She's Come Undone
Ratings105
Average rating3.6
Oprah this or Oprah that... I really don't care. Bottom line...I would come undone, too, if life threw all of the crap at me that it very unreasonably throws at this unlikely protagonist.
Gave up around page 299 after trying too long to give the book a chance. There were multiple days I didn't read it at all because of how much I wasn't enjoying it.
I really don't remember being as pleasantly surprised ever in my life as I was from this book. My neighbor lended it to me and I accepted it because I trust her taste and she tends to give me the most meaningful reads possible. Never in my time as a reader has a heroine grew more on me than in this book. I felt like I was going through the journey with her, the journey of her life.
She's Come Undone is a story about Dolores' life and all the trials and tribulations that she goes through. It wasn't the most uplifting book for the majority of the novel but then it made a grand comeback and blew me completely away with the complete significance of everything! Dolores is someone that I initially had a hard time relating to, mostly because I dealt with my obstacles in life differently but her growth all throughout the book, that's what really just made her unforgettable in my heart and soul. She's so flawed and sometimes she gives into her demons but at the end of the day, she never gives up. Ah, I felt like she was my best friend by the end of the book because even though she wasn't perfect, she was completely, honestly herself and just like we saw her through her worst moments, we also saw her through the most beautiful ones. I feel like she's not the only one who grew and developed throughout the novel, I did to.
Aside from the superb main character, the story itself was woven beautifully all throughout her life and we took a journey right along with her. I don't really cry often from books but this one made me tear up on more than one occasion because of how epic and yet almost completely simplistic her life journey was. The writing was so beautiful, it made the story almost undeniably understated in a way but in a way that was also able to portray the beauty of life, even in the darkest moments. Because let's be honest, our experiences shape all of us and we all react to those experiences in different ways and yet that doesn't take any of the beauty out of it, it just makes it that much more meaningful.
All in all, this is going into the list of the best reading masterpieces I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing in my life and I would recommend it to anyone! It's so meaningful, humorous and just deeply touching that you are missing out on an amazing reading experience if you don't read it. I personally think everyone needs to read this book at least once in their life because it's one of those books that will help you grow in more ways than one.
High-low melodrama,
Sustained sublime passages,
Peak Bildungsroman.
Oprah was right.
A lot of reviews on this book claimed that Wally Lamb had no clue about what women felt. I 100% disagree, as a woman who has experienced some of what Dolores went through I think he was spot on. I rooted for Dolores the entire story and was glad at how the book ended. I'm a new Wally Lamb fan.
My first Oprah...in every way, a classic Oprah read...very bleak and depressing, but very true.
I had no idea this genre existed...what I would call “women's fiction.” People and relationships.