Rating: 
Summary: I CAN'T BELIEVE I READ THE WHOLE THING!
Review: I purchased this book because I trusted Oprah's judgment, and I wanted a long book to get lost in during summer '99. Well, it is now February 2000. Through great discipline on my part, I'm finally finished. I feel gypped. There were so many extraneous characters, and their fates were never disclosed. Why introduce characters when they ultimately fizzle out? Why couldn't the author spend more time giving insight into the main characters? Reading this book made me feel voyeuristic. There was a lot of surface "dirt," and I was frustrated by not knowing what made the characters tick. The adults were despicable: sleazy Omar, irresponsible Sam, needy/abusive Marie (I'm no shrink - was she manic-depressive?), among other losers. However, my heart broke for the children. I truly cared about Alice, Norm and Benjy; and I was pleased that the story ended somewhat optimistically - for Alice, at least.This book should come with a warning: Only read it if you're too happy. It's guaranteed to bring your mood down several notches.
Rating: 
Summary: Like Seeing the Skeletons Inside The Closets of Everyone
Review: This was the first McGarry Morris book I've ever read and I have mixed feelings on it. The entire mood of the book was quite depressing. No happy endings here, no sir. I also found the behavior of many of the characters to be unbelievable, thereby causing the entire tale to lose credit. For instance, I found it amazing that, after commiting murder, con-man Omar Duvall chose to take up residence in the same town where he killed a man, and the rotting, putrid body still lies. I'm not a criminal myself, but if I commited such an act, I imagine I'd want to miles away from the scene of the crime!
Next, we have Marie Fermoyle and her three unusual children. I found it sad that she was so desperate for love, that she fell for the fat, slovenly Omar Duval in his one and only shabby suit and his see-through lies.
Overall, the entire cast of characters and their individual miseries interweave into an overall story that plays out rather well. Basket-case USA.
One thing that really stuck in my craw was Alice Fermoyle's treatment of Blue Mooney. Maybe because I've always been attracted to just such a guy, I thought she should have given Blue more of a chance. Oh well. That's my opinion.
If you want to read a book that has a multitude of characters and sub-plots, this is a good choice. But don't expect a happily ever after.
Rating:
Summary: Unworthy of Oprah's endorsement
Review: I agree with the first three reviews I read...simply not worth the time. Maybe Oprah saw something I didn't, but I can honestly say I've never been so frustrated by ANY fictional characters as I was with the entire Fermoyle family. What a bunch of losers! Usually I can empathize with downtrodden characters, but Ms. Morris took these past my limit. I finished the book only because I kept hoping it would get better.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Solid Read
Review: I am baffled by the bad reviews I've read for this book. I have read many of the Oprah books, and this is the first one that felt like true literature and not a Harlequin romance. Yes, it is long. Yes, it can be depressing. Yes, it can be graphic. But so can life! Get over yourselves, people! The characters were so real and clearly defined that, at various points in the book, I loved and hated them all. They had real problems and afflictions that were accurately portrayed by the author. Sometimes they made good choices and sometimes they made bad ones -- no one was a victim. I had to keep reminding myself that the story took place in Vermont, because I felt this book belonged in the Southern Lit course I took in college. If you want a "happily ever after" book where nothing bad happens to anyone, this is not the book for you. If you want a story where complex characters experience the consequences -- both good and bad -- of their choices, then buy this book. I found it engrossing and hard to put down.
Rating:
Summary: A Snoozer
Review: This book was very difficult to keep my interest. Aside from it being a depressing story, it had too many characters. I often found it difficult to keep track of who was who. This book was not the worst I've ever read, but it did not keep my attention. I usually like to finish a book once I begin reading it, but this book I had to put down. It was more like a bedtime story opposed to an interesting read. I definitely would not recommewnd this book to others. Honestly, I have read other Oprah's book club picks and this is the first one I did not like at all.
Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't get past first chapter
Review: My time is limited, thus I choose to read only books "worthy" of my time. My girlfriend gave me this book a month ago. I picked it up last evening and struggled with the first few pages. Who are these people, what is this about, what's the point? Unanswered after several pages. That's it for me -- no more -- done, finished -finito -- if it doesn't do more than it did, I don't waste my time. I'd much rather give it zero stars -- it doesn't rate 1, I'm no longer a believer in Oprah's picks!
Rating:
Summary: If you have patience...
Review: If you can get through the first 150 pages, you'll be happy you did. With a slow start, that's when the story really starts to pick up & you start to remember the characters, there's a lot of them! I agree with an earlier reviewer in that there were too many sub-plots & characters.
I did end up liking the book, and I was VERY close to putting it down & not finishing it. I am glad I stuck it out.
The characters are memorable. Their plights, long & hard.
You will cringe with them when things go wrong. It's a story that is so believable it feels real. I see why Oprah picked it.
Just remember, there are many books that start off slow, but they don't always have such a rewarding ending.
Rating:
Summary: Not for the Faint-Hearted!!
Review: I had a love-hate relationship with this story as I read it. In the end, my verdict is that it was well-written with Morris' characters intricately formed. The story had me turning the next page and mulling the characters and plot over even when I wasn't reading it. This is the sign of a good book to me.
It seemed that Morris gave a generous helping of human flaws to each of her cast of characters with none playing the role of "good guy". The story demonstrates to me a truth: that no one is all bad or all good.
Rating:
Summary: Despite all its flaws, a readable book
Review: I really, really wanted to dislike this book. Few of the characters were likeable, there were far more subplots than necessary, and as a previous reader noted, it could have easily been 300 words shorter. But somehow, the story of a small town in 1960, with all its meandering plots, its residents' twisted lives, secrets, desires, and blind spots, pulled me along. As unlikeable as the characters were, they were believable, and ultimately, that is what kept me going through 740 pages. At least they were 740 relatively fast pages. The one exception to the believablity quotient was that Norm, after 650 pages of hating Omar Duval, suddenly fell under his spell for about 50 pages. The sudden change of heart made no sense and seemed entirely plot driven. At least Norm did come to his senses pretty quickly!
Rating:
Summary: You must be a masochist to read this book
Review: The title made it seem so promising but it was not to be. If you like reading long, monotanous, novels with many characters (all lacking character)this is the book for you. If you have about six months to waste on a story that not only never really goes anywhere and is not resolved in the end, this is the book for you. If you have some other book you have struggled to get through and want to finish it, this is the book for you because once you pick it up and read anything else will seem good, possibly great. There are 740 pages of complete torture. You keep expecting it to get interesting but it never does. I still can't figure out how or why I finished it.
|
