All Comments on 'The Wrong Side of Smart'

Character depth is off the charts! I feel like I know the MC. Her evolution was a wonder to witness. The ending is appropriate. - This was quite the story. I can’t tell if it was planned or if it just got away from you, but I can’t decide if the wordiness of it actually enhanced the character or not. Great story, but very long. Still, I’m ñà

5* I've just re-read this and the way you develop Jan's self-awareness is excellent. You really seem to get inside her head. It is very well-paced. You take the space to explore her life and attitudes without letting the story slacken and you let her reveal herself to me, the reader, throughout the story. you use Tina's meeting to pull her back towards reality. I hope that now things will be better. Will she reconnect with the children? Will she reconnect with Tony? Has she really changed? I don't need those questions answered - she has had her eyes opened about herself and it's up to her to take it forwards. The fact that I am making comments like this means that she comes across as a "real person" and that I care about her and that reflects your excellent writing. Thank you for posting it..

Wow. I see my wife in Jan. Well written..

Well, that was a different perspective. Very well written character evolution, yet I think I’m somewhere between Syzyguy and rbloch66 on this one. Found myself wishing it would hasten along a bit on occasions, at other points I was intrigued as to when and in what form the realisation would finally penetrate her consciousness.

5* though, because you do write better than many / most.

Jim

It's an agonizing, long, and drawn out story that I couldn't put down. She's done a good job of shitting in her mess kit and the best way out is to take off parts unknown and start a completely new life where no one knows her.

Excellent. So it's long. So what. I read through with minimum interruptions. I liked the character development, even though I wanted to interject here and there to say: "But, hang on, that's not quite..." I also like the way the plot unfolds. (So maybe he could have become Vice-President of the company? Ok, maybe not.) A really good read.

So, this is probably one of the best written stories on this website. I really like the storyline, character development and the dialogue. The thought processes of the MC were excellent. 5 Stars from me.

A brilliantly done story about a self centered narcissistic woman. I don't usually like stories this long but it was done so well I never even noticed...A big 5 Stars..

very well written story

Top notch!!

Very good story but just several pages too long. We all knew she was a self-centered Bitch from page 1. I liked 10 days at sea much better.

A very good story about what it's like to be "the modern woman".

There are a HUGE number of wives who should read this before making a life-altering mistake. Thank you.

really good engrossing story. Actually felt sorry for the MC at the end(january that is). Felt sorry for jeff at the beginning but didnt really know much about him except for his faults as enumerated by MC. An anonymouse made the comment that lots of women shld read this story before making "a life-altering mistake", hes right, prolly applies to many men too if they cld reverse the feelings and situation. Thank you also, for writing and sharing. rk

I honestly felt bad for January at the end of the story. It's like... if only Tina had come back sooner... is what I'd like to say, but then again, I'm not certain about that. Jan did a really excellent job of basically being a monster not just to Jeff, but her own children. You can see how she jettisoned her family in favor of her dream life, trying to rationalize it as in their best interests. It's astounding actually, because you can SEE the numerous rationalizations she gives herself for her behavior as the story progresses. Quite well done actually.

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I have mixed feelings about Jeff getting married so shortly after his divorce, especially coming out of an 18 year long marriage. It seems shot sighted of him, but I suppose it was done to hammer into the reader just how badly Jan screwed up and to make her have to live with her bad decisions. Still, I wish it had just come down to Jeff simply not wanting to revisit the relationship on the grounds of simply what was the best for him.

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Anyway, I have a lot of sympathy for Jan. Being someone who is both very smart as well as more than a touch neuroatypical, I'm quite familiar with self rationalizations in support of all sorts of undesirable, and often self destructive, behavior. I got past this years ago (and for the record - happily married for almost two decades here) but I do recall the thought process and I know how alluring it can be to be able to convince yourself (and often other people!) that you're pretty much always right and everything wrong is simply someone elses problem. Like Jan, I had to create a problem (or problems) that were so bad that I was more or less forced to address my behavior, but unlike Jan, I didn't nuke a long standing marriage over it (thankfully). In this little fictional world you've created, I sincerely hope that Jan goes on to learn how to foster empathy for the people around her, especially her children.

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Overall, this was an excellent story and I'm so happy I stumbled across it.

An anonymous cro-magnon SQUEEEEAAALLLEEEEDDD: "This is an indictment of liberalism "

ROARS WITH LAUGHTER AT THE ILLITERATE!

I guess because education wasn't offered in your cluster of caves, you never learned what "liberalism" actually means. It is tragic that so many Americans like the cro-magnon have zero critical thinking skills.

The husband was "constructivist", the wife was just a self-centered pig, and not one single thing in this entire story "indicted" any political viewpoint.

Although the author has a very unhealthy obsession with Priuses, it doesn't change the impact of the story.

Now, anonymous, go find some bandaids for your knuckles.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

The grass wasn’t greener for this idiot. What a wonderful ending to this epic story. You surprised everyone with that.

Great story! Yes it was wordy, but most of it was on point except for the author's stupid political views. The characters were very well drawn, and the character development was obviously amazing. Just very clear and well plotted.

This is the story for anyone questioning a marriage. It was descriptive and, over time, built the motive around the spouse's destruction of the marriage. It needed the 'happy ending' for the husband and it needed the in-depth 'self-assessment' of the wife and needed every word on these pages to do it right! Great job!

Wow! one of the top stories that I have read on this site. Keep more coming on similar 'psychology' lines. Five stars from me.

5 stars - and just because I have read several of this writer's stories - I read only the first and last pages.

I skipped past all the verbiage, the anger, angst and misery in the middle.

I got the gist of the story and that was enough.

Have a nice day.