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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

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.


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

The Peculiar Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender was book of the month for my book group. This is not a book that I would have picked up otherwise. Still, I have often said that one good reason for joining a book group is to read out of my comfort zone. The Peculiar Sadness of Lemon Cake was certainly out of my comfort zone!

I had never heard of the author prior to reading her book. Aimee Bender was born and raised in Santa Monica, California, USA. She received a bachelor’s degree in theater from the University of California, San Diego, in 1991 and studied for her Masters Degree in fine arts program at the University of California, Irvine. Bender is acclaimed as a unique writer of her time. Her wordplay and use of metaphors set her apart from her peers. There is no doubt she is a clever woman.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake was a very unusual story. Rose Edelstein, on the eve of her ninth birthday, discovers that she can taste the emotions of her mother in the homemade lemon-chocolate birthday cake she made. All at once Rose's cheerful, can-do mother tastes of despair and desperation. Suddenly, and for the rest of her life, food becomes perilous. Anything can be revealed at any meal. Eating becomes frightening for Rose. This is a strange household with Rose's brother disappearing and reappearing as well as almost absent parents.

The Particular Sadness Of Lemon Cake was a story that presented a very interesting premise and the relationships between Rose, George and her brother were interesting. Also, the mystery surrounding the protagonist's brother kept me reading even when story dragged and the writing style grated on my nerves. I think punctuation and quotation marks are important because they help me sort out the type of prose I am reading. This author does not seem to consider that to be important.

This story is very hard to describe but I read it straight through. Largely, to get to the end of it and get rid of it. This was not a book I enjoyed, nor could I recommend it. I will not seek out any further novels by Aimee Bender.
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.