Mermaids

I never say this about any book, but this time the movie was better. Don't get me wrong, the book was great. I really like Patty Dann's style of writing. But for some reason the movie seemed more like the book than the book was. Still a good read though.

I read this book soon after finishing my finals as well as a 700 page turner. This short novel was a great read and is exactly how a book should be. The books purpose is to tell the stories of several different people through the eyes of a slightly obsessive and very eccentric teenage girl. The one thing I enjoyed about this read was that it is unlike most teenage novels out there. The young girl isn't faced with the typical high school problems and the problems she does have she goes about them in a very relaxed way, There is nothing annoying or wrong about this book, and I say "well done" Patty Dann.

As Mrs. Flax says, Death is "dwelling on the past, or staying in one place for too long." Which leads me to wonder if this led to the brevity of this book. Even though this is a short offering, there is not a spare word, or excessive scene through out the book. It is a perfect read, and full of wit, charm and plenty of life lessons for anybody. Reading along with Charlotte Flax's periodical cries for stability and divine direction, it is hard not to share her experiences as she forges her way in a new town in Massachusetts. Through her alienation from her mother, her peers, her first love, and even God, in whom she is devoutly committed (although sometimes in a comical way), she is determined to establish normalcy in her life. It isn't long until everything seems to be going alright, but with a shocking turn of events with her sister Kate, and her mother threatening to pack up the car again, Charlotte is forced to make her stand, and discover what growing up is all about. I loved this book. Small, but packs a big punch. I only wish Dann could appease her readers frequent appetites for more stories. With only two books available, you will doubtless cherish every word.

Mermaids meant a lot to me once upon a time. When things built up and I needed to escape the pressures of school and life, I'd melt into this friendly little novel about the recent past and some likable people who lived there. I identified with Charlotte Flax (and a little with Mrs. Flax, too). Charlotte and I were both teenagers who read a lot about the lives of the saints (me in school, Charlotte, who is Jewish, of her own volition) we both loved to drive, even though we weren't old enough to have licenses yet, and we both had young, beautiful mothers who frequently drove us crazy. The whole concept of this novel was beyond cool, too, to my teenaged mind. It was a glorious fantasy. Moving to a brand new place, the beautiful coast of New England, fresh start, being boy crazy and meeting the most awesome man of your dreams practically next door to you, finding out who you are... It was great. In Mermaids, the Flax family, colorful, saint-obsessed Charlotte, fourteen, Kate, nine, who plans to swim the English Channel, and their mother, the smoking-hot, flighty Rachael (who had Charlotte when she was about sixteen) settle into the tiny Massachusetts town of Grove, in the summer of 1963. Mrs. Flax, as Charlotte calls her mother, has lived by any standards an interesting life, and has relocated her daughters eighteen times in the past fourteen years. Charlotte's reaction to this constant mobility has been to retreat into a semi-fantasy world of Catholic saints. In fact Charlotte, unlike me at that age (who lived in sheer horror of the thought) plans on being a nun, despite the fact she's Jewish. As Charlotte and her family settle into Grove, the book introduces a nice cast of characters, like Lou Lanksy, the good-natured shoe salesman who quickly gets a major crush on Mrs. Flax; the Mother Superior of the local convent, who develops a friendship with Charlotte and confides some very surprising things to her; and above all others, Joey, the young caretaker of the nearby nunnery, for whom Charlotte falls head over heels into obsessive, crushy--but to her very real--love. This book tells the story of a goofy, remarkable, sometimes sad fourteen-year-old and the year in which her life (and against the backdrop of the Kennedy assassination the nation itself) changes dramatically. This is a story about love, about growing up, about facing fears and about gaining confidence. It's a lovely, happy, quirky, funny chick-flick of a tale that somehow caught a spark in me back in the day. I'll always treasure Mermaids and hope others do too.

After watching the 1990 movie "Mermaids," one of my favorites, I absolutely had to read the book on which it was based. Patty Dann's novel did not disappoint, to say the least. It is one of the most gripping and involving novels I've read. The voice of the narrator, fourteen-year-old Charlotte, is consistently funny and moving - sometimes both at once. The supporting characters - most notably that of Charlotte's unforgettable mother, Mrs. Flax (she even refers to her as such, thus never allowing the reader to forget the distance between them) - are extremely well developed as well, and readers will be able to vividly see each character as though they know them personally. The ending is just right too - not too light and not too melodramatic, though it easily could have swung to the latter. Well done, Ms. Dann! As far as how the book compares to the movie: the film is a bit of a lighter romp, and nothing is quite as fleshed out as in this book (remarkable, really, since the book isn't even 150 pages, but I'm digressing here). In short, the film may be more "fun" at times, but the book has just as much going for it if not more. If you're looking for a good and memorable read, Patty Dann's "Mermaids" is the ticket.