The Language of Good-Bye

by Maribeth Fischer

Book Overview

What is the cost of leaving a country, a child, a marriage? What is the cost of not leaving? These are the questions at the heart of The Language of Good-bye, Fischer's powerful and provocative debut... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525945709
• ISBN13: 9780525945703
• Release Date: April 2001
• Publisher: Dutton Books
• Length: 343 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A page turner!

I stumbled upon this novel and despite its melancholy title, I brought it home. This was a great decision. Fischer examines her characters by employing equal parts affection, empathy, and what can only be described as prickly honesty. In so doing, she manages to avoid smarmy stereotypes and clean resolutions. I was very sad to see it end.

A feast of the heart!

Maribeth Fischer's, The Language of Good-bye, is a work of art. Sungae, a Korean-born woman who has left her great love behind to honor family duty is an artist. She paints her memories of Korea with great detail as she studies art and learns to speak English. Annie, Sungae's English teacher; Carter, Annie's ex-husband and childhood friend; Will, Annie's great love; and Kayla, the wife Will leaves for Annie, are characters that you will in turn love and understand as you get into each one's thoughts and desires. Sungae explains, "Duty is like an ancient tree which has survived many seasons. Love is only the blossom."Fischer is a beautiful writer. Language swept me into it with characters that are so alive I missed them when I finished. Her detailed writing creates a world that made feel like I could not only see the motivations of her characters, but that I was a part of the story; I felt as though I were a player in this compelling world: I could see it, smell it, and taste it. I could taste the hazelnut coffee Will doesn't like, feel the chill of the autumn air I shared with the Trick-or Treaters, and I understood Annie's need to be loved and that she must endure her sadness: an inability to bear her own child. And her resentment toward Will, father of five-year old Brooke, the child he adores.Often when literature is beautifully written, I am impressed by the skill and art of the writer, but still, I cannot wait for the book to be finished; there is a dryness when a writer loves words more than characters. As I read Language, I found myself wishing that it wouldn't end. The losses, passions, and joys of these people became my losses, passions, and joys as well. This book made me ask myself how much I was willing to lose in order to follow my heart and made me review the losses of my life where I had no choice in the matter. I have heard that we read books to feel less alone, and when I read this book, I knew from the writer's great craft that I was safe, that I had found a book I could relax with. I could identify with these living characters; Fischer and her characters understand that throughout our lives, we will continue to suffer loss, and we will continue with to live our lives as though we are not in pain because that is what we do. And that nothing we gain comes without loss, that our lives are very complex indeed, if we choose to live them fully.I am an English teacher by trade. I read books because I need them, love them, and live for them. This book touched me in a way few have. It reached me on an emotional level, and it touched my soul. It is a literary feast of the heart and of the senses not to be missed.

Wow!

This novel is a must-read - I finished it in less than twenty-four hours. The powerful emotions and conflicting desires of the main characters, Carter, Annie, Will, Kayla, and Sungae, actually brought tears to my eyes. The detail is incredible, using specifics to bring the characters to life. Carter remembers the smell of Annie's vanilla conditioner, Will buys Annie cherry Pop-Tarts because that's what her mother had done for her when she was little. Will has dry salt on his neck after bicycling and as summer turns to fall, Sungae suspects infidelity when Will doesn't protest when Kayla brings him hazelnut rather than amaretto decaf coffee. It is the emotion of grief that brings the characters of the novel together - Annie's Palestinian ESL student who writes about his friend being shot by Israelis in every assignment; Sungae, a Korean student, who avoids learning English for seventeen years to avoid remembering her past. Carter's inability to let go of Annie that brings him to stalk her, ordering pizzas because the delivery boy is in her class and Will's doubts about leaving his five-year-old daughter. The insights that the characters find, from Annie's observation that her students write about past tragedy in to present tense to Annie and Will's lesson that leaving is as hard as being left, leave a reader a little wiser.

Amazing, Beautiful, Insightful

This book truly moved me. Each of the characters, Annie, Carter, Will, Kayla, Sungae and Keehwan, are so unique and so real. Ms. Fischer's writing is truly beautiful and each sentence is loaded with meaning and depth. This is one of those books that you just don't forget. As I go through life I know that certain passages will always remain with me and will probably take on new meanings as I grow older. This is truly one of a kind - so beautifully written.

a must read

I was given this book for my birthday and could not put it down. It is the story of Annie and Will, two lovers who each leave a marriage in order to be together, and then suffer the repercussions of that decision. Fischer never takes the easy way out -- she looks at difficult and complex emotional situations with unflinching honesty. As well as being an engrossing read, this novel helped me understand why people sometimes leave a marriage even when it has been a loving one. A wonderful debut by a talented new novelist. I hope we'll see more from her.