Book Log: What I Saw and How I Lied

[penmage]

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

Evie is fifteen when the war ends and her beloved stepfather Joe finally comes home. She and her mother have waited a long time for Joe--first, the long years while her mother was raising her on her own, and now for the three years since Joe went off to war. But now he's back, and they're going to be a family, the way they were always meant to be.

That's when Peter Coleridge shows up, an old war buddy of Joe's. He's handsome and charismatic, and Evie is drawn to him. All Evie can see is the first man she's ever fallen for--the first man with whom she feels like a woman instead of a kid.

It's all too easy for Evie to ignore the web of lies and deceit that have come into their lives along with Peter, and so she does--until on one fateful day, everything comes to a head in one tragic moment that will force Evie to see everything as it really is.

And in that moment, Evie has to make a choice that will determine where her loyalties lie, and what kind of a person she is, and what kind of person she wants to be.

The trouble with award-winning books is that the expectations are too high. I am fairly sure that if I had read this before it was even a twinkle in the National Book Award committee's eye, I would have been more impressed.

But going into it knowing that it won the NBA, all I could think of was this won over Chains? Really? This?

It's a good book. Very well-written, with a lot of emotional punch behind a very subtle exterior. It's a train wreck of a book deliberately--starting at a point towards the disastrous end, so you know that no matter the outcome, things are going to be No Good by the time you get there.

The real strength of the book is watching Evie grow, subtly, from an emotional child to an emotional woman. The loss of innocence, the loss of complete trust in parental figures. The reimagining of truth, justice and the American Way. The way the war is a metaphor for everything that we lose.

The more I think about it, the more I like it, actually. This is a book that you think is hitting you over the head with it's story--but the emotional core of the story is subtler and far more haunting than the surface story.

Comments

[fox1013.livejournal.com]

I agree with you: the longer time since I've read it, the more I appreciate the book, and the story it was telling underneath the story it told.

I like that even at the end, we're not SURE of anything- we know what happened, we can put the pieces together, but just like Evie we'll never actually KNOW, especially because everyone was lying and everyone had secrets and stuff.

I'm really glad it won the National Book Award, because just looking at the cover I thought there wasn't a chance in hell I would be willing to read it, and I'm happy I have.

[penmage.livejournal.com]

Out of the three NBA finalist that I've read--this, Frankie Landau-Banks, and Chains--I still think Chains is the best of them. So I still think Chains should have won.

Honestly, you wouldn't have read it just for being nominated? I always want to read everything on the shortlists for these awards--the winner is almost inconsequential, because all the shortlisted books get added to my to-read list anyway.

[fox1013.livejournal.com]

I think I would have eventually, but I bought it the day the winner was announced because I wanted a copy before the medal obscured the cover design.

(No, seriously. This was my #1 priority.)

I haven't read Chains, so I can't say, but yeah, the nomination does make me want to. Which I guess proves your point. *grins*

[penmage.livejournal.com]

I totally get where you're at about the medal and the cover design, but the non-winner finalists get a silver medal on the covers too.

[fox1013.livejournal.com]

...I am not entirely sure how that didn't occur to me. DAMMIT.

*adds to list of things to buy tomorrow*

I just want my books to look pretty!

[penmage.livejournal.com]

I totally agree. I think the Chains cover with the medal looks like it's coming out of Isabel's armpit.

Um, you better get there fast. Chains won the Scott O'Dell award.

And I'm hoping for a Newbery for it.

[eyelid.livejournal.com]

The loss of innocence, the loss of complete trust in parental figures.

wow, I don't think Isaac EVER had complete trust in us ;)

[penmage.livejournal.com]

You know how there's a point in growing up where you start to realize that your parents can make mistakes? That they're people and the decisions they make don't come from on high?

Yeah. That's where this book hits home.

[eyelid.livejournal.com]

You know how there's a point in growing up where you start to realize that your parents can make mistakes?

I know that some people have such moments. But Isaac is already aware of this. He's been telling us we are wrong ever since he's been more than basically sentient. ;)