Open House

Rating:
Summary: OPEN HOUSE
Review: This book was written for me! I was crying just after starting to read a few pages. I was divorced 15 years ago and went through many of the same trials and tribulations that Samantha went through. I really enjoyed reading it and recommend it to anyone who is going or has gone through divorce.

Rating:
Summary: Open House
Review: I am noticing there are a lot of negative reviews about this book. I liked this book enough. It was enjoyable enough for me to read it in only a few short days and actually look forward to it. I thought the character's "weaknesses" were true to form to those experiencing divorce. I also thought her over spending was not as unrealistic as other reviewers. It was a coping mechanism & I think the author was very good at showing how this woman coped whether they were healthy or unhealthy ways. The biggest downfall was the lack of a time frame, therefore making things less genuine. It is hard to understand with all that happens if it is realistic when a time frame was not specified.

Rating:
Summary: CAN'T WAIT FOR THE MOVIE!
Review: This was such an enjoyable read. I swept through it on a rainy, Saturday. Berg makes these characters so real, you'll root for Sam, loathe David, and sympathize with Travis. And he supporting characters just complete this tapestry. I laughed out loud a few times (always a good sign) and smiled alot. Some of Oprah's picks are quite a chore to get through but this was a welcome surprise.

Rating:
Summary: A movie would take less time...
Review: If I lived close to you, I'd have you save your money and loan you my copy. I read this over a few hours, a long movie, really. If you can suspend disbelief sufficiently, you too can enter the somnambulistic world of Sam, who lives in what should be called "Cliche House". Her husband, who has abruptly left her, is...surprise!..a jerk. Her 11 yr. old son is a rude mystery to her. Check. Her new roommates, financially required, materialize as effortlessly as a trip to the market and become instant family. Hmmm. And for a love interest? Oh, nothing. Just a fat fellow-sonmambulist who works for an employment agency (where Sam ends up going, too) spending his days doing jobs menial enough to send anyone, except them apparently, onto the floor in fetal position screaming about the meaninglessness of life. But King (King?) is cute and Zen, and does these stupid day jobs so he can save himself for celibacy and astro-physics, which he has a degree in from MIT. Well, that's DIFFERENT. So maybe now things will at least take a more interesting turn for Sam, but Berg doesn't gift this character with the self-insight to detect an elephant behind a 20 lb. turkey. This is maddening as she forces you to down instead page after page describing Sam's reaction - boredom - to her new, left-handed life. I've deleted a few plot twists based on devices so obvious you'll see them a mile away. Still, I read it all through in nearly a sitting, and credit Berg with the ability to dance with small phrases, where insight and dead-eye accuracy salvagingly appear. Berg is probably the first modern author to give Martha Stewart a cameo role, so predictable in content you'll know "Open House" made the Oprah cut based on that alone. Maybe we could all read this, and then together psychokinetically crumble the wall of pop literary culture. Berg gluesticks jewels onto paperpads from the local realtor, and calls it good. Too bad she wasn't born in the 17th century. She might have been a great poet. Given that we all have a remote, or books written like this, what's the choice?

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining!
Review: After spending all summer in the Congo with Poisonwood Bible, I bet many Oprah Book Club readers were pleasantly surprised with her next choice, Open House. I had read Talk Before Sleep earlier this year, and I was really hoping that Open House wouldn't make me cry nearly as much as Talk Before Sleep did. Although I did shed a few tears for Samantha's troubles, I laughed more than anything else. I definitely agree that Sam's story reminds us to remember our selves and our spirits. Only after we love ourselves can we love others. This was a great light read. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Good book
Review: This was my first Elizabeth Berg book. I enjoyed the book and I don't feel I wasted any time by reading it. I enjoyed the charaters and the story line. The only problem I had with the writing is Elizabeth Berg jumped forward and backward and never really told you the time of the characters life you were reading. You just had to figure it out on your own. I did get into the book and felt the chacaters emotions. I just wished it wasn't so chopped up or else I would have given it 5 stars. I did walk away with something after reading so give it a try!

Rating:
Summary: Perfect for a rainy day
Review: Open House is the story of one woman's reaction and coming to terms with the end of her marriage. If only all life's challenges were wrapped up this neatly. This is a very readable book with very likable characters. Its only fault is the story is too neat and too easy. There are some memorable lines, such as when Samantha acknowledges that even she would want to divorce her getting older self. This was a quick and easy read...and a welcomed relief from the last few angst filled Oprah selections. It was not uo to the standard set by previous Elizabeth Berg books, but a good read, none the less.

Rating:
Summary: BOOOORRRRRIIIIINNNNNGGGGG
Review: Enough said. I read the first chapter - closed the book and will sell it on Ebay.

Rating:
Summary: Started Out Interesting
Review: The book started out interesting and you could feel some of what Sam was feeling when she was alone in the house after the divorce and eating Thanksgiving dinner alone. And then King comes along, which even the name makes you envision him as huge. I just couldn't picture her falling in love with a fat guy, no matter how much she was hurt in the past. Her relationship with her son went back and forth so much, him hating her and him actually being nice to her that you just wanted to slap both of them. I would've liked the story better had she stayed by herself. Just another way of telling women that you are nothing without a man.....frankly I'm sick of hearing it.

Rating:
Summary: Open House
Review: I have very mixed feelings about this book. I don't know if I liked this book, but I did not dislike it either..if that makes sense. Overall, I thought it was a great theme & realistic about the devastastion divorce leaves behind. I would have liked to know a little more about the marriage to feel her void as well. I also did not like how the passage of time is never address, therefore leaving things a bit inconsistent. IT could have been a much better book, but I like the writing styly & it kept me reading.