The Three Weissmanns of Westport

once was enough

I like Schine's writing and wanted to read this so much that I mistakenly bought it twice! Once turned out to be enough -- I never found the characters to be convincing enough for me to really care about them or believe that they were connected in any way beyond the plot contrivances. It absorbed me more at the beginning and at the ending, but the middle was a long lull at the beach.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Really enjoyable reading day

This was the first of Cathleen Schine's books that I've read but I enjoyed it enough that I've purchased a few others of hers. The book takes place in CT and NY, both very familiar places to me. The character types are also familiar but because of that, I enjoyed it even more. Sharply drawn characters and detailed depiction of different types of women who all depend on each other.

Loved her unique writing style. It struck me as a bit old-fashioned but because the book discussed very current themes, it made the whole experience even more enjoyable.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Three Women go to the beach because they are having Men Trouble

This book was made out to be much better than it actually was. It was not very real and I was tired about hearing about all of the rejection from men. Life is more about life than men and who cares if they reject you. There is so much more about life than evolving yourself around men. I wished I would not have wasted my time!!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

The Weissmanns are Wonderful

A thoroughly enjoybale read that pulled me into the lives and travails of the characters instantly. Those quirky, charming, colorful and memorable characters. You care about them becasue they are so human and offbeat. I found that it was too short a story and would have loved to be with them a little longer. Perhaps the saga of the Weissmann women could go on and all the intersecting characters and subplots could as well. With flashbacks, of course. i have already recommended it to friends. And because I enjoyed it so much, I have become interested in reading more of author Cathleen Schine's work with which I was not familiar. I became interested enough to order this book after reading a review in the Sunday New York Times Book Review.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

My apologies to the writer.

I simply could not get into this book and only read about half of it. The plot idea was so intriguing, and I was really excited about reading it. I even went to the store to pick it up right away because I couldn't wait for shipping. Very disappointed with the characters. They were so silly and self-centered. Perhaps someday I will pick it up again, but cannot think of a good reason why when there are so many good books out there to read.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

This is not Jane Austen

This is the wordiest book! This book is for people who delight in other people's suffering. It was very overwhelming in that so many things happened to the characters. Sometimes there was a smile, but most times it was a furrowed brow.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

a comic novel with depth of feeling!

loved the characters and was contantly surprised by the plot despite the Austin homage. A lovely intelligent novel about family relationships and the stages of romantic love.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Disappointing

After reading a number of wonderful reviews of this book, I could not wait to buy and read it. I even recommended it to my book group. Instead of a nuanced, classic read, I found this book to be flat and the characters, for the most part, uninteresting. I found that I mostly did not care about what happened to any of them in the end. My advice for would-be readers is to stick with Sense and Sensibility.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Not my favorite

This was mildly entertaining quick read

Horrible

Only finished because it was our book club read. Terrible characters, stupid story. Don't waste your time.

Witty and delightful

I really loved the shadow of "Sense and Sensibility" in the storyline of the book. Since S and S is my fav of the Austen books it was fun to anticipate how the story would turn to follow the original story line. It is certainly not the same story -but similar nonetheless. Fast easy read.

DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME!

This book was terrible. I could barely get through it. It was painful to read. If I could give it no stars, I would.

I couldn't wait to finish it because it was so boring.

The first few pages of this book seemed interesting. However, the more I read, the more boring it became. I was confused by all the different characters and how they were involved with each other. I finished the book even though I thought it was a complete waste of my time and money.

Jane Austen's books are classics for a reason--leave them alone!

I absolutely hated this book. HATED. I kept hearing so many good things about it (reviews, not word of mouth) so when the library got a copy in, I decided to give it a shot. I hated it fairly early on. I forgot that it was based on Sense & Sensibility, one of my favorite Jane Austen novels, so when I recognized this fact (pretty early on--you are pretty much beat over the head with it plot/character similarities) I was annoyed. It was just so irritating to have this author subvert a gloriously written classic novel into her boring prose and annoying characters. Schine didn't just base this novel on S&S, she pretty much followed it to the extent that it was distracting--I began anticipating the plot and renaming the characters in my head (oh, yeah, this is so and so from S&S). While I love Jane Austen's characters, despite and because of their flaws, I found Schine's characters simply ineffectual, stupid, and annoying. I found absolutely nothing humorous in the book, and couldn't relate to the wealthy NYC Jewish-ness of the characters. I began skimming about 3/4 of the way thru because I found it too irritating to read every sentence. I didn't care about the ending and how anyone ended up. Awful, awful book.

Major disappointment

Couldnt wait to read this book because of all the hype- and now cant understand all the hype!! This is NO Jane Austin. It has every clicque possible; with the possible exception of child molestation. While it is refreshing to have the main characters adults, all have major flaws, and not real lives.More is missing in plot and characterization than is included. Would not recommend this book at all.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A Glimpse of Modern Life.

This is a glimpse into the lives of three women living in today's world. a major upset in the life of one effects the lives and living arrangements of all three. Change occurs when you least expect it. A very good read and very believable.

Excellent

Excellent book. Interesting character studies plus humor. Very good narrator.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Not Bad for a rainy day

I found the book intriguing but I was a little disappointed in the way it ended...the character development was good and you could visualize them all.
I am glad that I read it.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Interesting read

The Three Weismanns of Westport is a quirky look at the life of three rather unusual women. An interesting story, but the ending strains creduli;ty a bit. I would recommend it. There were moments in it that made me smile.

The Three Weissmanns of Westport Great Fun

Cathleen Schine puts a modern Jewish spin on Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. Her characters are well drawn and just offbeat enough to be very interesting. The ending is surprising and satisfying. I felt a lot of empathy for the main characters even though they are far from perfect. It made me want to read her earlier books like Love Letters.
A great summer read.