Rating: 
Summary: My favorite book
Review: Out of all of the brothers, I found myself connecting mostly with Everett, the eldest. He was the first one of the children to challenge the existence of God, therefore challenging his mother's beliefs and authority. He became a radical that the other brothers found comfort in. "Dear God, if you exist," says Everett while praying aloud at the dinner table (Duncan, 168). Never before had any one of the children contravened the values of their mother, and Everett's actions earned him three strikes to the face from Laura as well as one to Irwin. Three of the brothers, Everett, Peter, and Kade, all grew closer from these events due to the consequences they each endured by going against their mother in what later becomes known as the "Psalm Wars." Irwin, however, remained faithful to his mother's wishes and continued in his devout ways. I too have grown up around a very religious environment and have never been allowed to really question my faith. For twelve years, I have learned about God and the wonders he has created. Like Everett, I am continually challenged with the topic of whether God exists or not. "Unlike Irwin, Bet, of Mama, I don't even believe in God" (Duncan, 547). I find this quote rather harsh and my feelings, although independent, are not as strong as this passage expresses. Though I believe in a greater being, I am not positive about the existence of God.
Rating:
Summary: western lit
Review: "Prem se bhiksha dijiye." David James Duncan ends his novel The Brothers K with these Arabic words. Translated into English, the phrase means "what you give, with love I accept." Everett, the power-crazed agnostic, struggles to accept the situations life presents him, particularly the loss of his college fame and his love, Natasha. Irwin, however, is the embodiment of this attitude, and accepts what life gives him including an untimely tour of duty in Vietnam and a visit to the asylum. These brothers have vastly different approaches to life, but by the end of The Brothers K they have both learned to accept with love what life has given them.
Rating: 
Summary: The strength of one woman in a family
Review: David James Duncan wrote the novel, The Brothers K, which depicts the four Chance Family brothers. The novel is written through the voice of the youngest brother, Kincaid, yet the plot also follows the dark life of their mother, Laura Chance. The protagonist of this novel could easily be argued to be many characters, but I believe that the true protagonist is the boys' mother. This novel follows Laura through her horrific childhood, her falling in love, her struggle to be a mother, her devotion to religion, and her coping with the loss of her husband. The strength of this woman is so amazing by the end of the novel, that it practically jumps off the pages.
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