[.ca] The Law of Enclosures (ISBN 067100347X)

honest, emotional portrait of a marriage:
Dale Peck's "The Law of Enclosures" tells the story of the relationship between Henry and Beatrice from the moment they meet until they are both in their later years. The structure of the story, alternating between the present and the past, provides a startling contrast in the emotions they share over time. One chapter relates their youthful love and energy and the next shows what happens after a lifetime of stress and living together. The middle section where Peck speaks to and about his own family, especially his father, lets the reader understand the relationship between his fictional characters even better. All in all, an extremely effective and emotional tale. I highly recommend it!

Most definatly a thought provoking novel:
After months of putting off reading "the law of enclusures" I sat down and read it in one Saturday. With an amazing writing style, and an invitation to look into Dale Peck's childhood, it was hard to even take a break to eat. The authors amazing discriptions of Henry's and Beatrices heavenly and hellish relationship make for deep thinking on the readers view of love. More then once I needed to stop and just reflect not just on the book, but on my life as well. This book is definatly worthy of reading again.

Disturbing introspective drama fizzles in the end...:
I was gripped by the emotional significance of the book from the very beginning. His brutality and honesty are what set him apart from many post-hip nineties fru-fru authors, and it is what makes him especially appealing for those of us willing to accept life's inherent brutality. The end, alone, left me extremely unsatisfied... it wasn't well-paced, and left nothing resolved in my mind's eye. Perhaps that's what was intended.