The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

Amy  

fiction

More than the Dutch House, this novel is about a family who lived in the Dutch House for about 15 years. The Dutch House was definitely the setting of Maeve’s and Danny’s childhood and a kind of framework of their lives. Because of this house, their mother left, their father married Andrea, and Maeve and Danny were forced to leave the house and fend for themselves. Also, because of the house, their lives were changed again when Maeve and Danny were in their 40s.

The concept for this story was very interesting and creative to me. It was a family drama. I was pleased that Ann Patchett chose to make Maeve and Danny generally happy people instead of bitter and hostile.  They were, of course, entitled to be bitter and hostile but it made for a more enjoyable narrative for them to accept their cruel circumstances with grace and cunning. I loved their relationship but realized that it was a bit unrealistic that Maeve was able to be everything Danny needed.  Danny himself was a bit unrealistic in that he seemed so content to just exist and to do what he was told to do.  He had the gift of acceptance—of people, of scenarios, of his own circumstances—without much questioning or rebellion.  He just moved through life like a leaf floating along water for the most part.  Of course, he did make a few key decisions for himself but not really until he had graduated from college.  But, I enjoyed their story very much and looked forward to hearing more of it every chance I got.

The audiobook was read by Tom Hanks! I hadn’t paid attention to the identity of the narrator before starting it and was so excited when he was introduced as the narrator.  While I adore Tom Hanks, and he did a fine job as narrator, he’s definitely not an amazing narrator.   One quirky thing he did was to introduce each chapter in a grand, overdone way—Chapter TWO!  It made me laugh and had a lot of pizzazz but it really took me out of the story every time.  I’d be reminded that Tom Hanks was the narrator and that this was indeed a novel but I prefer to be submerged in a story. Hanks did not have a repertoire of different voices and only softened his voice slightly when voicing female characters. Thankfully, there were not a lot of different characters in the novel, the writing was very clear, and his reading pace was slow enough that I was always able to figure out who was “speaking”. But, (and this is a point I’ve made before) great actors do not necessarily make great voice actors.  But, Hanks did better than many so I’m still gonna give him an A- because he infused the characters with a lot of heart.  I may have even liked them better because of his narration. I’m not sure.