A sex act allows the scalpel to be taken to human deceits, 11 Oct 2003
If you are a fan on the Minot writing style then you will not be disappointed though anyone not familiar and looking for an easy read or attracted to the idea of a book using as it's setting a couple engaged in fellatio, will probably be disappointed.

The consistent style shown in nearly all her prior novels/short stories of a short book (only 116 pages here) continues. However Susan Minot is a master at the long lost art of "wordsmithing" (think Angela Carter) where every sentence counts; tight control of structure and story is held throughout with a precision and economy in conveying mood and emotion, that means you continually find yourself thinking and pondering as you read plus as with all great writing find yourself going back later over sentences, paragraphs and sections for the image or thought they convey.

The story of two "on-off" old lovers each revisiting in their minds their prior relationship both together and with others as they have another "one night stand", plays out beautifully the irony of their irreconcilable attitudes. By the end of the novel it is clear from all the evidence that the guy is completely unable to commit to anyone and as with all such selfish personalities continually rationalises it as someone else's fault, whereas the lady in search of a long term partner to overcome all her prior disappointments, in which she has so far failed, keeps getting drawn back to the same guy despite recognising that the original excitement and later evidence of his infidelity is what now makes him such a disappointment.

I haven't read a book that nailed down with such emotional accuracy the pain and waste that can be caused by certain human relationships since Minot's last novel.

A very long act of oral sex, 04 Sep 2003
I found this book rather dull which was sad because it was so short anyway. It tells the story of a doomed love affair. They ponder their relationship with each other and others whilst she is performing oral sex on him. Within such a short space of time it was hard to believe that they could think about so many things, things from their childhood, early teens, etc etc, you name it, they thought about it during felatio!

As Ann Lord lies on her deathbed, her daughter delivers a balsam pillow from the attic. At first the ailing woman is confused, but suddenly the scent reminds her of the "wild tumult" she experienced 40 years earlier:

Something stole into her as she walked in the dark, a dream she'd had long ago. The air was so black she was unable to see her arms, it was a warm summer night. Above her she could make out the dark line of the tops of spruce trees and a sky lit with stars. She felt the warm tar through the soles of her shoes. The boy beside her took her hand.

In the porous world between conscious and unconscious the protagonist of Evening revisits the great passions of her life, along with its considerable disappointments. The boy in the dark remains the fixed point--not so much because he is the most important man in her life, but because of the untapped possibilities he represents. Meanwhile, friends and relations come to sit by Ann Lord's side as she veers between clarity and feverish recollection.

In her third novel, Susan Minot takes some new risks--her narrative spanning seven decades of memory and her style ranging from Stegneresque particularity to the exquisite abstraction Virginia Woolf perfected in To the Lighthouse. Equal parts memory and desire, fiction and poetry, Evening is a seductive story made more so by the measured pace of details emerging, one by one, like stars. --Cristina Del Sesto

A sex act allows the scalpel to be taken to human deceits, 11 Oct 2003
If you are a fan on the Minot writing style then you will not be disappointed though anyone not familiar and looking for an easy read or attracted to the idea of a book using as it's setting a couple engaged in fellatio, will probably be disappointed.

The consistent style shown in nearly all her prior novels/short stories of a short book (only 116 pages here) continues. However Susan Minot is a master at the long lost art of "wordsmithing" (think Angela Carter) where every sentence counts; tight control of structure and story is held throughout with a precision and economy in conveying mood and emotion, that means you continually find yourself thinking and pondering as you read plus as with all great writing find yourself going back later over sentences, paragraphs and sections for the image or thought they convey.

The story of two "on-off" old lovers each revisiting in their minds their prior relationship both together and with others as they have another "one night stand", plays out beautifully the irony of their irreconcilable attitudes. By the end of the novel it is clear from all the evidence that the guy is completely unable to commit to anyone and as with all such selfish personalities continually rationalises it as someone else's fault, whereas the lady in search of a long term partner to overcome all her prior disappointments, in which she has so far failed, keeps getting drawn back to the same guy despite recognising that the original excitement and later evidence of his infidelity is what now makes him such a disappointment.

I haven't read a book that nailed down with such emotional accuracy the pain and waste that can be caused by certain human relationships since Minot's last novel.

A very long act of oral sex, 04 Sep 2003
I found this book rather dull which was sad because it was so short anyway. It tells the story of a doomed love affair. They ponder their relationship with each other and others whilst she is performing oral sex on him. Within such a short space of time it was hard to believe that they could think about so many things, things from their childhood, early teens, etc etc, you name it, they thought about it during felatio!

Very good read, 25 Sep 2007
What a beautifuly written book! I could not put it down and ended up finishing it in a day and a half. The love she felt for harris was painful to read and your heart broke with hers. Im looking forward to seeing the movie and hope it hasn't been altered too much from this wonderful insight into what it would be like to met the love of your like.

Moving, heartbreaking, intense, 25 Feb 2000
Susan Minot has done an amazing job of allowing us to feel the emotions of Ann Lord, as she lies dying and relives the major love of her life. Clearly, her life completely changed its course, and one is left moved by the realism of just how profoundly it was changed. This is a book which makes you wonder if one is really better off having met the love of his/her life if it can't 'be'....