∎ [PDF] Gratis The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake A Novel Aimee Bender 9780385501125 Books

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake A Novel Aimee Bender 9780385501125 Books

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The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake A Novel Aimee Bender 9780385501125 Books

What an odd little book.

Rose is about to turn nine when she takes a bite of her mother's freshly-baked lemon cake and is overcome by loneliness, sadness and need. It's clear to her that these are things her mother is feeling, and from that moment on, every ounce of food that enters Rose's mouth is a devastating look into the life of whoever made it.

While Rose is busy dealing with her newfound gift -- or curse -- her kind, but uninvolved father is clueless to his wife's needs, and her brother is disappearing into himself... almost literally.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake is a strange book and I'm not entirely sure what to make of it. I liked it, and found Rose a sympathetic, engaging character. In fact, all of the characters were interesting enough to make me want to see the book through to the end. And the introduction of magical realism was done well, so that -- by the end -- I wasn't left feeling unsatisfied by unanswered questions.

But I found the book a bit depressing. I wanted more out of life for Rose, and for her family. And yet, at the end, each character had merely learned to cope with life in their own, unique way. Which, I suppose, is more realistic than not.


Tags : The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake: A Novel [Aimee Bender] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <b>The wondrous Aimee Bender conjures the lush and moving story of a girl whose magical gift is really a devastating curse. </b> On the eve of her ninth birthday,Aimee Bender,The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake: A Novel,Doubleday,0385501129,Family secrets;Fiction.,Psychological fiction.,Taste;Fiction.,American Contemporary Fiction - Individual Authors +,Bildungsromans,Family secrets,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction Literary,Literary,Taste

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake A Novel Aimee Bender 9780385501125 Books Reviews

Such a lovely, lyrical book. The emotions hover around the edges waiting to unfold. We see only glimpses of the interior lives of the characters, but enough to know they are like us more hidden than revealed. The narration flows like a story should, we see moments in time without intervening detail. We recognize that most days aren't eventful. There is magic here, but an almost ordinary magic. Tasting feeling in food. It could happen, you could get used to it, adjust to it. The strangeness at the end of the book (no spoiler alert, just know it is strange) seems too much, too sudden, too abrupt. And then the book ends. I understand the author is a short story writer. They don't specialize in endings. This book just ends. I was left feeling like someone had slammed the brakes. But I still recommend it. Just live with the ending. The rest is worth it.
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake is like a sustained dream - at times normal-feeling, then a little odd, then very unsettling, intriguing. And also like a dream, Lemon Cake ends with some of the most intriguing questions raised by Aimee Bender ultimately unanswered; the reader sees a little light, a few, small things become a bit clearer, and then the dream is over, and the reader is lifted out of it, left with a fascination for the dream world and, most of all, the emotional residue.

I think that's my favorite aspect of this book - the emotional effects that Bender's writing produced. Much like Rose discovers that she can use the medium of taste to feel emotions in a strange, unresolved way, Bender's language and imagery accomplished this same transaction through the medium of words. I think my favorite moment of the novel was Rose's discovery of her brother Joseph, sitting in his apartment, quiet, alone, in the midst of a literal disappearing act - the leg of a chair strangely substituted for his own leg. I felt something funny in my stomach that must have been akin to what Rose felt, seeing a chair leg sitting inside of her brother's shoe - uneasiness, fear, confusion, a sense of something very wrong unfolding, but more than anything else, pure captivation.

The novel also serves as a sort of coming-of-age story, following Rose from the day she first discovers her ability throughout the remainder of her education, and into her post-academic life. These parts of the story are remarkably human, in the context of the oddities that Bender litters throughout the text Rose struggles to understand why her parents' marriage is disintegrating, she navigates her way through friendships that begin to fail as high school comes to an end, she tries to manage a long-standing crush on her brother's best friend but ends up fooling around with a jock who means nothing to her instead. And Bender also gives the reader a sense of family history, which gives even greater depth to the world of the novel.

Lemon Cake is a great piece of magical realism, as is the collection of Bender's short stories which I've also read, Willful Creatures. It's certainly not for everyone, and Bender's refusal to answer what are perhaps the most captivating questions she raises - the questions of magical realism - will leave some readers frustrated and unsatisfied. But if you feel like taking a trip into a bizarre story world for a little while, and if you can accept from the outset that, like a dream, the pieces aren't always going to fit together or be properly explained to you, then I definitely recommend The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake.
What an odd little book.

Rose is about to turn nine when she takes a bite of her mother's freshly-baked lemon cake and is overcome by loneliness, sadness and need. It's clear to her that these are things her mother is feeling, and from that moment on, every ounce of food that enters Rose's mouth is a devastating look into the life of whoever made it.

While Rose is busy dealing with her newfound gift -- or curse -- her kind, but uninvolved father is clueless to his wife's needs, and her brother is disappearing into himself... almost literally.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake is a strange book and I'm not entirely sure what to make of it. I liked it, and found Rose a sympathetic, engaging character. In fact, all of the characters were interesting enough to make me want to see the book through to the end. And the introduction of magical realism was done well, so that -- by the end -- I wasn't left feeling unsatisfied by unanswered questions.

But I found the book a bit depressing. I wanted more out of life for Rose, and for her family. And yet, at the end, each character had merely learned to cope with life in their own, unique way. Which, I suppose, is more realistic than not.