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The Measures Between Us
Jack is an intern for the university's flood study. Transcribing interviews with people who live along a threatened and threatening river, he listens to their answers to questions about environmental change and their emotional investment in the waterway.Lately, Jack has questions for Cynthia. They've become close, reuniting years after high school, but now she's distancing herself again, sinking into depression. Her parents have noticed, too, calling on the only professional they Henry, a psychology professor who was once a student in her father's middle school shop class. Henry wants to help, but he is also dealing with a household in there's a stubborn wedge between him and his pregnant wife.By turns sweeping and intimate, The Measures Between Us is about the shifting covenants we make with ourselves and with the ones we love, about the distances we keep and those we're bent on erasing.
- GenresFictionUnfinished
400 pages, Paperback
First published July 4, 2013
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785 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
October 14, 2014
Well while reading, The Measures Between Us by an American author, Ethan Hauser, who works as an editor in the NY Times, I had to keep my mind open. Looking at the reviews on Good reads, my mind easily drew the conclusion that the book is going to be pathetic. But while down to 140-150 pages, my mind started to open up and I cursed myself so much for not opening up my mind more broadly from the beginning. I'd like to describe the book in just one word- it's insanely terrific, bloody raw, and to feel that, guys you need to give a lot of your patience and heart into it!
I'd like to immensely thank the author, Ethan Hauser, for giving me this opportunity to read and review his book.
Have you ever wondered that too much rain causes pain? Sounds rhyming!
Ethan Hauser has shed light into the minds of those humans who share their life with a river, which floods up during the monsoons. Hence, a flooding river around a small town in Boston and a young woman named Cynthia are the key players of this plot and all the other character's lives and emotions are centered on these two. Sounds strange! But basically this is a book which highlights people suffering from depression and mental turmoil caused due to a river's rage in the monsoons and also due to the turmoil inside their soul.
Now while reading this book about depression, I can't stop myself from quoting from John Green's The Fault in Our Stars:
"Depression is a side effect of dying."
And Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the American poet has quoted about depression as:
“Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.”
Cynthia was actually sad, but she made it look like all bright, and colorful and okay. Henry a psychology professor is in too much love with his beautiful wife, Lucinda, but somewhere in his heart he wants to get appreciated and for that he is already traveling the dark path in his marriage. Vincent is the father and a woodwork professor who is still confused as to how to handle her only daughter, Cynthia's sadness and gloominess and moodiness, and is also on the line to lose his job. Mary the mother who had always been so distant to Cynthia is now finding it more difficult to keep her heart and mind at peace while understanding Cynthia's inner turmoil. Jack, who is an intern working under Henry and is obsessed about investigating and studying about climate changes and the river's behavior along with the emotions of those who residing beside the river and is dying to ask so many questions to Cynthia. Lucy, Henry's wife, is pregnant with their first child and she is facing her inner demons which she is scared to let them out and eventually goes distant from Henry, often wishing if she could end up like Cynthia in a mental institute.
Well the above is the blurb, you might be thinking, where's the story, where's the flow of a typical novel? But no, this is not your regular novel. You can say, this book is more of a study of certain characters who are everyday fighting with themselves to balance both their heart and mind equally.
Yeah, I know sounds boring when there is no story. Well, frankly speaking there is no continuous story to fall for, this is what you get in this book- a through characteristic study of individuals who are suffering from "depression" of their own, a study about growing close and growing distant, a study about relationships those matter the most.
There are two couples- one is suffering with their daughter's mental illness and sadness and pain, and the other is getting ready to welcome a new child simultaneously facing their own nervousness and confusion.
The characters are sinister, and somewhat disparate in their own. It is a different book so you need to see it from a different angle, it can't be compared to your everyday novel. Hence, I'd like to applause for the author for pulling the chords of uniqueness in his book so skillfully and brilliantly. And frankly, this book might not bring out myriad of emotions but it enlightens us with its aura and grandeur and helps us learn about pain and grief and about finding yourself distant from so many things and so many loved ones. I hats off to the author for letting me see through the raw and nipping emotions of these characters. Only thing that left me disappointed is that the author had left so many mysteries unsolved! As they say: "Left to Imagination!"
In short, thoroughly insightful!
I'd like to immensely thank the author, Ethan Hauser, for giving me this opportunity to read and review his book.
Have you ever wondered that too much rain causes pain? Sounds rhyming!
Ethan Hauser has shed light into the minds of those humans who share their life with a river, which floods up during the monsoons. Hence, a flooding river around a small town in Boston and a young woman named Cynthia are the key players of this plot and all the other character's lives and emotions are centered on these two. Sounds strange! But basically this is a book which highlights people suffering from depression and mental turmoil caused due to a river's rage in the monsoons and also due to the turmoil inside their soul.
Now while reading this book about depression, I can't stop myself from quoting from John Green's The Fault in Our Stars:
"Depression is a side effect of dying."
And Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the American poet has quoted about depression as:
“Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.”
Cynthia was actually sad, but she made it look like all bright, and colorful and okay. Henry a psychology professor is in too much love with his beautiful wife, Lucinda, but somewhere in his heart he wants to get appreciated and for that he is already traveling the dark path in his marriage. Vincent is the father and a woodwork professor who is still confused as to how to handle her only daughter, Cynthia's sadness and gloominess and moodiness, and is also on the line to lose his job. Mary the mother who had always been so distant to Cynthia is now finding it more difficult to keep her heart and mind at peace while understanding Cynthia's inner turmoil. Jack, who is an intern working under Henry and is obsessed about investigating and studying about climate changes and the river's behavior along with the emotions of those who residing beside the river and is dying to ask so many questions to Cynthia. Lucy, Henry's wife, is pregnant with their first child and she is facing her inner demons which she is scared to let them out and eventually goes distant from Henry, often wishing if she could end up like Cynthia in a mental institute.
Well the above is the blurb, you might be thinking, where's the story, where's the flow of a typical novel? But no, this is not your regular novel. You can say, this book is more of a study of certain characters who are everyday fighting with themselves to balance both their heart and mind equally.
Yeah, I know sounds boring when there is no story. Well, frankly speaking there is no continuous story to fall for, this is what you get in this book- a through characteristic study of individuals who are suffering from "depression" of their own, a study about growing close and growing distant, a study about relationships those matter the most.
There are two couples- one is suffering with their daughter's mental illness and sadness and pain, and the other is getting ready to welcome a new child simultaneously facing their own nervousness and confusion.
The characters are sinister, and somewhat disparate in their own. It is a different book so you need to see it from a different angle, it can't be compared to your everyday novel. Hence, I'd like to applause for the author for pulling the chords of uniqueness in his book so skillfully and brilliantly. And frankly, this book might not bring out myriad of emotions but it enlightens us with its aura and grandeur and helps us learn about pain and grief and about finding yourself distant from so many things and so many loved ones. I hats off to the author for letting me see through the raw and nipping emotions of these characters. Only thing that left me disappointed is that the author had left so many mysteries unsolved! As they say: "Left to Imagination!"
In short, thoroughly insightful!
August 24, 2018
2.5 stars, it got better towards the end.
August 4, 2013
Couldn't really get into the story but kept reading hoping it would improve. It didn't.
September 16, 2013
Meh...it was a good story but I couldn't find any meaning in any of it. It was like listening to an older relative relate a story and all you can think is "...and the point is...". I found it interesting that all these characters were connected but no one connected the dots until the end. Maybe that was the lesson? Or maybe we don't talk to each other anymore? I don't know. All I do know is that I had to will myself to finish.
July 28, 2013
Disappointing, and did not live up to the promise of the book jacket.
August 6, 2013
Sorry there, but I only got to page 106 and that's as far as I could go with this book. Maybe later.
August 18, 2013
Only got 1/3 of the way done, too much shifting between characters (who I didn't really like) and not enough action (and the action was tawdry).
September 8, 2013
It was just okay. It just kind of . . ended. And I wasn't emotionally invested in any of the characters. Come to think of it, maybe it wasn't that good.
November 30, 2013
So so boring.
July 12, 2013
I'd rate this 3.5 stars, maybe 3.75.
The theme song from the hit television show Cheers said, "Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got." Sometimes that is absolutely true. Although life is often filled with the ordinary, punctuated by moments of drama or stress (or both), simply making it through the every day struggles we face can be difficult and require more strength and fortitude than we can imagine.
Ethan Hauser's novel The Measures Between Us is a beautifully written book about people making it through the struggles of everyday life, and coping with the bumps and bruises along the way. Vincent, a high school shop teacher, and his wife, Mary, are contemplating sending their troubled daughter, Cynthia, to a mental hospital because they fear she might harm herself. Vincent seeks the counsel of a former student, Henry, who is now a psychologist. Meanwhile, Cynthia, both before and after her time in the hospital, has an on-again, off-again relationship with Jack, an intern on a project that tries to understand climate change, particularly flooding, and how it affects those who choose to stay in their homes during floods.
Henry's life is not without its own problems. He and his wife, Lucinda, are expecting a baby, and although their relationship appears to be strong, both are struggling—Henry with fidelity, and Lucinda with feelings of dread about her pregnancy and her life with Henry, because she isn't sure if she can handle how much he loves her.
I was completely captivated by Hauser's writing and the way he spun each of his characters' stories, but ultimately, I found this book not entirely satisfying. Other characters in the book are brought into the plot and appear at its periphery, but you're never quite sure why. The book spends some time recounting Henry's interviews with people who lived through significant floods, but you're never quite sure where these stories connect to the plot (except for one incident that seems to be a catalyst for an encounter that never goes anywhere). And I found the ending of the book completely jarring, as something occurs but is only mentioned, and I felt totally robbed by it given my investment in the plot and the characters.
Interestingly enough, the description of The Measures Between Us talks about an unprecedented storm threatening the East Coast, but that is really a minor plot point that goes nowhere. This is a book more about the storms of everyday life and how we choose to weather them (or avoid them). And, like life, our success rate is mixed—sometimes the storms pass and sometimes the storms hit us. I just wish the book was as fully engaging as Hauser's writing is.
The theme song from the hit television show Cheers said, "Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got." Sometimes that is absolutely true. Although life is often filled with the ordinary, punctuated by moments of drama or stress (or both), simply making it through the every day struggles we face can be difficult and require more strength and fortitude than we can imagine.
Ethan Hauser's novel The Measures Between Us is a beautifully written book about people making it through the struggles of everyday life, and coping with the bumps and bruises along the way. Vincent, a high school shop teacher, and his wife, Mary, are contemplating sending their troubled daughter, Cynthia, to a mental hospital because they fear she might harm herself. Vincent seeks the counsel of a former student, Henry, who is now a psychologist. Meanwhile, Cynthia, both before and after her time in the hospital, has an on-again, off-again relationship with Jack, an intern on a project that tries to understand climate change, particularly flooding, and how it affects those who choose to stay in their homes during floods.
Henry's life is not without its own problems. He and his wife, Lucinda, are expecting a baby, and although their relationship appears to be strong, both are struggling—Henry with fidelity, and Lucinda with feelings of dread about her pregnancy and her life with Henry, because she isn't sure if she can handle how much he loves her.
I was completely captivated by Hauser's writing and the way he spun each of his characters' stories, but ultimately, I found this book not entirely satisfying. Other characters in the book are brought into the plot and appear at its periphery, but you're never quite sure why. The book spends some time recounting Henry's interviews with people who lived through significant floods, but you're never quite sure where these stories connect to the plot (except for one incident that seems to be a catalyst for an encounter that never goes anywhere). And I found the ending of the book completely jarring, as something occurs but is only mentioned, and I felt totally robbed by it given my investment in the plot and the characters.
Interestingly enough, the description of The Measures Between Us talks about an unprecedented storm threatening the East Coast, but that is really a minor plot point that goes nowhere. This is a book more about the storms of everyday life and how we choose to weather them (or avoid them). And, like life, our success rate is mixed—sometimes the storms pass and sometimes the storms hit us. I just wish the book was as fully engaging as Hauser's writing is.
September 14, 2013
Meh. Strong start but lost momentum in the final stretch. Good storytelling and interesting characters.
March 16, 2014
A beautifully written book, but one that never really justifies or makes compelling use of its overwhelming sadness.
October 14, 2017
I'm really trying to read this book, but sometimes it's like the author skipped words or just grabbed a thesaurus and picked the worst word for the sentence. The characters are not memorable and the book jumps between them so much. I'm glad I only spent $1 for preowned.
January 26, 2019
Yawnsville-at 19% and I can't take anymore!
January 30, 2021
This was so slow...I kept waiting for something, anything, to happen.
March 14, 2017
This book had potential. I thought it had a lot of potential, with that being said the characters were not relatable. I didn't connect with anybody in the story. I felt like it jumped around from person to person and there was t really a storyline. It felt disconnected throughout the book. I almost didn't finish it but I did hoping it would get better. I was disappointed.
December 8, 2013
This book is exactly what the title entails: a novel about separation. It brings that separation to light through interactions, though, choosing to focus on a small group of people who all have interwoven lives.
Set in Massachusetts, outside of Boston, this book was exciting for me to read. But more than the locale, the subject matter is important to think about. How are my interactions affecting those around me? There is a character who is asked to give advice. What are the implications of giving advice and are you to be held accountable for advice given that you believed to be correct? Why do I say sorry when I am wrong but shouldn't have known the answer and even qualified my answer?
The characters here come in and out of the story and aren't fully formed. But here, I don't find it a problem. These are unknowns placed into a variety of related equations. Throughout the novel they are revealed through their interactions with each other more than through more didactic means.
Warning, though: This is a sad novel. It is pretty upfront about that.
Set in Massachusetts, outside of Boston, this book was exciting for me to read. But more than the locale, the subject matter is important to think about. How are my interactions affecting those around me? There is a character who is asked to give advice. What are the implications of giving advice and are you to be held accountable for advice given that you believed to be correct? Why do I say sorry when I am wrong but shouldn't have known the answer and even qualified my answer?
The characters here come in and out of the story and aren't fully formed. But here, I don't find it a problem. These are unknowns placed into a variety of related equations. Throughout the novel they are revealed through their interactions with each other more than through more didactic means.
Warning, though: This is a sad novel. It is pretty upfront about that.
June 10, 2013
The Measures Between Us has one of the best ending lines that I've read in awhile. Although hope is sparse in this book, there is beauty in the tragedy. I enjoyed the way the story wove the lives of the friends and neighbors together, and how the small choices any of the characters made could have wide-ranging repercussions. The characters in this story felt very real to me, and I admired the way their relationships were depicted. Every character seemed to notice a distance in his or her relationship with a spouse, a child, a parent--yet none of them really seemed capable of bridging that distance. While looking for that perfect thing to say to make everything ok again, the gap just widened until the distance seemed to great to cross. It was heartbreaking to see each of the characters struggle along, seemingly alone, knowing that just one different choice, just one moment of reaching out to someone else, could have made all the difference.
July 8, 2014
I flew through this book. I really enjoyed the writing, the way new characters were introduced chapter by chapter, and watching their relationships evolve and change. This is not a happy story, but I felt that I was meeting "real" people who I cared about,and I wanted to know how their lives would turn out. Each person was living their story, while touching those around them more than they realized. It makes you think more about how what you say and do may make more of a difference than you imagine.
I am looking forward to reading other books by this new author.
I changed this review from a 3 to a 2 (6/7/14) because whenever I see this title on my list I can't remember what the book was about. I liked it when I read it, but the plot, characters and main ideas have not stayed with me.
I am looking forward to reading other books by this new author.
I changed this review from a 3 to a 2 (6/7/14) because whenever I see this title on my list I can't remember what the book was about. I liked it when I read it, but the plot, characters and main ideas have not stayed with me.
September 28, 2013
The stories in this book are sad, which made me feel sad, and the ending just isn't what I hoped. But, despite needing/wanting/preferring happy endings, I fell in love with this book thanks to the delicious, gradual intertwining of narratives. I couldn't put it down once I started reading, and would even find myself wanting to skim pages just to fast forward to how problems would get resolved, happiness would be recovered. But then I'd have to make myself slow down and enjoy digesting every word because, well, it's just really well written. The thorough portraits Ethan paints of each character makes you feel fully immersed and welcome in the little world he has created. I'd lend everyone I know my copy if it weren't signed.
April 15, 2014
I am choosing to review this book at chapter sixteen, because I am not sure if I will return to it. With each new chapter I wait for something meaningful to happen, nothing does. That's not to say it isn't well written. I have fallen in love with several of Hauser's elegant sentences. Yet, I am not attached to any of his characters, they are void of personality. The narrative voice is dull and lifeless. As I browse through reviews, I am beginning to wonder if this is how the book is supposed to make me feel. Perhaps, I will finish reading it one day. For now it is time to move on to something else.
August 27, 2016
I found this book to be rather gloomy, overall. One character was placed in a mental health facility, but it seemed as if everyone could have used some professional help. It was set in Boston, so I half-expected a tie-in with the marathon bombing, but that (thankfully) did not materialize. I liked how the author showed a lot of what the characters thought about each other, which was not at all what the characters thought about themselves. I found that aspect to be very true to life. I also liked the way their various lives intersected.
July 18, 2013
Set in a suburb of Boston The Measures Between Us examines the relationships between a number of people many of them who seem to be only tangentially related but have a big impact on each others' lives. The story also builds around an impending flood as chapters are interspersed with a report of climate data and the aftermath of said flood. It was an ok book. I really liked how all the threads of the characters came together, but overall I didn't find it to be anything that special.
September 27, 2013
I get why people might like this book-good writing, realistic characters, an interesting way of storytelling-it just didn't wow me like it has critics. It may have more to do with the fact that I've read what seems like a number of depressing books and this one just added to the list. If you're feeling too happy and want to be brought down by other people's fictional problems, then this is definitely the book for you.
July 26, 2013
So many beautiful moments in this book - and a lot of sadness. But it is a wonderful read, with compelling, vivid characters and lovely prose. I was undone by the relationship between Mary and her daughter Cynthia. The scene where they meet on the banks of a flooding river will not be leaving me anytime soon.
September 10, 2013
Beautiful novel about intersecting lives in a suburban town outside of Boston that increasingly is hit by "the 50-year flood." It's mainly about love - lost, withheld, forbidden and true. I cared about all of the characters, flawed and virtuous. As another storm gathers so does the emotional storms for these characters.
October 10, 2013
This book is beautifully written. While the pace sometimes slows, the characters are all grappling with this question that I think is really a big question, and that kept pulling me to the end. And with writing that is so transparent and yet evocative--I think of Richard Yates--I couldn't help but plow through the book.
April 24, 2014
I kept reading because I kept expecting something more to come out of the river and the flood research - something to tie it all together. Given the space this study and interview transcripts were given, it seemed like the river should almost have been a character in the book, but it was never clear why it was there. Otherwise, it all seemed kind of flat and gray.
August 4, 2013
A beautifully written novel but almost unbearably sad. Gorgeous prose with intense characterization about the empty spaces in our relationships and the inability to bridge the chasm. The author definitely doesn't believe that love conquers all.
November 4, 2013
3.5 stars; despite the number of characters, it was hard to like any of them. Each one deals with his or her own problem through flashbacks and random, yet drawn out, thoughts from their imagination. Well written with poor characters.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews