RATING GUIDE:
5 – A keeper!
4 – Very good
3 – Passable
2 – I’d rather read a telephone book
1 – An absolute bomb.
Read at your own risk!
I have a confession to make. I love books, but I have never ever read a
book written by Danielle Steel. Call
it literary snobbery or just plain geekiness, but for most of my reading life,
I just never had the inclination to dive into a book written by “the popular
ones”. You know, the likes of HER. We all know of popular authors whose books
aren’t exactly, well, good, and yet sell by the gazillions. Which is why I don’t really trust “the
popular ones”.
I call this lack of enthusiasm
for all things popular the “Titanic” syndrome.
Years ago, the movie “Titanic” was shown in the movie theaters for an
epic run that lasted more than a month … I think it was shown for two
months? Practically everyone watched it
… except yours truly. My thinking at
the time was, if it’s that popular, it’s probably just the hype. It can’t be THAT good.
While I have yet to watch that
movie, I have, on the other hand, changed my mind about reading books made by
“the popular ones”. After reading that
lemon of a book (you know, the one that’s fifty shades annoying?), my thinking
is, you can’t possibly find a popular book that’s as bad as THAT one.
So, I picked up a few books made
by the “popular ones,” namely, Danielle Steel, Sidney Sheldon and Nicholas
Sparks. I’ll be blogging about them in
the next week or so. For now, let’s
talk about Danielle Steel’s “Fine Things”.
“Fine Things” is the story of a thirty-something
Jewish-American man named Bernie, who, on the surface appears to be the Poster
Boy for success … he’s smart, good-looking, a rising star in the corporate
ladder, and a magnet for the “babes”.
But as it turns out, Bernie is just like many of the people in this
planet. He has always dreamt of being a
teacher, but has ended up being successful in a career he never really planned
for; he has always wanted a wife and kids, but has only ended up having his
heart broken TWICE.
So, Bernie
spends his days flitting from one ho-hum relationship to another and eventually
ends up getting married to his job … that is, until a chance encounter with a
little girl named Jane leads him to a woman named Liz (Jane’s mother). Just like the way Bernie stumbles upon
success at work, Bernie stumbles upon the love of his life. Bernie marries Liz, has a child with her …
now, for a few years, Bernie’s life appears to be perfect, until Liz is
diagnosed with cancer.
I must say
that I underestimated Danielle Steel’s story-telling skills. Now I know why she’s so popular. While I still have to read her other books,
in this book, at least, was surprisingly very, very good. In fact (and I hate to admit this), I read
this book in one sitting. And this was
the first novel ever that reduced me to tears (blame it on Chapter 21). I am not exactly the emotional type when it
comes to reading books, so this was a real big surprise!
I
understand that Danielle Steel is famous for writing romance novels, so I’m
actually confused as to why that’s so.
“Fine Things” has a few romantic moments here and there, and Bernie
could definitely be considered as one helluva man, but this book isn’t just all
about romance, or the Ideal Man. It’s a
book that everyone can relate to, given the issues that are touched upon ---
love, dating, marriage, loss, etc.
“Fine
Things” is best appreciated if you have lived quite a number of years or if you
know what it feels like to have had some rough patches in life. If, for instance, you’ve ever have had your
heart broken, if you’ve ever been dumped, if you’ve ever given up your dreams
for something else … then you will appreciate this book. Many times, as I read this book, I found
myself relating to the characters.
In “Fine
Things,” Danielle Steel manages to present its readers with a believable view
of life in all its complexity. The
characters in her story tell us, implicitly, to look at everything with a
discerning eye, for everything is not all it seems. Bernie, for instance, is so immersed in a materialistic world,
and yet he actually just longs for the simpler things in life (a teaching
career, a wife and kids). And his
mother is, at the beginning, the stereotypical Jewish mother. But then, Liz develops cancer, and the
reader gets to see that she’s more than the nagging, self-centered
guilt-tripper we all think she is.
While I don’t think that Danielle Steel’s writing style is something to
be in awe of, her strength lies in creating characters everyone can relate
to. The characters aren’t cardboard
characters. They’ve all got their
flaws, and that makes the book easier to accept and read.
“Fine
Things” was published in the 1980’s, and the years show on this book, as the
characters were shown to have lived through historical and socio-cultural
events in the sixties and seventies (for instance, Vietnam, Women’s Lib, free
love, the acceptability of animal fur as clothing). Feminists might have a problem with this book. However, if you’re wise enough to look past
this fact, you’re going to come across a deep, very touching story about life
in general. Definitely a great read.
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