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Házas-társas (2014)

by Matthew Norman(Favorite Author)

3.82 of 5 Votes: 4

languge

English

genre

Humor

publisher

Erawan

review 1: I liked this book. The only reason I would go with 3 stars instead of 4 is because this book falls into the pattern of a lot of "guy finding himself" books where the male protagonist makes unwise choices but the wife/girlfriend makes choices just as bad if not worse. In other words, Tom could not have cheated on his wife while she was patiently waiting for him to get his life together. She had to have an affair too- which somehow justifies or excuses his behavior. I see this pattern in a lot of books like this- written by young 30-something guys- "yeah, I slept with another woman but she started it!" Just annoying. Men can be flawed and still be a positive protagonist. The cheating wife is not necessary. I would have still liked Tom as a character and still sympath... moreized with him- even if his wife was completely faithful. Muddying the waters to make us feel more empathy towards Tom is unnecessary.
review 2: “It’s just one of the best novels in this genre I have read thus far”“Domestic Violets” was written by Matthew Norman. Mr. Norman, a native from Nebraska, attended the University of Nebraska where he studied advertising and English. He earned an MFA in fiction writing at George Mason University and has published a number of short stories in various literary magazines. Matthew Norman lives with his wife and daughter in the Baltimore, Maryland area where he is employed a copywriter. “Domestic Violets” is his first novel.This novel would be classified in the Melodrama genre; a human interest story. The writing is variously complex, expressing wit, sentimentality with a bare look at our human weaknesses and peculiarities. The prose achieves a kind of familiarity derived from thoughts expressed; rarely experienced in fiction novels with as much success as Norman maintains in this one. The tale is narrated in the first person by the main character with other character dialog interspersed throughout.“Domestic Violets” is a soap opera, not exactly in the same realm as “Days of Our Lives” but soapy just the same. It centers on the life of one Thomas Violet, his wife Anna and little girl Allie – oh, also the family dog Hank, who doesn’t contribute anything to the story but makes himself feel necessary. From this point on, we get introduced to all the rest of Tom’s wacky family members; his famous father Curtis Violet, a philanderer, but also a successful fiction writer on course to receive a Pulitzer, and Tom’s mother (Maryanne), step mother (Ashley) and step father (Gary). Tom’s mother, Maryanne, is separated from his stepfather, Gary, and Gary is trying desperately to get back with her; Tom’s father is separated from Ashley and Ashley desperately wants to get back together with Curtis. Curtis, in the meantime, is trying to cultivate a relationship with Sonya his literary agent. As the story opens, we find Tom working for a company as a copywriter, where he has an awkward relationship with one of his female coworkers and a palatable dislike for one of the copy editors; all of which eventually leads to a dramatic change in Tom’s life.You just have to like this novel. I didn’t think that I would but I couldn’t put it down. The writing was just terrific. Some of the “smart-ass” dialog was funny and engaging. Tom Violet has a sassy personality that comes across as smoothly as you can imagine. There’s more to the story though. There is some real emotional human drama played out between Tom and his father, Curtis, and between Tom and his wife Anna. This emotional drama makes the composition and characters feel real and provide some serious contemplation of our relationships and what they mean.I highly recommend this work be added to your reading list. I rate this novel “Memorable”. less

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