An interesting aspect of this book is the roles that men play. Kate directs Ellen as she hangs the ornaments, passing on her wisdom that bigger and brighter is better, when things are seen from a distance. Ellen reluctantly helps make ornaments under her mother’s watchful eye, and comes to understand the meaning this work brought to Kate’s life. Kate is determined to decorate a tree for the town’s Christmas display, a project she has coordinated for many years. Their forced intimacy sheds light on both their relationship with each other and their previously “normal” lives. Her independent daughter Ellen is summoned to care for her and the two women suddenly find themselves out of their comfort zones in many ways.

A woman, Kate, who is used to being in control in her home, family and community is diagnosed with terminal cancer and struggles with loss on many levels. Probably won' t happen-and that's too bad.This smoothly written story provides insightful perspective on the bumpy issue of dying with dignity. I thought it was going to be another uninspired library dvd night-what a suprise this delightful film was.maybe someday it will be revivied-at a Streep retrospective in NYC or something-I'd love to see it on a big screen with an audience. The scene where the poet laureate pays a suprise visit says so much about him-apparently the poet at one time praised his first novel (which meant a lot to Hurt ) only to find that years later the poet didn't even remember the book-quite the slap in the face to the would-be great author that he thought he was. She simply embodies this selfless woman who looks the other way while her husband 'works late, has a late class'. So much so he insists that his daughter(Zellwiger) simply drop her good job in NYC and come home and take care of her mother-as it turns out-so he can remain in HIS job, feeling the important man of letters and grabbing the occasional young coed for some 'private tutoring.' I always hear Streep is the actress's actress, one of the best, etc but I really never appreciated why until this movie. Streep plays the mother and housewife that allows her husband Bill Hurt be a selfish academic who is more concerned with his place in the literary world than of his beloved wife's eminent death from cancer. What a shame this one went by my radar because I would have loved to see it on the big screen (and in 1998 it would have been in 35mm). I never heard of it and therefore had no preconcieved ideas about it-how did the critics react, etc. Streep I recently discovered this on a library DVD.

I recently discovered this on a library DVD.

One true thing by anna quindlen