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Hi, I'm Karen Ballum, but I'm better know around the web as Sassymonkey. I live in Ottawa, Ontario -- Canada's national capital. (No, I do not li...

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Which Of The Weird Sisters Are You Most Like?

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Eleanor Brown's The Weird Sisters is the story of three sisters. They are bound by familial love, but really they don't particularly like each other. They are too different from one another and were never really bothered to get to know one another until they are all called home by their mother's illness.

Rose is the eldest and the serious one. Their parents were not the most attentive people and Rose took it on herself to take care of everyone. She was, in her opinion, the glue that held everything together and kept everyone from descending into chaos. Everything would be just fine if people listened to her and did just as she would do. What Rose doesn't want anyone to know is how scared she is of everything falling apart. Change is scary and to be avoided at all costs.

Bean ... oh Bean. She broke my heart. She was so, so convinced that she was nothing. She saw herself existing only in the shadows cast by her smarter, better sisters. (Her opinion, not mine.) She lost herself in booze, sex and stuff she couldn't afford. In New York City, she cast Bean aside and became Bianca. Being Bianca didn't make her any happier, and when she came back home -- lucky not have been charged by her former employer for theft -- she was even most lost than ever.

And then there was Cordy. Cordy was the baby of the family. She was loved best and indulged and never really allowed to fail. Of course, that meant that she was never really able to succeed, either. She flitted from one town to the next, never really growing up but rather wishing for the day that she'd feel grown up. When a home pregnancy test yields a positive result, she runs home, hoping that someone will be able to help her and tell her what she needs to do.

weird sisters

Credit: Ryan Remillard on Flickr

I find when reading a book it's hard not to compare myself to the characters. How was I the same as the sisters? How was I different? I wasn't really quite like any of the sisters, but as the same time, I saw parts of myself in each them. I understood Bean's desire to leave the small town and how you can feel like a different person in a big city. I understood how Cordy never quite felt grown up. I always thought there would be a moment where being a grown up would feel like it. It does sometimes -- usually at tax time -- but mostly I just feel like me. I don't feel different. And Rose ... it's hard to pinpoint how I felt like Rose. It wasn't so much that I felt like her as much as I understood her. Rose and I are very different, but I got her.

Which of the Andreas sisters are you most like?

BlogHer Book Club Host Karen Ballum also blogs at Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.

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sunny vegan 6 pts

as an only child, I didn't identify with their roles as much a pieces of each character. I did view the birth order roles very similar to those in my husbands family though, he is the youngest of 3 with 2 older sisters.  

mamainjammies 8 pts

I am so totally Rose! I take everything on as my responsibility, and I attempt to manage every situation so I can stay within my own comfort zone. As I was reading, I could see myself in her, and really found myself getting upset when her family was pushing her to leave LOL!

tmcharris 7 pts

I found myself identifying with all three characters. I, too, am one of three sisters (the baby). At times I am the responsible voice of reason. I had a few years like Bean where I lost myself in other bad habits. And being the baby in the family, I definitely identified with Cordy so much.

Not Like a Cat 6 pts

Cordy! I could identify with all 3, of course, but I am the youngest, the fuck-up, the one who lived fairly unconventionally compared to my staid and successful brothers. (I did manage to avoid getting pregnant, though, until I was ready!) I'm the one from whom they ended up expecting little, not that I was unreliable, but because I was not pursuing a professional life and lifestyle.

 

And honestly, much of the time I wish I could grab a backpack and just go...but to the mountains and trails, not to live in squatters' houses like Cordy.

sassymonkey 759 pts moderator

 Not Like a Cat As they mother said near the end of the book to Bean (I think it was to Bean), we're all fuck-ups in our own way. Cordy wasn't any more or less so than Bean or Rose. And really, at the end of the book she was probably in a better place than Bean. 

jamesandjax 6 pts

I could identify with all 3, to an extent. However, I think I'm most like Rose--which kind of makes me sad. Seeing so many similarities between myself and Rose was kind of an eye opener.

sassymonkey 759 pts moderator

 jamesandjax It doesn't *have* to be sad. As another commenter pointed out, there are positives and negatives to each of the personalities. Rose was an excellent caregiver and organizer, she just didn't know where the boundaries were. 

gillgirl34 5 pts

I am the youngest of 2, yet I have a unique situation in that my older brother has Down's Syndrome. Because of this, I am more like Rose - when I am around him, I take charge. I like to think this gives my parents a break. I wonder what I would have been like had I truly been able to be the youngest sibling...

sassymonkey 759 pts moderator

 gillgirl34 That is an interesting thought. It probably would depend on what kind of older sibling you had. If it was a very Rosey Rose type of sibling they probably would have driven you nutty. 

Cate from Sweetnicks 5 pts

I definitely feel like I identified with bits and pieces of each sister, as opposed to one completely.

sassymonkey 759 pts moderator

 Cate from Sweetnicks That makes sense to me. :) 

 

bourriquet76 7 pts

I see myself having parts of all three sisters, but really identified with Bianca, in terms of wanting to leave the small town she was from. I grew up in one of those little towns and spent most of my adult life in Dallas, now Colorado Springs. Thankfully, city living has agreed with me in a way it didn't for Bianca, but I do relate to why she wants something more.

sassymonkey 759 pts moderator

 bourriquet76 I get why city living, or at least NYC living, didn't work for Bianca. I think. I'm just not sure I could explain it. 

victorias_view 2505 pts moderator

I am the youngest of three sisters and could see a little of us in each of the characters. I think sometimes we each play our part but most identifiable was Cordelia. At one point living out of a backpack was romantic but as we age we have to put our roots down and make a home for ourselves.

sassymonkey 759 pts moderator

 victorias_view I always thought that living out of a backpack sounded rather awesome, but the experience of it never really appealed to me. I like being home too much. 

victorias_view 2505 pts moderator

 sassymonkey It can get pretty stinky ;)

allicatcook 8 pts

I'm an only child, but I think I have more Rose in me. A little more serious, responsible and self-important. There are definitely positives and negatives to each of these personalities.

sassymonkey 759 pts moderator

 allicatcook And I think we did get to see the positives and the negatives of each of their personalities. Rose really *was* good at handling things, but she maybe handled too much. 

TW 42 pts

I found parts of myself in all of the sisters. At some points in the book I was completely one of the sisters and other points not so much like any of them. Of course, then my children filled in as one of the sisters.

sassymonkey 759 pts moderator

 TW Yep, I can see that. :) 

Jeanetics 5 pts

I don't know if I'm really that much like any of the sisters. But I think I'd like to be a little more like Cordy. Just a little less attached to people and locations. A little more free to move along, and start new projects. And really. . . I love to bake:-)

sassymonkey 759 pts moderator

 Jeanetics I love to bake bread but I don't think I'd ever get quite as into it as Cordy did. 

See Jamie Blog 5 pts

There was definitely a time in my life when I'd have been most like Bean. Now, though I'd love a bit more don't-care-what-they-think like Cordy, I'm definitely most like Rose!

sassymonkey 759 pts moderator

 See Jamie Blog Another Rose. Rose is a popular gal. ;-) 

athomewithginac 5 pts

Although I think I have characteristics from all three, I do think that Rose is probably the sister that resonates with me most!

sassymonkey 759 pts moderator

 athomewithginac We have a lot of Roses hanging around here. ;-) 

MeierMadness 7 pts

Considering I am not particularly a fan of ANY of the sisters, it's hard to identify myself with one. Or rather, I don't want to. That said, I'm clearly a Rose. Total A-type personality, and caring for my younger brother more than I should. My mom joked that he was so late to talk because I was always doing it for him!

sassymonkey 759 pts moderator

 MeierMadness Hmmm now I'm wondering if I'm really a fan of any of them. I liked aspects of them but I spent much of the book wanting to give each of them a good shake. So fan probably isn't the right word for me either. 

isaselby 12 pts

Well, this is a tough one. I think it's hard to pinpoint just one that I am like and I can see a little of myself in each of them. I'm the middle child of 3 and moved from college to NYC, but not for the same reasons as Bean. I think we all want attention (middle children, yay!) but my ways of finding attention geared more toward me acting like Rose and trying to keep everything running smoothly. And ultimately, I moved to NYC much as I think Cordy might have... because it was something to do. So, there we have it. All three!

sassymonkey 759 pts moderator

 isaselby I see elements of myself in all three, too. :) 

scaron 10 pts

Between you and me and, well, everyone here, I have a lot more of Rose in me than I care to admit. As the eldest, I've spent a lot of time taking care of things for my younger sibs and trying to hold everyone together -- especially in hard times. But I have also shed a lot of that as I've gotten older and had children of my own (I wonder if Rose would too?

But I also understand Bean. I've had my share of Bean-ness in my life too (the escapism, not the theft).

But Cordy? Not so much ... I understand on some level why she is how she is, but I am just not like that at all.

Must be the oldest child thing.

sassymonkey 759 pts moderator

 scaron I'm not sure I'm ready to think about how Rose would be if she had her own children. Mostly because I don't think she's there yet. I hope, for her, that she finds herself a little bit more before she has kids. 

mdelacruz 5 pts

I saw myself in each of the sisters, but oddly enough I saw myself in the mother as well. I have three daughters and I found myself thinking about their future. I loved the way Brown showed the mother's love for her daughters by encouraging their choices and personalities.

anandi 5 pts

mdelacruz

Oh, that's interesting. I felt like the mother was not fully drawn enough for me to reall "get" who she was - she really seemed like an ancillary character. But then again, I've only got one daughter, and the family dynamic in the book seemed pretty foreign to me.

sassymonkey 759 pts moderator

 anandi mdelacruz I think the mother was purposely kind of vague because the daughters didn't really *know* her. They just knew her as their mother. 

TCStream 7 pts

One of the aspects I loved most about the book was Brown's ability to prove that we are all three weird sisters.

I am the eldest in my family, and I certainly have MANY of Rose's qualities (a place for everything and everything in it's place!) But at the same time, I related to Bean's desire to reinvent herself and her comparisons to other's in order to define herself. I am the child that moved away to try and "discover" new things, new places. Perhaps that's Cordy, but perhaps that's more of Rose as well.

Fortunately and unfortunately, I related to all of them. My favorite line sums it up, "We are all fuckups in our own special way."

sassymonkey 759 pts moderator

 TCStream That is a fabulous line! I liked it too. 

And I think they all had to go away to some extent. For Bean and Cordy they had to go away and then come back to find themselves where Rose had to leave to do it because she had stayed. 

lynnbraz 8 pts

Although I'm an eldest daughter, I am, unfortunately, most like Bean. What I would give to have a little more of Rose in me.

sassymonkey 759 pts moderator

lynnbraz Why unfortunately? Bean made some really bad choices, but she had a really good heart.

Love Invents Us 5 pts

Looks like there a lot of us here, but I am definitely most like Rose. I have no sisters (no siblings at all actually), but am very much the stereotype of the oldest child. Hyper responsible and perfectionistic. I also had trouble in early adulthood with separating from my parents. I felt so much obligation, sure that they needed me. I've worked on that, but it's a pull that's hard to resist.

sassymonkey 759 pts moderator

Love Invents Us There certainly are a lot of Roses here. :)

Sandy D 5 pts

I can't assign myself to be similar to just one sister. I'd like to think that I'm a combination of all 3 of them in the sense that my younger years I could relate to Cordy then Bean, and eventually where I am now which is more like Rose.

sassymonkey 759 pts moderator

Sandy D That makes sense. Bean and Cordy really didn't have any responsibility, so any movement toward being responsible makes them more Rose-like.

sasvil9 8 pts

I am ROSE. I am a homebody, aleays shy, never outgoing, trying to keep the fsmily calm and stuck together!

sassymonkey 759 pts moderator

sasvil9 You are not alone. There are a lot of Roses here. :)

dewhug 5 pts

It would be impossible for me to pinpoint just one sister that I am most like. I'm like Rose because when things need to be done in my family if/when none of my siblings can take charge, I will. I'm like Bianca because I absolutely felt the need to leave home after high school, but I left the big city (NYC) and went to Vermont, so the opposite of her, but still monumental in that a huge part of who I am is because of my time in Vermont. What I love about Cordy is how she floats. I was kind of like that in college. I traveled a lot and bounced from place to place. Experiences like that can truly change who you are as well. So I'm not specifically like one, but all.

sassymonkey 759 pts moderator

dewhug That actually fits well with the narrative voice Brown used. It wasn't one of the girls, but all.

cbethblog 10 pts

Rose...DEFINITELY Rose. Except I'm so conscientious I just COULDN'T steal that half-sized little pint glass! I just couldn't.

In college, I had trouble really separating from my parents. Thankfully, my dad gently told me I needed to stop calling them for advice about EVERYTHING. Well, THAT advice was hard to hear! But I gradually learned to become more independent, and I'm so glad my dad carefully pushed me out of the nest. It prepared me for adulthood and for marriage, and as I grow older, I appreciate the relationship I have with my parents, on an adult level.

sassymonkey 759 pts moderator

cbethblog I couldn't have stolen it either, though I understand the desire to. Half pint glasses are frequently adorable.

JennaHatfield 160 pts

I'm Rose-like. For awhile I was Bean-like. I don't see myself as Cordy-like, though I can also see at one point in my life where I *wanted* to be like her. I'm very oldest sibling, but I also lost myself for awhile there.