem is, Faith committed suicide in Italy. Phoebe is more levelheaded than her sister but (doppelganger alert) becomes more like her at each stop, culminating in an epic freak-out in a medieval castle.
If this sounds somewhat similar, remember that Sasha, who appears in three of the stories in A Visit from the Goon Squad, also had serious problems in the old country. Furthermore, it raises the question: What the hell happened to Egan in Europe? In interviews, she’s discussed how a trip abroad replete with petty theft and crippling loneliness was instrumental in her decision to become a writer.
Although the payoff is fulfilling, the prose is a bit flatfooted compared with the hyper-realistic hijinks on display in the novels that follow.
“The dullness of Phoebe’s bedroom met her like a blow: polar bear wallpaper, rows of faded stuffed animals, a wicker chair that crackled when you sat in it.”
After graduating from high school, Phoebe decides to travel to Europe and follow in the footsteps of her elder sister, Faith, who made a similar trip 10 years earlier. The problem is, Faith committed suicide in Italy. Phoebe is more levelheaded than her sister but (doppelganger alert) becomes more like her at each stop, culminating in an epic freak-out in a medieval castle.
If this sounds somewhat similar, remember that Sasha, who appears in three of the stories in A Visit from the Goon Squad, also had serious problems in the old country. Furthermore, it raises the question: What the hell happened to Egan in Europe? In interviews, she’s discussed how a trip abroad replete with petty theft and crippling loneliness was instrumental in her decision to become a writer.
Although the payoff is fulfilling, the prose is a bit flatfooted compared with the hyper-realistic hijinks on display in the novels that follow.
December 8, 2018
Maybe 4.5. I really enjoyed this novel - powerful, compelling, beautifully written. I didn't love it quite as much as Manhatten Beach or Emerald City, but it was still fantastic.
December 4, 2013
Pat Conroy is quoted as having said about Egan's precocious debut that 'if there were any justice in the world, no one would be allowed to write a first novel of such beauty and accomplishment.' I completely agree! I wouldn't say 'The Invisible Circus' is perfect, but it comes very damn near. It's a story about love and loss, about growing up and about all those significant things in life. It circumnavigates the globe and transcends time, taking its young heroine from San Francisco to the mountains of Italy, from the 1960s of her childhood right through to 1978 where she finds herself suddenly a young adult with no idea where to go next.
Phoebe O'Connor is your average, aimless teenager. Just graduated high school, she's eighteen and has secured herself a spot at Berkeley. However, this is 1978 and the end of the 1960s has left a nostalgic tint on the world's glasses. Phoebe ponders desperately what became of the idealistic hippies her sister Faith hung out with and eventually left the country with before committing suicide on the cusp of a new decade, in 1970. Eventually, she escapes to Europe to find out and along the way finds herself on a journey not just to discovery of her sister's true identity but also of her own. It may sound corny, but Egan handles the subject matter deftly. Phoebe is a character you feel a great deal of sympathy for, and her sister Faith flits in and out of the narrative, an adventuresome sprite you as the reader yearn to know more about. A very satisfying read. And marvelous for a first novel!
Phoebe O'Connor is your average, aimless teenager. Just graduated high school, she's eighteen and has secured herself a spot at Berkeley. However, this is 1978 and the end of the 1960s has left a nostalgic tint on the world's glasses. Phoebe ponders desperately what became of the idealistic hippies her sister Faith hung out with and eventually left the country with before committing suicide on the cusp of a new decade, in 1970. Eventually, she escapes to Europe to find out and along the way finds herself on a journey not just to discovery of her sister's true identity but also of her own. It may sound corny, but Egan handles the subject matter deftly. Phoebe is a character you feel a great deal of sympathy for, and her sister Faith flits in and out of the narrative, an adventuresome sprite you as the reader yearn to know more about. A very satisfying read. And marvelous for a first novel!
February 18, 2009
Finished this book at 1AM. Jennifer Egan is such a beautiful writer, it' almost inconceivable. It is perhaps problematic to read "The Keep" prior to her other novels, because "The Keep" is so perfect, what with the castle and the baroness and the prison writing program and the descriptions of really good food. "The Invisible Circus" had lost revolutionaries, which are like kryptonite to me--I'm powerless to resist their appeal (is kryptonite appealing to those it renders powerless?). But also, it's hard to write about the 60's and their aftermath. We know the outside shape of them so well. Sometimes I felt a little stuck with that shape--maybe I was in the same predicament as the people moving across the page. I don't know. To Jennifer Egan: please write more...
February 16, 2018
when I was reading I knew it'll be a definite five-star though the rating wasn't that high. I really enjoyed the reading. It was kind of fluidal, just going easily and smoothly in its bed,the picture so vivid.
In the end, slightly near the ending, it changed a bit, there was a tumult, a bit out of ordinary things happening, apparently to absorb the reader even more, but it worked vice versa and the worst part was it got predictable.
Anyhow it's a spectacular piece of writing, expertly written.
In the end, slightly near the ending, it changed a bit, there was a tumult, a bit out of ordinary things happening, apparently to absorb the reader even more, but it worked vice versa and the worst part was it got predictable.
Anyhow it's a spectacular piece of writing, expertly written.
January 11, 2018
Okay, two things are clear:
1. Jennifer Egan must not be allowed to dwell onto historical fiction.
2. She is a great emotional story-teller, please go on.
Consequently,
3. Manhattan Beach needs rewriting.
1. Jennifer Egan must not be allowed to dwell onto historical fiction.
2. She is a great emotional story-teller, please go on.
Consequently,
3. Manhattan Beach needs rewriting.
November 8, 2015
I think Jennifer Egan is a tremendous writer. Her first book shows this talent to great effect, the first part of the book is a brilliantly sad exploration of families and the best of intentions going awry. It's smart, clever and wonderfully well written, each line packs an incredible emotional punch. It then all takes a turn into this odd love story which left me deeply unmoved. If you liked her other books, it's interesting to see how it all started.
Read
March 3, 2013I think I read this years and years ago but I remembered nothing. Why is it that I retain so little, even from books like this one, which I enjoyed? I’m so envious of people who can recall with amazing accuracy everything that they’ve ever read.
July 5, 2008
All of the quotes on the front and back cover promised this would be a "brilliant," "mesmerizing," and "emotional" book about an 18-year-old who backpacks across Europe tracing her dead older sister's path to the place in Italy where she committed suicide.
Instead, I found it dull, predictable, and irritating. The main character, Phoebe, is woefully naive to the point where I had absolutely no sympathy for her. I wanted to smack her and yell at her to grow up. The plot twist at the beginning Part 3 is practically expected, but the execution is too coincidental to be anything except poor writing, especially when it easily could have been made more plausible. The plot twist in the end was something I saw coming from the very beginning of the book. The romance that occupies the last 1/3 of the book is just awkward and ill-explained.
Probably not even a book I would have read if I hadn't enjoyed the author's The Keep, I should have trusted my instincts here.
Instead, I found it dull, predictable, and irritating. The main character, Phoebe, is woefully naive to the point where I had absolutely no sympathy for her. I wanted to smack her and yell at her to grow up. The plot twist at the beginning Part 3 is practically expected, but the execution is too coincidental to be anything except poor writing, especially when it easily could have been made more plausible. The plot twist in the end was something I saw coming from the very beginning of the book. The romance that occupies the last 1/3 of the book is just awkward and ill-explained.
Probably not even a book I would have read if I hadn't enjoyed the author's The Keep, I should have trusted my instincts here.
December 28, 2015
I love books about the hippie generation. Not the political side as much as the freedom and adventure! I am obsessed with the idea of letting go and experiencing life. Which I am too rational to do myself. This book shows the paradox between the sheer beauty and danger of that crazy time period. It's about sisters and the tug of war between past and present.
November 3, 2007
I love Jennifer Egan. I read her books in reverse order (starting with 'The Keep', then 'Look At Me', and then 'Invisible Circus'). I love that she explores different themes in each book -- all three are very different. 'Invisible Circus' gets a firm 3 stars from me. I loved the overall feeling of living in the world during a time of great change, but not being able to identify just what it is that is happening even though you still want to be a part of it. Still, she uses a lot of exposition and towards the end-- much of the story is told to Phoebe by Wolf (something that annoyed me in the Harry Potter Books, particulary the last one with Dumbledore telling stories of the past to Harry).
March 13, 2009
Phoebe lives most of her life reeling from the grief of having lost her father and then her older sister, Faith, before she reached her adolescence.
Her sister was a flower child and fell to her death from a cliff in an Italian seaside town. At the age of 18, Phoebe decides to pursue her sister's ghost through Europe to see if she can decipher what really happened to her.
She explores the shadows of the 60s and the flower children and skirts the memories of her childhood. This book is an excellent exploration of the pathways of grief, and the emptiness experienced by a child who clearly understood that she was never her parent's "favorite."
Her sister was a flower child and fell to her death from a cliff in an Italian seaside town. At the age of 18, Phoebe decides to pursue her sister's ghost through Europe to see if she can decipher what really happened to her.
She explores the shadows of the 60s and the flower children and skirts the memories of her childhood. This book is an excellent exploration of the pathways of grief, and the emptiness experienced by a child who clearly understood that she was never her parent's "favorite."
November 23, 2019
אחרי שהתאכזבתי מספרה של ג׳ניפר איגן מפגש עם ברית הבריונים קראתי את הספר הקרקס הנסתר שזהו ספרה הראשון של איגן. לכאורה מדובר בנושא שסיקרן אותי ובתקופה האהובה עלי ביותר, שנות השישים והשבעים של המאה העשרים. לצערי גם הפעם חוויתי מפח נפש וביתר שאת. הדמות המרכזית בסיפור, נערה בשם פיבי, משעממת עד מעצבנת. נישאת על הערצתה העיוורת לאחותה הגדולה פיית שבמהלך טיול באירופה מצאה את מותה. פיבי נוסעת לאירופה במטרה לשחזר את מסלול נסיעתה של אחותה ולחוות את חוויותיה כפי שהשתקפו ממכתביה למשפחתה בעת הטיול. הבעיה הגדולה בספר היא שהאחות המתה משעממת בעצמה והכי גרוע זה שאין בספר שום דבר שמזכיר את התקופה שבגללה כל כך הרבה אנשים מתגעגעים אליה...
אני התייאשתי ונטשתי בצער רב...
אני התייאשתי ונטשתי בצער רב...
October 23, 2024
The story opens in San Francisco In 1978, where eighteen-year-old Phoebe lives with her mother and brother. Her father died when she was a child, and her older sister, Faith, died in Italy several years later. She has always idolized her risk-seeking older sister, a sixties “flower child,” who was obviously her father’s favorite. After a falling out with her mother, Phoebe travels to Europe, following in Faith’s footsteps, to find out more about why she died. The storyline takes Phoebe to England, the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Italy. An unlikely coincidence results in meeting up with her sister’s boyfriend, who had been travelling with Faith when she died.
It is told in four parts. The first describes Phoebe’s family history, and the second takes her to Europe. The last two follow her journey to the place of her sister’s death and the outcome. After a decent beginning, it loses its way. The bizarre “romance” that occurs in the last portion of the book is clumsy and distasteful, and the climax falls flat. I’ve read four other books by Egan, all of which I prefer to this one. It is obviously a debut novel, and not up to her later excellent writing. My favorite is The Keep, which I highly recommend.
It is told in four parts. The first describes Phoebe’s family history, and the second takes her to Europe. The last two follow her journey to the place of her sister’s death and the outcome. After a decent beginning, it loses its way. The bizarre “romance” that occurs in the last portion of the book is clumsy and distasteful, and the climax falls flat. I’ve read four other books by Egan, all of which I prefer to this one. It is obviously a debut novel, and not up to her later excellent writing. My favorite is The Keep, which I highly recommend.
December 9, 2019
I enjoyed this more than Egan's Manhattan Beach but not nearly as much as A Visit from the Goon Squad, which is the best book I've read from her. This story took me a while to become invested in and even longer to care about any of the characters, and that was its weak spot. However, Egan's writing itself is wonderful. I was fully invested by the end but I would have enjoyed the book much more if it came to the same conclusion without the major revelation that's given toward the end (no spoilers). In my opinion, if the book ended the same way, but without that one plot point occurring, everything that Phoebe thought she knew about her sister and everything that made Faith interesting would have been much, much more powerful.
April 14, 2019
Ho dovuto controllare quattro volte, anche durante la lettura: un po’ per essere certo di aver davvero mancato un libro di Jennifer Egan per alcuni anni, e compiangermi di conseguenza. E un po’ perché trama, profondità dei personaggi, struttura narrativa dimostrano una maturità da autrice navigata, e di enorme livello. Ma dopo aver lungamente verificato: si, Jennifer Egan ha scritto La figlia dei fiori quindici anni PRIMA di quel capolavoro che risponde al titolo de “Il tempo è un bastardo”.
Ora, affermare che La figlia dei fiori sia sul medesimo livello de Il tempo o di Manhattan Beach non sarebbe del tutto corrispondente al vero; ma, ve lo giuro, siamo pochissimi centimetri più in basso e la lettura di questo romanzo vale ogni singolo centesimo di secondo che ci passerete sopra.
La figlia dei fiori (ma andate a controllare post-lettura il titolo originale, che sarebbe stato meglio lasciare intatto) racconta la storia di Phoebe: diciottenne, orfana di un padre pittore mai affermatosi, sorella di un Barry (multimilionario nella San Francisco in pieno boom) e – soprattutto – sorella di Faith, primogenita adorata dai genitori morta suicida durante un viaggio in Europa. Per motivi diversi, le due sorelle vi entreranno prepotentemente nel cuore, per non lasciarlo più: quando Phoebe deciderà di partire direzione Europa per ripercorrere, tappa dopo tappa, città dopo città, il viaggio compiuto anni prima dalla sorella fino alla cittadina ligure in cui si è tolta la vita, con lei partirà anche la vostra capacità di abbandonare il romanzo. Sarà una lettura convulsa, emozionante, a tratti sul filo del pianto: una lettura da Jennifer Egan, un’autrice che ha il potere di toccare dei fili avvolti intorno al mio miocardio in un modo che non capisco bene fino in fondo.
La figlia dei fiori è un gran romanzo, punto. Un libro con molteplici livelli di lettura, da quello storico (con gli anni Sessanta e Settanta ritratti al meglio) a quello più introspettivo, dal rapporto con i genitori ad un lontano ma profondo senso religioso (sbaglierò, ma che Phoebe sia partita alla ricerca di Faith non mi sembra del tutto casuale…). Un romanzo e-nor-me, che ho adorato in ogni sua riga.
http://capitolo23.com/2019/04/14/rece...
Ora, affermare che La figlia dei fiori sia sul medesimo livello de Il tempo o di Manhattan Beach non sarebbe del tutto corrispondente al vero; ma, ve lo giuro, siamo pochissimi centimetri più in basso e la lettura di questo romanzo vale ogni singolo centesimo di secondo che ci passerete sopra.
La figlia dei fiori (ma andate a controllare post-lettura il titolo originale, che sarebbe stato meglio lasciare intatto) racconta la storia di Phoebe: diciottenne, orfana di un padre pittore mai affermatosi, sorella di un Barry (multimilionario nella San Francisco in pieno boom) e – soprattutto – sorella di Faith, primogenita adorata dai genitori morta suicida durante un viaggio in Europa. Per motivi diversi, le due sorelle vi entreranno prepotentemente nel cuore, per non lasciarlo più: quando Phoebe deciderà di partire direzione Europa per ripercorrere, tappa dopo tappa, città dopo città, il viaggio compiuto anni prima dalla sorella fino alla cittadina ligure in cui si è tolta la vita, con lei partirà anche la vostra capacità di abbandonare il romanzo. Sarà una lettura convulsa, emozionante, a tratti sul filo del pianto: una lettura da Jennifer Egan, un’autrice che ha il potere di toccare dei fili avvolti intorno al mio miocardio in un modo che non capisco bene fino in fondo.
La figlia dei fiori è un gran romanzo, punto. Un libro con molteplici livelli di lettura, da quello storico (con gli anni Sessanta e Settanta ritratti al meglio) a quello più introspettivo, dal rapporto con i genitori ad un lontano ma profondo senso religioso (sbaglierò, ma che Phoebe sia partita alla ricerca di Faith non mi sembra del tutto casuale…). Un romanzo e-nor-me, che ho adorato in ogni sua riga.
http://capitolo23.com/2019/04/14/rece...
January 13, 2011
This is a wonderfully descriptive book, set in the late 70´s. Phoebe has just finished high school and sets out on an impromptu quest to find out more about how her sister died. She heads to Europe, following the path her sister made years before.
The story is rich, both historically and in terms of her own and her sister´s internal/emotional struggles. I imagine that most who read this would be able to relate on some level to the insecurities and difficulties that the characters face. And, if not, there is always the wonderful lighthearted descriptions of travels through Europe. Anyone who has slept in a shitty youth hostel in Paris will find themselves at home here.
I was glad to have been recommended this book, and even more so in that my friend warned me about the book having something of a rocky start. It is true! I am not quite sure what went wrong, but the beginning is just a bit off. I can´t remember when it got better, but a key here is to push through it--a large part of the book, as well as the ending, is worth its awkward start.
The story is rich, both historically and in terms of her own and her sister´s internal/emotional struggles. I imagine that most who read this would be able to relate on some level to the insecurities and difficulties that the characters face. And, if not, there is always the wonderful lighthearted descriptions of travels through Europe. Anyone who has slept in a shitty youth hostel in Paris will find themselves at home here.
I was glad to have been recommended this book, and even more so in that my friend warned me about the book having something of a rocky start. It is true! I am not quite sure what went wrong, but the beginning is just a bit off. I can´t remember when it got better, but a key here is to push through it--a large part of the book, as well as the ending, is worth its awkward start.
May 12, 2019
Wow. Just wow.
My partner was held captive for some nights in a row by Egan, and after finishing it she promptly handed it to me, saying "this might be my new favorite book of all time." I understand that notion.
Egan manages to tell an amazingly captivating story and change her protagonist more by what she doesn't say than by what she says. There's always a reason for her characters actions, destructive as they may be, and those reason are hidden in the symbolism between the lines. That is how you tell your characters journey, not by what the do but what happened before that made them do it.
My partner was held captive for some nights in a row by Egan, and after finishing it she promptly handed it to me, saying "this might be my new favorite book of all time." I understand that notion.
Egan manages to tell an amazingly captivating story and change her protagonist more by what she doesn't say than by what she says. There's always a reason for her characters actions, destructive as they may be, and those reason are hidden in the symbolism between the lines. That is how you tell your characters journey, not by what the do but what happened before that made them do it.
September 12, 2014
So beautiful. The main character is terribly young and selfish, but the writing is gorgeous and the emotions so palpable it was impossible not to feel for her. If only in real life you could have that clarity of thought about what you’re experiencing at each moment. I cried my eyes out.
May 5, 2020
Non è la Egan brillante de "Il tempo è un bastardo", ma è un libro che si lascia leggere.
September 28, 2021
Eu amo a Egan, mas me cansa um pouco como a alta literatura trata a passionalidade com algo sempre autodestrutivo.
August 13, 2025
Her debut. There were elements of this that really drew me in (like the main character Phoebe being about the same age as I was in 1978, and living in the Bay Area, as I did, and taking a trip to Europe) but a lot of it was quite harrowing. I enjoyed some of it, and Egan is a good writer. The character of the father, a talentless painter who resentfully works as an engineer to support his family; has a weirdly unhealthy relationship with Faith (the adored late older sister who I found very annoying) was interesting. I liked all of the European travel.
July 30, 2023
I can see the potential in the writing and am wondering if I might have enjoyed this more a few years ago.
My current reader mood just felt thrown out of the flow of the narration too often, wondering if there was a consistency error. I also felt the plot confusing, or rather it was confusing what the book wanted to do. It took a long time and interpretation to see it only to run a pretty predictable path in the end.
Overall it was more of a slog, I didn't feel connected to the characters mostly just annoyed at the self centered main character.
Yo yeah, I don't know who I would recommend this to. Jennifer Egan completionists, probably.
My current reader mood just felt thrown out of the flow of the narration too often, wondering if there was a consistency error. I also felt the plot confusing, or rather it was confusing what the book wanted to do. It took a long time and interpretation to see it only to run a pretty predictable path in the end.
Overall it was more of a slog, I didn't feel connected to the characters mostly just annoyed at the self centered main character.
Yo yeah, I don't know who I would recommend this to. Jennifer Egan completionists, probably.
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