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Community comment are the opinions of contributing users. These comment do not represent the opinions of the Edmonton Public Library.
Mar 23, 2013andreabroomfield rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I don't know how I came upon this novel, Admission, but perhaps Amazon pulled it up in the "Readers who also read _______ read _______, and I clicked on the plot synopsis and thought it sounded interesting. I did not begin the novel thinking I would find it all that well written, but rather, that I might find out more about the process by which a student gets into a pedigreed university like Princeton. So, it was a pleasant surprise to find myself actually engaged in Portia's and Jeremiah's story, and realizing that some of the characters were particularly well-developed, including Portia's mother, who does not so much make appearances in the actual plot, but who is introduced via Portia's flashbacks. I thought that Korlitz's talent showed through when she depicts Portia realizing just who Jeremiah is, and from there, stopping the plot to explore what had happened to Portia as a student Dartmouth. Korlitz's ability to delineate the subtle but persistent anti-antisemitism that defines WASP culture, to write so descriptively of the impenetrability of the tribe of WASPS that Portia finds herself up against, is so well done. I also find Portia's difficulty to connect in meaningful and lasting ways with others expertly explained, albeit slowly, as the plot of this novel unfolds. Lovers of Victorian fiction will be just fine with the various coincidences that pepper the plot of Admission, but these coincidences likely will not sit well with others. Finally, I did learn a great deal about the admissions process at an Ivy League university, which was the reason I embarked on the novel in the first place. Literary, smart, absorbing, informative: that's how I would describe this novel. I have a feeling that the film will not do the novel justice.