Rating: 
Summary: I'm Impressed!
Review: It is hard to believe that this was a work of fiction. The narrator was so life- like and the family so realistic. I saw bits and pieces of my own family in this one and it made me remember the good times. I was waiting for the father to do something horrible, I was waiting for there to be abuse or something that broke the family apart, but throughout the entire book the family loved eachother and stuck by one another. By no means were they perfect, but even thought they had their own personalities you never doubted their love or respect for their family. I am not one to like "miracles" in books but these seemed to fit- and I found myself questioning these "miracles" as the narrator assumed I would. All in all a wonderful book and I recommend it without reservation!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!!!
Review: I normally take about a week to complete reading a book. I read this one within 3 days. It was a thoughtful look into the lives of fictional characters that felt so real, that I couldn't keep my mind off of them, and what would happen next.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: Peace Like a River is undoubtedly the most amazing book I've read in some time...maybe ever! Enger's use of the English language is nothing short of inspired. Some passages I had to read out loud just to hear the words...they are so beautiful. The story touches my heart. The characters are so richly developed I feel I know them. The emotions it evokes are consuming. This is a book I know I'll read time and again, for the sheer joy of it! Thank you, Mr. Enger, for an engrossing, beautifully written book. (I'm sorry, I know I'm gushing. But you've just gotta read this book!)
Rating:
Summary: More than a river.
Review: i can't explain this book nor am i going to try. it's one of those 'must-reads' that you MUST READ if you want to be touched by an angel. a heart made outta stone will turn into school lunch mush. i assure you: it's pretty good.
Rating: 
Summary: A magical adventure in faith and family love
Review: This book takes the reader on an exciting adventure thru the eyes of an eleven year old boy Reuben. I could hardly put it down and when I came to the end I was definitely not disappointed. If I had any criticism it would be not knowing more about the character of the older brother Davy. This book was one of the best books I have read in awhile. It really speaks of faith and family love and the yearning we all have to transcend everyday life and see miracles in our midst.
Rating:
Summary: No middle ground
Review: Leif Enger will leave few fence-sitters among those who read his charming book. Either you will find it engaging and wistful as a look back on a Midwestern childhood, or you will find it cloying, silly and downright unbelieveable.
To my view, he has a simple, straightforward way of addressing the deep, spiritual faith in God that his father possessed in such abundance, and through his central character, Reuben, he describes very matter-of-factly his first experience in a Pentecostal revival in the local Methodist Church. He talks in simple awe of seeing his father walk off the edge of the truck and continue to walk on thin air while praying intensely. According to Reuben, his father never even knew it happened.
Reuben's younger sister, Swede, is a precocious, verbose writer of an almost exaggerated talent for one so young, but Enger makes her believeable to me.
There's the line of demarcation. If you don't want to believe in God talk and spiritual things, you might prefer "Plainsong" by Kent Haruf, a book that I found crude and overly vulgar. But I like the simple country faith that Enger writes about so comfortably. If you find God in simple folk, read "Peace Life a River" and enjoy the childish whimsy and plain talk of the mysteries of faith and growing up with parents who talk to God as readily as they talk to their children.
Rating:
Summary: A Peaceful, Graceful Book (a 4.4 on a scale of 1 to 5)
Review: "Peace like a River" starts very slowly and then very gradually grows on you. The story is told from the vantage point of Reuben, a young asthmatic in the midwest, who is being raised by his kind, Jesus-like father ( a former med student turned janitor). When Reuben's brother commits a horrible crime (though for semi-justifiable reasons) and breaks out of jail, his family sets out to find him in the Dakotas. Their journey is beautiful and profound. The three main character-Reuben's father, Reuben, his younger sister Swede (a budding writer)-are in many ways reminiscent of characters in great Southern novels. Yet the setting is pure Northern midwest-and that is part of the charm. How often do you read fiction that takes place in the Dakotas?
I would highly recommend this book to individuals who enjoy contemporary fiction, books with religious overtones (though it is not too heavy-handed), rural settings, and/or books in the genre of "To Kill a Mockingbird" or "Huckleberry Finn."
I would caution readers that the book starts slowly (I actually read the first chapter a few times before I got into it, that's why four stars) but it eventually rewards you.
Rating:
Summary: excellent book
Review: Great for anyone who enjoys rural fiction. I love it. The story could have occured during any time period. Full of great prose. Best book I've read in a long time. Read it now!!
Rating:
Summary: A brilliant first novel
Review: A must read for all who are tired of simple, predictable prose. Leif Enger pulls you right into the story and makes you stay, even if it isn't so much to see what happens next--as much as it is to see how he will describe it. A truly talented author and a heart-wrenching young narrator give you a real treat. Can't wait for more from Leif Enger!
Rating:
Summary: Great book (despite the implied mysticism), lovely style
Review: A beautifully written book reminiscent of the honest, clean story telling of To Kill a Mockingbird seen from the eyes of a resilient and brave 11 year old asthamatic boy. Despite the implied mysticism (which I simply took to be the "wanting to believe in God and miracles" interpretation of an 11 year old raised in a God-fearing household), this book is nevertheless a great tale about everyday, unsung heroes among us, in our own families; men and women driven to simply do the "right thing" no matter what the consequences, no matter where their loyalties. This book like all great novels shows us why it's people like that that make the world go round and are deserving of our respect and admiration. It's also a poignant expression of nostalgia of a simpler yet righteous way of life (which does not have to be derived from religion but happens to be the driving force in this family's case), now so lost to us, of/in the great American prairie where love, justice and life itself survived because ordinary people took responsibility for their actions and created meaning in their eveyday tasks.
All in all, a little boy's view of how life works and how love, doing the right thing and justice above all make it at all worth living.
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