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The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells
From the critically acclaimed author of the New York Times bestseller The Confessions of Max Tivoli comes The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells, a rapturously romantic story of a woman who finds herself transported to the “other lives” she might have lived.
After the death of her beloved twin brother and the abandonment of her long-time lover, Greta Wells undergoes electroshock therapy. Over the course of the treatment, Greta finds herself repeatedly sent to 1918, 1941, and back to the present. Whisked from the gas-lit streets and horse-drawn carriages of the West Village to a martini-fueled lunch at the Oak Room, in these other worlds, Greta finds her brother alive and well—though fearfully masking his true personality. And her former lover is now her devoted husband…but will he be unfaithful to her in this life as well? Greta Wells is fascinated by her alter egos: in 1941, she is a devoted mother; in 1918, she is a bohemian adulteress.
In this spellbinding novel by Andrew Sean Greer, each reality has its own losses, its own rewards; each extracts a different price. Which life will she choose as she wrestles with the unpredictability of love and the consequences of even her most carefully considered choices?
After the death of her beloved twin brother and the abandonment of her long-time lover, Greta Wells undergoes electroshock therapy. Over the course of the treatment, Greta finds herself repeatedly sent to 1918, 1941, and back to the present. Whisked from the gas-lit streets and horse-drawn carriages of the West Village to a martini-fueled lunch at the Oak Room, in these other worlds, Greta finds her brother alive and well—though fearfully masking his true personality. And her former lover is now her devoted husband…but will he be unfaithful to her in this life as well? Greta Wells is fascinated by her alter egos: in 1941, she is a devoted mother; in 1918, she is a bohemian adulteress.
In this spellbinding novel by Andrew Sean Greer, each reality has its own losses, its own rewards; each extracts a different price. Which life will she choose as she wrestles with the unpredictability of love and the consequences of even her most carefully considered choices?
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 17, 2013
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About the author
Andrew Sean Greer
33 books3,162 followersAndrew Sean Greer (born 1970) is an American novelist and short story writer.
He is the bestselling author of The Story of a Marriage, which The New York Times has called an “inspired, lyrical novel,” and The Confessions of Max Tivoli, which was named one of the best books of 2004 by the San Francisco Chronicle and received a California Book Award.
The child of two scientists, Greer studied writing with Robert Coover and Edmund White at Brown University, where he was the commencement speaker at his own graduation, where his unrehearsed remarks, critiquing Brown's admissions policies, caused a semi-riot. After years in New York working as a chauffeur, theater tech, television extra and unsuccessful writer, he moved to Missoula, Montana, where he received his Master of Fine Arts from The University of Montana, from where he soon moved to Seattle and two years later to San Francisco where he now lives. He is currently a fellow at the New York Public Library Cullman Center. He is an identical twin.
While in San Francisco, he began to publish in magazines before releasing a collection of his stories, How It Was for Me. His stories have appeared in Esquire, The Paris Review, The New Yorker and other national publications, and have been anthologized most recently in The Book of Other People, and The PEN/ O. Henry Prize Stories 2009. His first novel, The Path of Minor Planets, was published in 2001.
He is the bestselling author of The Story of a Marriage, which The New York Times has called an “inspired, lyrical novel,” and The Confessions of Max Tivoli, which was named one of the best books of 2004 by the San Francisco Chronicle and received a California Book Award.
The child of two scientists, Greer studied writing with Robert Coover and Edmund White at Brown University, where he was the commencement speaker at his own graduation, where his unrehearsed remarks, critiquing Brown's admissions policies, caused a semi-riot. After years in New York working as a chauffeur, theater tech, television extra and unsuccessful writer, he moved to Missoula, Montana, where he received his Master of Fine Arts from The University of Montana, from where he soon moved to Seattle and two years later to San Francisco where he now lives. He is currently a fellow at the New York Public Library Cullman Center. He is an identical twin.
While in San Francisco, he began to publish in magazines before releasing a collection of his stories, How It Was for Me. His stories have appeared in Esquire, The Paris Review, The New Yorker and other national publications, and have been anthologized most recently in The Book of Other People, and The PEN/ O. Henry Prize Stories 2009. His first novel, The Path of Minor Planets, was published in 2001.
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June 17, 2017
Andrew Sean Greer has been fiddling with the hands on his watch again. His novels are often preoccupied with how we interact with time. That immensely clever bestseller “The Confessions of Max Tivoli” featured a 70-year-old narrator who aged backward. His debut novel, “The Path of Minor Planets,” synchronized a series of relationships to the cycles of a comet. And now comes another high-concept story, “The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells,” or, as I like to think of it, “The Time Traveler’s Strife.”
The book opens in New York in 1985, but don’t sit down — we won’t be here long. Abandoned by her partner and devastated by the death of her gay twin brother, Greta Wells pursues every treatment she can think of to raise her spirits. Under the advice of a flamboyant aunt who lives in the downstairs apartment, Greta runs through antidepressants from Ambivalon to zimelidine. She tries acupressure, yoga, pot, jogging, colonics, bran, etc., but nothing can “shake the nightmare” of her grief. “How I longed to live in any time but this one,” she says just before visiting Dr. Cerletti to receive electroconvulsive therapy.
Shockingly, the good doctor’s first treatment sends Greta spinning back to 1918. There she finds herself among the same people she knew in 1985, but they’re all going about their early-20th-century lives with significant changes. In this sepia-toned version, Greta is married to her partner and waiting for him to return from the war in Europe. What’s better, her dear twin brother, Felix, is alive — though deeply closeted and engaged to a senator’s daughter.
How did we get here? Don’t ask, don’t tell. Greta handles it all with aplomb because, after all, she’s not so much a woman as a Meddling Literary Device (MLD). “With fascination, I looked around this version of my life in 1918,” she says. “I had been given this: a life in which I had been born in another century, and grew up in corsets and ribbons alongside my twin, and married my Nathan and sent him off to war. A life in which my brother lived, but did not live well.”
But — oops, look at the time! We’re late for another weekly appointment with Dr. Cerletti. Now, Greta wakes up in 1941, on the eve of Pearl Harbor. “So there were at least three lives to lead,” she summarizes, helpfully. “A life in 1918, with a husband away at war. A life in 1941, with him here by my side.” For all her time-shifting shenanigans, Greta Wells could be the daughter of H.G., but she quickly realizes that she’s not just traveling through time; she’s trading places with other Gretas: “Of course this was how our minds had connected, in that blue electric flash of madness, across the membrane of three worlds so we switched places, two Gretas and myself, and woke to different lives.”
It’s that “of course” that really slays me — the straight-faced effort to pass off this goofiness as something profound — like the formula for Flubber. “I was someone switching television channels,” Greta says, “trying to keep all the characters straight.” I can sympathize. Following Gretas back and forth across the 20th century, I felt like Bill Murray watching “The Parent Trap” on Groundhog Day.
There’s really very little room in “The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells” for anything besides tending to the complications of its rickety structure. Greer seems drawn to exploring how different historical settings create or influence our characters, but these three time periods come to us with no more than postcard details: AIDS in 1985, World War II in 1941, flu in 1918. Placing these historic tragedies on the roulette wheel of Greta’s chronographic parlor game produces the kind of blurring that novels are supposed to resist.
What Greta can’t resist, weirdly, is interfering in her brother’s affairs, no matter where in the century they happen to be. “Surely, there has to be a heaven,” she thinks. “Perhaps it was my job to make one.” More dangerous words were never spoken — given the chance to see him alive again, she prods him to acknowledge his homosexuality, prying him out of the closet like some nosy middle-school guidance counselor. “Don’t be afraid with me,” she pleads. “Be yourself. Please.” Besides the ahistorical creepiness of this plan, Greta’s titillation with her brother’s sexuality throws off the novel’s romantic focus. In all of the time periods, the Gretas are trying to “perfect their lives” by dealing with a man they love. But those various stories of marriage and adultery never generate the passion and energy of her brother’s off-stage trysts, as though the novel were nervous about concentrating on its real interest.
We’re left, then, with a highly mannered historical romance glazed with a touch of sci-fi. Almost every line is uttered in a perfumed sigh: “Grief will go — it always does,” Greta promises in one of the novel’s many self-consciously pretty passages. “But not before it forces us to do these absurd things, and hurt ourselves, and bring on suffering, because grief, that parasite, above all else does not want to die, and only in these terrible moments it creates can it feel itself thrashing back to life.”
You don’t need a time machine to experience a better novel by Greer. Just go get a copy of “The Confessions of Max Tivoli.”
The book opens in New York in 1985, but don’t sit down — we won’t be here long. Abandoned by her partner and devastated by the death of her gay twin brother, Greta Wells pursues every treatment she can think of to raise her spirits. Under the advice of a flamboyant aunt who lives in the downstairs apartment, Greta runs through antidepressants from Ambivalon to zimelidine. She tries acupressure, yoga, pot, jogging, colonics, bran, etc., but nothing can “shake the nightmare” of her grief. “How I longed to live in any time but this one,” she says just before visiting Dr. Cerletti to receive electroconvulsive therapy.
Shockingly, the good doctor’s first treatment sends Greta spinning back to 1918. There she finds herself among the same people she knew in 1985, but they’re all going about their early-20th-century lives with significant changes. In this sepia-toned version, Greta is married to her partner and waiting for him to return from the war in Europe. What’s better, her dear twin brother, Felix, is alive — though deeply closeted and engaged to a senator’s daughter.
How did we get here? Don’t ask, don’t tell. Greta handles it all with aplomb because, after all, she’s not so much a woman as a Meddling Literary Device (MLD). “With fascination, I looked around this version of my life in 1918,” she says. “I had been given this: a life in which I had been born in another century, and grew up in corsets and ribbons alongside my twin, and married my Nathan and sent him off to war. A life in which my brother lived, but did not live well.”
But — oops, look at the time! We’re late for another weekly appointment with Dr. Cerletti. Now, Greta wakes up in 1941, on the eve of Pearl Harbor. “So there were at least three lives to lead,” she summarizes, helpfully. “A life in 1918, with a husband away at war. A life in 1941, with him here by my side.” For all her time-shifting shenanigans, Greta Wells could be the daughter of H.G., but she quickly realizes that she’s not just traveling through time; she’s trading places with other Gretas: “Of course this was how our minds had connected, in that blue electric flash of madness, across the membrane of three worlds so we switched places, two Gretas and myself, and woke to different lives.”
It’s that “of course” that really slays me — the straight-faced effort to pass off this goofiness as something profound — like the formula for Flubber. “I was someone switching television channels,” Greta says, “trying to keep all the characters straight.” I can sympathize. Following Gretas back and forth across the 20th century, I felt like Bill Murray watching “The Parent Trap” on Groundhog Day.
There’s really very little room in “The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells” for anything besides tending to the complications of its rickety structure. Greer seems drawn to exploring how different historical settings create or influence our characters, but these three time periods come to us with no more than postcard details: AIDS in 1985, World War II in 1941, flu in 1918. Placing these historic tragedies on the roulette wheel of Greta’s chronographic parlor game produces the kind of blurring that novels are supposed to resist.
What Greta can’t resist, weirdly, is interfering in her brother’s affairs, no matter where in the century they happen to be. “Surely, there has to be a heaven,” she thinks. “Perhaps it was my job to make one.” More dangerous words were never spoken — given the chance to see him alive again, she prods him to acknowledge his homosexuality, prying him out of the closet like some nosy middle-school guidance counselor. “Don’t be afraid with me,” she pleads. “Be yourself. Please.” Besides the ahistorical creepiness of this plan, Greta’s titillation with her brother’s sexuality throws off the novel’s romantic focus. In all of the time periods, the Gretas are trying to “perfect their lives” by dealing with a man they love. But those various stories of marriage and adultery never generate the passion and energy of her brother’s off-stage trysts, as though the novel were nervous about concentrating on its real interest.
We’re left, then, with a highly mannered historical romance glazed with a touch of sci-fi. Almost every line is uttered in a perfumed sigh: “Grief will go — it always does,” Greta promises in one of the novel’s many self-consciously pretty passages. “But not before it forces us to do these absurd things, and hurt ourselves, and bring on suffering, because grief, that parasite, above all else does not want to die, and only in these terrible moments it creates can it feel itself thrashing back to life.”
You don’t need a time machine to experience a better novel by Greer. Just go get a copy of “The Confessions of Max Tivoli.”
July 23, 2013
Just finished The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells. A nice (but unoriginal) concept for a book - a woman searches for emotional balance after experiencing loss via time/space travel. The niceness pretty much stops there.
The focus of the novel was on the fact that there’s times when we feel our souls don’t belong in our bodies, but in another time with alternate endings to our tragedies and missteps. But everything about the main character was flat and unbelievable. (Then again, what did I expect? It was written by a middle-aged white guy)
First point of annoyance: The lack of respect this lady has and her raging egoism.
FIRST RULE OF TIME/SPACE TRAVEL ACCORDING TO EVERY STORY EVER IS TO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING. Greta however, does not feel this applies to her and immediately begins to meddle in the lives of these other Gretas. Yeah, yeah, I get that it’s all about saving these other hers from unending sadness boo hoo hoo. But no it doesn’t stop at just her. She takes the whole carpet and gives it a vigorous shake. Yes, lets all thank Greta for imposing her 1980s values on everyone around her in the past. All they need is her undying love and support and everything will be smooth sailing from here on out. No. She probably got her gay brother lynched for forcing her brother to pursue his homosexuality in 1920. She has absolutely no foresight into anything except recreating the positivity of her time period in the past even though she’s from the fyuucherr.
Second point of annoyance: Sad lady with the general characteristics of a sad lady who is supposedly a feminist but centers her life around the men in her life. Oh and her egoism.
"A shrew, a wife, or a whore?" and “So tell me, gentlemen, tell me the time and place where it was easy to be woman?" (p. 171) Did he copy and paste this as an after thought from somewhere during the editing process? Yes, thank you for telling us all that it sucks to be a lady in a patriarchal society. I had no idea! Greta is apparently a gay rights supporter and she even goes to equal rights movements (p. something but that’s the wording he used ugh). It’s like Greer had to cover up his blatant male writing by emphasizing that Greta was indeed a real, modern woman with feels.
I can completely understand she is struck by grief at the loss of loved ones, but it’s what characterizes her entirely. Her pursuit for happiness is driven by the loss of men in her life. In the one instance she loses a female figure, little happens. She has no distinguishable personality characteristics, and any points of interest are quickly waved off. Like WOW her 1985 self is content without having children, but no, you quickly learn that it was an internalized want because her partner didn’t want kids with her, and then later on you find that she’s completely excited to be a single mother in 1918. Yay, way to reinforce the idea that all women want children but just don’t realize it.
Again the male-centrism is painful to read through. 1918 Greta loses Leo, her lover, and finds peace by becoming 1985 Greta where he’s still alive. Everything is cool now. Except when she realizes her twin is dead in this world, oops. No, no - never mind she only cared about finding Leo anyways. 1985 Greta loses Felix, her twin, and finds peace by becoming 1918 Greta where Felix never leaves. Except now she’s a single mom in 1918 and will probably be ostracized by society. Along with her gay brother that she’s probably going to accidentally out because she has no feel for social norms in the early 20th century. 1941 Greta loses her Aunt Ruth but lo and behold - stays in her time period because y’know it’s cool. 1985 Greta fixed her marriage so now it’s not too sad and unbearable because her husband, son, and brother are there. Except oh, didn’t pursue true love, darn. Absolutely content to return to her mediocre existence as a housewife, despite traveling through space.
Third point of annoyance: Ruth
Okay. So this woman is Greta’s rock but she’s just this weird floaty person in the background who is cool with time travel and is also a gay rights supporter. She’s just there as a plot device, and any dialogue only serves as a way to explain what happened while Greta was gone.
Geez.
The focus of the novel was on the fact that there’s times when we feel our souls don’t belong in our bodies, but in another time with alternate endings to our tragedies and missteps. But everything about the main character was flat and unbelievable. (Then again, what did I expect? It was written by a middle-aged white guy)
First point of annoyance: The lack of respect this lady has and her raging egoism.
FIRST RULE OF TIME/SPACE TRAVEL ACCORDING TO EVERY STORY EVER IS TO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING. Greta however, does not feel this applies to her and immediately begins to meddle in the lives of these other Gretas. Yeah, yeah, I get that it’s all about saving these other hers from unending sadness boo hoo hoo. But no it doesn’t stop at just her. She takes the whole carpet and gives it a vigorous shake. Yes, lets all thank Greta for imposing her 1980s values on everyone around her in the past. All they need is her undying love and support and everything will be smooth sailing from here on out. No. She probably got her gay brother lynched for forcing her brother to pursue his homosexuality in 1920. She has absolutely no foresight into anything except recreating the positivity of her time period in the past even though she’s from the fyuucherr.
Second point of annoyance: Sad lady with the general characteristics of a sad lady who is supposedly a feminist but centers her life around the men in her life. Oh and her egoism.
"A shrew, a wife, or a whore?" and “So tell me, gentlemen, tell me the time and place where it was easy to be woman?" (p. 171) Did he copy and paste this as an after thought from somewhere during the editing process? Yes, thank you for telling us all that it sucks to be a lady in a patriarchal society. I had no idea! Greta is apparently a gay rights supporter and she even goes to equal rights movements (p. something but that’s the wording he used ugh). It’s like Greer had to cover up his blatant male writing by emphasizing that Greta was indeed a real, modern woman with feels.
I can completely understand she is struck by grief at the loss of loved ones, but it’s what characterizes her entirely. Her pursuit for happiness is driven by the loss of men in her life. In the one instance she loses a female figure, little happens. She has no distinguishable personality characteristics, and any points of interest are quickly waved off. Like WOW her 1985 self is content without having children, but no, you quickly learn that it was an internalized want because her partner didn’t want kids with her, and then later on you find that she’s completely excited to be a single mother in 1918. Yay, way to reinforce the idea that all women want children but just don’t realize it.
Again the male-centrism is painful to read through. 1918 Greta loses Leo, her lover, and finds peace by becoming 1985 Greta where he’s still alive. Everything is cool now. Except when she realizes her twin is dead in this world, oops. No, no - never mind she only cared about finding Leo anyways. 1985 Greta loses Felix, her twin, and finds peace by becoming 1918 Greta where Felix never leaves. Except now she’s a single mom in 1918 and will probably be ostracized by society. Along with her gay brother that she’s probably going to accidentally out because she has no feel for social norms in the early 20th century. 1941 Greta loses her Aunt Ruth but lo and behold - stays in her time period because y’know it’s cool. 1985 Greta fixed her marriage so now it’s not too sad and unbearable because her husband, son, and brother are there. Except oh, didn’t pursue true love, darn. Absolutely content to return to her mediocre existence as a housewife, despite traveling through space.
Third point of annoyance: Ruth
Okay. So this woman is Greta’s rock but she’s just this weird floaty person in the background who is cool with time travel and is also a gay rights supporter. She’s just there as a plot device, and any dialogue only serves as a way to explain what happened while Greta was gone.
Geez.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 23, 2013
From the first sentence ("The impossible happens once to each of us"), I was completely drawn in, ready to be enchanted, and The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells delivered. I read it in one great gulp, and it's already on my "to reread" list; because the time period changes, a slower (or second) read could help keep all the details and different storylines straight.
The book begins with Greta in late October of 1985. Due to her twin brother Felix's death of AIDS and her longtime lover Nathan's leaving, she is suffering from depression, and is undergoing a course of electroconvulsive therapy. As a result of this, Greta wakes up in 1918 - in the same apartment in the same city, her aunt Ruth nearby, her brother Felix still alive.
Eventually, it becomes apparent that there are three different Gretas, cycling through each other's times and lives: 1918, 1941, and 1985. We follow only the original 1985 Greta, though the other Gretas leave traces of their activities behind, little things changed. In each time, the same characters appear: Felix, Ruth, and Nathan, as well as Felix's love interest Alan and Greta's love interest Leo.
Each of the Gretas is receiving her time period's equivalent to electroconvulsive therapy, so that the three Gretas rotate times on a schedule (a day in 1918, a week in 1941, etc.). However, when one Greta misses a treatment, the other two switch places (instead of cycling through all three) until she returns.
As the original 1985 Greta nears the end of her treatments, she must decide where she will be happiest, and where she is most needed - in the present, or in the past.
Greer's writing is beautiful but not showy, and the story could be described as spare without this writing style: when one pauses, there is so much to wonder about and untangle. Greer, however, seems less interested in the details of how a woman from 1985 would fit into a life in 1918 or 1941, and more concerned with the personal relationships in each era, and the different versions of Greta and everyone around her - of how people are shaped by their time.
Quotes
Who would ever guess? Behind the gates, the doors, ivy. Where only a child would look. As you know: That is how magic works. It takes the least likely of us, without foreshadowing, at the hour of its own choosing. It makes a thimblerig of time. And this is exactly how, one Thursday morning, I woke up in another world. (4)
...my mind unlatched, and then I found myself elsewhere. Don't bring me back, I remember thinking: Take me away. (17)
Who are we when we're not ourselves? (17)
My aunt sat very still and regarded me with the simplicity of someone who is deciding whether to take you either very seriously, or not seriously at all; there is no halfway anymore. (20)
How awful, to sense that everybody knows the thing that would change your life, and yet no one is friend enough to tell you! (39-40)
I was not borrowing these other Gretas; I was becoming them. (62)
What was most wonderful about my journeys, I now believe, was that I alone could appreciate the beauty of those worlds....I was that visitor who comes to a country and finds it charming and ridiculous all at once. (65)
...and yet of course we forget that when the dead come back to life, they come back with all the things we didn't miss....They aren't fixed; they're just back. (71)
"It's easy to say something is all in your head. It's like saying a sunset is all in your eyes." (81)
But no...I realized that being this close to peace, to the end of all that horror, was not like being close to the end of a novel; you could not weigh the final pages in your hand. They did not know....That very soon the war would end. (91)
A shift in weather, and we are a different person. The split of an atom, and we change....It takes so little to make us different people. (104)
How selfish love is, though we never think of it that way. We think of ourselves as heroes, saving a great work of art from destruction, running into the flames, cutting it from its frame, rolling it up and fleeing through the smoke. We think we are large hearted. As if we were saving it for anyone but ourselves, and all the time we don't care what burns down, as long as this is saved. The whole gallery can fall to ashes for all we care. That love must be rescued, beyond all reason, reveals the madness at the heart of it. (106-107)
...and what vicious Cassandra could shout there was another coming? Who would even dare? Perhaps they knew. There is always another coming... (110)
The heart will hear only one sound. (112)
Strange how briefly life is worth the pain. (114)
Our heart is so elastic that it can contract to a pinpoint...but expand almost infinitely... (115)
Women must be careful what we say to one another. We are almost all we have. (141)
I had fooled myself into thinking that, as a planet with water implies some kind of life, a world in which husbands stayed implied some kind of loyalty. But a minor miracle is needed for life... (145)
I suppose she was a woman who saw through absolutely everything, and bore the burden of it. How frustrating it must have been, to watch the rest of us blind to it all, or pretending to be blind, when it was all so obvious if one just looked directly at each person, and listened precisely to what they said, and watched what they did, and cared enough to imagine their lives. (147)
"We're so breakable, and we never guess it." (158)
...every moment is changeable. How strange, for the present to change the past! In just this way, I lived in these worlds knowing something like the future: a sense of how things could be. Isn't this the time traveler's curse? I did not see what was to come, but I saw the possibilities. (213)
Even lovers can't know; an angel in their mind flies back and rewrites the past to make it perfect....It had happened before, was happening in another time, and I alone knew that here it would happen again. (226)
When has a woman every been forgiven? Can you even imagine it? (241)
But how do you say good-bye to someone who does not know it is good-bye, will never know? (246)
I knew that not all lives are equal, that the time we live in affects the person we are, more than I had ever thought. Some have a harder chance. Some get no chance at all. With great sadness, I saw so many people born in the wrong time to be happy. (260)
What is a perfect world except for one that needs you? (282)
The book begins with Greta in late October of 1985. Due to her twin brother Felix's death of AIDS and her longtime lover Nathan's leaving, she is suffering from depression, and is undergoing a course of electroconvulsive therapy. As a result of this, Greta wakes up in 1918 - in the same apartment in the same city, her aunt Ruth nearby, her brother Felix still alive.
Eventually, it becomes apparent that there are three different Gretas, cycling through each other's times and lives: 1918, 1941, and 1985. We follow only the original 1985 Greta, though the other Gretas leave traces of their activities behind, little things changed. In each time, the same characters appear: Felix, Ruth, and Nathan, as well as Felix's love interest Alan and Greta's love interest Leo.
Each of the Gretas is receiving her time period's equivalent to electroconvulsive therapy, so that the three Gretas rotate times on a schedule (a day in 1918, a week in 1941, etc.). However, when one Greta misses a treatment, the other two switch places (instead of cycling through all three) until she returns.
As the original 1985 Greta nears the end of her treatments, she must decide where she will be happiest, and where she is most needed - in the present, or in the past.
Greer's writing is beautiful but not showy, and the story could be described as spare without this writing style: when one pauses, there is so much to wonder about and untangle. Greer, however, seems less interested in the details of how a woman from 1985 would fit into a life in 1918 or 1941, and more concerned with the personal relationships in each era, and the different versions of Greta and everyone around her - of how people are shaped by their time.
Quotes
Who would ever guess? Behind the gates, the doors, ivy. Where only a child would look. As you know: That is how magic works. It takes the least likely of us, without foreshadowing, at the hour of its own choosing. It makes a thimblerig of time. And this is exactly how, one Thursday morning, I woke up in another world. (4)
...my mind unlatched, and then I found myself elsewhere. Don't bring me back, I remember thinking: Take me away. (17)
Who are we when we're not ourselves? (17)
My aunt sat very still and regarded me with the simplicity of someone who is deciding whether to take you either very seriously, or not seriously at all; there is no halfway anymore. (20)
How awful, to sense that everybody knows the thing that would change your life, and yet no one is friend enough to tell you! (39-40)
I was not borrowing these other Gretas; I was becoming them. (62)
What was most wonderful about my journeys, I now believe, was that I alone could appreciate the beauty of those worlds....I was that visitor who comes to a country and finds it charming and ridiculous all at once. (65)
...and yet of course we forget that when the dead come back to life, they come back with all the things we didn't miss....They aren't fixed; they're just back. (71)
"It's easy to say something is all in your head. It's like saying a sunset is all in your eyes." (81)
But no...I realized that being this close to peace, to the end of all that horror, was not like being close to the end of a novel; you could not weigh the final pages in your hand. They did not know....That very soon the war would end. (91)
A shift in weather, and we are a different person. The split of an atom, and we change....It takes so little to make us different people. (104)
How selfish love is, though we never think of it that way. We think of ourselves as heroes, saving a great work of art from destruction, running into the flames, cutting it from its frame, rolling it up and fleeing through the smoke. We think we are large hearted. As if we were saving it for anyone but ourselves, and all the time we don't care what burns down, as long as this is saved. The whole gallery can fall to ashes for all we care. That love must be rescued, beyond all reason, reveals the madness at the heart of it. (106-107)
...and what vicious Cassandra could shout there was another coming? Who would even dare? Perhaps they knew. There is always another coming... (110)
The heart will hear only one sound. (112)
Strange how briefly life is worth the pain. (114)
Our heart is so elastic that it can contract to a pinpoint...but expand almost infinitely... (115)
Women must be careful what we say to one another. We are almost all we have. (141)
I had fooled myself into thinking that, as a planet with water implies some kind of life, a world in which husbands stayed implied some kind of loyalty. But a minor miracle is needed for life... (145)
I suppose she was a woman who saw through absolutely everything, and bore the burden of it. How frustrating it must have been, to watch the rest of us blind to it all, or pretending to be blind, when it was all so obvious if one just looked directly at each person, and listened precisely to what they said, and watched what they did, and cared enough to imagine their lives. (147)
"We're so breakable, and we never guess it." (158)
...every moment is changeable. How strange, for the present to change the past! In just this way, I lived in these worlds knowing something like the future: a sense of how things could be. Isn't this the time traveler's curse? I did not see what was to come, but I saw the possibilities. (213)
Even lovers can't know; an angel in their mind flies back and rewrites the past to make it perfect....It had happened before, was happening in another time, and I alone knew that here it would happen again. (226)
When has a woman every been forgiven? Can you even imagine it? (241)
But how do you say good-bye to someone who does not know it is good-bye, will never know? (246)
I knew that not all lives are equal, that the time we live in affects the person we are, more than I had ever thought. Some have a harder chance. Some get no chance at all. With great sadness, I saw so many people born in the wrong time to be happy. (260)
What is a perfect world except for one that needs you? (282)
June 20, 2019
Suspend all belief and meet Greta Wells in 1985, suffering depression after her twin brother dies of AIDS and her partner leaves her for another woman. After trying many treatments she finally goes with Electroconvulsive Therapy which sends her into a kind of time travel. After each treatment she wakes up, in rotation, in 1918, 1941 and 1985. In each life she is herself, surrounded by familiar people but with situations adjusted to the time.
Eventually Greta realises there are two other Gretas moving in accord with her and all three of them are meddling with events in each place. It was at this point that I started to lose track of who was doing what and where, because it became very complex. I just sat back and enjoyed the ride knowing that the author had it all in hand. The ending was satisfactory and I know I enjoyed the book because I read it in one day. It was very hard to put it down.
This is maybe not in the same league as his beautiful book Less, but still intriguing, clever and totally enjoyable.
Eventually Greta realises there are two other Gretas moving in accord with her and all three of them are meddling with events in each place. It was at this point that I started to lose track of who was doing what and where, because it became very complex. I just sat back and enjoyed the ride knowing that the author had it all in hand. The ending was satisfactory and I know I enjoyed the book because I read it in one day. It was very hard to put it down.
This is maybe not in the same league as his beautiful book Less, but still intriguing, clever and totally enjoyable.
August 13, 2013
I wanted to like this so much more than I did! The premise is just so cool, but so undelivered on? I think my biggest problem was the pacing but mainly the characters. None of them felt like real people to me! Especially Greta. Oh buddy. There were just parts of this book where all I could think is, "a dude definitely wrote this." I just felt like she never had genuine motivations behind the things she did, and her tendency to get entrenched in the maudlin got old fast, as did her obsession with her twin brother, which was beyond creepy at times. idk, all I know is, if I woke up in 1918 I would probably exhibit at least ten times the amount of shock she did (I also think this would've been cooler if one of the "other" Gretas had been the protagonist? Rather than Greta being all, "hey! we're going to war soon! I know this because of history," you could instead have a Greta shell-shocked by the advancements of the later ages, be it the 1940s or the 1980s. Or, who knows, with this author, she might've just rolled with it all blasé and been all "fax machines! acid-washed jeans! Madonna! I'm from 1918 but I think this is normal and not at all strange").
November 2, 2020
Greer's work contains much devious magic. Hypotheticals become real, & then the realness becomes too real. It's eating the metaphorical cake, and suffering the gastrointestinal implications.
"Less" may be his masterpiece; "The Confessions of Max Tivoli" an experimentation on the Benjamin Button Great American legend, was also quite unique, pathos-filled. Although "Impossible Lives" has a more complex time-bend structure (one immediately notices the debt owed by the much lauded "Life After Life" by Kate Atkinson), it is trickier to fall in love with the heroine, who Greer bestows with so much character irony--the knowledge of things to come, the prognostication of future events and how the character herself will act upon them--that her ultimate fate seems as whimsical as her everyday maneuvers. And herein lies the moral: we are ourselves no matter what, trapped in time, limited in circumstances. ALWAYS. But the magical stuff in between should never be discounted.
"Less" may be his masterpiece; "The Confessions of Max Tivoli" an experimentation on the Benjamin Button Great American legend, was also quite unique, pathos-filled. Although "Impossible Lives" has a more complex time-bend structure (one immediately notices the debt owed by the much lauded "Life After Life" by Kate Atkinson), it is trickier to fall in love with the heroine, who Greer bestows with so much character irony--the knowledge of things to come, the prognostication of future events and how the character herself will act upon them--that her ultimate fate seems as whimsical as her everyday maneuvers. And herein lies the moral: we are ourselves no matter what, trapped in time, limited in circumstances. ALWAYS. But the magical stuff in between should never be discounted.
July 20, 2013
God, this was such a wonderful, magical, and special book, I didn't want it to end! I had forgotten just how much I love the way Andrew Sean Greer writes.
In 1985, Greta Wells has been devastated by double blows—the death of Felix, her beloved twin brother, and the end of her long relationship with her lover, Nathan. Distraught over these losses, and the impending loss of her brother's lover, Alan (it's the early days of AIDS in New York City), she turns to a long course of electro-convulsive therapy as treatment for her depression.
But the treatments have an unexpected side-effect: it transports her between her current life and the lives she would have lived in different eras. In 1918, she lives a bohemian lifestyle, and embarks on a second romantic relationship; in 1941, she is married and has a young son. Yet even as she embodies the different Gretas and immerses herself in their lives, she is aware of what has transpired in her real 1985-era life, and isn't sure which life she really wants to live. "Don't bring me back, I remember thinking: Take me away."
The people in her life in 1985—Felix, Nathan, Alan, and her eccentric aunt, Ruth—all figure in some way in 1918 and 1941. And even though Greta knows what will happen to their future selves, she can't help but want to try and make things happen to ensure at least some of the characters find happiness. But to get to experience life with those you've lost is an incredibly poignant and cherished opportunity Greta doesn't want to lose, even as she points Felix, Nathan, and Alan toward their destinies.
"Is there any greater pain to know what could be, and yet be powerless to make it be?"
This is such a beautifully written, special book. I can only imagine what it might be like to have the chance to spend time with loved ones I've lost one way or another, even if they're a little different from the way I remember them. This is more than a book about time travel—it's a book about relationships, about always knowing what your heart wants, and about how even when we lose people there's always a part of them that stays with us. And one of the things I liked best about the story was that Greer didn't try to explain why Greta was being transported into different eras, so what occurred didn't lose its magic.
If you like books which touch the heart, even if they're not the most realistic in terms of plot (although who says this didn't happen), you're going to love The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells. And hopefully, like me, you'll enjoy it so much you'll want to finish it and yet be sad when it's finished. Truly wonderful.
In 1985, Greta Wells has been devastated by double blows—the death of Felix, her beloved twin brother, and the end of her long relationship with her lover, Nathan. Distraught over these losses, and the impending loss of her brother's lover, Alan (it's the early days of AIDS in New York City), she turns to a long course of electro-convulsive therapy as treatment for her depression.
But the treatments have an unexpected side-effect: it transports her between her current life and the lives she would have lived in different eras. In 1918, she lives a bohemian lifestyle, and embarks on a second romantic relationship; in 1941, she is married and has a young son. Yet even as she embodies the different Gretas and immerses herself in their lives, she is aware of what has transpired in her real 1985-era life, and isn't sure which life she really wants to live. "Don't bring me back, I remember thinking: Take me away."
The people in her life in 1985—Felix, Nathan, Alan, and her eccentric aunt, Ruth—all figure in some way in 1918 and 1941. And even though Greta knows what will happen to their future selves, she can't help but want to try and make things happen to ensure at least some of the characters find happiness. But to get to experience life with those you've lost is an incredibly poignant and cherished opportunity Greta doesn't want to lose, even as she points Felix, Nathan, and Alan toward their destinies.
"Is there any greater pain to know what could be, and yet be powerless to make it be?"
This is such a beautifully written, special book. I can only imagine what it might be like to have the chance to spend time with loved ones I've lost one way or another, even if they're a little different from the way I remember them. This is more than a book about time travel—it's a book about relationships, about always knowing what your heart wants, and about how even when we lose people there's always a part of them that stays with us. And one of the things I liked best about the story was that Greer didn't try to explain why Greta was being transported into different eras, so what occurred didn't lose its magic.
If you like books which touch the heart, even if they're not the most realistic in terms of plot (although who says this didn't happen), you're going to love The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells. And hopefully, like me, you'll enjoy it so much you'll want to finish it and yet be sad when it's finished. Truly wonderful.
March 13, 2017
I loved this book, but I know that it has lots of mixed reviews. I think readers who enjoyed Kate Atkinson’s “Life After Life” and Niffenegger’s, “The Time Traveler’s Wife” will have a better chance of liking it than those who did not. The protagonist, Greta, travels back in time to 1918 and 1941 from her life in 1985 through electroshock therapy she receives for depression. She doesn’t really travel back in time though because she is the same age and living in the same apartment with the same people surrounding her in each of these eras, but details of each of Greta’s lives differ. So, she really is visiting alternate dimensions of her lives in 1918 and 1941. The Greta of 1918 and the Greta of 1941 also “travel” due to the electroshock therapy administered to them, but this tended to be unclear for me at times because it wasn’t always explained well. So each of the 3 Greta’s rotate between 1918, 1941 and 1985. We only get to meet 1985 Greta, but we get glimpses of how the other Greta’s live and whether or not they are happy. If you think about this too hard, it doesn’t make sense that this kind of therapy would allow for one to wake up in a different time and life, but it provided the necessary transportation method for Greer to tell Greta’s story. The book is melodramatic and romantic and the narrator, Orlagh Cassidy, portrays this well. Greta is often nostalgic and sentimental about her family and friends in each of her lives and this is what I liked most about her character. I don’t want to reveal too much because I liked being surprised by the twists and turns of the story. Like I said, I loved this book, but I know many others did not. I think this book will mostly appeal to fans of romance and time travel books. I really like Cassidy as a narrator, but I know she is not everyone’s cup of tea, so give the sample audio a listen before making your decision. This book isn’t perfectly executed, but it really tugged at my heartstrings and so I felt it deserved 5 stars.
(review I posted at audible)
(review I posted at audible)
September 3, 2013
Stop this man before he foreshadows again! The foreshadowing was the worst. There was no tension from chapter to chapter because apparently the author watched too much Discovery Channel where every commercial break must be preceded by spelling out what will happen after the commercial break. Greta constantly tells you when bad things are about to happen, or someone is about to screw around with the time-hopping, or that she's about to make a discovery or JUST STOP TELLING ME AND LET IT HAPPEN. It's like he couldn't decide if this was a retrospective journal or a real-time book, and it's just brutally snooze-a-riffic on top of everything.
Anyway, this book inspired a new shelf - "hate-read," aka where I put books I finish out of spite. Sometimes I want to be able to tell myself I gave a book a fair shake and didn't quit before it got to the meaningful or fun parts. So, I'll hate-read them: I finish them but resent them in the process.
Anyway, I would sum this book up by saying it's boring, the character doesn't actually seem to learn anything, the dialogue is lousy, opportunities for interesting things to happen are missed relentlessly, and mostly I'm sorry it was ever recommended for me on Amazon or that I saw it on io9. Yuck.
Anyway, this book inspired a new shelf - "hate-read," aka where I put books I finish out of spite. Sometimes I want to be able to tell myself I gave a book a fair shake and didn't quit before it got to the meaningful or fun parts. So, I'll hate-read them: I finish them but resent them in the process.
Anyway, I would sum this book up by saying it's boring, the character doesn't actually seem to learn anything, the dialogue is lousy, opportunities for interesting things to happen are missed relentlessly, and mostly I'm sorry it was ever recommended for me on Amazon or that I saw it on io9. Yuck.
July 14, 2013
Another time travel novel by Greer. This time, it’s in the voice of a woman, Greta. Greta just lost her twin brother, who she was very close to, at the age of 31. To add to that, her lover Nathan leaves her. She seeks psychiatric treatment for her depression, and nothing works. Her shrink suggests she undergo electric shock treatment as a possible cure for her depression. What happens is that each time she undergoes her treatment, she travels in time to 1918 or 1941. She is the same person, with basically the same cast of characters in her life. She determines that each Greta in each time period undergoes shock treatment at the same time as she is doing it now, in 1985. So there are three Gretas being moved between three time periods. What the novel explores is how the time we live in affects the people we are. People born in the wrong time period have more difficulty being happy...not all lives are equal under certain circumstances. Also, does one have the right to interfere in people’s lives? And if you could, would you change the time period of your life. Great book, very easy to read. Interesting and fun characters.
February 4, 2019
Una donna, Greta Wells, tre vite in tre epoche diverse del 900: il 1918, il 1941 e il 1985.
Due guerre e gli anni in cui l’AIDS divenne una vera e propria pandemia una società che vive grandi cambiamenti e la protagonista che, per via di una cura contro la depressione, si ritrova a viaggiare nel tempo.
“Esprimi un desiderio, e si forma un altro mondo in cui quel desiderio si avvera, anche se forse tu non lo vedrai mai. E in quegli altri mondi ci sono i luoghi che ami, le persone che ami. Forse in uno di loro tutte le storture sono raddrizzate e la vita è come la vorresti. E dunque, se tu ne scoprissi l’accesso? Se avessi la chiave? Perché questo si sa: A tutti prima o poi capita l’impensabile”.
Bella l’idea di fondo del romanzo, un viaggio nel tempo alla ricerca dei propri errori, della possibilità di una vita perfetta, di ritrovare affetti perduti. Greta affronta i propri demoni, cercando la vera se stessa in uno dei mondi possibili, e scopre tre diverse versioni di sé.
Bello lo stile di Greer, belle alcune pagine, sopattutto le ultime, ma la magia preannunciata si dissolve presto nei salti temporali e Greta non prende vita, nonostante il finale.
Due guerre e gli anni in cui l’AIDS divenne una vera e propria pandemia una società che vive grandi cambiamenti e la protagonista che, per via di una cura contro la depressione, si ritrova a viaggiare nel tempo.
“Esprimi un desiderio, e si forma un altro mondo in cui quel desiderio si avvera, anche se forse tu non lo vedrai mai. E in quegli altri mondi ci sono i luoghi che ami, le persone che ami. Forse in uno di loro tutte le storture sono raddrizzate e la vita è come la vorresti. E dunque, se tu ne scoprissi l’accesso? Se avessi la chiave? Perché questo si sa: A tutti prima o poi capita l’impensabile”.
Bella l’idea di fondo del romanzo, un viaggio nel tempo alla ricerca dei propri errori, della possibilità di una vita perfetta, di ritrovare affetti perduti. Greta affronta i propri demoni, cercando la vera se stessa in uno dei mondi possibili, e scopre tre diverse versioni di sé.
Bello lo stile di Greer, belle alcune pagine, sopattutto le ultime, ma la magia preannunciata si dissolve presto nei salti temporali e Greta non prende vita, nonostante il finale.
September 10, 2016
Disclaimer: I won a free copy from Goodreads, however this is an honest review of what I thought.
I liked it, enjoyed reading it, yet something is missing and I did not love it.
The premise is quite interesting. I love the time-travel genre.
I enjoyed the idea of the 3 time periods set within 2 epidemics and 2 wars (3 if you'll count the cold war).
I did enjoy exploring ideas of what it means to be true to yourself and exploring the concept of love (both familial and romantic).
I'm a little ambivalent about one aspect - and I can't tell if this was intentional on the part of the author ...or did he just like the parallels between the 3 times? Since the book was presumably written in the last few years, we are actually covering THREE pasts - 1985, 1918 and 1942.
Maybe having been alive in 1985 made that seem more awkward than it was supposed to be (for example, I'm sure I overlooked anacrhoisms in the '18 and '42 period - but I felt it weird when early rap was described in passing as "shouting out rhymes".) Reading the book from a 4th time period, with relatively -speaking rapid advancements and greater societal acceptance of LGBT than even the "current" setting of 1985 definitely shaped my own perception of the main character.
I think the thing that most bothered me was Greta's anachronistic acting in the other periods according to her 'modern' world view.
While it's a lovely thought to support her brother in coming out and accepting his homosexuality -- that was incredibly naive given the times. Yes, 1985 was still virulently homophobic, but there was not nearly the same danger of arrest and other negatives that there would be in 1918 and 1942- and despite showing a little bit of that in the novel, it didn't seem like she understood it. She understood that her brother would be miserable in a heterosexual marriage, but I'm not sure she understood he'd probably be just as miserable trying to be out in those times. She dismisses his arguments about safety, security, children as unimportant in comparison to what I feel like is a more modern notion of "being true to yourself".
And I'm not sure she understood the impact of divorce, single-motherhood, adultery and other things in the previous periods. A 1985 woman can get an abortion, divorced, raise a child, etc. - but how is one in 1918? Apart from the social judgement, there were financial impacts that never seemed to be considered.
Only towards the very end of the book when I was kind of annoyed, does she acknowledge that the "time we live in affects the person we are" and "not all lives are equal" - yet I feel like that doesn't stop her.
*SPOILERS start here*
I wish we had had some clue (a diary entry, a note to each other) indicating that 1918 Greta did want to stay in this new world. That she was willing to give up her child or her life with a living brother -for a chance with the 1985 Leo. That she would be ok acclimating to this new world and truly happier in it - not just struggling to find the same things she recognizes from her own world.
Another thing was that "our Greta" recognizes that her 1985 Nathan is truly unique & the one she loves -- yet she assumes 1918 Greta will be just as happy with a 1985 version of Leo - and in a world without Felix.
And we come to my pet peeve for the time travel genre... any time someone from the present decides to live in the past, I have to roll my eyes. You want to live in a time where you will be considered some radical anarchist. If there had been even some thought about this ( I could join up with Margaret Sanger or bail Emma Goldman out of jail) I would have been ok with it - but she blithley decides without any indication she understands what her life will be like (other than having a kid & Felix). You want to live in a time without modern medicine? How will you support yourself - I bet jobs for women in 1918 are VERY limited - especially if you're a radical/divorced/single mother and if your brother is a public "deviant".
I liked it, enjoyed reading it, yet something is missing and I did not love it.
The premise is quite interesting. I love the time-travel genre.
I enjoyed the idea of the 3 time periods set within 2 epidemics and 2 wars (3 if you'll count the cold war).
I did enjoy exploring ideas of what it means to be true to yourself and exploring the concept of love (both familial and romantic).
I'm a little ambivalent about one aspect - and I can't tell if this was intentional on the part of the author ...or did he just like the parallels between the 3 times? Since the book was presumably written in the last few years, we are actually covering THREE pasts - 1985, 1918 and 1942.
Maybe having been alive in 1985 made that seem more awkward than it was supposed to be (for example, I'm sure I overlooked anacrhoisms in the '18 and '42 period - but I felt it weird when early rap was described in passing as "shouting out rhymes".) Reading the book from a 4th time period, with relatively -speaking rapid advancements and greater societal acceptance of LGBT than even the "current" setting of 1985 definitely shaped my own perception of the main character.
I think the thing that most bothered me was Greta's anachronistic acting in the other periods according to her 'modern' world view.
While it's a lovely thought to support her brother in coming out and accepting his homosexuality -- that was incredibly naive given the times. Yes, 1985 was still virulently homophobic, but there was not nearly the same danger of arrest and other negatives that there would be in 1918 and 1942- and despite showing a little bit of that in the novel, it didn't seem like she understood it. She understood that her brother would be miserable in a heterosexual marriage, but I'm not sure she understood he'd probably be just as miserable trying to be out in those times. She dismisses his arguments about safety, security, children as unimportant in comparison to what I feel like is a more modern notion of "being true to yourself".
And I'm not sure she understood the impact of divorce, single-motherhood, adultery and other things in the previous periods. A 1985 woman can get an abortion, divorced, raise a child, etc. - but how is one in 1918? Apart from the social judgement, there were financial impacts that never seemed to be considered.
Only towards the very end of the book when I was kind of annoyed, does she acknowledge that the "time we live in affects the person we are" and "not all lives are equal" - yet I feel like that doesn't stop her.
*SPOILERS start here*
I wish we had had some clue (a diary entry, a note to each other) indicating that 1918 Greta did want to stay in this new world. That she was willing to give up her child or her life with a living brother -for a chance with the 1985 Leo. That she would be ok acclimating to this new world and truly happier in it - not just struggling to find the same things she recognizes from her own world.
Another thing was that "our Greta" recognizes that her 1985 Nathan is truly unique & the one she loves -- yet she assumes 1918 Greta will be just as happy with a 1985 version of Leo - and in a world without Felix.
And we come to my pet peeve for the time travel genre... any time someone from the present decides to live in the past, I have to roll my eyes. You want to live in a time where you will be considered some radical anarchist. If there had been even some thought about this ( I could join up with Margaret Sanger or bail Emma Goldman out of jail) I would have been ok with it - but she blithley decides without any indication she understands what her life will be like (other than having a kid & Felix). You want to live in a time without modern medicine? How will you support yourself - I bet jobs for women in 1918 are VERY limited - especially if you're a radical/divorced/single mother and if your brother is a public "deviant".
September 1, 2013
You ‘ve got to do that “willing suspension of disbelief” thing to believe that the impossible can happen or you just have to really like time travel stories, as I do. Either way, if you just go with it, I think you will love this book.
The mechanism by which Greta Wells travels between three times in 1985, 1941, and 1918 is the effect of the electroshock therapy she is getting to help with the depression that she is suffering. Her twin brother, Felix, who had Aids has just died. He long time lover, Nathan, has left her for another woman and even her wonderfully funny, eccentric unt Ruth cannot help get her out of it, nor can medication.
The electroshock treatment takes her to these other years, where she is still herself. In an interesting twist, the Greta who belongs in these other years (or do they?) are traveling too, and they are not the same Greta that we know from 1985. I really like the Greta of 1985; even though she is sad and depressed, and confused at times, she just wants to “fix” things and make things better for her brother, herself and the other Gretas. A major emphasis of the story is on the the wonderful relationships she has with her brother and her eccentric Aunt Ruth. These realtionships remain constant throughout, even though in Feliz dies , and in one of the years, Aunt Ruth is dead.
Greta can see clearly who she is and who she wants to be. She can see who the other Gretas are also. In the end she manages, at least in part, fix some things about their lives. Is it odd to imagine that this can happen ? Maybe so, but imagine is what we as readers of fiction always do.
The mechanism by which Greta Wells travels between three times in 1985, 1941, and 1918 is the effect of the electroshock therapy she is getting to help with the depression that she is suffering. Her twin brother, Felix, who had Aids has just died. He long time lover, Nathan, has left her for another woman and even her wonderfully funny, eccentric unt Ruth cannot help get her out of it, nor can medication.
The electroshock treatment takes her to these other years, where she is still herself. In an interesting twist, the Greta who belongs in these other years (or do they?) are traveling too, and they are not the same Greta that we know from 1985. I really like the Greta of 1985; even though she is sad and depressed, and confused at times, she just wants to “fix” things and make things better for her brother, herself and the other Gretas. A major emphasis of the story is on the the wonderful relationships she has with her brother and her eccentric Aunt Ruth. These realtionships remain constant throughout, even though in Feliz dies , and in one of the years, Aunt Ruth is dead.
Greta can see clearly who she is and who she wants to be. She can see who the other Gretas are also. In the end she manages, at least in part, fix some things about their lives. Is it odd to imagine that this can happen ? Maybe so, but imagine is what we as readers of fiction always do.
March 14, 2017
Le vite impossibili di Greta Wells è uno di quei libri che mi ha profondamente stupito e incantato, e che a lettura appena conclusa già vorrei ricominciare per fissare al meglio ogni dettaglio.
Siamo nel 1985 e mentre Greta Wells cerca di venire a patti con il dolore causato dalla morte del fratello gemello Felix, il compagno Nathan tronca la loro relazione durata dieci anni. Per provare a guarire dalla profonda depressione in cui è caduta, Greta acconsente a sottoporsi ad una terapia elettroconvulsivante, la quale, dopo appena un giorno dalla prima seduta, mostrerà i primi effetti: Greta si troverà prima catapultata nel 1918, e poi ad una seconda seduta, nel 1941, continuando così a vivere ciclicamente in tre epoche diverse per tutta la durata del trattamento.
«C'è chi sostiene che esistono tanti mondi. Tutto intorno al nostro, compatti come le cellule del cuore. Ognuno con una sua logica, una sua fisica, luna e stelle. Non ci possiamo andare - nella maggior parte non sopravviveremmo. Ma ce ne sono alcuni, io ho constatato, quasi identici al nostro. […] E in quegli altri mondi ci sono i luoghi che ami, le persone che ami. Forse in uno di loro tutte le storture sono raddrizzate e la vita è come la vorresti. E dunque, se tu ne scoprissi l'accesso? Se avessi la chiave? Perché questo si sa:
A tutti prima o poi capita l'impensabile.»
Il tema del viaggio nel tempo potrebbe sembrare il focus centrale di questo libro (motivo per il quale, forse, è oggetto di recensioni molto contrastanti tra loro), ma non lo è. Considerare quanto la vita di ognuno di noi venga plasmata da esso e dalle circostanze in cui viviamo lo è, e Greer ci accompagna in questa riflessione con una scrittura estremamente delicata che ci fa dimenticare che in realtà è un uomo a far parlare Greta.
«Mi resi conto con lieve orrore di quello che mi stava chiedendo. Com'è egoista l'amore, anche se non ci pensiamo mai in questi termini. Pensiamo a noi stessi come a degli eroi, chiamati a salvare un capolavoro della distruzione, che ci gettiamo tra le fiamme e lo ritagliamo dalla cornice, lo arrotoliamo e fuggiamo in mezzo al fumo. Pensiamo di avere un cuore grande. Come se lo stessimo salvando ma non per noi, e ogni volta non c'importa di cos'altro bruci, a patto che il dipinto venga tratto in salvo. Per quel che ci importa, può ridursi in cenere l'intero museo. Il fatto che l'amore debba essere preservato, a qualunque costo, rivela la follia che ne è alla radice.»
Questo libro è scritto meravigliosamente e la storia di per sé risulterebbe forse povera senza il talento di Greer che ad ogni pausa di lettura lascia così tanto su cui domandarsi e su cui riflettere; non sono i dettagli delle vite di Greta che interessano allo scrittore - nonostante essi vengano così abilmente amalgamati nella storia che il lettore non si trova mai in dubbio su quale delle tre epoche Greta stia vivendo quel momento -, ma ad interessarlo sono i risvolti inattesi di ogni decisione che ciascuno di noi si trova a prendere. E di come il tempo e le circostanze spesso plasmino l'impensabile.
«Ma la mia storia è poi così insolita? Svegliarsi ogni mattina come se le cose fossero andate in modo diverso - con i morti che rivivono, quel che è perduto restituito, i nostri cari tra le braccia. È forse più folle dell'ordinaria follia della speranza?
Noi davvero ci svegliamo, tutti noi, e scopriamo che le cose sono andate in maniera diversa. L'amore che sentivamo ci avrebbe ucciso alla fine non ci ha ucciso, e il sogno che nutrivamo per noi stessi si è spostato altrove, come un pianeta verso cui la nostra navicella spaziale è programmata; dobbiamo solo alzare la testa, riprenderci, aggiustare la traiettoria e ripartire. Non ci arriveremo nell'arco della vita, e ci sarà chi si chiede: Che senso ha? Un viaggio verso stelle che vedranno solo i figli dei nosti figli? Il senso di vedere la forma della vita, potremo solo rispondere.»
August 25, 2013
I don't really know where to start with this novel except that it was very unsatisfying in so many ways. I feel like I'm being way too generous in giving this book 2 stars but I feel like it doesn't deserve a 1 star.
I'm not a fan of time travel, but that doesn't mean that I cannot enjoy a book about time travel. After all, I am a fan of the Outlander series (provided I don't read them back to back.) The premise of the book was interesting. A hint of historical fiction in a novel regarding a woman's life and the possibility of leading three different lives at different periods in history.
So what exactly happened that made me dislike the book?
Firstly, I'm not a huge fan of reading about multiple storylines in one book. However, for the sake of how this novel is written, I braced myself for the three different time periods. What I wasn't prepared for was the presence of three Gretas, not just one. Sure, it makes sense that there needs to be a way to make up (and I suppose to add a touch of 'reality' in a way that would make sense for the novel) for the missing Greta when she does time travel, but really.. three Gretas? I get the idea that there are three different lives going on but three different people makes it seem like it's just one person jumping around and tampering with other people's lives. I was definitely not okay with that. I began to dislike all the Gretas (though we only get the perspective of the 1985 Greta) and their stubborn, overly-romantic, near obsession with men. In the end, it seems like they only stayed in whatever their final era was just because of the people who remained alive and whom they could remain in connections with. This dependency on the lives of men and their inability to be their own self and act without crazy emotions made me just want to hurl as I read this book. No, it's not because I'm super feminist and can only stand to read about books with women who don't swoon. It's because of the way these women acted in desperation to be with a man (be it a lover, a husband, or a brother) made me think there really was something wrong with them... character-wise.
I'm glad this book was a quick read as I probably couldn't stand to read more mopey-ness from an uterrly useless woman (or should I say women?) incapable of doing anything but breaking the time-travel machine.
I'm not a fan of time travel, but that doesn't mean that I cannot enjoy a book about time travel. After all, I am a fan of the Outlander series (provided I don't read them back to back.) The premise of the book was interesting. A hint of historical fiction in a novel regarding a woman's life and the possibility of leading three different lives at different periods in history.
So what exactly happened that made me dislike the book?
Firstly, I'm not a huge fan of reading about multiple storylines in one book. However, for the sake of how this novel is written, I braced myself for the three different time periods. What I wasn't prepared for was the presence of three Gretas, not just one. Sure, it makes sense that there needs to be a way to make up (and I suppose to add a touch of 'reality' in a way that would make sense for the novel) for the missing Greta when she does time travel, but really.. three Gretas? I get the idea that there are three different lives going on but three different people makes it seem like it's just one person jumping around and tampering with other people's lives. I was definitely not okay with that. I began to dislike all the Gretas (though we only get the perspective of the 1985 Greta) and their stubborn, overly-romantic, near obsession with men. In the end, it seems like they only stayed in whatever their final era was just because of the people who remained alive and whom they could remain in connections with. This dependency on the lives of men and their inability to be their own self and act without crazy emotions made me just want to hurl as I read this book. No, it's not because I'm super feminist and can only stand to read about books with women who don't swoon. It's because of the way these women acted in desperation to be with a man (be it a lover, a husband, or a brother) made me think there really was something wrong with them... character-wise.
I'm glad this book was a quick read as I probably couldn't stand to read more mopey-ness from an uterrly useless woman (or should I say women?) incapable of doing anything but breaking the time-travel machine.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 10, 2013
I got hooked by the book sample because I live s few blocks from Patchin Place & loved the idea of reading about my neighborhood in 1918, 1942, & 1985. The book is an interesting meditation on war, subtle changes in different time periods, and what aspects always stay the same. It is also an investigation of how being gay would effect your life in those three time frames. The book takes the same characters & looks at their alternative possible lives in the three points in time, as 1985 Greta time travels between them. It's an interesting conceit that the parallel lives are connected by a sort of time hole that opens up when the Greta in each decade gets electro-shock therapy for depression.
My criticisms (SPOILER ALERT):
It is a slim book, & only focuses on its primary concerns, but certain holes in the whole set-up bothered me. Greta & her twin Felix's parents are conveniently dead in 1985, and after that is mentioned, it never comes up again. As a book about relationships & alternative realities & intense longing for people who are lost to you, the fact that the patents are never worth a mention in the other decades is a dramatic convenience that allows the book to work, but in other ways undermines it.
Additionally, I am a stickler for logic when it comes to things like time travel, & the fact that there was no indication that 1918 Greta was daunted by living in 1985 (Cars! Answering machines! Women on their own! Skimpy clothing! New etiquette!) and passed for 1985 Greta, irked me. A few observations or comments by Ruth could have covered this. In general the fact that Greta's memory is faulty is well covered by her depression & disorientation by electroshock, so that bit of logic I was willing to take the leap with.
I do understand that in fundamental ways the book is about the small shifts in the different times, and avoids focusing on what we usually see i.e. technology changes.
But I think it would have been enriched, not diminished by addressing these issues.
My criticisms (SPOILER ALERT):
It is a slim book, & only focuses on its primary concerns, but certain holes in the whole set-up bothered me. Greta & her twin Felix's parents are conveniently dead in 1985, and after that is mentioned, it never comes up again. As a book about relationships & alternative realities & intense longing for people who are lost to you, the fact that the patents are never worth a mention in the other decades is a dramatic convenience that allows the book to work, but in other ways undermines it.
Additionally, I am a stickler for logic when it comes to things like time travel, & the fact that there was no indication that 1918 Greta was daunted by living in 1985 (Cars! Answering machines! Women on their own! Skimpy clothing! New etiquette!) and passed for 1985 Greta, irked me. A few observations or comments by Ruth could have covered this. In general the fact that Greta's memory is faulty is well covered by her depression & disorientation by electroshock, so that bit of logic I was willing to take the leap with.
I do understand that in fundamental ways the book is about the small shifts in the different times, and avoids focusing on what we usually see i.e. technology changes.
But I think it would have been enriched, not diminished by addressing these issues.
July 24, 2013
A few years ago, I first encountered Greer’s writing with the wonderful, magically realistic novel, The Confessions of Max Tivoli. Impressed with his skill and his deft handling of the mixture of magic, a range of emotions and likable characters, I quickly scooped up Greer’s debut novel, The Story of a Marriage. I did not enjoy it quite as much, but still eagerly awaited this, his release of a third novel. The overall premise reminded me as sort of a cross between that Gwenyth Paltrow movie, Sliding Doors, and Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life, but with full expectations in Greer’s talent, I expected this would be more enjoyable than either of those.
Unfortunately, I never loved this novel as much as I had hoped to. Though time travel books run the risk towards confusion, and even though this book followed three separate timelines - in 1985, 1918 and 1941), the storyline itself was surprisingly straightforward. Greer wrote with clarity and skirted around any of those time-travel-traps that would cause a reader to thump their head against a wall in frustration quite neatly. But the book moved at too fast of a pace. Though Greta’s love for the other characters in their various incarnations, the reader never received the same chance to connect or care about any of them - or even to feel a connection with Greta herself. Felix felt like the real main character, and perhaps had the perspective not been solely from Greta’s first-person perspective, the story itself could have been stronger. The book concluded satisfyingly enough, I suppose, but not even the historical aspect offered enough of a distraction from the distant characters. The time periods chosen felt somewhat trite - as if to reduce the amount of research required by choosing such commonplace periods. And, ultimately, I felt little more than apathy for the entire book. Maybe my hopes were just too high, but this was quite a let-down.
Unfortunately, I never loved this novel as much as I had hoped to. Though time travel books run the risk towards confusion, and even though this book followed three separate timelines - in 1985, 1918 and 1941), the storyline itself was surprisingly straightforward. Greer wrote with clarity and skirted around any of those time-travel-traps that would cause a reader to thump their head against a wall in frustration quite neatly. But the book moved at too fast of a pace. Though Greta’s love for the other characters in their various incarnations, the reader never received the same chance to connect or care about any of them - or even to feel a connection with Greta herself. Felix felt like the real main character, and perhaps had the perspective not been solely from Greta’s first-person perspective, the story itself could have been stronger. The book concluded satisfyingly enough, I suppose, but not even the historical aspect offered enough of a distraction from the distant characters. The time periods chosen felt somewhat trite - as if to reduce the amount of research required by choosing such commonplace periods. And, ultimately, I felt little more than apathy for the entire book. Maybe my hopes were just too high, but this was quite a let-down.
October 23, 2018
In many ways, a well-written book. A woman in 1985 undergoes electric shock therapy because of depression after her twin brother dies and her lover leaves her. She discovers two “alternate” lives in previous times – 1918 and 1941 – where other Gretas are also undergoing similar treatment for their own depression. The three Gretas take turns living each other’s lives and trying to prevent bad things from happening. Like a story of parallel universes.
A fascinating idea for a novel that held my interest through the last page. I kept hoping for more, though. Hoping to like Greta of 1985 or to care more about the other Gretas. But I didn’t. Plenty of philosophizing about life and love and the unfairness of it all.
A fascinating idea for a novel that held my interest through the last page. I kept hoping for more, though. Hoping to like Greta of 1985 or to care more about the other Gretas. But I didn’t. Plenty of philosophizing about life and love and the unfairness of it all.
July 14, 2013
Beautifully written, The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer, is as strange as it is beautiful.
December 8, 2022
This book sucked me in right from the start and will linger for a long time. Why this sat unread on a bookshelf for so long I do not know, perhaps because The Time Traveler's Wife was such a colossal disappointment and there was a worry that this might be the same. Greta's story is one of grief, love, and finding happiness in a world that never quite feels right. As someone who would have been burned hundreds of years ago by the church (and still today if they were allowed to), and lobotomized in earlier decades where people with The Big Sad were tucked away and tried to be made normal, Greta's story resonated deep inside. Her story and that of Felix and Alan is beautiful and heavy even when she ends up with a different person than I had hoped.
November 15, 2015
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Source: Library Checkout
'The impossible happens once to each of us.'
Greta Wells is devastated after losing her twin brother Felix to AIDS and after her long term partner Nathan also leaves her. Burdened by a deep depression that is slowly getting the better of her, she takes the advice of her Aunt Ruth and visists a doctor who recommends electroconvulsive therapy. Ironically, right before her first session she considers, "How I longed to live in any time but this one. It seemed cursed with sorrow and death."
The night following her first session she goes to sleep in 1985 and arises the next day in 1918. She wakes up as herself just under slightly different circumstances: her brother is alive and she is married to Nathan but is in love with a younger man named Leo. She discovers that her 1918 self is also undergoing electroconvulsive therapy and again, the night following her session she arises the next day in another time; this time in 1941. The cycle continues: 1985, 1918, 1941 and so on for 25 treatments.
"You’re all the same, you’re all Greta. You’re all trying to make things better, whatever that means to you. For you, it’s Felix you want to save. For another, it’s Nathan. For this one, it’s Leo she wants to resurrect. I understand. Don’t we all have someone we’d like to save from the wreckage?"
This is a time travel story, yet it's not really. It touches on the possibilities of past lives and how your actions resonate to future lives and reincarnations of a sort. Because while 1985 Greta is traveling to her past selves, these individuals she's 'taking over' for are also on the same adventure and they're all trying to correct past mistakes and secure their own happiness.
"Is there any greater pain to know what could be, and yet be powerless to make it be?"
The heart of the story is of course Greta, her lives, and the individuals she loves in these lives. It's a tale of romance and how each Greta found (and loved) Nathan but after experiencing each of these lives a wrench gets thrown into the works as she is forced to consider the possibility that he is not her one true love, that she's been blinded into repetition and is only resorting to what she knows.
While each life could easily showcase the historical detailing of the time, this is glazed over. In 1918, we have the flu epidemic and World War I is ending. In 1941, World War II is beginning. In 1985, we have the AIDS epidemic. While living in these time periods, Greta maintains a certain absence as if she's truly just a visitor and isn't quite experiencing the moments around her. For someone who said, "...not all lives are equal, that the time we live in affects the person we are, more than I had ever though" I really wished to see the transformation of her character due to her environment and the impacts her surroundings had on her as a person.
The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells is treated as a serious tale of time travel yet is rife with flaws in its design. A definite suspension of disbelief is required because of how truly 'Impossible' the story is. Despite this (and the crazy unraveling that occurred at the end), it all managed to still work. It would be easy to nitpick it to death but in all actuality, time travel is not an exact science and different variations are definitely possible and this was quite an original interpretation of it. The story of Greta Wells is an imaginative tale about past lives and the implausible impossibility of "what if".
Source: Library Checkout
'The impossible happens once to each of us.'
Greta Wells is devastated after losing her twin brother Felix to AIDS and after her long term partner Nathan also leaves her. Burdened by a deep depression that is slowly getting the better of her, she takes the advice of her Aunt Ruth and visists a doctor who recommends electroconvulsive therapy. Ironically, right before her first session she considers, "How I longed to live in any time but this one. It seemed cursed with sorrow and death."
The night following her first session she goes to sleep in 1985 and arises the next day in 1918. She wakes up as herself just under slightly different circumstances: her brother is alive and she is married to Nathan but is in love with a younger man named Leo. She discovers that her 1918 self is also undergoing electroconvulsive therapy and again, the night following her session she arises the next day in another time; this time in 1941. The cycle continues: 1985, 1918, 1941 and so on for 25 treatments.
"You’re all the same, you’re all Greta. You’re all trying to make things better, whatever that means to you. For you, it’s Felix you want to save. For another, it’s Nathan. For this one, it’s Leo she wants to resurrect. I understand. Don’t we all have someone we’d like to save from the wreckage?"
This is a time travel story, yet it's not really. It touches on the possibilities of past lives and how your actions resonate to future lives and reincarnations of a sort. Because while 1985 Greta is traveling to her past selves, these individuals she's 'taking over' for are also on the same adventure and they're all trying to correct past mistakes and secure their own happiness.
"Is there any greater pain to know what could be, and yet be powerless to make it be?"
The heart of the story is of course Greta, her lives, and the individuals she loves in these lives. It's a tale of romance and how each Greta found (and loved) Nathan but after experiencing each of these lives a wrench gets thrown into the works as she is forced to consider the possibility that he is not her one true love, that she's been blinded into repetition and is only resorting to what she knows.
While each life could easily showcase the historical detailing of the time, this is glazed over. In 1918, we have the flu epidemic and World War I is ending. In 1941, World War II is beginning. In 1985, we have the AIDS epidemic. While living in these time periods, Greta maintains a certain absence as if she's truly just a visitor and isn't quite experiencing the moments around her. For someone who said, "...not all lives are equal, that the time we live in affects the person we are, more than I had ever though" I really wished to see the transformation of her character due to her environment and the impacts her surroundings had on her as a person.
The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells is treated as a serious tale of time travel yet is rife with flaws in its design. A definite suspension of disbelief is required because of how truly 'Impossible' the story is. Despite this (and the crazy unraveling that occurred at the end), it all managed to still work. It would be easy to nitpick it to death but in all actuality, time travel is not an exact science and different variations are definitely possible and this was quite an original interpretation of it. The story of Greta Wells is an imaginative tale about past lives and the implausible impossibility of "what if".
July 30, 2013
I finished reading this book several days ago now, but still haven't been able to start writing a review. This is a toughie. Can I really say that I didn't enjoy it? Or were the confusing elements presented in an entertaining enough way to give it a thumbs-up? I'm still not sure.
I should tell you up front that I didn't purchase this book, nor borrow it from my library. Instead, I won a copy through a goodreads.com giveaway. Sometimes when you come across a free book (whether through a giveaway here, a Kindle freebie, etc.), it's easy to tell why the book was free. That said, while this particular book won’t rank high on my favorite reads of 2013 list, it didn’t fall all the way down in the suckage puddle, either.
The story revolves around Greta Wells. At the beginning of the book, it’s 1985, and many elements of Greta’s life seem to be falling apart. Her twin brother, Felix, has just died of AIDS, while her lover of many years, Nathan, has decided to jump ship and leave her. What’s a girl to do? Why, she turns to electroconvulsive therapy, of course. Don’t we all? I *did* say that the year is 1985, didn’t I? Ah well…
As Miss Wells embarks on these treatments, she travels through time – back to the Greta of 1918 and 1941. She shifts between years with each session, waking up first in 1918, then in 1941, followed by 1985, and then starts all over again. Here’s where everything went a little off course for me, however. While the book is generally well written, and should be easy to follow, it’s a little ‘all over the place’ at the same time. All the same characters are present during each visit – Felix, Nathan, et al. The problem I had was keeping them all straight. Sometimes Greta and Nathan were married, sometimes he was off at war. Felix was always a homosexual, but at times he was married with a child, while other times, he was a loner, trying to face who he really was. I can tell you what I was…CONFUSED.
Granted, I’m a relatively fast reader, which can sometimes work against me. I think that was the case here. I’d go through the pages at a rate that made me forget what happened just four paragraphs ago. That’s *not* a good thing when the story is flipping between three different time periods, involving (for the most part) all the same characters. That brings me to my next point, though…
In 1918, Greta has a fling, if you will, with a young man named Leo. I liked Leo. I wanted to know more about Leo. Sadly, though, Leo seemed like an afterthought that was thrown in just to add another element of drama. Basically, what came out of the ‘Leo’ storyline could’ve been ripped from any soap opera script. Is now a good time to mention that I don’t watch soap operas?
I don’t want to give you the wrong impression here, though. The book was entertaining. It was well written and interesting. To be fair, I should probably sit down with it and give it another read – more slowly this time. Unfortunately, though, there are far too many other books to be tackled. So, I’m sticking with my middle of the road opinion. Your mileage may vary.
I should tell you up front that I didn't purchase this book, nor borrow it from my library. Instead, I won a copy through a goodreads.com giveaway. Sometimes when you come across a free book (whether through a giveaway here, a Kindle freebie, etc.), it's easy to tell why the book was free. That said, while this particular book won’t rank high on my favorite reads of 2013 list, it didn’t fall all the way down in the suckage puddle, either.
The story revolves around Greta Wells. At the beginning of the book, it’s 1985, and many elements of Greta’s life seem to be falling apart. Her twin brother, Felix, has just died of AIDS, while her lover of many years, Nathan, has decided to jump ship and leave her. What’s a girl to do? Why, she turns to electroconvulsive therapy, of course. Don’t we all? I *did* say that the year is 1985, didn’t I? Ah well…
As Miss Wells embarks on these treatments, she travels through time – back to the Greta of 1918 and 1941. She shifts between years with each session, waking up first in 1918, then in 1941, followed by 1985, and then starts all over again. Here’s where everything went a little off course for me, however. While the book is generally well written, and should be easy to follow, it’s a little ‘all over the place’ at the same time. All the same characters are present during each visit – Felix, Nathan, et al. The problem I had was keeping them all straight. Sometimes Greta and Nathan were married, sometimes he was off at war. Felix was always a homosexual, but at times he was married with a child, while other times, he was a loner, trying to face who he really was. I can tell you what I was…CONFUSED.
Granted, I’m a relatively fast reader, which can sometimes work against me. I think that was the case here. I’d go through the pages at a rate that made me forget what happened just four paragraphs ago. That’s *not* a good thing when the story is flipping between three different time periods, involving (for the most part) all the same characters. That brings me to my next point, though…
In 1918, Greta has a fling, if you will, with a young man named Leo. I liked Leo. I wanted to know more about Leo. Sadly, though, Leo seemed like an afterthought that was thrown in just to add another element of drama. Basically, what came out of the ‘Leo’ storyline could’ve been ripped from any soap opera script. Is now a good time to mention that I don’t watch soap operas?
I don’t want to give you the wrong impression here, though. The book was entertaining. It was well written and interesting. To be fair, I should probably sit down with it and give it another read – more slowly this time. Unfortunately, though, there are far too many other books to be tackled. So, I’m sticking with my middle of the road opinion. Your mileage may vary.
April 21, 2015
The premise sounded intriguing but quickly lost its appeal. Greta has to be one of the dullest characters I've ever encountered. Does she change by the end of the story? I don't know because I never felt like I knew her character. She was a twin, and sad, went through a tough time, and was sad, made white bean soup (I'm not sure why the author felt the need to mention it twice, was it so important to him that Greta made soup that day?), and was sad. That was her character--a sad woman who had no reactions when strange things began happening but simply shrugged her shoulders, said "Alright then" and tried to fix her brother's life at every turn.
I didn't care about any of the characters though I can't help feeling Aunt Ruth would have made a much more interesting narrator. There were things hinted at in her past, but it was all about Felix. Maybe he should have been the narrator. It would have been much more interesting to see him struggling in the different periods. Anyone but Greta. I didn't feel her pain, her surprise, her sorrow, her love. Even the love for her brother was more like an obsession--to be his puppet master and make his life the way she thought it should be. Not that she didn't have his best interests at heart, but it was tedious and frustrating and boring. I couldn't be done with this story quickly enough.
I didn't care about any of the characters though I can't help feeling Aunt Ruth would have made a much more interesting narrator. There were things hinted at in her past, but it was all about Felix. Maybe he should have been the narrator. It would have been much more interesting to see him struggling in the different periods. Anyone but Greta. I didn't feel her pain, her surprise, her sorrow, her love. Even the love for her brother was more like an obsession--to be his puppet master and make his life the way she thought it should be. Not that she didn't have his best interests at heart, but it was tedious and frustrating and boring. I couldn't be done with this story quickly enough.
July 22, 2016
This is a wonderful book on so many levels. Greta Wells is a women living in 1985 who has is still grieving the loss of her much beloved twin brother to AIDS when her philandering partner, Nathan leaves her. To try and shake off her deep depression she agrees to start a course of ECT.The day after the therapy she awakes to find herself living another life surrounded by the same people in 1918. A further treatment finds her living in 1941 and she goes on to cycle between the three time zones with her continuing treatment.
While time travel is a useful device to show us the three lives of Greta Wells it isn't the central premise of the book which is more about how our lives can be shaped by the time and the circumstances in which we live.The book is beautifully written and the author writes very evocatively of each time period so that we never have any doubt which of Greta's lives we are in. The author also has a great understanding of the nuances of human emotions and relationships and it is fascinating to see how the individual characters are shaped by the time in which they live. Definitely a book to be read again. Highly recommended.
While time travel is a useful device to show us the three lives of Greta Wells it isn't the central premise of the book which is more about how our lives can be shaped by the time and the circumstances in which we live.The book is beautifully written and the author writes very evocatively of each time period so that we never have any doubt which of Greta's lives we are in. The author also has a great understanding of the nuances of human emotions and relationships and it is fascinating to see how the individual characters are shaped by the time in which they live. Definitely a book to be read again. Highly recommended.
December 27, 2013
I am struggling with rating this novel which I liked but don't feel was as good as I'd hoped so I went with 3 over a 4 but it's really more of a 3 and a half for me. I enjoyed the read and the concept but the execution wasn't quite as good as I'd hoped. I felt that the execution of the unique concept was a bit lacking. There were also some pacing issues for me. In the end, those things made this one not quite as memorable as I'd hoped. I suspect this is one that I will not remember down the road despite the fact that I enjoyed reading it. My favorite part was the exploration of how our lives can be shaped by the time and circumstances that we live in. If the premise sounds interesting, I definitely recommend you read it as several friends have loved it!
June 19, 2016
This book has such an intriguing (although not entirely original) premise, but the execution just didn't hold up. There is something about Greer's writing that's just so over the top, somewhere between sententious and downright flowery. Some might perceive it as poetic, to me it came across as pompous. His heroine is given a chance to time travel in a way via electroconvulsive therapy, although in the novel the time traveling aspect is primarily used for Greta to fully experience the multifacetedness (let's hope that's a word) of her self and those closest to her. And so as Greta is electrocuted from mid 80s into late 1910s and early 1940s, her main interests are constantly and exclusively self involved. The overwhelming majority of characters in fact are tediously selfish and self absorbed and utterly preoccupied with their love lives. This book comes across as a tremendously overwritten chicklit (written by a gay man) where the main character is given to moralizing out loud by posing pseudoprofound questions about the nature of the world, but really it's all about lurv, which is obnoxious enough to deserve that spelling. This book certainly has its audience...someone who wants to read a swooning romance wrapped up in enough eloquence to pass for literature. But it wasn't my thing at all. At least it was a quick read.
April 16, 2017
3.5 stars
Suffering from unbearable depression and reeling from the death of her beloved brother and loss of her longtime lover, Greta Wells turns to an extreme psychiatric treatment. An unexpected side effect of this treatment is Greta is transported back and forth between two other parallel lives, one in 1918 and one in 1941. Much is different in these other two worlds, but Greta quickly learns much is also the same. Given the chance, will Greta do things differently or does history repeat its self over and over again? This book is fantastical, totally unbelievable, and requires a reader who is willing to suspend all disbelief and just go along with the story. Having said that, I found the book to be enjoyable and, at times, quite moving.
"I knew that not all lives are equal, that the time we live in affects the people we are, more than I had ever thought. Some have a harder chance. Some get no chance at all. With great sadness, I saw so many people born in the wrong time to be happy."
Suffering from unbearable depression and reeling from the death of her beloved brother and loss of her longtime lover, Greta Wells turns to an extreme psychiatric treatment. An unexpected side effect of this treatment is Greta is transported back and forth between two other parallel lives, one in 1918 and one in 1941. Much is different in these other two worlds, but Greta quickly learns much is also the same. Given the chance, will Greta do things differently or does history repeat its self over and over again? This book is fantastical, totally unbelievable, and requires a reader who is willing to suspend all disbelief and just go along with the story. Having said that, I found the book to be enjoyable and, at times, quite moving.
"I knew that not all lives are equal, that the time we live in affects the people we are, more than I had ever thought. Some have a harder chance. Some get no chance at all. With great sadness, I saw so many people born in the wrong time to be happy."
March 9, 2019
Una donna Greta che soffre nella sua epoca per una serie di vicissitudini tristi e la magia di poter saltare da epoca ad epoca rimanendo sempre se stessa, andando alla ricerca di una vita migliore o della possibilità di riprovarci ogni volta.
Questa è l’idea di base e non è male. Purtroppo però questo romanzo non mi ha convinto fino in fondo.
Intanto i personaggi sono tutte maccchiette, non evolvono rimangono chiusi un cliché. C’è la zia eclettica e sola, il fratello gay, il compagno sfuggente. Ma nessuno di questi arriva veramente al lettore. Non aiutano i dialoghi che sembrano versioni di frasi celebri prese da siti di aforismi. Meglio quando scrive Greer senza far parlare i personaggi.
Questa è l’idea di base e non è male. Purtroppo però questo romanzo non mi ha convinto fino in fondo.
Intanto i personaggi sono tutte maccchiette, non evolvono rimangono chiusi un cliché. C’è la zia eclettica e sola, il fratello gay, il compagno sfuggente. Ma nessuno di questi arriva veramente al lettore. Non aiutano i dialoghi che sembrano versioni di frasi celebri prese da siti di aforismi. Meglio quando scrive Greer senza far parlare i personaggi.
December 2, 2018
Bellissima invenzione di Greer, un intreccio di vite (le stesse, ma triplicate in 3 diverse epoche) condotto con l'abilità nei paradossi temporali del narratore di fantascienza e la sensibilità e l'approfondimento psicologico di un romanziere.
August 14, 2013
I was drawn to this by way of The Time Travelers Wife (as in "similar to" according to Amazon), but this book goes much farther into the emotions of someone who sees through the eyes of someone else or some other time and circumstance, and thereby provides a deeper perspective on life, love and the nature of defining one's self.
Thrust into alternate realities by medical procedure (and that's the total end of anything SciFi or Fantasy about this plot) Greta finds herself in her own body but at other times of history, surrounded by the same family and friends but in different yet eerily parallel circumstances. And those circumstances evolve in their own unique way.
Can people change? Are we stuck with our fate no matter what? Do our feelings matter and can they help us change the evolution of events? Am I the same person no matter what time and situation I find myself in?
Greta wrestles with all of these issues and more, in a prose that evokes all the colorful details of both her surroundings and the vibration of her inner emotional strings.
I am a voraciously fast reader, and I have to say that this author made me willingly slow waaaaay down to take it all in and enjoy it.
Thrust into alternate realities by medical procedure (and that's the total end of anything SciFi or Fantasy about this plot) Greta finds herself in her own body but at other times of history, surrounded by the same family and friends but in different yet eerily parallel circumstances. And those circumstances evolve in their own unique way.
Can people change? Are we stuck with our fate no matter what? Do our feelings matter and can they help us change the evolution of events? Am I the same person no matter what time and situation I find myself in?
Greta wrestles with all of these issues and more, in a prose that evokes all the colorful details of both her surroundings and the vibration of her inner emotional strings.
I am a voraciously fast reader, and I have to say that this author made me willingly slow waaaaay down to take it all in and enjoy it.
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