Practical Magic (Practical Magic, #1)

by Alice Hoffman

Practical Magic is a tale of two sisters, Gillian and Sally Owens, brought up by their two elderly guardian aunts in a world of spells and exotica from which they eventually escape - one by running away, the other by marrying - but which never escapes from them. Many years go by before strange circumstances thrust them together again, and again they are in a world that blends the mundane and the mysterious, the familiar and the fantastic, the normal and the numinous. Three generations of Owens women are then united in an experience of unexpected insight and revelation, teaching all of them that the perceptions provided by what is called the magical are rare and wonderful endowments.

• ISBN10: 033034384X
• ISBN13: 9780330343848
• Publish Date: 8 January 1999 (first published 1 January 1995)
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Out of Print: 5 November 2001
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Imprint: Picador
• Edition: New edition
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 288
• Language: English

Reviews

[thepunktheory]

Full review on my blog: www.thepunktheory.wordpress.com

As I mentioned before, the first thing I read was the prequel The Rules of Magic which I really enjoyed. I would have started with Practical Magic but it was not available at the library at the time and now I'm glad I started with the other book.
Practical Magic was rather disappointing for me and had I read this one first, I wouldn't even have bothered with the prequel.
The book was turned into a movie in 1995, so I thought I knew what to expect. However, those two are quite different and I'm not sure I like it. (But more on that matter in a book vs. movie post.)
The first third of Alice Hoffman's novel was lovely and fascinating. I liked the characters and was excited to follow them on their journey. But at some point it all went downhill.
Why?
Well, first of all, the book is titled Practical Magic, so you'd expect some magic in there, wouldn't you? Some stuff the aunts do is described at the beginning, but after a while, the whole magical topic kind of dies and is never to be seen again. This annoyed me a great deal!
Furthermore, there is so much whining and self-pity going on, I just want to slap the characters in the face. Everybody is so beautiful but oh so unsure about themselves. The sisters (and Sally's daughters) constantly complain about everything. And Alice Hoffman seems to be a huge fan of lists, so we get endless lamentations of all the things that might not be rainbows and butterflies. To be honest, I couldn't bring myself to care for any of the characters - they only managed to get me to roll my eyes constantly.
Moreover, the story doesn't make too much sense. For a large part, there's nothing going own. It's just weird and dragging on. There are many choices made in this book that I simply cannot comprehend. Let me give you an example. Gillian decides to chop off and bleach Kylie's hair. Kylie happens to be Sally barely 14-year-old daughter. She does so without asking Sally or even thinking that this might not be okay. Seriously. No matter how self-absorbed you are, you can't tell me that you are incapable of seeing the potential for trouble here. There are many more moments like this!
Finally, I was rather irritated by all those weird sex scenes mentioned in the book. Those didn't really tie in with the rest of the novel and its overall vibe. Many of those scenes just seemed out of place and there were quite a lot of them!
There are also many moments that make me question Alice Hoffman's judgment. Maybe back in the 90's stuff like that was okay, but I was certainly startled. There are chapters that basically hint at rape:
"At this moment, Gary wishes he could grab her and force her, at least until she gave in. He'd like to make love to her right here, he'd like to do it all night and not give a damn about anything else, and not listen if she told him no. But he's not that kind of man, and he never will be."
By the way, this is supposed to be the super cute, sensitive, good guy. I mean Hoffman, are you kidding me? Gillian's boyfriend was more of a bad boy so you can imagine what we get there. I won't even begin talking about Gillian's stalker who is presented as romantic...

[Jo]

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

Trigger warning: Rape, domestic violence, and stalking.

I really love the movie Practical Magic, but it was only last year when I was on Twitter asking for magical, occult-y recommendations, that I discovered it was actually based on a book by Alice Hoffman. When I saw that the eBook was on sale, I snapped it up. Practical Magic was mostly a great read, but not only was it a lot different than I expected, there are some major, major issues with this book.

Practical Magic is one of those quiet, cozy books that's an absolutely delight to read, with beautiful, enchanting storytelling. But it's not quite as witchy as I was expecting, and not a great deal happens, in the grand scheme of things. It's like the movie took the most interesting aspects of the book, developed them a little, and then wrapped a plot around it. At no point do Gillian and Sally request the help from their female neighbours in a spell, asking them to bring their brooms. Yes, Gillian's boyfriend does die, yes, he is buried in the garden, and yes, strange things do happen because of it. But these are just things that happen. The focus is more on the characters themselves, on who Sally and Gillian grow up to be, the decisions they make, because of the upbringing they had with their strange, eccentric aunts.

Practical Magic has a magical realism feel to it, because all sorts of strange things happen with no real explanation. Like how Kylie, one of Sally's daughters, can see auras,; how the violet plant Sally and Gillian bury her dead, violent and abusive boyfriend, Jimmy, under goes from being not far off dead to full of life and growing taller than any violet plant has ever grown. But this is just life for the Owens sisters. Living with the aunts has brought the strange, and they don't really think about it, it's just strange to the reader. The lack of explanation, just acceptance, adds to the spellbinding quality of the story. It is quite magical.

There are some very real problems I had with this book, as much as I enjoyed the rest of it. There's a lot of love at first sight in this book, though, and a lot of the time, desire and love are one and the same. People are always falling for the Owens girls in ridiculous ways. teenage boys will follow Gillian around like lost puppies. Grown men become practically obsessed. So Gillian fell for Ben pretty much as soon as they started talking, but I don't care how much you're in love with a guy, if you tell him you don't want to see him, don't want him contacting you, you're not going to be happy about the guying calling all the time, or sitting out on your porch until you agree to see him. That's a stalker. That is not attractive, that's really bloody creepy. And all he can think about is wanting to have sex with her. Then there's Gary, the cop who's looking for Jimmy. Again, more love at first sight when Gary and Sally meet. But again, it's love = desire and vice versa, because all the two can think about is having sex. So when they're in a car, and Sally allows things to go further than she would normally, and comes to her senses - because she doesn't do love any more, not since her first husband died, and she doesn't want to become like those women who visited her aunts when she was a child, desperate for love spells they would do anything for - and she stops everything, Gary wants her so much, he thinks how he wishes he was someone who would just take what he wants. "At this moment, Gary wishes he could grab her and force her, at least until she gave in. He'd like to make love to her right here, he'd like to do it all night and not give a damn about anything else, and not listen if she not him no. But he's not that kind of man, and he never will be." (85-86%) Basically, he wants to rape her. He'd like to rape her. He doesn't, but he wants to. And we're supposed to root for Sally and this guy? Are you having a laugh?! These two men who are meant to be the love interests, who are meant to be the ones who show these two women that love can be good (for Gillian), and love doesn't have to end badly (for Sally), are bad men. They are stalkers and wannabe rapists. It's just appalling. Maybe back in 1995 when the book was originally published, people thought this thing was kind of hot? I don't know how though. It's absolutely disgusting.

This is all really upsetting, because I was really enjoying it! But it romanticises stalking and rape - and how it can romaticise rape when Gillian was repeatedly raped by Jimmy, and talks about just how awful it was, then has Gary think like that and it supposed to be a good thing? Is it meant to show the difference between Jimmy and Gary? Jimmy did, but Gary never would? I don't see how that matters when he wants to. It really ruined my whole enjoyment of this book. If Gary never thought that, and if Ben had just take Gillian's no for an answer, and if they just happened to see each other a lot in town and their relationship change that way, rather than him stalking her, this book would have been brilliant. But it's so problematic. And I was thinking about reading Rules of Magic, the prequel to Practical Magic, and excited to, but now I really don't know if I want to, in case it's similarly problematic. I'm pretty disappointed, I have to say.

[kimbacaffeinate]

In anticipation of THE RULES OF MAGIC, a book about the Aunts, I decide to grab this on audio and listen. I am so delighted that I did. The story was delightful with its magical realism, lively characters and those aunts had me laughing.

The story was just as charming as I remember with its magical realism, animated characters, and suspenseful story. Fans of Sarah Addison Allen's Garden Spell will enjoy Hoffman's writing. If you've only watched the movie, the basic story and characters are there, but the execution is very different. Some scenes were added and others cut from the film. It was funny listening as I imagined Sandra Bullock and Nichole Kidman in my head. And let's not forget handsome Aidan Quinn as Gary.

Hoffman's writing is beautiful with these passages that deliver insight. When I read the book years ago, the middle dragged, and I will be the first to admit I loved the movie more. I am delighted to say that the audio left me feeling more like I did after watching the movie the first time. The narration just brings the characters to life in a way the book did not.

Christina Moore narrated, and I am delighted to hear she will be narrating THE RULES OF MAGIC which releases October 2017. She did a splendid job with pacing, inflection and creating atmosphere. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer