Rating: 
Summary: There is still hope
Review: I just finished this book last night. This is the first Jane Hamilton book I have read. I can't wait to read A Map of the World.I'm surprised that so many readers found The Book of Ruth so depressing, pointless, and disturbing. This book portrays the way real people are and live in our world. Only we don't always see them. Most of the time we don't even acknowledge they exist. Then they read a book like this one and can't stand to even think about them being real people. Well they are, and they may live in your neighborhood. I felt sorry for Ruth. She was dealt a hand of cards and wasn't sure what to do with them. Ruth was missing love in her life. When she found Ruby, he gave her something that May couldn't. I am still thinking about Ruth and wonder if hope is enough to get her through.
Rating: 
Summary: Very well-written, but too depressing
Review: Jane Hamilton is a talented writer and in the hands of someone less talented, I probably would not have finished a book that was this depressing. To her credit, Hamilton shows that someone can have a very mundane job and not let it get them down. Also, the book conveys the very important message that although Ruth isn't very bright, she still has some interesting insights on life from which more intelligent people can learn. Therefore, we need to realize that we should not dismiss someone's opinion simply due to their station in life. However, I read the entire book hoping it would have a happier ending than it did. I didn't want an unrealistic ending, just upbeat enough that I wouldn't feel as if reading the book was wasted time. The book did reinforce some important lessons (i.e. an ordinary person with a menial job can find a way to take pride in her work, if a "loser" can perservere during a crisis and survive a tragedy then with hope and determination we all can). While most of have been told to be happy with what we have and to be determined to survive whatever life brings, The Book of Ruth shows how these lessons apply in daily life. Above all, Ruth is a survivor. However, all that kept me from rating this 1* were the valuable lessons and skillful writing, because although there was a glimmer of hope at the end, once I finished the book I mostly felt depressed.
Rating:
Summary: Hamilton has redeemed herself!
Review: I was leary of taking the time to read (actually listen to) this book as I wasn't nuts about "A Map of the World". I sure wasn't disappointed this time. Alot of people feel it was too depressing and there were alot of miserable times for Ruth and her family, but Hamilton used some humor in the story too. I laughed over several things, such as the time Ruth tried to make supper and instead of peeling onions, accidently grabbed tulip bulbs. Sounds like something I'd have done. Also, when Randolph, the fat neighbor boy, supposedly had a girlfriend. Ruth is amazed and asks his sister "who?", to which she simply replies "BAAAA". The story is a good example of what can happen to a child if they are constantly put down and told they are worthless and stupid. If Ruth had had a better mother, I think things would have turned out alot differently for her. When she finally met Mr. Right, Ruby, I thought he would turn out to be abusive, but he was just like Ruth. Not real smart and just needing to hear someone say something positive to him once in a while. I did get a bit fed up with the way Ruth allowed him to be so lazy and didn't really blame her mother for getting mad at Ruby. I would have kicked them both out a long time before it came down to the final blow-up. My only complaint about the story was the ending. It seemed like Jane Hamilton kind of ran out of steam and just wanted to get the book finished. The interesting storyline seemed to fall apart and did get really depressing towards the end. I hoped to see Ruth finally having some good luck after she moved in with her aunt and cheer up, but the story ended before we got to find out if she did or not. "The book of Ruth" turned out to be one of my favorite Oprah picks. I'll look forward to Hamilton's next novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Different but eye opening
Review: This was my first book by Jane Hamilton. I enjoyed they way she told the story and each detail about the characters. There were times I wanted to go into the book and just shake Ruth to make her wake up and open her eyes. I think this is a must read because sadly I think this goes on and we close our eyes to it. I look forward to reading anouther of Jane Hamiltons books.
Rating:
Summary: Hamilton's best book...
Review: This was a well-written, very touching story that twists and turns all the way. Ruth, the heroine and narrator of the book, is one of the strongest (if not also strangest) women I've met in literature. Her story has stayed with me as if I read the book yesterday. There are very few books which, using only the scantest number of words, can paint pictures of people, times, and actions which you can see, smell and taste with your senses. This book was SO different from "Map of the World", I wouldn't have recognized Hamilton as the author. Please read this book. It has a lot to say.
Rating:
Summary: A brilliantly crafted story of truth and thanksgiving
Review: Before reading _The Book of Ruth_, I read many of the reviews here at Amazon. I had already made the purchase months ago after I saw the book on display at my local bookstore but I only just now got around to reading it this week. It was only after the fact, that I discovered it was an Oprah's Book Club selection. I never watch her, so I decided to check out the Amazon site to see if this book was worth reading. I have to say, now that I've finished the book, I'm baffled at the number of people who found this story to be so depressing they couldn't bring themselves to finish it. I can only think that perhaps it was too much for some people to handle emotionally. Maybe it hit too close to home and they just aren't ready for it yet. To me, this story is a compassionate look -- never condescending or patronizing -- at a family so many of us can find in our own extended families and in our communities. I'm even more shocked that people would harshly criticize Jane Hamilton for writing a story that made them feel sad. Life's not an episode of the Brady Bunch. Bad things happen to all people and it's only human to feel sadness about those events. Why would you even think about reading a book with a review on the back cover that refers to the story as "a disturbing and beautiful book" if you were looking for an all-around happy tale? Let me tell you what I see in _The Book of Ruth_ and why I see it as a story of hope... I see some of the kids with whom I attended elementary school who were shunned by teachers and students alike because they were not able to keep up financially, socially or academically with their peers. Many of us are privileged enough to have enough money to provide for all our wants and needs. Likewise, most of us have healthy minds and bodies which allow us to work through much of what life throws at us. Too often, however, we take those gifts for granted and harshly criticize those who don't possess those same blessings and don't seem to know how to get a better life for themselves. The shallow and self-absorbed, the fearful will look at those people and think, "Ah, they're just poor because they're lazy." Or, "Why bother? She's not smart enough to get it anyway." Forget the qualifiers... they're people. And, until you know them, really know them, you're wrongly assuming a lot when you label them like that. I see my sister and her girls in the characters of May and Ruth. So many times in my life I've wondered how hard it has really been for them back living in a dumpy little trailer in a small town in the northern U.S. Where did they find the strength to overcome circumstances they could never have avoided and what has happened to their spirits when they've suffered the repercussions of poor decisions they've made in their lives? I see myself in Aunt Sid. I live over a thousand miles away from my family and every time I hear the news from home about my sister, I want so much to just rescue her. Sometimes I think she needs rescuing from herself, but also from the meanness of those around her who are so quick to judge her. But then I realize that we don't really even know each other anymore and it makes it hard to rise over the wall that distance and time and experience has built up between us over the years. I shake my head and wonder what's going to happen to them if things don't get better. It just seems like our lives have become two paths running in opposite directions and that we'll never find a common intersection again. And thinking about all of that is what made me sad when I read _The Book of Ruth_. It made me realize that sometimes just because you're family it doesn't mean that you will ever really know each other. At least that's how it has felt to me for the past 30 years. Reading this book gave me hope. It gave me hope that my sister and her family might be able to change their situation somehow for the better. I'm not delusional; I know that the odds still aren't running in their favor and I know that they will probably not become pillars of the community. But at least they still might be able to find some happiness amidst what has now been over 25 years of almost daily doses of pain, humiliation, fear and heartache. It also gives me hope for myself. It gives me hope that my family, which has suffered a lot of isolation and alienation in my lifetime, might be able to be better. If you've never grown up in a family (or within viewing distance of a family) like the one Ruth describes in this novel, you can't possibly know what that life does to a person. There are a lot of people out there who would count themselves lucky to deal with what you consider to be problems in your life. And, for that, you're fortunate. Just be thankful. A review on the back cover of the book describes this as a story about "resiliency." That's about the most apt description I could imagine. Read about Ruth and you'll see how strong a tender person has to be in order to live.
Rating:
Summary: Too Dark, Too Pointless, and Much Too Long
Review: Had I not been on vacation, with nothing other than this handy to read, I would have dropped it and left it for dead. I am tired of being dragged into the "Oprah" choices only to find they are always about below average, under privileged, tragic souls. Is Oprah not aware there are strong, healthy people out there, who not only lead productive useful lives, but raise productive children who also contribute to society, without benefit of abuse and mistreatment? I read painfully about the horrible lives these poor mentally challenged people endured, always with a sense of impending doom. Quite frankly, all but two of the characters (Ruth & Ruby) are individuals who have made messes of their own lives and are the very sort of folks I have worked hard to insure I do not have to live near and certainly do not want my children growing up around. I would ask you then, why would I or any one else want to read about these dregs of society?
Rating:
Summary: Depressing but with a glimmer of hope
Review: This book is the story of how it sometimes takes catastrophe to dislodge people from their ruts and force them to redefine themselves. It also takes a very long, hard look at the relationships--familial and romantic--that all women experience in their lives and how they can be so forceful--for good or ill. Yes, this book is difficult (emotionally) to read, because we readers can stand on the sidelines and shout advice, but the characters don't hear us any more than the real people who come through our lives and break our hearts by following destructive paths. In the end, the characters have to deal with the consequences of how they've lived their lives. The good news is that for some, it's not too late to turn a new corner. In that respect, this book is a story of hope and redemption.
Rating:
Summary: Depressing!
Review: This book was depressing, depressing, depressing. There was nothing enjoyable about it. I seldom start a book and not finish it so I did read all of this book hoping that something would redeem it! Nothing did!
Rating: 
Summary: No light at the end of the tunnel...
Review: This book was well written and thought provoking but it broke my heart. Thoroughly depressing, it bleeds the spirit of all hope! Read this only on a bright sunny day when all the world is right because even then its dark cloud will hover over your mind.
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