Plain Truth

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It's a hit!

I've always been a fan of Jodi Picoult, after reading My Sister's Keeper and Nineteen Minutes. I picked up this book because like all of her books,... (show more)

I've always been a fan of Jodi Picoult, after reading My Sister's Keeper and Nineteen Minutes. I picked up this book because like all of her books, it had an interesting storyline. This book was about an Amish girl who got pregnant by an English person( not amish). When the word Amish came to my mind, I'm reminded of an old episode from Cartoon Network's 'Dexter's Laboratory'. Dexter went to visit an Amish farm and it frustrated him cos he could'nt do science. The Amish doesn;t believe in science. They mostly isolate themselves from the public. They do not watch tv, have electricity nor have phones. It's quite interesting to know they are people like this in the world who live like this. Fascinating, really! But at the beginning, I was continually frustrated with Kate because she keeps denying that she got pregnant even though doctors and there's visible proof that she just gave birth. I could feel Ellie's frustration when Kate's breasts were hurting because of the milk. Ellie was like, this is proof that you had a baby. But Katie said no, this was because her heart was full. Me, reading that part, I felt like tearing my hair out! Katie was so stubborn and frustrating!!!!But at the end, I understood why Kate the things she did and she was a victim in some ways. And like My Sister's Keeper, the ending was very....WOW. (show less)

 

 

by Sabrina Ismail

No, it's a flop!

I'm embarking on a Picoult Purge: I got handed a stack from my brother's girlfriend because I happened to mention I quite liked 'The Pact'.

So I... (show more)

I'm embarking on a Picoult Purge: I got handed a stack from my brother's girlfriend because I happened to mention I quite liked 'The Pact'.

So I figured if I read them all back-to-back it'll be like walking to work every day - you get quicker every time you do it. The problem is, you might find new shortcuts, cross at a different set of traffic lights, change the name/profession of your Strong Female Lead Character With A Past, vary a moral dilemma here and there. But the truth of the matter is you've still got the same old shit when you get there... (show less)

 

 

by Karen Morton

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  The story had some really original components, including an accurate but simple depiction of Amish life. Piccoult didn't spend more time than she had to with novelty details, or romanticizing the Amish. She gave us a balanced glimpse of both the pros and cons of the Plain Lifestyle, and how different Amish individuals interpret and respond to their unified beliefs and what's expected of them. This was really the most important point for me, since I was reading the novel as part of my research... (show more)

  The story had some really original components, including an accurate but simple depiction of Amish life. Piccoult didn't spend more time than she had to with novelty details, or romanticizing the Amish. She gave us a balanced glimpse of both the pros and cons of the Plain Lifestyle, and how different Amish individuals interpret and respond to their unified beliefs and what's expected of them. This was really the most important point for me, since I was reading the novel as part of my research for a nonfiction article on the Amish. I believed, correctly, that I would find subtle characteristics in a novel that might be absent from text books, or even short stories by the Amish themselves. Things only an "Englisher" would notice. (And, as it turns out, Piccoult did spend a week on an Amish farm, which I had guessed from the writing, so that's a definite boon).

  The storyline kept me guessing as well. Despite being reasonably good at guessing endings, I floundered a few times during the book in terms of what I thought had happened and would happen in the end to the main characters.

  The title "The Plain Truth" sounds like a superficial play on words about courtroom truth, but is actually a complex, fitting title, because much of the book is, in fact, about what the Amish hold to be true, vs. what the general U.S. population thinks "truth" is. Those distinct differences create a lot of tension, confusion and mystery, inside the courtroom, and out.

  The ending I only enjoyed because it took me by surprise. I don't think it was the right one, if I take it literally, as most readers have. I chose to interpret this revelation with an Amish frame of mind, assuming that it was not the drastic situation it's made out to be, but more of an acceptance and aid to what was already transpiring. (I'd like to be more clear on that, but don't want to toss out any spoilers here!)

  While a lot of this novel is subtle and original, there are some cliches that could have been played down a little, and not announced so blatantly, as if by a narrator who thinks the audience is a little slow. Ellie's relationship fears, for instance. That courtroom scene where they are really talking to each other personally, and not about the case, or the scene where Coop explains how some people leave before they can be left. These were short snipets compared to the whole book, but the manuscript could have been all the better if those issues had been presented through actions and dialogue that wasn't so glaring.

  The final of my few complaints is a big one. I may be a lot more sensitive to this than other readers are. It's kind of a pet peeve of mine. But... how many times in the same book can the entire cast of characters narrow their eyes and snort? It literally seemed that every few pages, "he narrowed his eyes," or "Katie narrowed her eyes," or "The judge narrowed her eyes slightly," or "she narrowed her eyes." It was so prevalent that I pictured all these bad actors in a film version of Plain Truth, all working very hard to narrow their eyes. There are so many different ways a face can look when its owner is wondering whether or not something sounds odd or suspicious. And such a variety of ways to describe that facial expression. The same goes for "snorting." Most every time in the book that anyone laughs, they "snort." The shy Amish girl snorts. The savvy tough-as-nail lawyer snorts, the prosecutor snorts, the good Amish wife snorts, the hopeless romantic psychologist snorts. All this snorting isn't terribly appealing and seems inconsistent with most of their personalities. Sure, once in a while, we all laugh a little too loudly and end up sounding like a hungry hog, but would this not distract you terribly if, in a two-hour movie, someone snorted every five minutes? I wish they could just simply "laugh." If the words used excessively were simpler, more common words, I wouldn't have noticed their high frequency as much, if at all.Sometimes a writer has written and rewritten and read and reread her own material so often, that the pages all blend together. That's why there are editors. These really minor fixes are things that an editor should have caught. Doing so would have made a good book great. (show less)

   

   

  by Jennifer Leavitt-Wipf on Aug 05, 2008 at 11:17PM

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  This is a secular book about the Amish--while talk of God and their beliefs and culture are concrete parts of the story, THe Amish are not portrayed as "Goody-two-shoes" characters, nor are they portrayed as "bad" people. THey are portrayed as a people of faith who have to come to terms with a horrible event--the murder of an infant. Why would a woman murder an infant--why would a woman try to hide the fact that she's pregnant?

  Piccoult weaves the story of Katie, wh... (show more)

  This is a secular book about the Amish--while talk of God and their beliefs and culture are concrete parts of the story, THe Amish are not portrayed as "Goody-two-shoes" characters, nor are they portrayed as "bad" people. THey are portrayed as a people of faith who have to come to terms with a horrible event--the murder of an infant. Why would a woman murder an infant--why would a woman try to hide the fact that she's pregnant?

  Piccoult weaves the story of Katie, whose younger sister drowned some years before, and whose older brother has been shunned because he sought higher education, as she tries the best she can not to become "lost" to her parents as her siblings have been. After it's been determined that Katie had a child out of wedlock, the question being asked is.."Why did she do it?"

  Katie's cousin-in-law Ellie, a modern Englischer, and a high-profile lawyer, is talked into defending Katie during her murder trial. Because the courts won't release Katie on her own recognicense, Ellie ends up not only defending her, but supervising her, on an Amish farm.While Ellie learns what makes the Amish tick, she finds ways to put questions in the minds of the jury as to whether Katie truly meant to murder her baby.

  A great courtroom drama ensues, and Katie learns truths about her way of life that may have threatened the life of her son. However, the last chapter or two takes the light off Katie, and onto another member of her family--could this person have done it? Did Ellie do the right thing by "ignoring" evidence, or was there really nothing further that could have been done with the "evidence?" I still wonder... (show less)

   

  by Jae Utke on Feb 06, 2009 at 08:45AM

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