She's Come Undone
*** By Wally Lamb. This is a re-read for me, at least a couple times over, but I think it’s worth mentioning.
The story is pretty simple. We see Dolores, the narrator and protagonist, going from age 11 to age 40, dealing with her dysfunctional family, rape, alienation, depression, and the seemingly unsurmountable task of overcoming all those bad things. Yes, there is a happy ending; she does overcome in the end.
What I find remarkable about this book is not so much the language or style of story telling, which I find only better than average, but the immersive characterization of Dolores and those she encounters. The main plot of the story is Dolores’s change in character as she faces adversity not unlike your average person’s, and Lamb makes you feel every moment of that transformation.
So when Dolores is a child and more or less a victim, you feel pity. As she grows older and chooses to remain entrenched in and to exacerbate her problems rather than try to solve them, you despise her for the horrible things she does. When it seems she’s got a hold on life only to fall under the grip of another manipulative man, you want to kick her so she will come to her senses. And when she finally starts trying to take control of her life, you’re like, “Yeah! You go, girl!”
I think that’s a big accomplishment on the part of the author, making you go from hating her to loving her like that. Read it for yourself, and you will see what I mean.
Posted by Lisa on April 21, 2002 09:08 AM