The Enchantment of Lily Dahl

by Siri Hustvedt

Book Overview

The protagonist of Siri Hustvedt's astonishing second novel The Enchantment of Lily Dahl is a heroine of the old style: tough, beautiful, and brave. Standing at the threshold of adulthood, she enters a new world of erotic adventure, profound but unexpected friendship, and inexplicable, frightening acts of madness. Lily's story is also the story of a small town--Webster, Minnesota--where people are brought together by a powerful sense of...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 031242339X
• ISBN13: 9780312423391
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

The Bookschlepper Recommends

Beautiful young girl, small town. Lily is both enchanted and enchanting. The characters are fully realized; I know these people. This is what Lake Wobegon would be like if all the children were not above average.

Absolutely recommend - great characters/thrilling plot

I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone. The characters developed throughout this book are real, relative, and engaging. You move through the story along side these individuals. However, this is not purely a character driven story. It appears that way in the beginning, but in a seemless fashion you realize mid-way through that there is much more going on. You begin to feel that edge of your seat pressure building inside. The ending does not disappoint, but it is at no time too fantasical to be true. There was a point in the book that I thought it might take that turn into unrealistic fiction, but this book is a winner and the author made all the right choices. If you enjoy woman-centric books with strong female leads - do yourself a favor and buy this book. As a side note, I would also like to mention that the font used in this book is pleasing to the eye and easy to read.

FANTASTIC!

This book was one of the absolute best books I have ever read. It is so thrilling to read a book that is creative and symbolic and makes me want to read more. Give us more, Siri!

Shall I Project a World?

"Shall I project a world?" asks Oedipa Maas in Thomas Pynchon's "The Crying of Lot 49". That is what Siri Hustvedt has done magnificently in "The Enchantment of Lily Dahl". She shows us the world of Lily, a 19-year old who lives in a small town in Minnesota, replete with Norwegian Bachelor Farmers (to borrow from Garrison Keillor) and various other strange and quirky characters. Lily works in a diner but aspires to be an actress and has, in fact, been cast as Hermia in the local production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. She feels a special affinity with Marilyn Monroe and uses her as an inspiration. This is the year of taking risks for Lily! The description of the way she brings herself to the attention of Ed Shapiro, former professor turned full-time painter, who lives opposite her is both erotic and mesmerizing - it is almost as though the scene is happening in a dream. There is a dreamlike atmosphere throughout the book and a feeling of compulsion where Lily is concerned. We often feel that she has no choice but to follow her feelings and desires. Her relationship with Mabel, a former professor in her late 70s, who successfully helps her study her part in the play and greatly improve her interpretation, is very well done. The book is full of surprises and laden with atmosphere. I recommend it highly. Just set aside some time to read it because once you start it you won't want to interrupt it for anything!!!

Keeps your attention...what will happen next?

This book is awesome! Being a young person (20), it read very well, using language that young people can relate to. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I found myself wondering what would happen next...who is that, and what are they doing. I found myself talking to myself trying to figure out what is going on! Awesome book, highly recommended!