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Summary: Great Story
Review: The characters in this book will remain with you for a long time after you finish reading. A must read.
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Summary: Disappointing after Stones from the River
Review: The start of this book about Stefan Blau and his wives is very intriguing -- I would have liked the book to be all about them. The characters of his children were boring and his grandchildren even more so. There were just too many characters over such a long period of time that I stopped caring about any of them -- especially the house, which was much too central for my tastes. I was actually rooting for its collapse by the time Emma was around (my least favorite character). The beautiful style of Heigi's prose is about the only thing that kept me going to the end. A big disappointment since "Stones from the River" is one of my all time favorites -- one I recommend to all my friends. I would never recommend this one to any of them. I gave it three stars because it was not terrible, and like stated above, her prose is wonderful to read. I just had really high hopes for it after "Stones" -- compared only to it, this is a 2 or less.
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Summary: The American Dream
Review: The Vision of Emma Blau is about family ties and family legacies. It starts out with Stefan Blau, who immigrates to America when he was 13. After a terrible fire sweeps through his apartment complex, killing his friend and mentor, Stefan moves to Winnepausakee, New Hampshire, where he conceives the idea of erecting an elaborate apartment building. He names it the Wasserburg. The Wasserburg is a symbol of pride, not only for the townspeople, but for its inhabitants. Especially for Stefan, who pours his heart and soul into it, along with his restaurant business. What he doesn't realize until late in life, is that his obsession with the Wasserburg has a price. His children have grown up without knowing their father. His relationship with his third wife, Helene is strained and distant. It isn't until the moment before he dies that he realizes that his granddaughter, Emma, will carry his burden. Consumed with passion for the Wasserburg, Emma Blau convinces her aging mother to sign over the deed for the apartment building. By this time, the place is deteriorating; all the original "family" of tenants have died, replaced by apathetic people who try to dodge the rent; and she is at odds with her brother because she stole his inheritance. She is determined to recapture the Wasserburg's grandeur and style. In the end, she is faced with with two questions: Is the Wasserburg worth throwing her life away? Or, is her family more important? This was a very good book, in my opinion. Hegi took me into an era where community and family were a vital part of life, when the "American Dream" was still attainable. The only flaw I saw was the constant switch in point of view. Sometimes, I found myself going back to the previous paragraph when say Stefan turned into Helene. She managed to pull it off, though. I look forward to reading her other books.
Rating:
Summary: Slow but Steady
Review: The Vision of Emma Blau takes you on a journey through the lives and times of a family with immigrant roots. The saga begins with a little developed character from Stones from the River, Stefan Blau, who leaves his homeland of Burgdorf, Germany at age 13 to seek his fortune in America. Settling in New Hampshire, he builds an extraordinary apartment building on a lake, called the Wasserburg (water fortress) across from which he runs a restautant. The beginnning of the book sets you up for what promises to be a romantic and mysterious ride through the life of Stefan and his future progeny. However, it never delivers that promise. Although there are the beginnings of several good characters and plot lines, Hegi never fully develops any of them. The reader keeps waiting for a climax that never arrives while you plod through 432 pages and end saying, "so?" What prevents you from putting it down permanently, is Hegi's trademark use of language and description.
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Summary: Fate
Review: The vision of Emma Braun is a story about fate, fate being the inability to escape your personal history. You can recognize this theme repeatedly. Tobias can not escape the destruction of his sacred possesions by his father. Emma can not escape the love of her grandfather that becomes a burden.It is repeated with every character. If that theme is not appreciated the book becomes a tiresome repetetion of poorly developed characters.
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Summary: The Vision of Ursela Hegi
Review: This is a beautifully crafted and read novel. When I ordered it, I hoped it was unabridged. I've read all the Hegi I can get my hands on so when I saw that it was abridged and read by the author, I decided to keep and listen to it. Hegi's haunting voice touched me in a place I have only begun to explore and the story gave me a new angle of understanding of my German heritage. She does wonders with words and imagery and tells a multigenerational story that illumines part of our history and will long stay in the mind of the reader/listener. I only wish I had not missed a single word of the novel.
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Summary: Beautifully written
Review: This is a beautifully written book. If you enjoyed Stones From the River, this book is for you. Ms. Hegi makes her characters come alive! I could picture everyone in the apartment house. I highly recommend this book.
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Summary: First book I read of the Author's.......
Review: This is the first book that I have read from this author and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I loved how she wrote the characters and their feelings toward every day life things that would happen to them. I was disappointed with the ending, I felt the book was very well narrated that the end left me with questions and a feeling of unfulfillment.
Rating: 
Summary: The Vision of Emma Blau
Review: This was a very disappointing book after reading "Stones from the River". Characterizations were weakly followed through. People would come and go with no depth to them. Story line was weak also. Kept reading to the end hoping it would get better. Would not recommend.
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Summary: Reviewed by Jana Siciliano for Bookreporter.com
Review: Ursula Hegi has always been an insightful, thoughtful,respected author. With THE VISION OF EMMA BLAU, her reputation as oneof the finest contemporary fiction writers is sealed. A German native, her work crosses any possible cultural borders --- every book is a tightly woven exultation of life as experienced by human beings, regardless of sex, creed, or any other distinguishing factor. She is, quite simply, a marvelous storyteller.
THE VISION OF EMMA BLAU is the story of Stefan Blau, a 13-year-old boy who flees his small town in Burgdorf, Germany. He comes to the USA in search of a chronic vision that haunts him --- it is a vision of a small child he hasn't seen before and a place he hasn't ever visited. The book travels from Germany to America and covers nearly 100 years. Emma, his granddaughter, is the girl of his dream; his sprawling apartment house, the place of his dream. Wasserburg, Stefan's estate, falls into a slow fade and parallels the evolution of American society. The book tells the life of the Blau family, but it truly reflects the experiences of all families that have lived and prospered and suffered throughout World War I and World War II.
Immigrant life in America is not a new subject. But somehow the beautiful prose Hegi utilizes brings Stefan's story into full bloom and makes us feel like we are reliving that period of history all over again, through a truly new perspective. I think this is a very difficult feat to pull off --- but the vision itself presents a framework that keeps us on the edge of our seats: When will Stefan's vision become clear? Who is the girl? Where is this place? How does it all tie into the life he creates for himself anew in the New World, then passes onto the generations of German-American descendants that come after him? THE VISION OF EMMA BLAU is a remarkably poignant story, far-reaching in its scope and irrevocably heartbreaking and heart soaring in its portrait of the growing up of America.
I would heartily recommend THE VISION OF EMMA BLAU to anyone who is part of a family, who wonders about how we all affect each other, our country, ourselves, with each of our experiences, as well as how the world around us affects our lives. These are important questions about life as we knew it in the twentieth century and provides plenty of indications as to how these times will affect us in the new millennium. Congratulations to Hegi for another affecting, considerate novel. What could have been a tired retelling of generational love transcends sentimentality to become a rousing, deeply evocative tale through which we can rediscover America.
--- Reviewed by Jana Siciliano
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