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Carry the One
This stunning, break-out achievement has already been hailed by Emma Donoghue, bestselling author of Room, for presenting “passion and addiction, guilt and damage, all the beautiful mess of family life. Carry the One will lift readers off their feet and bear them along on its eloquent tide.�
Carry the One begins in the hours following Carmen’s wedding reception, when a car filled with stoned, drunk, and sleepy guests accidently hits and kills a girl on a dark, country road. For the next twenty-five years, those involved, including Carmen and her brother and sister, connect and disconnect and reconnect with each other and their victim. As one character says, “When you add us up, you always have to carry the one.
Through friendships and love affairs; marriage and divorce; parenthood, holidays, and the modest tragedies and joys of ordinary days, Carry the One shows how one life affects another and how those who thrive and those who self-destruct are closer to each other than we’d expect. Deceptively short and simple in its premise, this novel derives its power and appeal from the author’s beautifully precise use of language; her sympathy for her very recognizable, flawed characters; and her persuasive belief in the transforming forces of time and love.
Carry the One begins in the hours following Carmen’s wedding reception, when a car filled with stoned, drunk, and sleepy guests accidently hits and kills a girl on a dark, country road. For the next twenty-five years, those involved, including Carmen and her brother and sister, connect and disconnect and reconnect with each other and their victim. As one character says, “When you add us up, you always have to carry the one.
Through friendships and love affairs; marriage and divorce; parenthood, holidays, and the modest tragedies and joys of ordinary days, Carry the One shows how one life affects another and how those who thrive and those who self-destruct are closer to each other than we’d expect. Deceptively short and simple in its premise, this novel derives its power and appeal from the author’s beautifully precise use of language; her sympathy for her very recognizable, flawed characters; and her persuasive belief in the transforming forces of time and love.
253 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
278 people are currently reading
10.2k people want to read
About the author
Carol Anshaw
16Ìýbooks196ÌýfollowersCarol Anshaw is an American novelist and short story writer. Her books include Carry the One, Lucky in the Corner, Seven Moves and Aquamarine. Her stories have been anthologized in The Best American Short Stories in 1994, 1998, and 2012. She has an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts (1992). She has won a National Book Critics Circle Citation for Excellence in Reviewing, an NEA Grant, an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, a Carl Sandburg Award and Society of Midland Authors Award. Her newest novel, Right after the Weather, is forthcoming in October from Simon & Schuster.
Anshaw is also a painter. She divides her time between Chicago and Amsterdam
Anshaw is also a painter. She divides her time between Chicago and Amsterdam
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,592 reviews
April 7, 2012
1.67 Stars
The premise of Carry the One is simple and so very promising. Carol Anshaw begins her story � in the hours following Carmen’s wedding reception, when a car filled with stoned, drunk, and sleepy guests accidentally hits and kills a girl on a dark, country road. For the next twenty-five years, those involved, including Carmen and her brother and sister, connect and disconnect and reconnect with each other and their victim. As one character says, ‘“When you add us up, you always have to carry the one.’� However, my hopes for the novel were quickly dashed. I expected a good character driven story along the lines of those told by Joyce Carol Oates and Jodi Picoult because tragedies affect individuals so very differently. Some people may be so guilt ridden that they may carry their guilt to the extreme and self destruct, while others are driven to lead lives devoted to helping others while losing their own identity in their efforts.
But Anshaw focuses primarily on Carmen, Nick, and Alice. Through each sibling’s point of view the reader sees each going through varying stages of their lives without much thought to ten year old Casey Redman. Though Alice paints the little girl each year in the same clothes she wore the night she was killed as Alice thought she would be, Anshaw failed to explore the artist’s need to paint the child. Alice’s visit to the home where Anne Frank hid for 2 years was a missed opportunity given Alice’s reaction to both dead girls. Anshaw was more interested in Alice’s relationship with Maude (Matt’s sister). The sex scenes between the two women were very uncomfortable to read.
Carmen did not seem affected by the accident throughout her life. She never mentioned the accident and rarely commented when one of the nine “so called� friends commented upon it. Yet, Matt used the accident as a reason for the dissolution of their marriage; the other was he wanted “someone more Catholic. the attitudes of both Carmen and Matt I dare say reflected those of the author and as a Catholic myself was very offensive. Annulment is a long process that begins at the pastoral parish level and ends at the Papal level. The reasons given by the author for their Annulment is not among the 5 conditions that the Church considers declaring a marriage null. Also, Carmen’s journey toward radial activism is really not Catholic either. The scene at the Women’s Center, while dramatic, did not ring true to me, since I’ve never seen any violence during annual prayer vigilances I attend protesting the Roe v. Wade decision � my only activist action. Anshaw depicts her as strong woman, but she gets so very overwhelmed as a single mother, she has Carmen dressing Gabe in his school clothes at bed time so he would be ready when he awoke. What right minded woman, liberal or not, would do such a thing?
Nick’s story rings true to the novel’s premise. He is the most affected by the tragic accident, other than the actual driver, Olivia. Nick is brilliant, but hopelessly addicted to drugs. His struggle with his addiction and his secret guilt is the most interesting of all of the characters. He marries Olivia, visits Casey’s parents, and fights his brilliance out of that guilt through drugs and alcohol. We know the end of his struggles as they are beginning. Yet, Olivia is completely enigamic. She spends time in federal prison not for her role in Redman’s death, but for the undelivered mail the Police found in the trunk of her car. She comes out of prison hard and isolated, accepting punishment for the child’s death. She further atones for sin by deciding not to have children. Why the author chose to place Olivia at the beginning and end of the novel is baffling, since she was integral to the story’s premise. Also, Olivia was one of the more interesting characters.
Carry the One was really the three siblings� story. A coming of age story about the effects of an abusive father and a not so present mother that really formed their choices in life, rather than how a tragic event changed their lives. Their characters were caricatures rather than three dimensional. Anshaw’s writing was superb most of time with a few misses here and there. Her strong attitudes were present throughout the story, and I found them to be heavy handed, not entertaining at all. Good writing alone does not make a good book, but perhaps as a more conservative Catholic plebeian I am not her target audience.
The premise of Carry the One is simple and so very promising. Carol Anshaw begins her story � in the hours following Carmen’s wedding reception, when a car filled with stoned, drunk, and sleepy guests accidentally hits and kills a girl on a dark, country road. For the next twenty-five years, those involved, including Carmen and her brother and sister, connect and disconnect and reconnect with each other and their victim. As one character says, ‘“When you add us up, you always have to carry the one.’� However, my hopes for the novel were quickly dashed. I expected a good character driven story along the lines of those told by Joyce Carol Oates and Jodi Picoult because tragedies affect individuals so very differently. Some people may be so guilt ridden that they may carry their guilt to the extreme and self destruct, while others are driven to lead lives devoted to helping others while losing their own identity in their efforts.
But Anshaw focuses primarily on Carmen, Nick, and Alice. Through each sibling’s point of view the reader sees each going through varying stages of their lives without much thought to ten year old Casey Redman. Though Alice paints the little girl each year in the same clothes she wore the night she was killed as Alice thought she would be, Anshaw failed to explore the artist’s need to paint the child. Alice’s visit to the home where Anne Frank hid for 2 years was a missed opportunity given Alice’s reaction to both dead girls. Anshaw was more interested in Alice’s relationship with Maude (Matt’s sister). The sex scenes between the two women were very uncomfortable to read.
Carmen did not seem affected by the accident throughout her life. She never mentioned the accident and rarely commented when one of the nine “so called� friends commented upon it. Yet, Matt used the accident as a reason for the dissolution of their marriage; the other was he wanted “someone more Catholic. the attitudes of both Carmen and Matt I dare say reflected those of the author and as a Catholic myself was very offensive. Annulment is a long process that begins at the pastoral parish level and ends at the Papal level. The reasons given by the author for their Annulment is not among the 5 conditions that the Church considers declaring a marriage null. Also, Carmen’s journey toward radial activism is really not Catholic either. The scene at the Women’s Center, while dramatic, did not ring true to me, since I’ve never seen any violence during annual prayer vigilances I attend protesting the Roe v. Wade decision � my only activist action. Anshaw depicts her as strong woman, but she gets so very overwhelmed as a single mother, she has Carmen dressing Gabe in his school clothes at bed time so he would be ready when he awoke. What right minded woman, liberal or not, would do such a thing?
Nick’s story rings true to the novel’s premise. He is the most affected by the tragic accident, other than the actual driver, Olivia. Nick is brilliant, but hopelessly addicted to drugs. His struggle with his addiction and his secret guilt is the most interesting of all of the characters. He marries Olivia, visits Casey’s parents, and fights his brilliance out of that guilt through drugs and alcohol. We know the end of his struggles as they are beginning. Yet, Olivia is completely enigamic. She spends time in federal prison not for her role in Redman’s death, but for the undelivered mail the Police found in the trunk of her car. She comes out of prison hard and isolated, accepting punishment for the child’s death. She further atones for sin by deciding not to have children. Why the author chose to place Olivia at the beginning and end of the novel is baffling, since she was integral to the story’s premise. Also, Olivia was one of the more interesting characters.
Carry the One was really the three siblings� story. A coming of age story about the effects of an abusive father and a not so present mother that really formed their choices in life, rather than how a tragic event changed their lives. Their characters were caricatures rather than three dimensional. Anshaw’s writing was superb most of time with a few misses here and there. Her strong attitudes were present throughout the story, and I found them to be heavy handed, not entertaining at all. Good writing alone does not make a good book, but perhaps as a more conservative Catholic plebeian I am not her target audience.
April 30, 2012
Wow. I loved this book.
Late one night, after Carmen's wedding reception, a car containing several stoned wedding guests, including her siblings, Alice and Nick; her new sister-in-law (and Alice's girlfriend), Maude; Nick's new girlfriend, Olivia; and Tom, an aspiring singer and sometime-boyfriend of one of Carmen's friends, accidentally hits and kills a young girl on a dark country road. The accident affects each of them differently, but sticks with each of them for the rest of their lives. Carry the One follows Nick, Alice, and Carmen over a period of 25 years, as they struggle with love, relationships, marriage, raising children, career success, political activism, and the pull of addiction. The book deals with the heavy issues—loving your parents despite your "childhood from hell," letting an addict hit rock bottom without trying to save them, fighting not to love someone you know will hurt you repeatedly—but just as deftly deals with the humor, pathos, and delights of everyday life.
What I loved so much about this book is how quickly I was hooked into the characters' lives. I understood what motivated them, what made them happy or disappointed them, what they wanted most from life, and what their fears were. Even if I couldn't completely sympathize with each of the characters throughout the entire book (Carmen, in particular, can be more prickly than Nick or Alice), I felt totally immersed in the flow of the story and the way their lives progressed. And while this book isn't without its drama, some of the quieter moments are so beautifully written. I've seen some fantastic reviews of this book and a lot of lukewarm reviews (although it appears some of those stem from confusion about the plot), but I can unequivocally say this has been one of the best books I've read so far this year.
Late one night, after Carmen's wedding reception, a car containing several stoned wedding guests, including her siblings, Alice and Nick; her new sister-in-law (and Alice's girlfriend), Maude; Nick's new girlfriend, Olivia; and Tom, an aspiring singer and sometime-boyfriend of one of Carmen's friends, accidentally hits and kills a young girl on a dark country road. The accident affects each of them differently, but sticks with each of them for the rest of their lives. Carry the One follows Nick, Alice, and Carmen over a period of 25 years, as they struggle with love, relationships, marriage, raising children, career success, political activism, and the pull of addiction. The book deals with the heavy issues—loving your parents despite your "childhood from hell," letting an addict hit rock bottom without trying to save them, fighting not to love someone you know will hurt you repeatedly—but just as deftly deals with the humor, pathos, and delights of everyday life.
What I loved so much about this book is how quickly I was hooked into the characters' lives. I understood what motivated them, what made them happy or disappointed them, what they wanted most from life, and what their fears were. Even if I couldn't completely sympathize with each of the characters throughout the entire book (Carmen, in particular, can be more prickly than Nick or Alice), I felt totally immersed in the flow of the story and the way their lives progressed. And while this book isn't without its drama, some of the quieter moments are so beautifully written. I've seen some fantastic reviews of this book and a lot of lukewarm reviews (although it appears some of those stem from confusion about the plot), but I can unequivocally say this has been one of the best books I've read so far this year.
March 27, 2012
This is the worst book I've read in a long time. Sorry I a paid for it and sorry I had to give it a one star rating but there was no zero.
The premise of the book is what drew me in and effectively had nothing to do with the book. This book was nothing more than multiple adults expressing their inability for any persnal resposibility. They kill a child, she ruins their lives. Bad parenting, ruins their lives. They are free to make poor decisions because the past has somehow bound them to it.
Better yet Anshaw uses this work to do typical conservative bashing. I found her treatment of 9/11 particularly offensive. Advertise your book correctly, I'm sure it has market. This in essence is what the book is about. The Social Worker who works for battered women yet can't forgive her mother for staying in an abusive relationship. The sister who becomes rich off her art through government grants and spends her earnings all on herself. The only redeemable character is the brother, who though an addict, at least feels some responsibility for his action or inaction. While sad, I at least understand that. Then their was a whole cast of superfluous characters. The poor child that was killed is not relevant to this story. These people would have been the same whether they had been in the accident or not. This book is simply about the inability to take personal responsibility. It's a shame, that might have been happier people.
Shamefully this is not the book that was promoted.
The premise of the book is what drew me in and effectively had nothing to do with the book. This book was nothing more than multiple adults expressing their inability for any persnal resposibility. They kill a child, she ruins their lives. Bad parenting, ruins their lives. They are free to make poor decisions because the past has somehow bound them to it.
Better yet Anshaw uses this work to do typical conservative bashing. I found her treatment of 9/11 particularly offensive. Advertise your book correctly, I'm sure it has market. This in essence is what the book is about. The Social Worker who works for battered women yet can't forgive her mother for staying in an abusive relationship. The sister who becomes rich off her art through government grants and spends her earnings all on herself. The only redeemable character is the brother, who though an addict, at least feels some responsibility for his action or inaction. While sad, I at least understand that. Then their was a whole cast of superfluous characters. The poor child that was killed is not relevant to this story. These people would have been the same whether they had been in the accident or not. This book is simply about the inability to take personal responsibility. It's a shame, that might have been happier people.
Shamefully this is not the book that was promoted.
April 7, 2012
I really enjoyed this novel. The writing is excellent and the story rang true for me. Each of the siblings is flawed, often in very destructive ways but their love for each other was close to unconditional. Unlike many of the reviewers here, I liked Alice, Carmen and Nick. I also liked the way the author started many new chapters in a much later time period. It would take me a paragraph or two to catch the drift but I enjoyed the surprise.
I wasn't convinced that the accident was the primary reason for Carmen or Alice's guilt or their life choices. Nick, on the other hand, clearly self destructs from that moment on. He admits to himself (and eventually to Alice) that he saw the girl emerge into the road in time to possibly prevent the accident. He's the one that periodically revisits the place and the family of the young girl. Carmen and Alice's lives are more likely shaped by their self-centered bully of a father and detached and ineffectual mother.
Carol Anshaw is a terrific writer, at times, very funny. Nick, as tragic as he was, could make me laugh out loud. He never seemed to lose his sweetness or naiveté, even as he sank into total despair and death in the end.
Finally, it's enjoyable to read a novel with lesbian characters that is so well written, humorous and poignant.
I wasn't convinced that the accident was the primary reason for Carmen or Alice's guilt or their life choices. Nick, on the other hand, clearly self destructs from that moment on. He admits to himself (and eventually to Alice) that he saw the girl emerge into the road in time to possibly prevent the accident. He's the one that periodically revisits the place and the family of the young girl. Carmen and Alice's lives are more likely shaped by their self-centered bully of a father and detached and ineffectual mother.
Carol Anshaw is a terrific writer, at times, very funny. Nick, as tragic as he was, could make me laugh out loud. He never seemed to lose his sweetness or naiveté, even as he sank into total despair and death in the end.
Finally, it's enjoyable to read a novel with lesbian characters that is so well written, humorous and poignant.
June 26, 2012
Either Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ is going to have to add more star-giving-capabilities, or I will have to go and undo many 5 star ratings I have given, reconsidered in comparison with this book.
There is a casual conversation in the book describing how before the big bang, the entire universe was the size of a dime. There is another one about whether one could possibly step outside of time. (Don't be put off, I know nothing about physics or astronomy and I followed it easily.) There is an artist who paints a series of painting that will never be seen by anyone but herself. All these come together, along with the quotidian lumbering of everday life, to burst open the readers mind and heart. It's a novel about forgiveness, redemption, consequences, time and space, love, family, art, society .... I can't think of anything important to humans that this novel doesn't in some way address.
Meanwhile, the writing is beautiful and seamless. Sometimes in novels full of "big ideas" the writing is either not up to snuff, or too self conscious. None of that here. Nor does the forward emotional movement of plot suffer from "big idea syndrome". I cared about the characters and when I was done, flipped right back to the beginning of the book and reread it, partly just to spend more time with them.
This book is phenomenal. Just go read it right now.
There is a casual conversation in the book describing how before the big bang, the entire universe was the size of a dime. There is another one about whether one could possibly step outside of time. (Don't be put off, I know nothing about physics or astronomy and I followed it easily.) There is an artist who paints a series of painting that will never be seen by anyone but herself. All these come together, along with the quotidian lumbering of everday life, to burst open the readers mind and heart. It's a novel about forgiveness, redemption, consequences, time and space, love, family, art, society .... I can't think of anything important to humans that this novel doesn't in some way address.
Meanwhile, the writing is beautiful and seamless. Sometimes in novels full of "big ideas" the writing is either not up to snuff, or too self conscious. None of that here. Nor does the forward emotional movement of plot suffer from "big idea syndrome". I cared about the characters and when I was done, flipped right back to the beginning of the book and reread it, partly just to spend more time with them.
This book is phenomenal. Just go read it right now.
November 13, 2014
Review posted on
Even though I finished this novel last week, I found I needed a little time before I could even attempt to write a coherent review. There were just a lot of words and impressions and feelings swirling about in my head; though they remain untamed, it is my hope that I can organize them in a way that can fully and sufficiently express what I thought of Carry the One.
Carol Anshaw has a masterful way with words. The story is beautifully written, with characters that come across as genuine and descriptive turns of phrase. Though she never attempts to follow a precise timeline, the passage of time and the changes that occur during them come across clear enough. The end result is a novel where it appears that Anshaw is picking out the moments that we must see, the significant ones, the ones that really matter.
The book chronicles the journey, mainly of the three siblings, as they carry the "one" with them all their lives. We see how, either subtly or obviously, the accident affected each of them and the outcome of their lives. The book is not about the accident; it is about the reaction to it, whether it is a reaction that is consciously embraced or unconsciously worms it way in out of nowhere. It remains in the background of their lives, as each one of them tries to deal with their grief and guilt and move on.
Because of the realistic way that the portrayal of dealing with these emotions was done, I found the book utterly compelling. We see different reactions in the novel - a hopeless despair, a furious need to get it out of the system and a need to compensate with steadiness. Each of these are portrayed so eloquently, so beautifully.
Not only is the plot brilliant, but the carefully molded characters come to life with Anshaw's words. We discover their thoughts, habits, talents, worries and secrets - especially in lieu of the accident. The book feels a bit voyeuristic to me, as the reader examines these characters - Alice, Carmen and Nick - and their lives in detail, getting glimpses of them that perhaps were meant to be private. This feeling that I could see what no one else (in their world at least) could further fueled my interest in the novel.
Carry the One is not an easy read - but it is one that is worth it in the end.
Even though I finished this novel last week, I found I needed a little time before I could even attempt to write a coherent review. There were just a lot of words and impressions and feelings swirling about in my head; though they remain untamed, it is my hope that I can organize them in a way that can fully and sufficiently express what I thought of Carry the One.
Carol Anshaw has a masterful way with words. The story is beautifully written, with characters that come across as genuine and descriptive turns of phrase. Though she never attempts to follow a precise timeline, the passage of time and the changes that occur during them come across clear enough. The end result is a novel where it appears that Anshaw is picking out the moments that we must see, the significant ones, the ones that really matter.
The book chronicles the journey, mainly of the three siblings, as they carry the "one" with them all their lives. We see how, either subtly or obviously, the accident affected each of them and the outcome of their lives. The book is not about the accident; it is about the reaction to it, whether it is a reaction that is consciously embraced or unconsciously worms it way in out of nowhere. It remains in the background of their lives, as each one of them tries to deal with their grief and guilt and move on.
Because of the realistic way that the portrayal of dealing with these emotions was done, I found the book utterly compelling. We see different reactions in the novel - a hopeless despair, a furious need to get it out of the system and a need to compensate with steadiness. Each of these are portrayed so eloquently, so beautifully.
Not only is the plot brilliant, but the carefully molded characters come to life with Anshaw's words. We discover their thoughts, habits, talents, worries and secrets - especially in lieu of the accident. The book feels a bit voyeuristic to me, as the reader examines these characters - Alice, Carmen and Nick - and their lives in detail, getting glimpses of them that perhaps were meant to be private. This feeling that I could see what no one else (in their world at least) could further fueled my interest in the novel.
Carry the One is not an easy read - but it is one that is worth it in the end.
July 26, 2023
I am not sure how I want to feel about this book. I know the reviews are mixed. Let me just write.
The book starts with the Wisconsin wedding of Carmen Kenney to Matt Sloan in the summer of 1983. It is amiable. Slightly bohemian. An outdoor occasion. It is attended by Carmen’s (straight) brother, Nick who is stoned and in drag, and her (gay) sister, Alice who disappears after the ceremony to have steamy sex with the other bridesmaid, the groom’s sister, Maude.
Are you with me so far?
A few hours later, horror descends upon this group when Nick, Maude and Alice, the sisters� friend Jean and her folk singer companion, Tom all head off into the dim 3 a.m. night, with Nick’s casual, drugged girlfriend, Olivia, behind the wheel of her old dodge.
I am not liking where this is going.
First, I am not one that likes people being drugged up; and, Two, behind the wheel, is already a set up for disaster.
And of course�
Within minutes, the car strikes a 10-year-old girl who emerges from nowhere onto the darkened road. She dies soon after. The others, though hurt, are not badly injured.
What is a 10-year-old girl doing out at 3 a.m. at night?
Olivia, the driver, will spend several years in prison; the rest continue their lives bearing different kinds of scars.
This event gives the author a starting point for her portrait of these group of characters, particularly the 3 siblings. And this is the crux of the story.
I am not going to go into their separate journeys here. The reader can experience them if they choose to read this book.
We will see a lot of soul searching, addiction issues, parenthood, family life, exploration of sexuality, sibling love.
We will also get insights into Carmen and Nick’s upbringing by neglectful parents.
And then there will be historical moments in time explored through the 1980’s, 90’s, on up to the attacks of 9/11.
There is grief through these pages, and the haunting sadness the characters feel for the lost girl killed at the beginning of the novel.
The title of the book comes from Alice, who says: “Because of the accident, we’re not just separate numbers. When you add us up, you always have to carry the one.�
These are flawed characters � somewhat likable if you can feel the sympathy.
But, be warned, this will not be an easy read. 3.5 stars
The book starts with the Wisconsin wedding of Carmen Kenney to Matt Sloan in the summer of 1983. It is amiable. Slightly bohemian. An outdoor occasion. It is attended by Carmen’s (straight) brother, Nick who is stoned and in drag, and her (gay) sister, Alice who disappears after the ceremony to have steamy sex with the other bridesmaid, the groom’s sister, Maude.
Are you with me so far?
A few hours later, horror descends upon this group when Nick, Maude and Alice, the sisters� friend Jean and her folk singer companion, Tom all head off into the dim 3 a.m. night, with Nick’s casual, drugged girlfriend, Olivia, behind the wheel of her old dodge.
I am not liking where this is going.
First, I am not one that likes people being drugged up; and, Two, behind the wheel, is already a set up for disaster.
And of course�
Within minutes, the car strikes a 10-year-old girl who emerges from nowhere onto the darkened road. She dies soon after. The others, though hurt, are not badly injured.
What is a 10-year-old girl doing out at 3 a.m. at night?
Olivia, the driver, will spend several years in prison; the rest continue their lives bearing different kinds of scars.
This event gives the author a starting point for her portrait of these group of characters, particularly the 3 siblings. And this is the crux of the story.
I am not going to go into their separate journeys here. The reader can experience them if they choose to read this book.
We will see a lot of soul searching, addiction issues, parenthood, family life, exploration of sexuality, sibling love.
We will also get insights into Carmen and Nick’s upbringing by neglectful parents.
And then there will be historical moments in time explored through the 1980’s, 90’s, on up to the attacks of 9/11.
There is grief through these pages, and the haunting sadness the characters feel for the lost girl killed at the beginning of the novel.
The title of the book comes from Alice, who says: “Because of the accident, we’re not just separate numbers. When you add us up, you always have to carry the one.�
These are flawed characters � somewhat likable if you can feel the sympathy.
But, be warned, this will not be an easy read. 3.5 stars
May 11, 2020
I really, really liked this book. In essence, it is about the messiness of family life but its focus on humanness and the ties that bind is particularly precise.
"When you add us up, you always have to carry the one."
This novel is an engrossing tale of a family affected by tragedy. It opens in 1983 with the bohemian wedding of Carmen in rural Wisconsin. After the wedding, Carmen's sister Alice, brother Matt, their subsequent dates and the wedding singer, Tom, share a ride and are all too drunk/stoned/tired (or all of the above) to see 10-year-old Casey Redman stray into the path of their car. While this all sounds very soap-like, Anshaw spares the melodrama and instead steers the story towards a nuanced and concise look the characters lives over the following 25 years, as they all deal with and carry the guilt ('carry the one') from the accident.
Through marriage, affairs, divorce, parenthood and addiction, and the modesty and triumph of everyday life and ordinary days, Carry the One shows us how one moment can alter the trajectory of life and how when faced with tragedy, some people will thrive while others will self-destruct.
This novel is beautifully observed. It is moving and nuanced and is saved from heaviness by Anshaw's wonderful warmth and clever wit. The structure is simple and the writing subtle, but don't let that fool you: this is one of the most vibrant books I have ever read, with superb storytelling and expertly evoked characters. Definitely a must-read if you enjoy character-driven contemporary fiction about people and relationships. 4.5 stars, rounded up.
"When you add us up, you always have to carry the one."
This novel is an engrossing tale of a family affected by tragedy. It opens in 1983 with the bohemian wedding of Carmen in rural Wisconsin. After the wedding, Carmen's sister Alice, brother Matt, their subsequent dates and the wedding singer, Tom, share a ride and are all too drunk/stoned/tired (or all of the above) to see 10-year-old Casey Redman stray into the path of their car. While this all sounds very soap-like, Anshaw spares the melodrama and instead steers the story towards a nuanced and concise look the characters lives over the following 25 years, as they all deal with and carry the guilt ('carry the one') from the accident.
Through marriage, affairs, divorce, parenthood and addiction, and the modesty and triumph of everyday life and ordinary days, Carry the One shows us how one moment can alter the trajectory of life and how when faced with tragedy, some people will thrive while others will self-destruct.
This novel is beautifully observed. It is moving and nuanced and is saved from heaviness by Anshaw's wonderful warmth and clever wit. The structure is simple and the writing subtle, but don't let that fool you: this is one of the most vibrant books I have ever read, with superb storytelling and expertly evoked characters. Definitely a must-read if you enjoy character-driven contemporary fiction about people and relationships. 4.5 stars, rounded up.
July 1, 2012
Great premise. Not so great execution. The premise of the book is the after-effects on the five people in the car that hits and kills Casey Redman. However, the book focuses on the three siblings: one who gets married for really stupid reasons and is a do-gooder (Carmen); one who is a lesbian and paints (Alice), and one who does drugs and is an astronomer (Nick). Oh, yeah, Carmen wasn't in the car, although it was her wedding they were leaving. The driver of the car (Olivia), another passenger (Tom), Carmen's son, the siblings' parents, and Casey Redman's parents are small side stories. The novel spans a number of years, from Carmen's wedding to Carmen's son going home to his wife.
My biggest problem with the novel, besides a stilted writing style, was that the evolution of every character had little relation to the car accident that is supposedly central to the theme. Unless the point was that tragic events shape but don't fundamentally change us? Carmen's stories are mostly about doing good and being a suburbanite mom (sweet but boring). Alice's stories are mostly about having sex with various women (I guess the author or an editor thought that would be "erotically charged" like the jacket says, but I'm going with boring). Nick's stories are about doing drugs, dating Olivia, and feeling guilty about the car accident (the best of the "deepest pain, longings, ... joys, and ... transcendent moments of understanding" that the jacket says we're going to get). The stories are woven together, although the book felt more like a series of short stories rather than a novel.
My biggest problem with the novel, besides a stilted writing style, was that the evolution of every character had little relation to the car accident that is supposedly central to the theme. Unless the point was that tragic events shape but don't fundamentally change us? Carmen's stories are mostly about doing good and being a suburbanite mom (sweet but boring). Alice's stories are mostly about having sex with various women (I guess the author or an editor thought that would be "erotically charged" like the jacket says, but I'm going with boring). Nick's stories are about doing drugs, dating Olivia, and feeling guilty about the car accident (the best of the "deepest pain, longings, ... joys, and ... transcendent moments of understanding" that the jacket says we're going to get). The stories are woven together, although the book felt more like a series of short stories rather than a novel.
February 17, 2019
This book has gotten totally mixed reviews on Amazon, mostly, IMO, from readers who were looking for a Jodi Picoult kind of novel. I believe you need to be on the proper wavelength to fully enjoy this elegant writer's gifts. If you've never before read her, you may wish to start with Lucky in the Corner, or Aquamarine.
This is my take on Carry the One: Carol Anshaw is a magician. This beautiful and tenderhearted book (all her books are tenderhearted, even at their most drily ironic) joins elegance of structure with a subtle, oblique scrutiny of the dissimilar trajectories through adulthood of three emotionally interdependent siblings, and their friends and lovers who were involved in the terrible accident that closes the first chapter.
The magic is declared in the book's title: it describes both the device by which the reader journeys from chapter to chapter, and the special sort of narrative time-travel (skipping whole years in a single leap) that allows us to experience a quarter century of growing up (or failing to do so) for the many characters in this story. I thought Anshaw performed an especially amazing feat in the unobtrusive, restrained touches by which she gave life to the one character who was robbed of her future right at the start of the book. And in the end, Anshaw gifts us (or I should say, Olivia, who alone did time after the child's death, and is given an especially closed, opaque personality) with a small miracle, a consoling touch whose mystery has been fully earned over the length of the book.
Alice, the gay sister who is a painter, is a surrogate for the novelist (in real life, Anshaw also paints): Anshaw captures, and blesses, her human creatures (and a couple of dogs) through a patient accumulation of small, attentive touches. Anshaw's books are all about family (even when the family is broken or--as in this book--badly frayed), about the mismatch between love and passion, and about the rueful, sometimes anxious acknowledgement that we're hopelessly fallible. They're also about the mysteries of time. For Anshaw, art (the writer's art especially) is redemptive. It allows you to slow down, speed up, or suspend time, and look into interlaced story arcs as if into a crystal ball. But she protects her characters' privacy even when she exposes their flaws, and she forgives them, even when they cannot forgive themselves.
This is my take on Carry the One: Carol Anshaw is a magician. This beautiful and tenderhearted book (all her books are tenderhearted, even at their most drily ironic) joins elegance of structure with a subtle, oblique scrutiny of the dissimilar trajectories through adulthood of three emotionally interdependent siblings, and their friends and lovers who were involved in the terrible accident that closes the first chapter.
The magic is declared in the book's title: it describes both the device by which the reader journeys from chapter to chapter, and the special sort of narrative time-travel (skipping whole years in a single leap) that allows us to experience a quarter century of growing up (or failing to do so) for the many characters in this story. I thought Anshaw performed an especially amazing feat in the unobtrusive, restrained touches by which she gave life to the one character who was robbed of her future right at the start of the book. And in the end, Anshaw gifts us (or I should say, Olivia, who alone did time after the child's death, and is given an especially closed, opaque personality) with a small miracle, a consoling touch whose mystery has been fully earned over the length of the book.
Alice, the gay sister who is a painter, is a surrogate for the novelist (in real life, Anshaw also paints): Anshaw captures, and blesses, her human creatures (and a couple of dogs) through a patient accumulation of small, attentive touches. Anshaw's books are all about family (even when the family is broken or--as in this book--badly frayed), about the mismatch between love and passion, and about the rueful, sometimes anxious acknowledgement that we're hopelessly fallible. They're also about the mysteries of time. For Anshaw, art (the writer's art especially) is redemptive. It allows you to slow down, speed up, or suspend time, and look into interlaced story arcs as if into a crystal ball. But she protects her characters' privacy even when she exposes their flaws, and she forgives them, even when they cannot forgive themselves.
May 11, 2017
The first thing I noticed about this book, by Carol Anshaw, was the title. I love the dual meaning .... the reference to mathematics and also how it ultimately relates to the specifics of this story.
This book is filled with complex characters with complicated relationships to each other. Some are bound by blood ties; some by friendships and even romantic entanglements; but most importantly they all end up bound together by the events of one night.. a night that binds them through guilt, regret and a sorrow they find it difficult to speak of.. for the rest of their lives.
Allow me to set the scene...
A group of friends is gathered to attend a wedding.. the wedding of Carmen and Matt. The story begins with a wedding and this occasion is immediately followed by a death... the death of a nine year-old girl. Gathered for the wedding reception are of course, Matt and Carmen... Carmen's siblings Alice and Nick, Olivia (Nick's girlfriend) and Matt's sister Maude (who is also Alice's 'sometime girlfriend). After the reception ends, the group piles into a car to drive back to the city. The night is warm and foggy and everyone in the car is in various stages of intoxication. Olivia is driving and suddenly a young girl appears out of nowhere.... looking to the occupants of the car as unreal and ethereal. The first the occupants of the car truly see her is when her face os pressed against the windshield. Even then.... the scene simply feels imagined. But it ISN'T imagined. The young girl is indeed dead and it is the death of this child which is at the center of this moving and quite complicated story.
The story follows Carmen, her siblings and the other occupants of the car that night through the next twenty-five years of their lives... through all of the typical milestones which occur in the life of a person... careers developed, love affairs begun and ended, becoming parents and divorce. But what makes the story of this particular group of people unique is the thing which binds these people together.. the death of that little girl on that warm, foggy night. And each of them carry her with them through every milestone they experience. They can't help but think of who and what this child might have become. And of course, there is the never-ending guilt and remorse they feel over her life ending before it had really begun.
The reader follows each character through the years, witness to how each deals with (or doesn't) the guilt. Carmen becomes a social activist and works in a women's shelter. Carmen's sister, Alice, is a painter and feverishly, manically paints this tragic girl at various stages of the life she never got the chance to have. And Carmen's brother Nick... well, he just can't get stoned enough to assuage HIS guilt. Each character, in his/her way is seeking atonement and redemption. They come together often and seem to agree that.. "Like in arithmetic. Because of the accident, we're not just separate numbers. When you add us up, you always have to carry the one." And they all DID carry the child with them and I'm not at all convinced that these characters, despite their efforts, ever found what they were searching for... perhaps it does not exist.
This book encouraged me to consider all the various ways human beings cope with and express guilt; and the very complex ways people go about attempting to make things right... balance the scales. As Nick said to Alice... "I think we altered what was supposed to happen. And we can't go back and make it happen right. So we're stuck in some kind of endless loop trying to improve the past, which as you might notice, is resistant to revision."
Carol Anshaw has written a gripping story of incredible insight into these flawed and yet completely sympathetic characters.
This book is filled with complex characters with complicated relationships to each other. Some are bound by blood ties; some by friendships and even romantic entanglements; but most importantly they all end up bound together by the events of one night.. a night that binds them through guilt, regret and a sorrow they find it difficult to speak of.. for the rest of their lives.
Allow me to set the scene...
A group of friends is gathered to attend a wedding.. the wedding of Carmen and Matt. The story begins with a wedding and this occasion is immediately followed by a death... the death of a nine year-old girl. Gathered for the wedding reception are of course, Matt and Carmen... Carmen's siblings Alice and Nick, Olivia (Nick's girlfriend) and Matt's sister Maude (who is also Alice's 'sometime girlfriend). After the reception ends, the group piles into a car to drive back to the city. The night is warm and foggy and everyone in the car is in various stages of intoxication. Olivia is driving and suddenly a young girl appears out of nowhere.... looking to the occupants of the car as unreal and ethereal. The first the occupants of the car truly see her is when her face os pressed against the windshield. Even then.... the scene simply feels imagined. But it ISN'T imagined. The young girl is indeed dead and it is the death of this child which is at the center of this moving and quite complicated story.
The story follows Carmen, her siblings and the other occupants of the car that night through the next twenty-five years of their lives... through all of the typical milestones which occur in the life of a person... careers developed, love affairs begun and ended, becoming parents and divorce. But what makes the story of this particular group of people unique is the thing which binds these people together.. the death of that little girl on that warm, foggy night. And each of them carry her with them through every milestone they experience. They can't help but think of who and what this child might have become. And of course, there is the never-ending guilt and remorse they feel over her life ending before it had really begun.
The reader follows each character through the years, witness to how each deals with (or doesn't) the guilt. Carmen becomes a social activist and works in a women's shelter. Carmen's sister, Alice, is a painter and feverishly, manically paints this tragic girl at various stages of the life she never got the chance to have. And Carmen's brother Nick... well, he just can't get stoned enough to assuage HIS guilt. Each character, in his/her way is seeking atonement and redemption. They come together often and seem to agree that.. "Like in arithmetic. Because of the accident, we're not just separate numbers. When you add us up, you always have to carry the one." And they all DID carry the child with them and I'm not at all convinced that these characters, despite their efforts, ever found what they were searching for... perhaps it does not exist.
This book encouraged me to consider all the various ways human beings cope with and express guilt; and the very complex ways people go about attempting to make things right... balance the scales. As Nick said to Alice... "I think we altered what was supposed to happen. And we can't go back and make it happen right. So we're stuck in some kind of endless loop trying to improve the past, which as you might notice, is resistant to revision."
Carol Anshaw has written a gripping story of incredible insight into these flawed and yet completely sympathetic characters.
November 30, 2012
Carry the One by Carol Anshaw is an unusual Novel. I first read a rave review for this book in a magazine. The review was so riveting that I ordered the book immediately.
The story begins in 1983, with five drunk and drugged-up friends accidentally killing a young girl as they drive home from a wedding in Wisconsin. What follows is 25 years chasing penance, with plenty of disappointments.
I found the characters in the novel quite cold and found it very difficult to get involved with the characters or the story. The plot is a bit thin and to be honest it had great difficulty holding my interest. I did enjoy the first 30 pages and thought I was in for a 5 star read, but after the 100 page mark I struggled to even pick up the book and I know my reluctance in reading really shows my disinterest in the Novel.
The writing in the novel is quite good and this is the reason I gave the book 2 stars however a book must also have either an absorbing plot or interesting characters to hold my interest and with Carry the One this was where it fell short. I was glad to finally get to the end.
The story begins in 1983, with five drunk and drugged-up friends accidentally killing a young girl as they drive home from a wedding in Wisconsin. What follows is 25 years chasing penance, with plenty of disappointments.
I found the characters in the novel quite cold and found it very difficult to get involved with the characters or the story. The plot is a bit thin and to be honest it had great difficulty holding my interest. I did enjoy the first 30 pages and thought I was in for a 5 star read, but after the 100 page mark I struggled to even pick up the book and I know my reluctance in reading really shows my disinterest in the Novel.
The writing in the novel is quite good and this is the reason I gave the book 2 stars however a book must also have either an absorbing plot or interesting characters to hold my interest and with Carry the One this was where it fell short. I was glad to finally get to the end.
April 8, 2012
It started with a wedding. And then there was a reception. There was a lot of drinking, and a lot of drugs. In hindsight, it probably was not the best idea they had ever had to drive that night in a drunken drug induced haze but they did.
And that is when they hit the girl.
For Carmen, Alice, and Nick, the accident is carried with them wherever they go, far into the future. The girl shows up in Alice's paintings in the gallery.... a girl, wearing the same clothes she wore that fateful night.... a girl who Alice can not find closure for. Casey has memories of the girl she never knew and Nick all these years later still tries to hide inside a bottle.
How... in the flash of a wrong choice, that alters lives forever... HOW do you move on with out carrying the one?
When I first read the synopsis of Carry The One I could not wait to get my hands on it. A tragedy... an accident... and how a family moves on from something so terrible, so senseless, so their fault....
and so I listened to this on audio and...
let's just say Carry The One was not what I had thought it would be. I was expecting a deeply involved novel that did carry the victim throughout the pages. That was not the case. In fact, the book is really more about the three siblings, Alice, Carmen, and Nick... and their lives. Alice paints and searches for love, but that is no different from what was happening prior to the accident. Carmen's choices may have an underlying hint of the accident and a need for closure, but mostly she is just doing life, and Nick... well Nick was in trouble before the accident with his drug use and alcohol abuse and that remains the same throughout the book.
I hate to use the word disappointed, but that is what sums this one up for me. I really thought this book was going to show how one struggles to move on when the unthinkable happens and I really thought the center of the book was going to be about the little girl, Casey. To me, it was just a book about the lives of three people and day after day how they tried to get it right. The girl, is not mentioned much, but occasionally, yes.
Maybe I set myself up for failure on this one by having an entirely different idea of how this would play out. I wanted to like this, shoot... I wanted to love this.
I did not.
There are some interesting reviews going around about this book. Quite a few loved it. I think a few more found it an average read. Be sure to check out other opinions on Carry The One
And that is when they hit the girl.
For Carmen, Alice, and Nick, the accident is carried with them wherever they go, far into the future. The girl shows up in Alice's paintings in the gallery.... a girl, wearing the same clothes she wore that fateful night.... a girl who Alice can not find closure for. Casey has memories of the girl she never knew and Nick all these years later still tries to hide inside a bottle.
How... in the flash of a wrong choice, that alters lives forever... HOW do you move on with out carrying the one?
When I first read the synopsis of Carry The One I could not wait to get my hands on it. A tragedy... an accident... and how a family moves on from something so terrible, so senseless, so their fault....
and so I listened to this on audio and...
let's just say Carry The One was not what I had thought it would be. I was expecting a deeply involved novel that did carry the victim throughout the pages. That was not the case. In fact, the book is really more about the three siblings, Alice, Carmen, and Nick... and their lives. Alice paints and searches for love, but that is no different from what was happening prior to the accident. Carmen's choices may have an underlying hint of the accident and a need for closure, but mostly she is just doing life, and Nick... well Nick was in trouble before the accident with his drug use and alcohol abuse and that remains the same throughout the book.
I hate to use the word disappointed, but that is what sums this one up for me. I really thought this book was going to show how one struggles to move on when the unthinkable happens and I really thought the center of the book was going to be about the little girl, Casey. To me, it was just a book about the lives of three people and day after day how they tried to get it right. The girl, is not mentioned much, but occasionally, yes.
Maybe I set myself up for failure on this one by having an entirely different idea of how this would play out. I wanted to like this, shoot... I wanted to love this.
I did not.
There are some interesting reviews going around about this book. Quite a few loved it. I think a few more found it an average read. Be sure to check out other opinions on Carry The One
January 11, 2012
I was lucky to win a copy of this book on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ.
The first thing that stood out to me about this book was the absolute skill of the writer - the subject matter is a hard one, and she manages to narrate the story is a detached manner, but the prose is just gorgeous! Massive talent here!
The main event that this book revolves around (chapter one - I'm not spoiling the book, promise!) is a tragic accident. A group of young people, drunk and/or high (depending on the character) drive down a country road in the middle of the night and hit and kill a young girl. The novel then follows the lives of everyone in the car, who somehow "carry the one" spirit of the dead girl with them in their own way.
Issues explored are obviously jail/rehab, addiction, sexuality, marraige/partnership,fame, art in various forms, guilt, and family.
An excellent and haunting novel, recommended.
The first thing that stood out to me about this book was the absolute skill of the writer - the subject matter is a hard one, and she manages to narrate the story is a detached manner, but the prose is just gorgeous! Massive talent here!
The main event that this book revolves around (chapter one - I'm not spoiling the book, promise!) is a tragic accident. A group of young people, drunk and/or high (depending on the character) drive down a country road in the middle of the night and hit and kill a young girl. The novel then follows the lives of everyone in the car, who somehow "carry the one" spirit of the dead girl with them in their own way.
Issues explored are obviously jail/rehab, addiction, sexuality, marraige/partnership,fame, art in various forms, guilt, and family.
An excellent and haunting novel, recommended.
August 11, 2019
This book was very highly reviewed but I found it to be average, not something that will stay with me.
March 28, 2012
Review first published on my blog:
Carry The One follows a set of siblings and friends over a course of twenty five years. The book begins with a wedding, and in the aftermath of the wedding, friends traveling together hit and accidentally kill a young girl. The book is meant to look at how one tragic moment impacts these individuals throughout their lives.
Unfortunately I did not enjoy the book at all. The book starts off with a wedding. The characters introduced sadly are not very likable ones. The description of the wedding includes descriptions of casual drug use, casual relationships, and the fact that even the wedding itself is precipitated by an unplanned pregnancy. Following this is the fact that these individuals in an alcohol and drug haze get in a car and drive. All that in the first few pages of the books. Not a positive start.
Given these circumstances, it is unclear that what transpires in the characters' lives is due to one tragic moment or a series of unfortunate choices. The premise of the book does not follow through because even in the first few pages, the accident is not a surprise and is a result of decisions made. To then turn around and present that accident as the cause in all that follows lacks conviction and makes for poor reading.
Carry The One follows a set of siblings and friends over a course of twenty five years. The book begins with a wedding, and in the aftermath of the wedding, friends traveling together hit and accidentally kill a young girl. The book is meant to look at how one tragic moment impacts these individuals throughout their lives.
Unfortunately I did not enjoy the book at all. The book starts off with a wedding. The characters introduced sadly are not very likable ones. The description of the wedding includes descriptions of casual drug use, casual relationships, and the fact that even the wedding itself is precipitated by an unplanned pregnancy. Following this is the fact that these individuals in an alcohol and drug haze get in a car and drive. All that in the first few pages of the books. Not a positive start.
Given these circumstances, it is unclear that what transpires in the characters' lives is due to one tragic moment or a series of unfortunate choices. The premise of the book does not follow through because even in the first few pages, the accident is not a surprise and is a result of decisions made. To then turn around and present that accident as the cause in all that follows lacks conviction and makes for poor reading.
December 21, 2011
CARRY THE ONE is a stunning breakout novel. Love, loss, addiction, guilt, passion - Anshaw covers it all, and her writing is nothing short of brilliant. Her characters and their stories are bursting with a raw honesty that is so often lacking in contemporary literature. This is a novel you will want to talk about the minute you turn the final page; a novel you will want to share with all of your friends. Compulsively readable, enthrallingly witty... Anshaw is here to stay.
May 16, 2012
Accidents happen. Twists of Fate, bad judgment, lousy luck. Regardless of whether or not one believes in a higher power or karma or The Law Of Attraction, all can agree we are shaped by events, as individuals and as groups. The notion can be both terrifying and exhilarating. In the hands of Carol Anshaw, it is both, and it makes for a spellbinding read.
In brisk, economical prose, Anshaw drops us in among a group of urbane early 20-somethings, moments after a wedding in a Wisconsin farmhouse in 1983. All are in various states of inebriation, via drugs, alcohol, and/or lust. Anshaw - also a painter - conveys a lot with small brushstrokes. Cardinal traits that will define the characters over the course of the book are in full view; we meet the socially conscious bride unsure of her choice of husband, her genius drug enthusiast brother (in a dress) and his ne'er-do-well girlfriend (in a tux), her lesbian sister and her sister's lover connecting furtively in a hot attic room, an aspiring musician and his trustafarian gal pal. All except the exhausted bride and groom pile into the ne'er-do-well tuxedoed girlfriend's "cavernous Dodge" for rides back to motels, lodgings, etc, and, with only their fog lights on, they hit and kill a young girl. That's on page 11.
What follows is twenty-five years or so in which this tragedy reverberates in the lives of these individuals as they become themselves. That may sound like a downer, but it's not. While tragic, Anshaw's characters - for the most part - are funny, inspiring and just complicated enough to free them of stereotype (i.e. "The Lefty Do-Gooder," "The Druggie," "The Flighty Artist.") . It is thrilling to watch them kick against the friction of their lives - not just the accident, but the more ordinary mishaps like heartbreak, disappointment, humiliation. They are spirited and, to a person, sexy. There's much erotic heat going on, and Anshaw is a master at this, somehow using just enough restraint to let one's mind reel in the most pleasant of ways. Sadly, the really good sex seems mostly reserved for the women. But it is really good sex. In fact, guys in general do not fare so well under Anshaw's gaze. But that's a quibble.
Anshaw uses engaging, sharply realized characters - the dialogue sparkles - plus impressively rendered factoids about astronomy and painting, to delve into the different, often fascinating, ways people handle guilt, resentment, despair. Everyone chooses to atone - both consciously and unconsciously - for the accident, and the magic of the book is that while one begins the story being pissed off at these fuckups, as we get to know them and their hearts, we begin to forgive. And that feels good.
In brisk, economical prose, Anshaw drops us in among a group of urbane early 20-somethings, moments after a wedding in a Wisconsin farmhouse in 1983. All are in various states of inebriation, via drugs, alcohol, and/or lust. Anshaw - also a painter - conveys a lot with small brushstrokes. Cardinal traits that will define the characters over the course of the book are in full view; we meet the socially conscious bride unsure of her choice of husband, her genius drug enthusiast brother (in a dress) and his ne'er-do-well girlfriend (in a tux), her lesbian sister and her sister's lover connecting furtively in a hot attic room, an aspiring musician and his trustafarian gal pal. All except the exhausted bride and groom pile into the ne'er-do-well tuxedoed girlfriend's "cavernous Dodge" for rides back to motels, lodgings, etc, and, with only their fog lights on, they hit and kill a young girl. That's on page 11.
What follows is twenty-five years or so in which this tragedy reverberates in the lives of these individuals as they become themselves. That may sound like a downer, but it's not. While tragic, Anshaw's characters - for the most part - are funny, inspiring and just complicated enough to free them of stereotype (i.e. "The Lefty Do-Gooder," "The Druggie," "The Flighty Artist.") . It is thrilling to watch them kick against the friction of their lives - not just the accident, but the more ordinary mishaps like heartbreak, disappointment, humiliation. They are spirited and, to a person, sexy. There's much erotic heat going on, and Anshaw is a master at this, somehow using just enough restraint to let one's mind reel in the most pleasant of ways. Sadly, the really good sex seems mostly reserved for the women. But it is really good sex. In fact, guys in general do not fare so well under Anshaw's gaze. But that's a quibble.
Anshaw uses engaging, sharply realized characters - the dialogue sparkles - plus impressively rendered factoids about astronomy and painting, to delve into the different, often fascinating, ways people handle guilt, resentment, despair. Everyone chooses to atone - both consciously and unconsciously - for the accident, and the magic of the book is that while one begins the story being pissed off at these fuckups, as we get to know them and their hearts, we begin to forgive. And that feels good.
April 24, 2012
I want to respond to the negative reviews of the book more than the book itself (which I enjoyed to an extent). Of course if you didn't enjoy the book, you didn't enjoy it, but here's me defending it against accusations of poor storytelling.
First, there's the critique that this book did not deliver the story/theme it promised; that there was too little focus on the little girl that was killed. I admit that the advertising may have been misleading, but I believe that the writer did stay true to the theme of "carrying the one." It wasn't just about carrying the dead girl - Alice and Carmen also carry Nick, the three siblings carry their childhood, etc.
And to the critique that the characters weren't sufficiently remorseful, I actually found their responses fairly realistic. Remember that we're following them over two decades after the accident, so of course other things in their lives should take center stage from time to time. And the effects were sometimes subconscious for the characters, which is much more interesting to think about anyway?
I guess I can't respond to the reviews that complain about too much lesbian sex, shotgun weddings, weak male characters, and "casual" drug use. But it does make me a little sad that this detracted from people's ability to empathize.
First, there's the critique that this book did not deliver the story/theme it promised; that there was too little focus on the little girl that was killed. I admit that the advertising may have been misleading, but I believe that the writer did stay true to the theme of "carrying the one." It wasn't just about carrying the dead girl - Alice and Carmen also carry Nick, the three siblings carry their childhood, etc.
And to the critique that the characters weren't sufficiently remorseful, I actually found their responses fairly realistic. Remember that we're following them over two decades after the accident, so of course other things in their lives should take center stage from time to time. And the effects were sometimes subconscious for the characters, which is much more interesting to think about anyway?
I guess I can't respond to the reviews that complain about too much lesbian sex, shotgun weddings, weak male characters, and "casual" drug use. But it does make me a little sad that this detracted from people's ability to empathize.
February 12, 2012
Okay, I just don't understand how so many people love this book. I struggled with the timeline of the book and the jumping back and forth between characters and events. Also, this book was SUPER depressing. The characters lives were so boring and bad and filled with guilt and torment that you were almost wishing they would die off just so you wouldn't have to read about them. I realize not every book you read will be uplifting, but my goodness, this one was so depressing that it put me in a bad mood just reading it. Although I am sure that the characters could have reacted in the way that the author wrote, this book would certainly not build up someone who did accidently hit a child with their car. I mean to think that everyone involved with an accident is then forced to live a life filled with despair, seems totally unrealistic. This was not a book that I would recommend to anyone. It makes me feel like the author needs some therapy to deal with depression issues, because she sure seems to have a grip on those feelings.
This review is in reference to an Advance Reader's Edition of the book.
This review is in reference to an Advance Reader's Edition of the book.
January 24, 2015
I thought I would really like this book, it sounded so good...how three siblings and their friends lives are forever changed after a devastating accident...but it was not good at all. I could not connect with any of the characters and it seemed to take me forever to just get through it.
April 1, 2013
This is that book that I sort of liked just enough to keep reading, and then, as more pages stacked up on the left, found myself more and more engrossed in. Carry The One is what I will henceforth call Sneaker Fiction. That is, maybe you thought you were reading People magazine, but turns out it was Harper’s, how ’bout that?! Or, you started reading Goodnight Moon but it turned into Go The Fuck To Sleep. This is a novel with an interesting enough plot about a group of young adults together at an accidental manslaughter, and twenty-five years of time and history’s effect on those young adults as they grow into middle age. If I were pitching Hollywood and a publishing house in the same meeting, maybe I’d say it's Lorri Moore meets the movie, Munich—i.e.: serious subject matter with splashes of dry, dry, dark humor. A little bit meta fiction, a little bit ambiguous morality tale. So if this sounds like your cup of black, unsweetened tea that’s been steeping for a long time, drink up; you’ll have a good buzz by the end.
March 2, 2012
It has been years since I've so taken with a book. Carry The One is one of those rare well crafted books on several levels. High quality of writing, excellent story, pacing, drama, humor and poignancy. It is one of only a handful of books in the past 5 years I've read twice just to experience the writing and nauances a second time.
This is a story about Carmen, Nick and Alice a group of siblings bound together by a horrible accident that takes the life of a young girl, and continues to distract and to develop each of the siblings in different ways over the ensuing 25 years of their lives. There are many ways to handle this grief. The magic here is Anshaws exploration of how Alice a painter fuels her art with images of the little girl who died, or how Nick recklessly seeks his relief through drugs and alcohol or Carmen, whose constant protest marching and volunteering fail to make any emotional relief.
This is a well drawn novel with careful development of characters through 25 years of their life and defined by one event that sends them across this span of time in differnt directions yet bound and tethered to one single event. It's powerful, elegiac and pitch perfect characters you care about, hurt for and endear yourself to.
A perfect book.
February 27, 2013
I love the idea behind this book. A group of "friends" are involved in a tragic incident. We follow them through several decades and many other life changing events.
The reasons I dislike this book:
1- Lesbian sex- There wasn't anything too graphic, but lots of implications. I kept hoping that Alice would turn straight just so I wouldn't have to read these interactions anymore.
2- Politics- I'm a staunch Republican. The view of some of the political matter rubs me the wrong way. That's all I will say about that.
3- There are too many phrases inserted into sentences using commas. I'm not sure why this drove me so nuts. Page 154, "It was usually not, Carmen had told Alice, a good situation when the same person provided both the pain and the analgesic."
I know it's not grammatically wrong, but the sheer number of these types of sentences drove me nuts.
SPOILER:
4- It was so depressing that not all of the characters had happy endings, specifically Nick. Also, can someone please explain to me what happened to Olivia? Does the last page imply that she has died?
Overall, not one I would recommend.
The reasons I dislike this book:
1- Lesbian sex- There wasn't anything too graphic, but lots of implications. I kept hoping that Alice would turn straight just so I wouldn't have to read these interactions anymore.
2- Politics- I'm a staunch Republican. The view of some of the political matter rubs me the wrong way. That's all I will say about that.
3- There are too many phrases inserted into sentences using commas. I'm not sure why this drove me so nuts. Page 154, "It was usually not, Carmen had told Alice, a good situation when the same person provided both the pain and the analgesic."
I know it's not grammatically wrong, but the sheer number of these types of sentences drove me nuts.
SPOILER:
4- It was so depressing that not all of the characters had happy endings, specifically Nick. Also, can someone please explain to me what happened to Olivia? Does the last page imply that she has died?
Overall, not one I would recommend.
January 4, 2013
I enjoyed this rather despite myself, but I was never really able to forget I was reading something that someone had written as fiction.
On some level Carol Anshaw has a knack for making the conflicts between her characters poignant and compelling; I found myself caring about this rather oddball family as their lives unfolded. To a certain extent this had to do with the desire to see "where they wound up," which the book did in fact pay off.
On another level, the effect on the family of the "tragic event" seemed overblown. Some of what distances the family from the event is the fact that the driver wasn't a member of their tribe and the girl was a stranger; these were both choices the writer made, and had she chosen either of these differently the family's return to the events over and over might have made more sense.
One particularly interesting interchange was the drug-addled brother's interaction with the dead girl's family. I wanted more of that.
This was a quick read, but time well spent.
On some level Carol Anshaw has a knack for making the conflicts between her characters poignant and compelling; I found myself caring about this rather oddball family as their lives unfolded. To a certain extent this had to do with the desire to see "where they wound up," which the book did in fact pay off.
On another level, the effect on the family of the "tragic event" seemed overblown. Some of what distances the family from the event is the fact that the driver wasn't a member of their tribe and the girl was a stranger; these were both choices the writer made, and had she chosen either of these differently the family's return to the events over and over might have made more sense.
One particularly interesting interchange was the drug-addled brother's interaction with the dead girl's family. I wanted more of that.
This was a quick read, but time well spent.
November 28, 2014
The author makes token efforts to show that the girl's death at the beginning of the novel had far reaching impact, but never proves her case. I failed to see how their lives would have been much different if it hadn't been for the "fateful night". I found this to be a fragmented story about shallow, self-centered people who were not significantly different when the book ended than when it began. Anshaw tries too hard to be edgy with both the dialog and interactions creating a tedious picture that is way off center. I would not have finished this book but for it being a book club pick, although two other book club members did find it too boring to actually finish!
January 1, 2012
3.5 if I could. Almost feels like the reader is a voyeur peering on these characters lives. The writing is so smooth and the characters are two sister and a brother who are involved in a fatal accident which effects them in different way throughout their lives. We peer in on them in increments of several years, finding out where they are at, how they are facing their challenges. Actually quite structurally perfect and apparent simpleness of the novel is deceptive.
May 7, 2012
How does a book that starts so strong devolve so completely? This initially intriguing novel was such a major disappointment in that the original premise is abandoned and the heavy handed treatment wears a reader down. I began by not being able to put this book down, then found I could not pick it up. Each character seems caught in their own whirlpool, constantly repeating mistakes and unable to move forward or resolve the issues that shape their lives.
December 16, 2024
This is not a novel for those that believe that , after a life changing tragedy in which all the main characters are culpable , the day of judgement will come to damn them all .
Three hedonistic young siblings ( sex and drugs and alternative lifestyles being their parental inheritance) are involved, directly or indirectly , in a car crash that kills a child . The driver , not one of the sibs , serves her gaol time and manages ,vwith extraordinary discipline, to live a tight structured life . The parents of the child split and take a further nosedive on their already downward trajectory . The three sibs manage to get by by exaggerating and prioritising their pre accident coping strategies : drugs : sex or activism/ self sacrifice .
It's a long view and expertly written . The sibs are imperfect , expertly rendered and their decisions often questionable but highly believable . We are not asked to be judgemental or sympathetic . We are asked to witness imperfect human beings struggling and failing to resolve an unresolvable event . The biggest dilemma we will ever be asked to live with .
Oh ,I forgot to say , it's very funny .
Three hedonistic young siblings ( sex and drugs and alternative lifestyles being their parental inheritance) are involved, directly or indirectly , in a car crash that kills a child . The driver , not one of the sibs , serves her gaol time and manages ,vwith extraordinary discipline, to live a tight structured life . The parents of the child split and take a further nosedive on their already downward trajectory . The three sibs manage to get by by exaggerating and prioritising their pre accident coping strategies : drugs : sex or activism/ self sacrifice .
It's a long view and expertly written . The sibs are imperfect , expertly rendered and their decisions often questionable but highly believable . We are not asked to be judgemental or sympathetic . We are asked to witness imperfect human beings struggling and failing to resolve an unresolvable event . The biggest dilemma we will ever be asked to live with .
Oh ,I forgot to say , it's very funny .
May 13, 2012
“So Carmen was married, just,� is how this story begins. The wedding takes place on a farm, the ceremony in a barn. It’s a somewhat joyous occasion, and several young folks get carried away and overdo it with drugs and alcohol, but hey, it’s a celebration. Late into the night, the last guests to leave are Carmen’s siblings, Nick and Alice, who climb into a car with four others and head back to the city. But then a misfortune strikes—a tragedy so profound that it will deeply touch all these characters for the rest of their lives.
The story follows the three siblings—Carmen, a new bride and housewife; Alice, a lesbian artist; and Nick, a stoner and wantabe astronomer—as they put their lives back together and attempt to maneuver through the mine field of guilt and self-loathing brought on by the accident. The chapters are seen as snapshots of time over the coarse of twenty years, showing how each sibling struggles in their own way to regain something normal, but there is no way to bury this hurt, no way to stop it from tinting every relationship, every occasion, every quiet moment spent alone.
They try to lose themselves in relationships, careers, drugs, and crusading to help others, but nothing can lessen the pain. In short, it’s a sad, depressing story, that once it begins rolling down hill, never really achieves an upward trajectory.
The premise is marvelous. Early on, I had high hopes for this read. The story starts with a bang, and the first thirty pages are riveting, but then I began to have issues with the writing and the characters.
The prose is, for the most part, nondescript, with patches of sloppiness and moments of brilliance. I feel the author tries overly hard to sound “literary�, which often makes the prose jerky and awkward, rather than a smooth flow. I also feel that Anshaw does too much telling and precious little showing, which quickly becomes tedious.
Shortly after the accident scene, a pattern develops. All female characters are shown as strong, intelligent, and resourceful. However, all (and I do mean ALL) the men are either lying cheating bastards, spineless buffoons, or drug addicts who can’t tie their shoelaces without some woman there to show them how. I find her treatment of women vs. men characters sexist and offensive. It colors the entire story, making it impossible for me to enjoy the book, or to take Anshaw seriously as a writer.
I have no issue with someone writing a story geared for women. Neither do I take issue with flawed characters, male or female. In fact, flawed characters tend to be the most interesting. But I do resent authors who blatantly attack a group of people by portraying them all as flawed, with little or no redeeming qualities.
The ironic result about her treatment of women vs. men characters, in my opinion, is that Nick, the most flawed and spineless character in the story, turns out to be the only interesting character. The author molds Carman, Alice, Maude, and Olivia into clichés, and hence, uninteresting characters.
The last issue I’ll mention is that, finishing the story, it seems that none of the three protagonist made any kind of a meaningful arc. After the tragedy, they all fall into their own defensive patterns that held true for them for the rest of the story. They struggle and struggle, but don’t really resolve. If they are able to overcome their obstacles, it is so subtle that it soared over my head.
Women readers will, no doubt, enjoy this book, men readers not so much. I cannot recommend this read.
The story follows the three siblings—Carmen, a new bride and housewife; Alice, a lesbian artist; and Nick, a stoner and wantabe astronomer—as they put their lives back together and attempt to maneuver through the mine field of guilt and self-loathing brought on by the accident. The chapters are seen as snapshots of time over the coarse of twenty years, showing how each sibling struggles in their own way to regain something normal, but there is no way to bury this hurt, no way to stop it from tinting every relationship, every occasion, every quiet moment spent alone.
They try to lose themselves in relationships, careers, drugs, and crusading to help others, but nothing can lessen the pain. In short, it’s a sad, depressing story, that once it begins rolling down hill, never really achieves an upward trajectory.
The premise is marvelous. Early on, I had high hopes for this read. The story starts with a bang, and the first thirty pages are riveting, but then I began to have issues with the writing and the characters.
The prose is, for the most part, nondescript, with patches of sloppiness and moments of brilliance. I feel the author tries overly hard to sound “literary�, which often makes the prose jerky and awkward, rather than a smooth flow. I also feel that Anshaw does too much telling and precious little showing, which quickly becomes tedious.
Shortly after the accident scene, a pattern develops. All female characters are shown as strong, intelligent, and resourceful. However, all (and I do mean ALL) the men are either lying cheating bastards, spineless buffoons, or drug addicts who can’t tie their shoelaces without some woman there to show them how. I find her treatment of women vs. men characters sexist and offensive. It colors the entire story, making it impossible for me to enjoy the book, or to take Anshaw seriously as a writer.
I have no issue with someone writing a story geared for women. Neither do I take issue with flawed characters, male or female. In fact, flawed characters tend to be the most interesting. But I do resent authors who blatantly attack a group of people by portraying them all as flawed, with little or no redeeming qualities.
The ironic result about her treatment of women vs. men characters, in my opinion, is that Nick, the most flawed and spineless character in the story, turns out to be the only interesting character. The author molds Carman, Alice, Maude, and Olivia into clichés, and hence, uninteresting characters.
The last issue I’ll mention is that, finishing the story, it seems that none of the three protagonist made any kind of a meaningful arc. After the tragedy, they all fall into their own defensive patterns that held true for them for the rest of the story. They struggle and struggle, but don’t really resolve. If they are able to overcome their obstacles, it is so subtle that it soared over my head.
Women readers will, no doubt, enjoy this book, men readers not so much. I cannot recommend this read.
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