The Mare: A Novel (Vintage Contemporaries)

I couldn't put this book down and when I did, I was still thinking about it. I believe we get a very realistic portrayal of what a young woman in the inner city would experience, even if it is disturbing. I enjoyed getting each characters perspectives as they are experiencing the events. The characters all have their flaws which makes the story very believable. Although there are horses in this book, it is not a "horse book." As an equestrian, I think the author does a fabulous job of describing the girl's experiences with the horses in a language that everyone can understand. Overall, this book is about humans who are hurting and looking for connections. A very good read.

i have read a few other gaitskill novels, and some of her short stories, and i like this about as much as the others. like her other fiction, it has a pretty standard, predictable story line (which i won't detail, so as to not be a spoiler -- but i would bet that when you start reading, you can kind of guess how it is going to go). but also like her other fiction, there are passages of beautifully observed and evocatively phrased writing which just knock you back for a second with their beauty.the story, though predictable, is a satisfying one, in the manner of a favorite meal at a favorite restaurant -- it fills and pleases in the expected ways, drawing one along effortlessly. the character of velvet is imagined with a lovely complexity, and her emotional responses are described in striking and original fashion.it is not great literature, but it is more than just airplane reading. the story is engaging, and it is definitely worth the read.

This book started out great and I had a strong emotional reaction to the relationship between the girl and the mare. As the story continued, I found myself sometimes feeling annoyed with the characters. The climax was weak and the ending left too many unknowns. On a positive note, the writer seems pretty horse savvy (although the last time a vet put a twitch on my horse I told her to take it off...that vet was about to have her ass kicked by her client). Additionally, the style of telling the story from several character perspectives was refreshing.

At first this book promises to be a classic story of a girl and a horse. It has a modern twist in that the girl lives in Brooklyn, the daughter of a poor woman from the Dominican Republic. The horse comes into the picture when the girl, named Velveteen, gets a chance to visit a couple in upstate New York through the Fresh Air Fund. Ginger and Paul, the couple Velveteen visits, happen to live next door to a stable. Velvet, as she is usually called, walks into the stable and has an instant affinity for the horses; she can sense what they are thinking.This would have a great book even if it were told only through the young girl's point of view. But the author adds layers of complexity by including the viewpoints of the other main characters as well. We see how much Velvet's visits mean to Ginger but also how threatened Paul seems by them. We see how Velvet's mother, who speaks no English, deals with her daughter's surprising success and growing confidence as a rider as well as her transformation from a child to a woman and all the issues that come with it.The book is highly readable and compelling, a "National Velvet" for a multicultural audience. Even before I finished it I was looking up the author online to see what else she had written so I could read more.

If you aren't a horse lover you might rate this book more like a 3 star. The author clearly knows a lot about horses or had a good equine consultant as the details in the horse scenes are very accurate. There were a few details I knew wouldn't happen that way, but overall this book would be very appealing to horse lovers. The story line was very interesting and kept me engaged all the way through. I was a bit disappointed with the ending, which I felt was weak and too abrupt for real life. I do recommend this well-written book which I think is appropriate for adults and older teens.

I've read Mary Gaitskill in the past ("Veronica") and while I found that book quite disturbing, I know she's a complex, literary writer of very high degree. So I'm particularly disappointed by this book (and, as so often happens, incredulous about the critical raves). I think she has not dealt effectively with the racial component of this story (in truth, the whole story is predicated on racial/social issues). She idealizes characters here, or stereotypes them, even going so far as creating a falsely mythic "magic" person of color in the character of Velvet, who has some inner juju that makes it possible to win over even the most dangerous horse with merely a look. Meanwhile, white characters are benign and dull, with no interest or purpose, which is maybe Gaitskill's point, but if so it's an equally shallow rendering. I didn't buy any of it. (And what woman from the DR names a daughter "Velveteen" -- Gaitskill's nod to "National Velvet"?!) Also, the back-and-forth style of narration is tiresome - some chapters are a paragraph long, most are one page, so a reader has to go back and forth, back and forth, constantly switching from point of view to point of view. Not enjoyable at all. I'm surprised that no one has had the courage to comment on the racial problems in this book, except for a reviewer at Salon, who quotes Gaitskill saying she was worried about creating the character of Velvet's mother, Sylvia, and hoped she had done right by her. She didn't.

This book was absolutely phenomenal. Loved it. My only criticism would be the dust jacket arrived torn down to very poor packaging on Amazon's part.

A book to hold and kiss, certain passages, pages, words. That stays with you like the diminishing yet tragically mystical totems that Velveteen carries. I envy everyone who's not yet read this: such luscious, strange mare-power awaits you. Xo

Such a good interpretation of a classic, National Velvet. I loved the language and feel of modern, urban America yet with the essence captured of the original. Cleverly done and a cracking good read.

Great story

Good