(When asked, I often forget what I've recently read: I'm usually too absorbed in my current book. I'll try to keep better records in 2019. Each post will be a finished book.)
Listen to the Marriage by John Jay Osborn only has three speaking characters: Steve and Gretchen--a separated couple--and their marriage counselor, Sandy. Over the course of this extremely fast read, the couple reunite despite their myriad problems. This book is fine, I guess. I blew through it in two days and would probably loan it to a bored friend with a long plane ride.
Listen to the Marriage by John Jay Osborn only has three speaking characters: Steve and Gretchen--a separated couple--and their marriage counselor, Sandy. Over the course of this extremely fast read, the couple reunite despite their myriad problems. This book is fine, I guess. I blew through it in two days and would probably loan it to a bored friend with a long plane ride.
I read Listen to the Marriage because I heard an interview with Osborn on NPR and I liked his perspective on marriage. He had a high view on the institution, which I share, and he wasn't afraid to promote counseling, which I also believe in. But my counseling experiences are much more prosaic than the fictional couple. My wife and I have a different set of assumptions about child rearing, time with extended family, and home remodels, for example. Steve and Gretchen, on the other hand, are openly committing adultery throughout the course of the entire book. As I read, something was lost in the disconnect between our experience, and the writing wasn't strong enough to bridge the gap.
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