Rating: 
Summary: It brought a tear to my eye...
Review: ...when I stopped to think of the time I wasted reading this trash! O'Hara's Choice was worth exactly what I paid for it...thank God I got the book as a gift. I have to agree with "a disappointment"'s review. I expected a better ending and it crossed my mind whether someone other than Uris had finished writing the book.
It was a drippy romance followed by an unrealistic USMC twist topped off with a ridiculous ending.
Rating:
Summary: A Last Dim Hurrah
Review: From the opening pages of Battle Cry, through Mila-18 and Exodus, Uris develops his fine stories of people in battle. Battle against prejudice, against poverty, against class structures, against themselves. This, his last novel, once more places people in jeopardy. Covering a period from just before the Civil War to the early 1890's, it is a tale of honorable men fighting to save what they believe in, most noticeably Uris' beloved Marine Corps, but also fighting for a chance to live life and love as they wish, to acknowledge the right of all to be free, and for honor itself. Zachary O'Hara is the model Marine; practically raised within the corps by his father, Paddy O'Hara, a Civil War Medal of Honor hero who, at one point or another, had saved most of the lives of the male characters in this book. Zachary must fight the battle common to children of famous parents, that of making his way in the world out from the shadow of his parent. His external battle takes the shape of drafting policy papers that will show the necessity of Marine Corps as a functioning part of the U. S. Military, both in the present time and in the foreseeable future, as in the late 1880's the general feeling was that the Marine Corps was a body that had outlived its usefulness. But this battle must take place alongside his battle to be able to love Amanda Kerr, daughter of ship-building magnate Horace. As Zachary is clearly below Amanda's station, marriage would seem to be out of the question - but Amanda herself is a strong-willed, intelligent woman who knows how to broker deals. With this as the skeleton upon which to construct his novel, it would seem that sure-handed Uris would have an easy time building a strong novel. But perhaps because Uris died before doing the final edits on this work, the novel comes off as somewhat disjointed, characters (especially the minor ones) not as clearly delineated as is normal for Uris, and occasional pieces of text are repeated, something I'm sure he would have eliminated had he had the chance. As it is, there are places that feel incomplete, dialogue that seems to assume the reader knows more than has been presented, and the prime story, that of ensuring the continuance of the Marine Corps, does not seem to carry the sense of urgency and criticality that I'm sure Uris intended the novel to portray. The historical backdrop of both national events and his character's past does not have enough detail to really make this era come alive. The climax of the story comes as something of a surprise, as only minimal hints about it have been set in earlier portions of the novel. What could have been a strong story of love and nation-building is compromised, leaving only the feeling of what could have been with perhaps another hundred pages and some strong editing. A disappointment from an author who almost never failed to engage both the hearts and minds of his readers. --- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment
Review: I have just finished this book and was very disappointed. This book is a love story set in an historical time. The novel starts with some historical battles which I thought was to set the tone of the story. I was wrong! The military aspect of the book was overshadowed by the love story and the politics of the time. The ending was a let-down and not very surprising. As a matter-of-fact, I thought the last chapter was anti-climactic. There's plenty of events that help convey the "times are changing" secondary theme to the story. Examples of this included the change in attitudes toward slavery and the education to be afforded women in society during the late nineteenth century. I had trouble keeping track of the lead character since the lead switched back and forth between O'Hara, the strong Marine male lead, and Amanda, the very headstrong female lead. This book was NOT in the same catagory with Exodus and Mila 18. Sorry 'bout that.
Rating:
Summary: an incomplete Uris work
Review: Leon Uris is one of my absolute favorite writers, i cannot begin to write how sad i was to read about his passing last summer. This book was still "in production" (for lack of a better phrase) at the time of his death and it is all too apparent in the pages of O'HARA'S CHOICE; the characters are sparsely written, intense detail is uneven though the story and the overall "theme" of the novel-- a critical moment after the Civil War in the history of the Marine Corps-- is spotty and sometimes taken for granted. Still and all, Uris utilized his stock characters: the handsome and idealistic young man, the headstrong yet confused young woman. What I have loved about his novels over the years is how the more minor figures in the plots of his books have seemed entirely three dimentional and integral to the line of the story; yet in this novel the more minor characters are restricted to the corners of the tale. Bearing all this in mind, for any strong Leon Uris fan i would still recommend this book (just wait until it's in paperback). that it was his last novel which he was working on at the time of his death makes it all the more poignant and though i personally do not care for this book, i am happy to have read it and make it a part of my Uris collection and my respect for him and his work shall continue.
Rating:
Summary: an incomplete Uris work
Review: Leon Uris is one of my absolute favorite writers, i cannot begin to write how sad i was to read about his passing last summer. This book was still "in production" (for lack of a better phrase) at the time of his death and it is all too apparent in the pages of O'HARA'S CHOICE; the characters are sparsely written, intense detail is uneven though the story and the overall "theme" of the novel-- a critical moment after the Civil War in the history of the Marine Corps-- is spotty and sometimes taken for granted. Still and all, Uris utilized his stock characters: the handsome and idealistic young man, the headstrong yet confused young woman. What I have loved about his novels over the years is how the more minor figures in the plots of his books have seemed entirely three dimentional and integral to the line of the story; yet in this novel the more minor characters are restricted to the corners of the tale. Bearing all this in mind, for any strong Leon Uris fan i would still recommend this book (just wait until it's in paperback). that it was his last novel which he was working on at the time of his death makes it all the more poignant and though i personally do not care for this book, i am happy to have read it and make it a part of my Uris collection and my respect for him and his work shall continue.
Rating:
Summary: "O'Hara's Choice"
Review: My advise: read the whole book (it is pretty good), but skip the last chapter. Compose your own ending. Believe me, your ending will be a better ending than the one the author penned.
Being a former Marine, I was satisfied with the treatment of the Marines, in general. The ending, however, was all wrong. It was as if Uris had died (which he did in 2003), and some anti-military feminist finished the last chapter for him. You've been warned.
Rating:
Summary: "O'Hara's Choice" Is a Poor Choice
Review: Perhaps I was spoiled by Leon Uris' fine work, Trinity, and expected too much from a novel dashed off late in his writing career. Whatever the reason, I came to O'Hara's Choice with high expectations, too high as it turned out. The novel is little but a high-class "bodice ripper," a modern romance with no well developed theme and poorly justified actions. The characters appear flat as well, leaving the novel very much as they entered it with little discernible character development en route. Let's take a look first at the strong points of the book. Unfortunately, this will not take us long. Uris does have a fine command of the language and has produced 394 pages without allowing trite, overused phraseology to weaken either description or dialogue. At rare times, the writing does flow at a rapid clip, carrying the reader along almost effortlessly, and I offer the description of the battle of Bull Run (to become known as the first battle of Manassas) as a welcome example of this. The early sexual tension between Zach and Amanda is also handled adroitly although elsewhere it sometimes mimics the "bodice ripper" genre. The inter-service jealousy and derision between the Navy and the Marine Corps is realistically portrayed but becomes tedious and repetitious after a while. Horace Kerr's internal dichotomy between his progressive thoughts toward the recently-freed Negroes and his culturally learned biases against non-white races comes to the fore several times, but some of his explosions are not well supported by earlier thoughts and actions and appear artificial and contrived. So much for the strong points. Uris' introduction of the various characters strikes me as poorly accomplished. It is as though one is watching a disconnected slide show (or, for our younger readers who may never have seen a slide show, let's call it a PowerPoint presentation). Characters pop up rather unexpectedly, and the reader has a poor idea of what their relationship may be to the other characters until much further along in the reading. Fortunately, Uris begins each chapter with the date and location of the action. These "stage directions" do help keep us somewhat oriented as to where and when we are, but we must be careful top pay attention to them or risk significant confusion. Several "red herrings" crop up here and there with no particular contribution to the story line. For instance, Horace Kerr, Amanda's rich industrialist father, is set up to lose his life in a storm at sea but survives with a few bumps and bruises. Later he is equally foreshadowed to suffer a debilitating if not fatal stroke, but that coup de grace never comes after all. Then there is Emily, Amanda's older sister, who is mentally unbalanced and is generally stored away out of sight in the unfrequented north wing of the mansion. I suppose she functions fairly well as one of several skeletons in the Kerr family closet, a fact that is strongly underscored once the reader finally learns the horrible secret that explains her insanity. Still, she never plays even a strong supporting role in the Amanda - Zach relationship, which is the unifying thread throughout the book, and the reader is left to wonder whether her character might have been more fully developed--or omitted. Is there even an identifiable theme in this novel? Basically we find two young lovers, one torn between her duty to carry on the family fortune and power and her desire to marry her Marine lover; the other torn between his love (or lust) for Amanda and his "marriage" to the Marine Corps. The latter problem is exacerbated by a dreadful secret that Zach carries with him concerning his Marine-hero father. None of these conflicts ever finds satisfactory resolution. There is no denouement. The lovers are conflicted to begin with and are equally conflicted when the novel ends. Their situation, while at times compared with that of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, never reaches the tragic level of those more famous lovers, whose position as the symbols of unachievable love remains unassailed by Uris' novel.
Rating:
Summary: "O'Hara's Choice" Is a Poor Choice
Review: Perhaps I was spoiled by Leon Uris' fine work, Trinity, and expected too much from a novel dashed off late in his writing career. Whatever the reason, I came to O'Hara's Choice with high expectations, too high as it turned out. The novel is little but a high-class "bodice ripper," a modern romance with no well developed theme and poorly justified actions. The characters appear flat as well, leaving the novel very much as they entered it with little discernible character development en route. Let's take a look first at the strong points of the book. Unfortunately, this will not take us long. Uris does have a fine command of the language and has produced 394 pages without allowing trite, overused phraseology to weaken either description or dialogue. At rare times, the writing does flow at a rapid clip, carrying the reader along almost effortlessly, and I offer the description of the battle of Bull Run (to become known as the first battle of Manassas) as a welcome example of this. The early sexual tension between Zach and Amanda is also handled adroitly although elsewhere it sometimes mimics the "bodice ripper" genre. The inter-service jealousy and derision between the Navy and the Marine Corps is realistically portrayed but becomes tedious and repetitious after a while. Horace Kerr's internal dichotomy between his progressive thoughts toward the recently-freed Negroes and his culturally learned biases against non-white races comes to the fore several times, but some of his explosions are not well supported by earlier thoughts and actions and appear artificial and contrived. So much for the strong points. Uris' introduction of the various characters strikes me as poorly accomplished. It is as though one is watching a disconnected slide show (or, for our younger readers who may never have seen a slide show, let's call it a PowerPoint presentation). Characters pop up rather unexpectedly, and the reader has a poor idea of what their relationship may be to the other characters until much further along in the reading. Fortunately, Uris begins each chapter with the date and location of the action. These "stage directions" do help keep us somewhat oriented as to where and when we are, but we must be careful top pay attention to them or risk significant confusion. Several "red herrings" crop up here and there with no particular contribution to the story line. For instance, Horace Kerr, Amanda's rich industrialist father, is set up to lose his life in a storm at sea but survives with a few bumps and bruises. Later he is equally foreshadowed to suffer a debilitating if not fatal stroke, but that coup de grace never comes after all. Then there is Emily, Amanda's older sister, who is mentally unbalanced and is generally stored away out of sight in the unfrequented north wing of the mansion. I suppose she functions fairly well as one of several skeletons in the Kerr family closet, a fact that is strongly underscored once the reader finally learns the horrible secret that explains her insanity. Still, she never plays even a strong supporting role in the Amanda - Zach relationship, which is the unifying thread throughout the book, and the reader is left to wonder whether her character might have been more fully developed--or omitted. Is there even an identifiable theme in this novel? Basically we find two young lovers, one torn between her duty to carry on the family fortune and power and her desire to marry her Marine lover; the other torn between his love (or lust) for Amanda and his "marriage" to the Marine Corps. The latter problem is exacerbated by a dreadful secret that Zach carries with him concerning his Marine-hero father. None of these conflicts ever finds satisfactory resolution. There is no denouement. The lovers are conflicted to begin with and are equally conflicted when the novel ends. Their situation, while at times compared with that of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, never reaches the tragic level of those more famous lovers, whose position as the symbols of unachievable love remains unassailed by Uris' novel.
Rating:
Summary: Very disappointed
Review: This is a classic romance novel, not an adventure story as we might expect from Uris. While the story of the early days of the Marince Corps is interesting and very well researched, there is virtually no action. I strongly suspect, in spite of no official word from the Uris camp, that this book was finished by others. Re-read earlier works for your Uris fix and pass this one by.
Rating:
Summary: Bad Ending Ruins Whole Book!
Review: Trinity may not be Leon Uris's best book, but personally it's my favorite book. That being said, I'm not out to trash Uris, but O'Hara's Choice is a waste of time. I'll leave character development and plot intracacies to other reviewers, my focus is the story itself. As the book unwound, I was reasonably well captivated. I wondered along the way how much actual Marine history played into the story, in terms of the fight to keep the Corps alive. (Interested enough to research that later.) The problem is that the story wasn't compelling enough to have an ending that wasn't supported by the events that lead up to it. 390 pages of showing someone's emotions progressing in one direction so the reader can be tricked with a "Gotcha!" at the end. Well that's fine, if the 'gotcha' seems plausible, but in this book it absolutely didn't.
SLIGHT SPOILER - The ending reminded me of 'The Partner' by Grisham, which had the same problem. I don't read Grisham anymore, because to me that was a big let down. The last two pages were not reasonably supported by the first 390 or so, and to me, that makes for a bad book.
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