Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Voice (2008), Edition: Reprint, Paperback, 384 pages
Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER -- the debut novel by the acclaimed author of Fates and Furies. "The day I returned to Templeton steeped in disgrace, the fifty-foot corpse of a monster surfaced in Lake Glimmerglass." So begins The Monsters of Templeton, a novel spanning two centuries: part contemporary story of a girl's search for her father; part historical novel; and part ghost story. In the wake of a disastrous love affair with her older, married archaeology professor at Stanford, brilliant Wilhelmina Cooper arrives back at the doorstep of her hippie mother-turned-born-again-Christian's house in Templeton, NY, a storybook town her ancestors founded that sits on the shores of Lake Glimmerglass. Upon her arrival, a prehistoric monster surfaces in the lake bringing a feeding frenzy to the quiet town, and Willie learns she has a mystery father, one her mother kept secret Willie's entire life. The beautiful, broody Willie is told that the key to her biological father's identity lies somewhere in her family's history, so she buries herself in the research of her twisted family tree and finds more than she bargained for as a chorus of voices from the town's past--some sinister, all fascinating--rise up around her to tell their side of the story. In the end, dark secrets come to light, past and present day are blurred, and old mysteries are finally put to rest. The Monsters of Templeton is a fresh, virtuoso performance that has placed Lauren Groff among the best writers of today.… (more)
Media reviews
A first-time novelist sets herself a nearly impossible task by employing characters invented by a novelist acknowledged as an American master. Unlike James Fenimore Cooper, though, Groff can write. . . And while I loved the unintentional effrontery of showing up that unreadable great, I was also
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conscious of being a captive audience at a recital. . . “The Monsters of Templeton” is propelled, and undone, by ambition. Show Less
The result is a pleasurably surreal cross between The Stone Diaries and Kind Hearts and Coronets.
The trouble with “The Monsters of Templeton” is that its complications seem nonstop. . . Ms. Groff’s inexperience shows in this overcrowding, as it does in overly mellifluous turns of phrase (“the deer darting startled through the dark”). And she tries out more voices and documents than
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she can comfortably create. Show Less
The whole find-your-real-dad scavenger hunt is a little contrived. . . But Groff has concocted such a rich trove of source documents – portraits, old letters, journal entries, and reminiscences by characters lifted from Fenimore Cooper's writings – that readers will be too busy gleefully
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burrowing into the fictitious past she has created to mind. Show Less
[A] delightful and challenging novel. . . Groff breathes new life into her vivid characters, even those on loan from Cooper's novels.
Lauren Groff's multilayered saga, The Monsters of Templeton, both thrills and delights with its poignant, breathtaking prose.
The Globe and Mail
It is an astounding debut, in which Groff's talent is evident from structural complexity to exuberant and unique writing style.
User reviews
LibraryThing member MissMermaid118
Wow! This one is really different! A little bit ghost story, a little bit coming of age, a bit more commentary on modern life, and a lot of historical fiction. A woman searches through her family and town's history in an effort to identify the father she has never known. The chapters on frontier
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history are especially fascinating. The heroine seems immature for pushing 30, but that's where the "coming of age" part comes in. She does grow up! All in all, an entertaining and compelling read. I'm looking forward to more by this author. Show Less
LibraryThing member SugarCreekRanch
The writing is wonderful, but the story is odd. The most interesting part is the monster in the lake of a small town. But the bulk of it is a young woman's research into family and town history, to determine who her father is. I wish there had been more monsters.
LibraryThing member CasualFriday
I figured a book that started out with a dead "Loch Ness" type creature found in a like would hold my attention. Well, I made it to about page 75 and gave up. Perhaps it got really, really good around page 76, but up until then, I just disliked the main character and kept wondering when the hell
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the monsters would show up. Show Less
LibraryThing member demonite93
I would love to write some big long in depth analysis of this book but really if your reading this and you haven't read the book...... stop reading this, get into you transportaion(car, bus, friends car, bike, chevrolegs.. whatever) go to the library/book store and get this book. It's not some life
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changing awe inspiring though put to ink. But I have to say that it is a fantastic book and a strange one. It's on my definate re-read list. Check it out. Show Less
LibraryThing member mostlyliterary
This book received a lot of positive reviews, and has been highlighted as great for book group discussions. There was a lot I liked about this book, but it just didn't come together as a whole for me. Although I often like books that have fantastical elements, the ghost in this book felt contrived.
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I liked the descriptions of the ancient, mysterious lake monster, but it didn't feel integrated sufficiently with the story as a whole. I liked but didn't love many of the characters. (I found it hard to believe that Willie wasn't furious with her mother for casually telling her that she had been lying about who her father might have been, and for withholding his identity -- yeah, I know she was handing this challenge to her as a way to get her out of a funk -- but it felt a bit too unbelievable and contrived to me.) The historical characters were interesting, and I liked the secrets that were discovered. Maybe my problem with the book is that I felt she tried to do too much with it. Too many themes and tangents. Show Less
LibraryThing member victorianrose869
9-22-2008
I suggested this book for our book club based on some positive reviews I saw on BookPage and The New York Times, but I’m sorry to say I ended up regretting it. It was a struggle to get through.
At twenty-eight, Wilhelmina “Willie” Upton finds herself coming home to her little
She’s baffled and more than a little dismayed to find that not only has Vi found Jesus and taken to wearing an enormous cross around her neck, she has also decided to drop a bomb on Willie in regards to her parentage: that instead of the nameless man who supposedly sired her back in Vi’s free-love hippie commune days, Willie’s real father is someone right there at home, a Templeton resident who, like Willie and Vi, is a descendant of the town’s illustrious fathers. Willie spends the rest of the book pining about her professor, wondering what to do about The Lump (her moniker for the baby she’s carrying), and reading up on the town’s history to try and figure out who her father is (her mother won’t come out and tell her, but says she’ll confirm it if Willie can manage to figure it out).
Groff is a talented writer, I think, and for a first novel it’s not bad, per se. I just found it very hard to care about Willie, Vi, or any of the other characters except maybe Glimmey, the not-so-mythical Nessie-like creature who heaves herself up from the town’s lake, confirming her existence once and for all. Willie is so neurotic and annoying that I don’t think I could stand her if she were a real person. For one thing – and I know this will make me sound like the shallowest bitch ever – I simply could not suspend my disbelief enough to swallow the idea that a young, beautiful woman is seriously lamenting a married, ugly, weak-chinned, paunchy, cowardly man she herself refers to as “Mr. Toad”. Even aside from the fact that he’s a cad, the man just sounds so repulsive. In the timeless expression of teens everywhere: “Ewwwwwwwwww!”
I also thought the “find your daddy” bit pretty lame. Her mother won’t just come out and tell Willie who her father is, but if she happens to find out on her own she’ll let her know if she’s right? How stupid is that? Of course the reason given is that Willie had to do this searching on her own in order to come to some inner realization about herself or some such thing, but of course it’s really just a weak mechanism to enable Willie’s character to gad about town, digging in libraries and interviewing crotchety old ladies with long memories – which sounds like fun in and of itself, mind you, but as a plot was thinner than a Britney Spears outfit.
All in all, this one was a dud for me. A fairly well-written dud, admittedly, but a dud nonetheless.
I suggested this book for our book club based on some positive reviews I saw on BookPage and The New York Times, but I’m sorry to say I ended up regretting it. It was a struggle to get through.
At twenty-eight, Wilhelmina “Willie” Upton finds herself coming home to her little
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hometown of Templeton, New York, pregnant and reeling from a misguided affair with her married graduate school archaeology professor. Hoping to re-orient herself and decide what to do next, Willie figures a trip home and a visit with her scandalously hippie mother, Vivienne, will help her figure things out. She’s baffled and more than a little dismayed to find that not only has Vi found Jesus and taken to wearing an enormous cross around her neck, she has also decided to drop a bomb on Willie in regards to her parentage: that instead of the nameless man who supposedly sired her back in Vi’s free-love hippie commune days, Willie’s real father is someone right there at home, a Templeton resident who, like Willie and Vi, is a descendant of the town’s illustrious fathers. Willie spends the rest of the book pining about her professor, wondering what to do about The Lump (her moniker for the baby she’s carrying), and reading up on the town’s history to try and figure out who her father is (her mother won’t come out and tell her, but says she’ll confirm it if Willie can manage to figure it out).
Groff is a talented writer, I think, and for a first novel it’s not bad, per se. I just found it very hard to care about Willie, Vi, or any of the other characters except maybe Glimmey, the not-so-mythical Nessie-like creature who heaves herself up from the town’s lake, confirming her existence once and for all. Willie is so neurotic and annoying that I don’t think I could stand her if she were a real person. For one thing – and I know this will make me sound like the shallowest bitch ever – I simply could not suspend my disbelief enough to swallow the idea that a young, beautiful woman is seriously lamenting a married, ugly, weak-chinned, paunchy, cowardly man she herself refers to as “Mr. Toad”. Even aside from the fact that he’s a cad, the man just sounds so repulsive. In the timeless expression of teens everywhere: “Ewwwwwwwwww!”
I also thought the “find your daddy” bit pretty lame. Her mother won’t just come out and tell Willie who her father is, but if she happens to find out on her own she’ll let her know if she’s right? How stupid is that? Of course the reason given is that Willie had to do this searching on her own in order to come to some inner realization about herself or some such thing, but of course it’s really just a weak mechanism to enable Willie’s character to gad about town, digging in libraries and interviewing crotchety old ladies with long memories – which sounds like fun in and of itself, mind you, but as a plot was thinner than a Britney Spears outfit.
All in all, this one was a dud for me. A fairly well-written dud, admittedly, but a dud nonetheless.
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LibraryThing member raefichter
I think what I love most about this book was its casual magic. The fantastic beasts, human and otherwise, populating this novel are always believable. You can't help but be dragged into Willie Upton's world with its ghosts and family secrets.
LibraryThing member lyzadanger
Both quiet and compelling, Groff's imperfect but lulling multi-generational tale of a neurotic family in small-town upstate New York is charming if not a masterpiece. And the sea monster is sweet, if not profound (expect some bang-you-over-the-head symbolism).
Despite frequently-updated family tree
Groff is clearly enamored with her own personal setting and background: she explains in the preface that patriarchal writer Joseph Temple is based on John Fenimore Cooper and goes so far as to bring Cooper's characters back to life (Natty Bumppo, Chingachgook) and reworking his hometown of Cooperstown into the novel's eponymous Templeton. This trick is more clever than integral to the novel's core meaning.
We are introduced into Templeton's sphere by way of Willie, a late-twenty-something grad student who is simultaneously too precocious to be believed and woefully naive. Her own personal crisis leads her to investigate the realities of her own family, realities that suddenly become more complex. Told in many voices and through many generations, "Templeton" is not without its flaws--slightly unbelievable 19th-century stylizings, a bit too clean and peachy at times, and clearly a first novel--but it is enjoyable and worthwhile. A noble first effort from Groff. Hope to see more.
Despite frequently-updated family tree
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diagrams throughout the book, keeping the generations of the Temple and Averell and Upton flocks of protagonist Willie's family sorted out is not a minor feat. It's easy to get lost in the branches. But for readers who are suckers for multi-generational family affairs (I am looking at myself here), the book is formulaically digestible: emotional secrets, historical ephemera woven in with mythology, madness, sadness and love. Groff is clearly enamored with her own personal setting and background: she explains in the preface that patriarchal writer Joseph Temple is based on John Fenimore Cooper and goes so far as to bring Cooper's characters back to life (Natty Bumppo, Chingachgook) and reworking his hometown of Cooperstown into the novel's eponymous Templeton. This trick is more clever than integral to the novel's core meaning.
We are introduced into Templeton's sphere by way of Willie, a late-twenty-something grad student who is simultaneously too precocious to be believed and woefully naive. Her own personal crisis leads her to investigate the realities of her own family, realities that suddenly become more complex. Told in many voices and through many generations, "Templeton" is not without its flaws--slightly unbelievable 19th-century stylizings, a bit too clean and peachy at times, and clearly a first novel--but it is enjoyable and worthwhile. A noble first effort from Groff. Hope to see more.
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LibraryThing member lucybrown
This book is a bad book which wants to be a good book; it plunks in all the I'm a worthy book hooks. That is not the same thing as Anthony Powell's saying Fitzgerald was a bad writer who forced himself to become a great writer. Where to begin with this books problems? When did this most current
As awful as much of this book is, it is compulsively readable if one doesn't mind the frequent flinching that accompanies every page. It's a lot like a bad joke.
Did I mention the Loch Ness-type monster, the telekinetic fire starter, and nearly every "cide", but suicide...which now that I think about it might have been an improvement. Then there are the totally useless chapters such as the Running Buds, a group of middle age men who run together, have for years. Really, they call themselves that!
Anyhow, the running bud chapters are some of the most irritating. I don't know if with these pseudo poetic chapters the author was going for a Whitman link or what, but it produces a very high BLECH factor.
Then what is this with stealing names of J. F. Cooper's characters and assigning them to her ficitous author.
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penchant for peculiar names in fiction begin? I thought The Shipping News was the last word in unnecessarily peculiar names, but really..this book's Remarkable Prettybones and Ezekial Felcher. Can there be any good reason for naming a character Felcher other than to show off ones knowledge of more or less arcane obscene terms? And the author doesn't just leave it at that, allowing those who get the reference to smirk slyly. Good grief, she explains it. Really! As awful as much of this book is, it is compulsively readable if one doesn't mind the frequent flinching that accompanies every page. It's a lot like a bad joke.
Did I mention the Loch Ness-type monster, the telekinetic fire starter, and nearly every "cide", but suicide...which now that I think about it might have been an improvement. Then there are the totally useless chapters such as the Running Buds, a group of middle age men who run together, have for years. Really, they call themselves that!
Anyhow, the running bud chapters are some of the most irritating. I don't know if with these pseudo poetic chapters the author was going for a Whitman link or what, but it produces a very high BLECH factor.
Then what is this with stealing names of J. F. Cooper's characters and assigning them to her ficitous author.
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LibraryThing member rdjanssen
The Monsters of Templeton is a modern fiction book. It is neither horror nor science fiction which is why I am confused as to why I first became aware of this book (and consequently bought and read this book) through the Science Fiction Book Club.
The book is purported to be full of villains, dark
Wilhelmina Upton returns home to Templeton from college after some personal indiscretions with her professor. Seeking solace at her childhood home her mother throws another curveball at her: her father, whom she never knew, was alive and a resident of Templeton. Rather than saying who he is Willie’s mother gives her one clue about his identity, something to do with his ancestry. The main bulk of the book follows Willie in her search through the local library and other historical documents for information on the identity of her father. Through her research she discovers that the town of Templeton had an unsavory past replete with murders, rape, bastards, and houses of ill repute.
I enjoyed the book to some degree and it did have some deeper meanings such as appearances versus substance, but it wasn’t the book I wanted it to be. Perhaps that’s a fault of the marketing plan (or the reader), but it wasn’t a book I would talk about to my wife while I was reading.
The book is purported to be full of villains, dark
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secrets, and nare-do-wells. While the book does have more than its fair share of these elements, most of them have been left to history and it is through the investigation and research of the main character that these events and personalities come to light.Wilhelmina Upton returns home to Templeton from college after some personal indiscretions with her professor. Seeking solace at her childhood home her mother throws another curveball at her: her father, whom she never knew, was alive and a resident of Templeton. Rather than saying who he is Willie’s mother gives her one clue about his identity, something to do with his ancestry. The main bulk of the book follows Willie in her search through the local library and other historical documents for information on the identity of her father. Through her research she discovers that the town of Templeton had an unsavory past replete with murders, rape, bastards, and houses of ill repute.
I enjoyed the book to some degree and it did have some deeper meanings such as appearances versus substance, but it wasn’t the book I wanted it to be. Perhaps that’s a fault of the marketing plan (or the reader), but it wasn’t a book I would talk about to my wife while I was reading.
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LibraryThing member morydd
Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff is an good read, and despite some flaws, kept me engaged. Some parts of the book felt as if they were excellent short stories that had been placed within the framework of a novel, without quite being fully integrated. The historical figures were well developed
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and richly detailed, but the contemporary characters felt less complete. Groff's love of her hometown shows through and she shows the bittersweetness of knowing that your home is not yours alone. At times the intimacy of this identification with "Templeton" was so much that it made the reader feel like they were witnessing something almost too private. As a first novel, I think Monsters of Templeton is a huge step in the right direction for Groff, and would like to see more from her in the future. Show Less
LibraryThing member murraymint11
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I liked the family history, and the interweaving of the characters from the past with the present. I liked the mystery of Willie's ancestry, and I even liked the idea of a cute benevolent monster lurking in the depths of the lake.
I felt the old photos and the
An entertaining read.
I felt the old photos and the
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ever-evolving family tree really enhanced the story.An entertaining read.
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LibraryThing member lesliecp
I adored this book! Willie Upton returns to her small upstate N.Y. town in disgrace and unsure what to do about her life. Returning home only brings more questions, a mystery to solve, a bonafide monster and friendly ghosts. This book captures how the mythology of a small town has a life of it's
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own. The chapters are written in many different voices, both past and present, but it worked for me. Highly recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member BCCJillster
Brilliant first novel uses the search for an ancestor to trace the history of Cooperstown's (aka Templeton's) most significant family. Done in a very interesting, page-turning tale. It's the false history of [[John Fenimore Cooper]] and family but so much more entertaining than that might sound.
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Simply a good well-written read. Show Less
LibraryThing member ijustgetbored
It's hard to believe that this is a debut novel, given its excellent execution and the way it showcases the author's considerable literary talents.
The plot premise is that our central character, Willie (female), has just returned home to small town New York after a disasterous (and then some)
As part of the quest for her father, Willie sets off on a genealogical hunt, dusting off and cross-examining whatever remains of her idiosyncratic ancestors. Groff creates different voices beautifully: we get to hear the voices of the people speak for themselves; we read their letters; we sample their novels; we peek into their journals. We also hear the voices of some of James Fenimore Cooper's characters, plus the voices of some of the residents of Willie's hometown. Groff calls up these voices, and each stands out. I never found myself wondering, 100 pages later, which ancestor made what statement, which would be a problem on might expect in a novel like this.
The cast is simply too eclectic to describe (so give the book a try and read them for yourself!). Once again, let me stress that Groff keeps her Dickensian cast of characters straight, whether they live in the past or present. What they have in common is that they're all colorful, enjoyable, flawed people, true to "life" as we know it. Perhaps, though, the kindest, most sensitive of all is the lake monster, who we hear from only later (I won't say when) in the novel.
Willie's search into her own past is a fascinating detective story for all of us, and it raises questions about what the past means. Groff will not philosophize at you; rather, she uses her ongoing storylines to compell the reader to think about whether the past is a solid chunk of "history" or many little details, how we know when we know enough, how the past feeds in to who we are, how it imprints who we are, etc etc.
Highly recommended.
The plot premise is that our central character, Willie (female), has just returned home to small town New York after a disasterous (and then some)
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affair with the professor directing her archaeology dig. In short order, she reveals that she believes that she is pregnant, her born-again mother retaliates by saying that Willie's father is not the random nameless hippie that she always believed him to be but, in fact someone in this very town, and a giant monster turns up dead in the lake. And that's just the first pages, mind you. As part of the quest for her father, Willie sets off on a genealogical hunt, dusting off and cross-examining whatever remains of her idiosyncratic ancestors. Groff creates different voices beautifully: we get to hear the voices of the people speak for themselves; we read their letters; we sample their novels; we peek into their journals. We also hear the voices of some of James Fenimore Cooper's characters, plus the voices of some of the residents of Willie's hometown. Groff calls up these voices, and each stands out. I never found myself wondering, 100 pages later, which ancestor made what statement, which would be a problem on might expect in a novel like this.
The cast is simply too eclectic to describe (so give the book a try and read them for yourself!). Once again, let me stress that Groff keeps her Dickensian cast of characters straight, whether they live in the past or present. What they have in common is that they're all colorful, enjoyable, flawed people, true to "life" as we know it. Perhaps, though, the kindest, most sensitive of all is the lake monster, who we hear from only later (I won't say when) in the novel.
Willie's search into her own past is a fascinating detective story for all of us, and it raises questions about what the past means. Groff will not philosophize at you; rather, she uses her ongoing storylines to compell the reader to think about whether the past is a solid chunk of "history" or many little details, how we know when we know enough, how the past feeds in to who we are, how it imprints who we are, etc etc.
Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member anneofia
Although I felt that the novel as a whole was highly flawed, the story itself, with the historical background set in Cooperstown (renamed Templeton), New York, is very well done. I was never able to warm up to the main character, Willie - she just wasn't very likeable. She has made a lot of
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mistakes and doesn't seem to learn from them. At the end of the book I got the impression that she would go on with her life making the same mistakes all over again. Her mother, Vi, while also somewhat immature, has learned something from past mistakes and is trying to make the future better. The people from the town's past come across as much more interesting than the modern ones. Their stories are fascinating, and it's interesting how Groff has each narrate his or her own part of the story. The story is original and I really loved the Cooperstown background. I remember being a tourist in Cooperstown, and the author's references to the Farmer's Museum, Baseball Hall of Fame, etc. were just as I remembered it. Show Less
LibraryThing member Alie
This is a very well written book. It combines the history of a town as well as a twisted and intriguing family history. It is a captivating story that has a hint of science fiction (monsters) that I didn't expect, but very much enjoyed. The book is definitely a page turner, and when I finished I
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wished that the book wasn't over. Show Less
LibraryThing member LukeS
Congratulations to Lauren Groff on publishing such a full and thought-provoking novel. Templeton's first and foremost monster dies in the lake by the little village - goes belly-up and, being the size of a bus, is winched up on the dock and sheltered from the sun by a canopy. Of course, the title
Groff unfolds a historic backdrop for Templeton's current cast - complete with a long story on the town's founder and a family tree. These are the real monsters, I guess. There are more rogues here than you can count; there's also insanity, serial murder, serial arson, more children born out of wedlock than within it. And that brings us to Willie Upton, the story's heroine, who undertakes a quest to find her father among the town's affable men in the generation before her.
"The Monsters of Templeton" is a noble effort - full and mature. I felt the tiniest bit like it lacked a focus - diverting descriptions, unnecessary plot directions - and became indistinct. It's a terrific first effort, make no mistake, but if Ms. Groff comes out with subsequent work that's praised, you'd do all right to start with that.
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has a plural noun, but I didn't find anyone else in the book particularly monstrous, at least in the present.Groff unfolds a historic backdrop for Templeton's current cast - complete with a long story on the town's founder and a family tree. These are the real monsters, I guess. There are more rogues here than you can count; there's also insanity, serial murder, serial arson, more children born out of wedlock than within it. And that brings us to Willie Upton, the story's heroine, who undertakes a quest to find her father among the town's affable men in the generation before her.
"The Monsters of Templeton" is a noble effort - full and mature. I felt the tiniest bit like it lacked a focus - diverting descriptions, unnecessary plot directions - and became indistinct. It's a terrific first effort, make no mistake, but if Ms. Groff comes out with subsequent work that's praised, you'd do all right to start with that.
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LibraryThing member janerawoof
An interesting book--original but ultimately forgettable. I decided to read this only because of a disguised Cooperstown where I attend the Opera each summer. The author's paean to her hometown, Cooperstown, New York in the novel very, very thinly disguised as Templeton. The story is told through
Willie [Wilhelmina] Upton, now pregnant, returns from Alaska and an affair with her archaeology professor to her hometown, Templeton, New York. Her mother, Vi, has told her only that her father is a sperm donor but won't reveal who he is. Willie traces back the lives of different generations: "the many messy centuries of my messy, messy family", trying to ascertain his identity. She pieces things together from letters, diary entries and other writings. The only importance of a jogging club, the Running Buds, I could see was to pull the dead monster from the lake and who were quirky examples of townspeople. I liked the monster's dying thoughts and the birth of a new WHITE monster at the end of the novel. Will the townspeople still have secrets but good ones this time? The different genealogies helped me in following the story.
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generations of the Upton and Temple families. Each chapter about one of the ancestors unearths another secret and more leaves on the family tree sprout. I am assuming the monster pulled from Lake Glimmerglass, er, Oswego, is a symbol for those secrets.Willie [Wilhelmina] Upton, now pregnant, returns from Alaska and an affair with her archaeology professor to her hometown, Templeton, New York. Her mother, Vi, has told her only that her father is a sperm donor but won't reveal who he is. Willie traces back the lives of different generations: "the many messy centuries of my messy, messy family", trying to ascertain his identity. She pieces things together from letters, diary entries and other writings. The only importance of a jogging club, the Running Buds, I could see was to pull the dead monster from the lake and who were quirky examples of townspeople. I liked the monster's dying thoughts and the birth of a new WHITE monster at the end of the novel. Will the townspeople still have secrets but good ones this time? The different genealogies helped me in following the story.
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LibraryThing member delphica
(#35 in the 2008 Book Challenge)
Delightful! Winsome! SO GOOD. I am very enthusiastic about this book. An anthropology student in the middle of a personal crisis returns to her hometown in Central New York and starts researching her family tree. There is nothing I like better than a good
I cannot express how much I love lake monsters. As a kid, I so, so badly wanted the Loch Ness monster to be real so that we could be Best Friends Forever. Just me and my lake monster, hanging out. I would even put aside my dread horror of That's Incredible to watch when they had segments about Loch Ness.
The book is not perfect, it's a first novel and the dialogue seems especially clunky and overly expository. Even so, I thought the story was very fun and one of those books where I kept saying I would read 5 more pages before bed, and then 50 pages later ...
Grade: A
Recommended: To people who like books in which the town itself is one of the characters, convoluted family tree mysteries, and lake monsters.
Delightful! Winsome! SO GOOD. I am very enthusiastic about this book. An anthropology student in the middle of a personal crisis returns to her hometown in Central New York and starts researching her family tree. There is nothing I like better than a good
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multi-generational family saga, and this one also has that "small town is full of secrets" thing going on. And it has a wee bit of the mystical, but not too much -- a lake monster, a ghost, and a pharmacist -- but it's a small part of the plot and if you don't like the fantastic elements you could interpret them as symbolism, I suppose.I cannot express how much I love lake monsters. As a kid, I so, so badly wanted the Loch Ness monster to be real so that we could be Best Friends Forever. Just me and my lake monster, hanging out. I would even put aside my dread horror of That's Incredible to watch when they had segments about Loch Ness.
The book is not perfect, it's a first novel and the dialogue seems especially clunky and overly expository. Even so, I thought the story was very fun and one of those books where I kept saying I would read 5 more pages before bed, and then 50 pages later ...
Grade: A
Recommended: To people who like books in which the town itself is one of the characters, convoluted family tree mysteries, and lake monsters.
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LibraryThing member lindenstein
Monsters of Templeton is one of the best books I've read in a long time. Groff's characters are really unique and dynamic, and the changing points of view throughout the book offer an original look at the narrative. The story, the characters, and the writing make you want to keep reading the book,
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and when the story is over you wish it was just getting started. The dynamic character of the city of Templeton is as integral to the story as the characters, and they all work together to create a piece of great fiction!I would definitely recommend this book to friends and family, to anyone who is interested in histories, and to anyone who loves a good read. I met Lauren Groff at a book reading recently and she is really nice; I hope that she continues to write with the same caliber of characters and stories that she gave here. The author is much like the story: down-to-earth and approachable. Show Less
LibraryThing member Maebsly
I had never heard of this book or the author before, but the back cover sounded interesting so I picked it up. I was surprised! It's not a profound, life changing book but it is really fun to read.
I love how the story of a woman returns to her hometown and searches her family tree for secrets to
Ms. Groff is an intelligent writer with good descriptive qualities. While reading, I had a good feel for the town. Her characters are well-developed with a certain depth and I found myself caring about what happened to them, even though I was not crazy about the main character (I felt she was spoiled and somewhat immature). There are a lot of interesting personalities in this book! I liked the monster of the lake, but I'm not sure why the ghost was in the story.
The only (tiny, minor) criticism I have is I wish the ancestor's letters and journal entries had a voice of their own. The more recent relatives often had the same manner of speaking as the ones from two hundred years ago (exceptions apply). But this does not really detract from the story at all.
I really enjoyed this book, lots of fun! I will definitely be seeking more books by this talented writer.
I love how the story of a woman returns to her hometown and searches her family tree for secrets to
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the identity of her father is presented with letters, diary excerpts, etc. The "what I know so far" charts were helpful because if I put the book down for any length of time I had to reference them to keep the relatives straight. The portraits of the relatives were a fun addition. Ms. Groff is an intelligent writer with good descriptive qualities. While reading, I had a good feel for the town. Her characters are well-developed with a certain depth and I found myself caring about what happened to them, even though I was not crazy about the main character (I felt she was spoiled and somewhat immature). There are a lot of interesting personalities in this book! I liked the monster of the lake, but I'm not sure why the ghost was in the story.
The only (tiny, minor) criticism I have is I wish the ancestor's letters and journal entries had a voice of their own. The more recent relatives often had the same manner of speaking as the ones from two hundred years ago (exceptions apply). But this does not really detract from the story at all.
I really enjoyed this book, lots of fun! I will definitely be seeking more books by this talented writer.
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LibraryThing member aimless22
A different read - different points of view, different characters, borrowed characters, interesting minor characters.
I enjoyed trying to figure out her family heritage with her. The historical aspects of the famous people from her hometown were interesting. The idea of the fictional hometown
I enjoyed trying to figure out her family heritage with her. The historical aspects of the famous people from her hometown were interesting. The idea of the fictional hometown
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substituting for her real hometown of Cooperstown NY, caused me to remember things from my visit to the baseball toen. Show Less
LibraryThing member Bookmarque
Not a bad novel. Unusual construction with lots of different narrative points of view. Relatively unique characters. All of which should work, but somehow it seemed forced and self-conscious. As if the author was trying really, really hard to stand out from the crowd and create a manuscript that
Despite that, it was a pleasant story. Willie’s search for her father meant she had to do a lot of research in the archives of the local history museum and it was fun to watch her piece things together. The voyeuristic thrill of reading old letters and diaries was fun, too. It’s always great when a long-buried secret comes to life.
Besides hearing from these long-dead people, we have narratives from the present day. Of course Willie and her mother have their own story; I feel as if their relationship was made weirder than it needed to be. Willie herself seems remarkably immature and sheltered as well. The Running Buds were a stranger construction. Ostensibly they are a group of residents who run together every morning like clockwork. Their collective narrative, couched in terms of we and us, but yet calling out members by name, served to me as the voice and conscience of Templeton itself. Much like the monster, the information itself that was given during the narrative wasn’t as important as why it was given and the role it filled. Pretentious? Certainly, but it worked.
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would generate ‘buzz’. My not knowing much about James Fenimore Cooper, his work or Cooperstown probably made many an inside joke go unnoticed, which was my loss I suppose.Despite that, it was a pleasant story. Willie’s search for her father meant she had to do a lot of research in the archives of the local history museum and it was fun to watch her piece things together. The voyeuristic thrill of reading old letters and diaries was fun, too. It’s always great when a long-buried secret comes to life.
Besides hearing from these long-dead people, we have narratives from the present day. Of course Willie and her mother have their own story; I feel as if their relationship was made weirder than it needed to be. Willie herself seems remarkably immature and sheltered as well. The Running Buds were a stranger construction. Ostensibly they are a group of residents who run together every morning like clockwork. Their collective narrative, couched in terms of we and us, but yet calling out members by name, served to me as the voice and conscience of Templeton itself. Much like the monster, the information itself that was given during the narrative wasn’t as important as why it was given and the role it filled. Pretentious? Certainly, but it worked.
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LibraryThing member heathersblue
This book takes a little dedication to enjoy as it is all about chasing the roots of a family tree and you have to keep up with the names. However, it is SO worth it! I loved it.
Awards
Orange Award for New Writers (Shortlist — 2008)
San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year (Fiction — 2008)
Language
Original publication date
2008-02-05
Physical description
384 p.; 7.8 inches
ISBN
140134092X / 9781401340926