Peace Like a River

Rating:
Summary: CAUTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Review: I CAN PUT THIS SIMPLY, THIS BOOK BITES!
HOW DARE YOU PEOPLE EXCEPT IT AS A PIECE OF LITERATURE!!!
WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!
PEOPLE OF THE WORLD DO NOT SAY YOU HAVE NOT BEEN WARNED AGAINST READING THIS DISPICABLE OBJECT FOR I CAN NOT EVEN CALL IT A BOOK!
IT DOESN'T EVEN DESERFVE ONE STAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Religious claptrap
Review: This is a stinking lousy attempt at "magical realism." Drippily sentimental story told through the eyes of a boy, whose "voice" is too far beyond his stated age. The character of the sister is unbelievable, and the mysterious older brother, who is the center of the novel, is not fleshed out at all. By far the WORST novel I have read in years.

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Summary: This Author is a Comedic Genius!
Review: Does anyone else find the title of the book humorous?

I think the author is stoked that so many people have bought the book and described it as beautiful and enlightening.

Lets all Peace like a River!

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Summary: great for book club.
Review: My book club loved reading and discussing this novel. Three generations of our family have read it. We have had great discussions about the characters and the ending. Everyone sees something different. Will make a great movie. A delightful thinking book.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Read
Review: This was excellent book with great storytelling and lyrical style of prose. The narrator's voice is that of an 11 year old boy and rings very true. This is a quality read.

Rating:
Summary: beautiful but flawed
Review: When I began the journey of Peace Like a River, I jumped in with breathless anticipation, and with every page my anticipation rose because of the masterful use of language and the heartstopping beauty of the characters. But sadly to say the ending is hopelessly flawed and for me crushingly disapppointing. I enjoyed the journey so much, only to find it falling short at the end. I loved Swede, though I concur with others, I had to keep reminding myself she was only 9. Reuban was marvelous. And the next to last chapter did move me to tears. Still, too many threads got tied up way too neatly and disappointingly in the end. Too many questions lingered in my mind and heart...like, Why such a vague end for the bad guy? Why did Leif compare him to the romanticly wicked Valdez? (I thought all along Valdez was Swede's attempt at working out Davey's plight) How must Reuban have felt when he realized he was basically responsible for Mr.Andreeson's' death? And the ending of the father was just such a let down. It was just too much of a stretch to have his sacrifice be something done in the afterworld. How's that a sacrifice, anyway? I thought after all the miracle "build-up" we were going to see him do something this side of heaven, that was going to result in Davey's reclaimation. What happens to Davey is very anticlimatic, and unfocused considering we've spent the whole book journying to find him. Really a non-ending.
Still, the journey in some ways is just as important as the arrival, and this journey of beautiful word pictures and unforgettable characters, makes it worth the trip.

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Summary: Lyrically implausible, but wonderful, wonderful
Review: Magical realism isn't my usual bag, but this book hooked me and hooked me good before I realized what was actually going on. Peace Like a River is about miracles, the implausible and impossible events of Reuben Land's life. Reuben's father goes in search of Davy, Reuben's brother, who's on the lam in North Dakota's Badlands, wanted for murder by the FBI. Someone said this story, a real saga, reads like an old-time ballad translated into prose, and it's true. There's an epic, tragic, redemptive quality not only to the story but also to the writing, which is beyond lyrical and way out in the stratosphere somewhere.
Marvelous, marvelous debut fiction by Leif Enger, a writer to watch.

Rating:
Summary: Peace Like a River
Review: Thank you, Mr Enger. Thank you for characters whose faith is not separated from daily life. Thank you for the perspective of an 11 year old boy to which even a 38 year old woman can find connection. Thank you for a father figure who has integrity. I highly recommend this book. I listened to the audio version on a 20 hour road trip with two young boys. I never had to turn it off for fear of them hearing anything inappropriate. That is a rare treasure these days. I'm passing it on to my husband who is a huge Zane Grey fan!

Rating:
Summary: its ok
Review: this book wasn't terrible but I was disappointed. I couldn't wait to begin reading but after I started I couldn't wait to finish and start another book. This book dragged for me.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and Thought-Provoking
Review: "Peace Like a River"--the title only really comes to full meaning in the penultimate chapter in this wonderful story. The writing is as much poetry as prose, both literally, as we read Swede's adventures for Sunny Sundown, and figuratively, with Engler's beautiful descriptions of sights, sounds, and feelings. I enjoyed the book, which I read for a book discussion group, very much, although I found myself a little impatient for events to move on at times. And Swede is an engaging little girl of 9 who captures one's heart, but, darn it all, I had trouble accepting her precosity at writing. At times her vocabulary is a bit unbelievable, but more so is her use of inverted sentences and interior rhyme for a child raised on the Western prose of Zane Grey and others and on the King James Bible. Even so, the story will grab your interest with its entertaining and unpredictable characters and beautiful writing.