The Standing Chandelier

Posted on 05 March 2018 by Lionel Shriver

This early stocking filler of a novel is a brutal treat Daily Mail From the award winning novelist and short story writer, Lionel Shriver, comes a literary gem, a story about love and the power of a gift.When Weston Babansky receives an extravagant engagement present from his best friend and old flame Jillian Frisk, he doesn t quite know what to make of it or how to get it past his fianc e Especially as it s a massive, handmade, intensely personal sculpture that they d have to live with forever.As the argument rages about whether Jillian s gift was an act of pure platonic generosity or somethinginsidious, battle lines are drawn Can men and women ever be friends Just friends Described by the Sunday Times as a brilliant writer with a strong, clear and strangely seductive voice , Lionel Shriver has written a glittering examination of friendship, ownership and the conditions of love. Best Read [ The Standing Chandelier ] Author [ Lionel Shriver ] – kino-fada.fr Love Has LimitsWhen A loves B, and B loves C, but C hates A, none of the relations are stable Especially if B is a male who defines himself by these relations and therefore puts himself emotionally at the mercy of females A and C Thanks to B, everyone is confused and hapless Men Who d have em Women areresilient than men, less naive and generallycapable of guile Is that sexist Perhaps But that s Shriver s opinion, and I trust her Personally, I ve never understood why women ar Love Has LimitsWhen A loves B, and B loves C, but C hates A, none of the relations are stable Especially if B is a male who defines himself by these relations and therefore puts himself emotionally at the mercy of females A and C Thanks to B, everyone is confused and hapless Men Who d have em Women areresilient than men, less naive and generallycapable...Social relations are tricky Sometimes you have a natural rapport with a person Sometimes you wish for a stronger friendship than someone wants to give you Sometimes you receive attention from a person you have no interest in being friends with Lionel Shriver has an unerring knack for cutting through social niceties and portraying the psychology of her characters in a disarmingly candid manner In her new novella The Standing Chandelier she presents Jillian Frisk a loud, opinionated, colou Social relations are tricky Sometimes you have a natural rapport with a person Sometimes you wish for a stronger friendship than someone wants to give you Sometimes you receive attention from a person you have no interest in being friends with Lionel Shriver has an unerring knack for cutting through social niceties and portraying the psychology of her characters in a disarmingly candid manner In her new novella The Standing Chandelier she presents Jillian Frisk a loud, opinionated, colourful woman with an artistic sensibility She knows she rubs many people the wron...Can men and women every really just be friends best friends This is the question at the heart of Lionel Shriver s new novella.When Weston asks Paige to marry him, she says yes under one condition Weston must end his friendship with his best friend of 25 years, Jillian, who Paige despises.Though barely over 100 pages, The Standing Chandelier is packed with Shriver s mesmerizingly sharp insight and analysis of human behavior.Are the judgments that we make about others accurate, or are they merel Can men and women every really just be friends best friends This is the question at the heart of Lionel Shriver s new novella.When Weston asks Paige to marry him, she says yes under one condition Weston must end his friendship with his best friend of 25 years, Jillian, who Paige despises.Though barely over 100 pages, The Standing Chandelier is packed with Shriver s mesmerizingly sharp insight and analysis of human behavior.Are the judgments that we ...I love everything that Lionel Shriver does and always drop everything to read her, and this little novella was another cracker Jillian and Baba have been best friends for 25 years Both are unusual people who totally accept and love one another unconditionally They ve slept together a few times over the years, but it s really their lovely friendship that has endured Jillian is a fascinating character and I loved her quirky and strange and creative Baba is loyal and thoughtful and I loved th I love everything that Lionel Shriver does and always drop everything to read her, and this little novella was another cracker Jillian and Baba have been best friends for 25 years Both are unusual people who totally accept and love one another unconditionally They ve slept together a few times over the years, but it s really their lovely friendship that has endured Jillian is a fascinating character and I loved her quirky and strange and ...Shriver writes so well about the human condition that even the most minute and mundane of details of domestic life are a pleasure to read This emotional, but not literal, menage a trois is sympathetic to all three flawed cha...This book broke my heart They characters felt so real I felt I was reading a memoir instead of a work of fiction.I spotted one of my Goodreads friends reading this, and purchased a copy for my Kindle I really enjoy Shriver s writing, and whilst I ve not even got throughthan one of her novels to date, I wanted to see how she would craft a shorter work stylistically The main nub of The Standing Chandelier can a man and woman be just friends sounded rather twee and overdone, and is something I would ordinarily avoid I wasthan intrigued by the way in which Shriver might handle it, however I spotted one of my Goodreads friends reading this, and purchased a copy for my Kindle I really enjoy Shriver s writing, and whilst I ve not even got throughthan one of her novels to date, I wanted to see how she would craft a shorter work stylistically The main nub of The Standing Chandelier can a man and woman be just friends sounded rather twee and overdone, and is something I would ordinarily avoid I wasthan intrigued by the way in which Shriver might handle it, however, and was pleasantly impressed She manages to avoid an awful lot of cliched tropes, and creates an exploration which isunusual than usual.The prose throughout the novella is intelligent and taut, as I was expecting, and I ...Two s company, three s a superb novella.Since their long ago college days, Jillian Frisk has been best friends with Weston Babansky whom she calls Baba They share a love of tennis, talking and each other The friendship has even survived consummation two periods over the years when they got it on together But can their relationship possibly survive Paige Myer, the new woman in Baba s life This slight novella just 122 pages is packed full of Lionel Shriver s signature wit, sharp obser Two s company, three s a superb novella.Since their long ago college days, Jillian Frisk has been best friends with Weston Babansky whom she calls Baba They share a love of tennis, talking and each other The friendship has even survived consummation two periods over the years when they got it on together But can their relationship possibly survive Paige Myer, the new woman in Baba s life This slight novella just 122 pages is packed full of Lionel Shriver s signature w...Lionel Shriver mercilessly draws a friendship between a man and a woman that lasts until a third person appears Through characterization, the author successfully managed to capture not only the complexity of male female friendship, but also the broader interpersonal rela...I love Lionel Shriver I think she is a very clever lady, and anyone who has seen or read her interviews will know this I loved, and was shocked by, her most famous novel, We Need to Talk About Kevin , which was passed from teacher to teacher of the school I worked in at the time, with opinions and thoughts being shared over soup and sandwiches at the staffroom table I skipped her follow up, The Post Birthday World , but thought the follow up to that, So Much For That was astounding, and a I love Lionel Shriver I think she is a very clever lady, and anyone who has seen or read her interviews will know this I loved, and was shocked by, her most famous novel, We Need to Talk About Kevin , which was passed from teacher to teacher of the school I worked in at the time, with opinions and thoughts being shared over soup and sandwiches at the staffroom table I skipped her follow up, The Post Birthday World , but thought the follow up to that, So Much For That was astounding, and almost as horrifiying as Kevin in many ways It was also strangely under appreciated in my opinion I thought the writing was sharp, the relationships realistic, and the topic relevant to the time.Again I missed out her next novel The New Republic , but was disappointed by its follow up, Big Brother By pure coincidence I apparently only read her novels alternately, so missed out on The Mandibles , and landed on this novella, The Standing Chandelier I really wanted to enjo...The conditions of friendship or the societal parameters we place among ourselveswhen are we allowed certain relationships actual or implied This novella has the makings of a classic scholars in time to come will read to see how we viewed relationships at the start of the 21st century.Weston Babansky has been friends and occasional lover of Jillian Frisk for 25 years but a marriage proposal places the ultimate ultimatum on their friendship This societal dilemma many of us frequently avo The conditions of friendship or the societal parameters we place among ourselveswhen are we allowed certain relationships actual or implied This novella has the makings of a classic scholars in time to come will read to see how we viewed relationships at the start of the 21st century.Weston Babansky has been friends and occasional lo...In this short but powerful novella, Lionel Shriver asks the age old question Can men and women ever be just friends When Weston proposes to his longtime girlfriend Paige, her acceptance comes with one condition He must sever ties with his best friend of 25 years and old flame, Jillian When Jillian gives the couple an intensely personal and extravagant engagement gift, dubbed The Standing Chandelier, the complicated relationship triangle is made all the messier The gift is large, awkward and In this short but powerful novella, Lionel Shriver asks the age old question Can men and women ever be just friends When Weston proposes to his longtime girlfriend Paige, her acceptance comes with one condition He must sever ties with his best friend of 25 years and old flame, Jillian When Jillian gives the couple an intensely personal and extravagant engagement gift...Lionel Shriver is one of my favourite authors Her writing is always sharp, and smart, and she writes about people and relationships so well This one is about the complexities of friendship and the notion of being liked, or in the case of Jillian Frisk, not liked The dilemma that it presents is interesting as often with these things there is no win , which is evidenced here Weston s character is caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place This is one of those scenarios where you t Lionel Shriver is one of my favourite authors Her writing is always sharp, and smart, and she writes about people and relationships so well This one is about the complexities of friendship and the notion of being liked, or in the case of Jillian Frisk, not liked The dilemma that it presents is interesting as often with these things there...The complexities of sex and friendship dissected An excellent novella that coversterritory than most 500 page books, and makes you take sides like you do when a couple splits.I loved the writing the characters felt real...

05 March 2018

Lionel Shriver