Rating: Summary: easy, heart-warming, precious, reading Review: I am a HUGE Anne Tyler fan and it seems that with every new book i read by the genius author my grin widens, but also my tears flow more uncontrollably when I reach the end. In this book, her newest, Tyler once again, seemingly without effort, paints crystalline portraits of her characters. The story is special and poignant and has another Tyler characteristic of being very 3-D and audience involving. The story-line is simple, and easy to read, but maybe that is what makes the book all so special. : )
Rating: Summary: Not worth the time Review: As a Baltimore "neighbor" of Tylers, I feel compelled to read her books. I keep hoping that the familiarity of Roland Park and other locales will endear me more to her and her characters. It doesn't. I find many of her books to be repetitive and boring. Her story lines are shallow and I am led to believe that those who adore her are not in search of compelling stories but safe tales of average people who just get by. I'll keep trying, but not buying.
Rating: Summary: Easy to put down, hard to pick back up Review: I was really disappointed by this one. I couldn't connect with any of the characters. In fact, I couldn't wait for 'em to go away. I've liked other Anne Tyler books. But here, the quirkiness is missing. All that's left is the pathetic. One reader commented that the author failed in her attempt to project a viable male persona as the voice of the piece. I felt this jarringly apparent. I kept thinking "A guy wouldn't notice this, or be concerned about that." But most of all, I was aware that I didn't like any of these people, didn't care what happened to them, and saw no chemistry anywhere. Sorry.
Rating: Summary: An engrossing look at simple living Review: Anne Tyler continues to regale us with her lovely but deep look at every day life. Barnaby, his friends, employer, colleagues, girl friend, unforgiving mother, family, and clients, make up the most wonderful cast of characters. This is a good read without any pretentions. I loved it.
Rating: Summary: Good book Review: Seeing as how i was required to read this book for school, i assumed in the beginnning that it would NOT be one to enjoy. However, I was proven wrong. Patchwork Planet turned out to be a truly engrossing read, i believe the first one in a long time. congrats! i recommend this book to all! ~Catie, 9th grade.
Rating: Summary: Sweet and engaging Review: Anne Tyler has a gift for creating characters with souls of their own. Barnaby is a wonderful example. Patchwork Planet lacks the charm of Breathing Lessons (my personal Tyler favorite), but it's still a good read.
Rating: Summary: Another Charming Eccentric Review: Barnaby is yet another of life's lost, who Tyler brings into such clear focus. I love the way she brings out over the length of the story, all kinds of positive qualities about her characters that they don't know about themselves--having us both discover at the same time, for instance, that Barnaby is "good looking" almost at the end of the book. Sophia is very well drawn as well, presently herself as an almost impossibly understanding and mature character until you find out, of course, that she isn't at all.Barnaby knows a lot under the guise of not knowing anything, and serves as a reminder to readers that things most often aren't what they seem.
Rating: Summary: Another fine book from Anne Tyler Review: "A Patchwork Planet" planet only confirms my opinion that Anne Tyler is The Greatest Living Novelist. She is a national treasure. I'm so glad we have her now that Wallace Stegner is gone. The book was funny and insightful. It was really hard to put down but a guy has to work, doesn't he? She always treats her characters fairly and sensitively. This book was simply profound!
Rating: Summary: Very though provoking! Review: Wonderfully smooth prose. Such an enjoyable experience to find one's nose "stuck" in a book. Anne Tyler has the ability to take simple occurences and make them come alive in her unusual yet everyday characters. The life of Barnaby was well told. It never ceases to amaze me how a woman can be so insightful of the way a male brain works. Magic!
Rating: Summary: Tyler touches something deep within me (once again) Review: I've had this book since it came out, but, oddly enough, just got around to reading it. I'm so thankful that I did. Anne Tyler has that magical gift of being able to make me feel something every time I read her work. Barnaby is a person, in a long line of people she has created, who has such extraordinary things to say, and such a simply truthful way of saying them. I always find Tyler's characters to be incredibly engaging - likeable in an honest, wrinkled sort of way. And I always find myself deeply touched by their lives, and the oh so human way they live them. Barnaby, of course, is no exception. He's struggling with something we all struggle with - what gives our lives meaning? And I think Tyler has answered that question beautifully.
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