The Hundred-Year House by Rebecca Makkai

On Thursday, March 12^th, the Fixed on Fiction book group met to discuss The Hundred-Year House by Rebecca Makkai. Here is a brief summary of the novel, courtesy of Goodreads:

Meet the Devohrs: Zee, a Marxist literary scholar who detests her parents’ wealth but nevertheless finds herself living in their carriage house; Gracie, her mother, who claims she can tell your lot in life by looking at your teeth; and Bruce, her step-father, stockpiling supplies for the Y2K apocalypse and perpetually late for his tee time. Then there’s Violet Devohr, Zee’s great-grandmother, who they say took her own life somewhere in the vast house, and whose massive oil portrait still hangs in the dining room.The Hundred-Year House unfolds a generational saga in reverse, leading the reader back in time on a literary scavenger hunt as we seek to uncover the truth about these strange people and this mysterious house. With intelligence and humor, a daring narrative approach, and a lovingly satirical voice, Rebecca Makkai has crafted an unforgettable novel about family, fate and the incredible surprises life can offer.

We had a raucous and fun meeting as we discussed The Hundred-Year House with the majority of readers greatly enjoying the book. We had seven thumbs-up votes, three so-so votes, and one thumbs-down. Here are some of the comments made when readers were sharing their initial thoughts-

• An interesting read that left a lot to the imagination.
• I liked Part I the best, but I didn’t like Part III at all.
• Loved it. I thought it was brilliant. As soon as I finished the book, I opened it up and read it again. I really enjoyed how she crafted the whole thing…highest marks!
• I wanted to like it but it was discombobulated. I didn’t like her writing style- it was too confusing.
• A lot of characters were interesting….but how does Violet die??? I didn’t get all my questions answered but it was an interesting concept.
• The third section was the most difficult…I had a hard time keeping up with who was who.
• I wish she circled back to 1999 at the end. I also wish Doug knew Max was Eddie!
• I also want all those questions answered…wish she circled back to 1999 too.
• I can’t give a definitive opinion until I read it again. I really enjoyed the character development in 1999, then the writing sort of disintegrated for me and it got sloppy. I wish there was more development in the 1950’s and 1920’s sections.

On the novel’s four parts/time periods-

• 1999 had a much greater page count! It should have been more balanced.
• Is that intentional? You remember less and less of the smaller details as you read through the separate sections of the novel.
• The movie version of this book would be just like Memento
• These three parts are separated but they do interact with each other through characters, objects, and setting.

The group spent the latter part of our meeting trying to clarify the more obscure characters and plot points. We talked about Eddie-Max-George, Sid Cole’s reappearance in 1999, Violet’s death, and Zee’s paranoid behavior.

These were just a few highlights from our discussion. Please feel free to add additional thoughts on The Hundred-Year House in the comments section below.