Rating: 
Summary: Pulled me in. Insightful on many levels.
Review: Congratulations on another wonderful book Jane Hamilton. I look forward to your next work.
Rating:
Summary: An affecting, thought provoking book.
Review: This was my first experience with Jane Hamilton's writing, selected after reading several intriguing reviews. I found the book to be full of finely nuanced writing reflecting the inner life and soul of the main character, Walter, and his passage into middle age, guided by an overdue reassessment of his family, childhood and early adult years. I was frankly amazed that a mid-western women could write so convincingly about a gay man, however in my opinion Ms. Hamilton is right on target in an almost eerie way. Her insight allows readers to connect and find a bit of their own selves in the ordinary life of a man who while different, is really just like everyone. Ms. Hamilton's writing reminds me of Sue Miller, another author who writes so honestly about the way we really are, gently persuading the reader to examine their own lives, without flinching from the truth. Her almost effortless writing propels us forward in a seamless narrative flow, in a manner almost mirroring our own thoughts. I highly recommend this book, and I intend to immediately catch up with Ms. Hamilton's previous writing.
Rating: 
Summary: another good tale
Review: early on, walter mccloud, the main character in this novel, tells his life-long friend susan, "in books, death is what often propels the plot...either ignites the action or finishes it." and so death propels this novel, but the sad story of his brother daniel mccloud is nicely woven with the story of walter's dealing with the roller-coaster ride of his sexual orientation awakening, and that of the family estate that embodies the nature of the word "home." at times this novel felt a bit wordy, but ultimately this is a very nice story, well-told.
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly good despite subject-matter
Review: It is surprising that a woman wrote through the mind of Walter, a gay 15 y/o and later a man in his 30's. I felt the story was more about making sense of life, death, and what anyone is doing here on earth than being an in-the-closet teenager who aspired to dance ballet. Ballet did make a dramatic back-drop. I guess i love a book that lets you into the character's soul and forces you to feel his joys.
Rating:
Summary: Not a bigger than life novel....a novel about life!
Review: I was left almost speechless by this novel....what to say a gay failed ballet dancer middle-age man....that is Walter one of the most real endearing people I've ever encountered as real to me as my next door neighbor! Hamilton manages to convey in this novel all that is real and matters about life. Told in two voices the adolescent Walter in the 70's and the 30 something Walter in the 90's it never falters, I can't imagine anyone reading this and not coming away with a feeling of what matters most when it comes to living our lives..In near 50 years of reading I've read many a book I can honestly say none touched me like this one....dare I say a modern masterpiece?
Rating: 
Summary: Tedious, at best
Review: This is a tedious and thoroughly unfocused novel. It tries to bring to forefront the minutia of everyday lives and give it resonance. Unfortunately, all she achieves is the mundane. The characters lack definition and, more importantly, purpose. Most bewildering of all is Hamilton's choice of telling the story from the viewpoint of a 15-year-old homosexual boy, when she hasn't a clue to the nuance of the character. What would make her create a main character so devoid of any basis in reality is beyond me. After showing such promise with The Book of Ruth, this novel is a tremendous letdown.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but not great; 3 1/2 stars.
Review: Jane Hamilton spoiled me; after Book of Ruth andMap of the World, I thought she could do no wrong. While Short History isn't exactly "wrong," it isn't quite the other two, either. I had trouble believing in this huge, fat, extended family that endlessly got together for every imaginable occasion. I had trouble believing Walter's ballet director would go off on him so cruelly -- as if this man would have never encountered a gay man in the world of ballet before! I had trouble believing that everyone in the family would always call Sue Rawson by her full name, particularly her sisters; it seemed a literary invention to me. And the end was so incredibly neat it felt a tiny bit insulting, like there were suddenly all these rabbits being pulled out of hats at the last minute. Nevertheless, this book is worth reading because it is not really a failure either. Individual scenes are beautifully written and memorable. Walter is a well-drawn character ove! ! rall and I did care about him. And, once again, Jane Hamilton's various observations about people and their thoughts are wonderfully on target. If you have never read Jane Hamilton, this may not be the place to start. That would have to be Book of Ruth. If you are already a fan, this will not ruin her for you, and you will surely find lots to like.
Rating:
Summary: Hamilton Is One Of The Best
Review: Jane Hamilton is one of the top American authors out there today. Hamilton achieved both critical and commercial success with her first two novels "The Book of Ruth" and "A Map of the World." Much to her credit, she does not rest on her laurels and re-hash the characters or plot in her third outing, "The Short History of a Prince." In "Ruth," Hamilton's narrative reads almost as a thriller reaching a shocking conclusion while in "Map" a tragic event early on sends readers on a downward spiral through the rest of the novel. While there is plenty of angst in "Prince," it is a much more quiet and reflective novel. The protagonist tells his story during a life-altering year as a teenager as well as a grown man in the present day. That too is a change from Hamilton's previous work. Perhaps tagged as a "woman's" writer to date, Hamilton for the first time has a male lead character in Walter McCloud. There is a lot to savor in "Prince." It is a coming-of-age story as Walter must cope with a death in the family while coming to grips with his own homosexuality. While Walter may be one of the most well-realized gay characters put into print, one small quibble is that he seems to fall into so many stereotypes (ballet dancer, opera/theater lover, works in a dollhouse shop, literature teacher). Also, "Prince" asks the age-old question "Can one ever go home again?" as Walter returns to his Midwest roots as an adult. The novel is not only about the struggle to let go of the past, but perhaps even more painfully so letting go of the dreams of the future. If you are looking for well-developed characters and beautiful prose, there is no need to go any further than a Jane Hamilton novel.
Rating:
Summary: It was a short history for me!
Review: I couldn't get past page 68. I read the first chapter (1972), and found it OK, but once the second one got going (1995), I started getting very irritated. Walter came across as a malcontent whiny guy, and the characters so far had been less than enticing (Susan seemed slightly egotistical, and Lucy was way too perfect to be real). Another thing that bothered me is the excruciating descriptions that the author goes through about the most minute details. I could tolerate that level of detail when the story carries my interest (We Were The Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates is a great example), but in this case I just had to glaze over whole paragraphs describing suburbian neighborhoods. I hate it when I don't finish a book, so I decided to check Amazon reviews and see what other people had said. I'm not so disappointed now. To the author's credit, I didn't see the fact that Walter is gay right away. However, the parallelisms between lesbian aunt Sue Rawson mentoring Walter in his ballet, and then Walter mentoring his niece on hers were too melodramatic. The ending, which I only know about through other people's comments, makes me wonder if Jane Hamilton perhaps wrote this book with Oprah in mind. I really enjoyed The Book of Ruth. It was difficult to go through, but there was something true and compelling about the story and the characters. In this case, though, I wasn't able to find any empathy for anyone or get driven to the story.
Rating:
Summary: Hamilton Is One Of The Best
Review: Jane Hamilton is one of the top American authors out there today. Hamilton achieved both critical and commercial success with her first two novels "The Book of Ruth" and "A Map of the World." Much to her credit, she does not rest on her laurels and re-hash the characters or plot in her third outing, "The Short History of a Prince." In "Ruth," Hamilton's narrative reads almost as a thriller reaching a shocking conclusion while in "Map" a tragic event early on sends readers on a downward spiral through the rest of the novel. While there is plenty of angst in "Prince," it is a much more quiet and reflective novel. The protagonist tells his story during a life-altering year as a teenager as well as a grown man in the present day. That too is a change from Hamilton's previous work. Perhaps tagged as a "woman's" writer to date, Hamilton for the first time has a male lead character in Walter McCloud. There is a lot to savor in "Prince." It is a coming-of-age story as Walter must cope with a death in the family while coming to grips with his own homosexuality. While Walter may be one of the most well-realized gay characters put into print, one small quibble is that he seems to fall into so many stereotypes (ballet dancer, opera/theater lover, works in a dollhouse shop, literature teacher). Also, "Prince" asks the age-old question "Can one ever go home again?" as Walter returns to his Midwest roots as an adult. The novel is not only about the struggle to let go of the past, but perhaps even more painfully so letting go of the dreams of the future. If you are looking for well-developed characters and beautiful prose, there is no need to go any further than a Jane Hamilton novel.
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