When All Is Said and Done: A Novel

by Robert Hill

A distinctive portrait of a 1960s marriage by debut novelist Robert Hill Eight years and four jobs and five pregnancies and meetings and train schedules and formula and diapers and deadlines and clients and mortgage and croup and a revolving door of baby nurses and Dan stagnating in that civilian job I convinced him to take when the Air Force wanted him back for Korea of all things, they got Elvis, they didn't need Dan, a man of his age, for crying out loud, and after what they did to him in that hospital upstate . . . It is the early 1960s, and Myrmy stubs her toe in the predawn hours on her way to soothe her infant son, cursing the latest nurse for not waking up, again. Dressed to the nines, it is Myrmy who is off to an executive position writing advertising copy for shampoo. Her husband, Dan, who fought in two wars, sells ties and cooks dinner. A Jewish couple living in an exclusive suburb of New York, Myrmy powers through her life in high heels and Dan silently suffers the mysterious aftereffects of a radiation experiment conducted by the military. Together they raise a family. Robert Hill offers a distinctive and breathless portrayal of an ordinary, and extraordinary, marriage told through the alternating voices of husband and wife. When All Is Said and Done is steeped in an era, but the anatomy of a marriage―comprised of humor, fear, love, and vulnerability―resonates through the ages.

Genres: Fiction

180 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Callie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice book. I liked the story, the story of a marriage told from both points of view, but there were a lot of gaps in it. It's written in a sort of flow of consciousness style, with a lot of very long, run-on, type sentences. The wife here is a real go-getter, career woman and the book takes place in the late 50's through the 60's. Her husband was a soldier who was the subject of some sort of army experiment that has ruined his health. His wife fell in love with his masculinity, but as time went on, she became the head of the house more or less. The book is small, but covers a span of over 29 years, so you can imagine, like I said, a lot gets left out. The narrative is pretty choppy and jumps around a lot too. Just interesting to see how a marriage evolves, and the things we put each other through in the name of love.

[K Ogie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me first preface this review with the idea that I, more often than not, refuse to read the most popular and trending titles. The reason for this is that many are too alike. Nothing unique. I've been a reader for most of my 42 years, and I've read A LOT. More importantly, I remember much of what I read. I get bored easily with a book that doesn't separate itself from something I've already read. With the exception of a continuing series. I have recently been reading many different perspectives from WWII fiction. I needed a palate cleanser. But not a long one. I am simultaneously working on reading off of my own shelves. I have collected books donated by friends or books I've purchased a while ago that I didn't recall. Searching through my shelves, I found this title. It was a measly 220 pages. I've never heard of the book, nor the author. I began paging through and was sucked into the writing. Such a different way of writing. Two first-person alternating narrators. You needed to understand the characters to understand which one was speaking. Also, separating it from other novels about marriage was the time frame. Baby boomers and one a previous soldier medically experimented on trying to live out the American Dream while knowing his life would end at any time. A man unresentfully taking a back seat in the marriage to his independent and emotionally strong wife. I am unsure why this book wasn't a bigger hit in 2006 when it was published, but I certainly feel many women would have found a relevant perspective in the wife and would have hailed the husband as a hero.
This is the reason I read unknown authors and small publishers' books. This is why I steer away from popular novels and gravitate to books that I have never heard of, but just know I might enjoy. I am going to see if Robert Hill has other novels. What a fantastic find!

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book earns a five-star rating for the sheer bravura of the writing. From the four-page long opening sentence to the variant styles used to tell the story, the writing is dazzling. This is basically a simple tale extraordinarily told. It may prove to be unforgettable.

[Celina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although there is an interesting story in there the book is hard to follow. There are pages where you're not sure who is talking or what they are talking about. The concept is interesting but the writing leaves a lot to be asked.

[Kelli Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to say that I didn't like this book because it made me feel sad while reading it, but the truth is that it was beautiful and I loved it. Robert Hill's writing flows like poetry. I was off put by the rhythm but after a few paragraphs I couldn't put it down.

The characters, Myrmy and Dan take turns narrating the story, and seem very real. It's a simple story of two people in the '50's-60's raising a family with the woman as the breadwinner instead of the man. Myrmy's friends are clique-ish. It reminds me of real people I've met/seen where they all have to say the right things, and do the right things, be the right person and they're all faking it.

I loved how chapter four starts off telling why Dan turned west instead of east on Route 5A and by the end leaves me clutching at my heartstrings. He went from explaining his turn west as an independent action, one of very few in his life, to his job as a tie salesman to army experiments to his life now as husband to a successful executive ad writer. This chapter makes me love the character and reminds me that everyone has their reasons.

The spouses at times seemed to dislike each other but despite the resentments, catty friends, hectic schedules, nurses coming and going, they shared a love for each other as they worked together to raise their family.

Here are some quotes I especially enjoyed:

"It's surprising how loud teardrops are when they've got something hard to hit."

"Something hot and mulchy is going on in his gut, and the secret is out."

"Cells are born and cells divide and somewhere in their nuclei rumors started spreading."

"Drop the 's' from the 'us' and all you're left with is little old 'u.'"

"To see me come out the other side of almost dead, new and improved, a Phoenix with not a dusting of ash on my wings..."

"The end of a man's life, his last heartbeat, made no more noticeable to the sleeping than the air we breathe."

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gets three stars because I think it goes way overboard with the metaphors. I like that this story wasn't so much a story of who did what to get to there and how this situation happened...but more a snapshot into the lives of Myrmy and Dan and their family, and when it did that I enjoyed what the story was about and thought it was at it's strongest. It's when the descriptions become existential and the sentences last for two paragraphs that my mind would wander.

Maybe it's just me because this is definitely a different style of writing and I can appreciate it for what it is and for trying to tell what may have been a boring story in an interesting way. This style just isn't for me though.

But this is not to say I didn't like it altogether. I loved the dynamic between Myrmy and Dan and how their gender roles were challenged, this being set in the 60's and while both worked, Myrmy is the main bread winner. It was interesting that Dan never seemed to harbor any resentment toward her for that...there were others reasons for resentment, but that comes with a long marriage.

I thought it was interesting, if a little unbelievable, that Mrymy being who she is made out to be in the book did both roles, mother and working girl, so well. But maybe some people have it in them to make both roles work.

What I dislike most is the style of writing, it took me out of the story many times and I would have to re-read what I just read because I would turn a page and not know what happened. I just zoned out.

What I like most is that this book makes you think. I can always appreciate books that do that.

[Dianah (onourpath) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Hill's first novel, When All is Said & Done is an illuminating meditation on marriage: first the brilliant shock of love, soon followed by the minutiae of domestic life, the chaos of child rearing, the interference of career, the fighting, the bristling, the settling, the sense of family despite all, the eventual crisis, and the recovery -- or not -- from that crisis. Told in alternating chapters; first the wife, and then the husband, a portrait of marriage begins to appear: both happy and unhappy.

Hill has the rare talent of articulating both the hilarity and the pathos that inevitably mark such a relationship. With Hill's amazing prose and his skill for wringing something completely new from the English language, When All is Said & Done is a stellar debut.

[Ariel Starzinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stream of consciousness style feels a bit cumbersome at times. The reader glimpses the realities of life through the eyes of husband and wife- memories, the journey, joys, difficulties and losses. At times, though the story is heavy with cliched metaphor. Get past this, and there's some memorable bits artfully constructed.

[John Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

AN amazing book that shows a true writer at work. Pitch perfect in capturing the swirl of family life, love, friends, children, sex. And through it all Mr Hill treats his characters with a clear eye as well and sympathy and even tenderness. I think this book is a must read.

[Omri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a hidden gem. It is the most subtle and poetic meditation on love, life, and marriage that I have ever read. The writing style is unlike anything else.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very strange book.

[Angie Agerter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank goodness for the ending of this book. I didn't enjoy this book though, but the ending made the read worthwhile.

[Rhonda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy reading local authors!