Reservation Road

Rating:
Summary: Depressing yet eye opening
Review: I suggested that my book group read Reservation Road as I thought it would make for an interesting discussion. The book itself was very well written and the plot was a difficult one to read but John Burnham Schwarz handled it well.

This is the story of two father's and their sons. One father, Dwight, is a big disappointment not only to himself but to his family as well. His relationship with his young son is tenuous at best and his actions throughout the book do nothing to further this.

On the other end of the spectrum is Ethan. Everything a father should be. In one instant when these two men meet on the side of a dark road both of their lives are changed forever. Ethan watches as his son Josh is hit by the car that Dwight is driving.

The novel bounces between the two men and their families. It looks at how they deal with their tragedy and how they try to move on in their lives as the two move closer and closer.

Dwight is racked with guilt and wavers between wanting to get caught and not for his crime while Ethan does everything within his power to hunt the killer down.

Their are many moments where the reader wants to reach into the book and give advice or soothe these two families which is what makes this novel so good. Both men are truly drawn as humans - faults and all.

This book may be too painful for anyone who has lost a child to read however it is also a beautiful reminder of how important children are to their parents and how important those little decisions can sometimes be.

Rating:
Summary: Worthwhile
Review: I too just finished reading Reservation Road. My reaction was different from the other readers reporting here. I did feel fully, deeply invested; I think this writer has a gift for creating real characters. The details he chooses are uncanny and feel psychologically right. My problem with this novel is the frequency of the POV changes. Manipulative and intrusive. Every time the character voice changes, the reader is reminded that this is just a book. I'm ready with my willing suspension of disbelief, but how many times do I have to offer it up? Mr. Schwartz defeats his own effort to sustain intensity. I too await more fiction by this author, but caution him against disruptive stylistic devices that interfere with the reader's emotional experience of his characters and plot, which are wonderfully well realized.

Rating:
Summary: A Very Good Novel that Explores Loss and Guilt
Review: I was amazed at how vividly Schwartz portrayed the family of the dead child. But even more amazing was his character development of Dwight, the killer. I was enthralled by this, especially since I have lossed a younger sister in a similar way. Very straight forward. I was a little disappointed in the ending, but realized the importance and the validity of it. It was essential to have the characters confront each other in those circumstances which required choices on both accounts. I would like to give it Four and half stars but the rating system would not let me do that. I really enjoyed this book and plan to read it again. Thank you John. B+

Rating:
Summary: Delicate, convincing, and compelling
Review: I've read both of his books, and although the first one--a coming-of-age-in-Asia story--was good, this one reads like the work of a mature writer. It's a very impressive leap, and a really compelling book. I started it about an hour before my wife and I were supposed to go out one Sunday, and she finally had to take it out of my hands and order me to get ready. Highly recommended

Rating:
Summary: Stirs the emotions...
Review: I, for one, really enjoyed reading this book. It is written extremely well. Schwartz does not overindulge in descriptives, but gives us just enough to picture the scene or experience the same feelings. I did not find it depressing, as storylines like this sometimes tend to be.

Schwartz's characters, in particular, are finely drawn. I agree with a previous reviewer that it was particularly helpful to have both Ethan and Dwight's stories told in the first person as it helped to get more inside their heads, and also it helped to better develop the plot. I would have liked to have gotten more from Grace, but I think that that would have detracted from one of the main themes, which was two fathers doing whatever they had to preserve or save their relationships with their sons. Both are dealing with different degrees of guilt, remorse and loss for different reasons, but when it comes down to it in the end, both are struggling with the same emotions. One character that was particularly effective and an excellent barometer of the family's grief was Emma and I wish she'd been included a little more.

I have to disagree with an earlier reviewer that the ending was disappointing. I felt that based on what we got to know of Ethan, there really was no other way to end it. Without giving anything away, I think that if he had done anything else, it would have been uncharacteristic of him, and as he said, "what difference would it make" -- his son was gone regardless.

I highly recommend this book for its thought-provoking emotional content. I haven't been able to put it out of my mind since I finished it.

Rating:
Summary: Compact, brutal, engrossing read.
Review: In a minimum of words and a narrative that flips characters, Reservation Road was a tightly written story that wastes not one word. Mr. Schwartz is a wonderful writer with a no nonsense use of language that pulled the reader in wasting no time setting up its story. It manages to cover loss, grief, madness, recovery, and ultimately redemption in an all to realistic fashion. I highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: This book will make you think!
Review: It's 2 am and I just finished this book. Read it pretty much straight through. Very very compelling story about loss, grief, responsibility, guilt. The pacing is fantastic, chapters (each told from a different character's perspective) change in length as the pace changes, like a piece of music. Can't wait for this author's next work.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and heartbreaking
Review: John Burnham Schwartz's novel "RESERVATION ROAD", gripped me from the first sentence and never let me go. Told in three alternating voices, the novel is a story of love, loss and finally, redemption. Mr. Schwartz took the topic of a hit and run accident (an issue dealt with in another fine novel THE LONG RAIN) and added a different twist. His prose is so powerfully compelling, you feel the desperation of Dwight, and the anguish of Ethan and Grace build with each turn of the page. I can only hope that Mr. Schwartz's next novel is as fine as this one, and that he doesn't keep us waiting long for it.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent book filled with emotion...
Review: Mr. Schwartz was able to make me truly feel the emotions each person experienced after the tragedy. Telling the story chapter-by-chapter from each individual's perspective (the father, mother and "killer") allows you to feel sympathy even for the the hit-and-run driver. I thought this was an excellent read.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding; wonderfully observed; beautifully paced
Review: My favorite writer is Graham Greene & I almost never get the feeling I got when I read "The Quiet American" & knew I'd end up reading everything the man had written; I got that feeling about John Burnham Schwartz reading this excellent, understated, convincing thriller that succeeds in being much more concerned with the people than with the events without being boring. All the characters, including both boys and both wives, are excellently drawn. The book's just a pleasure to read as a piece of craftsmanship, dark subject matter notwithstanding. The only fault I could find is the somewhat sporadic appearance of the Learner dog, who sort of gets forgotten for a while & then suddenly reappears, & that's a very, very minor flaw in an outstanding novel. I'll make a point of reading whatever Schwartz writes.