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The Dive from Clausen's Pier: 06/11/08
I was looking forward to reading The Dive from Clausen's Pier. I had enjoyed Mendocino and Other Stories and hoped to have the same positive experience with this novel. Although I enjoyed bits and pieces of it, the over all experience was rather dull. Carrie Bell, the narrator and protagonist of the novel recounts the way her life changes when her fiancé is paralyzed after diving off Clausen's pier into shallower than normal water. Carrie's emotional response didn't strike me as genuine and it made me question her entire account of events. I wasn't expecting a happy ending but I was expecting something more determination and loyalty from Carrie and less self pity. I think the book fell flat for me because I read In an Instant back in April. Having the raw emotional diary of Lee Woodruff's experience during the immediate aftermath of her husband's injury in Iraq created a tough but unavoidable point of comparison with Packer's novel.
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