Rating: 
Summary: Ay, que nice!
Review: I can be petty and focus on the son, who is too perfect a teenager, or focus on the miraculous cure of Mr. Ives' skin disease, or focus on his Catholic beliefs and how promptly and frequently he engaged in fornication with Annie (before holy matrimony!). But somehow i have to give this book a grand total of 5 starts, because its positive aspects far outweigh my criticisms. I love the vignette format, because it is not only a fresh approach to telling a story, but also the very way we recount a life. Hijuelos does a superb job describing the fossilizing of Ives' feelings, his self-pity disguised as stoicism, Annie's frustration, Ramirez's way of being (by far, the most endearing character in the book; i cried when i read about his travel bag and its contents). Funny that the novel spans over 70 years of the life of Mr. Ives, because the pace is fast and the narrative is colorful, yet refined. The core of the book, Mr. Ives' feelings and religious sentiment, plus his wondering about identity and background, are examined with an elegant simplicity, despite the conflicting emotions he has in both counts. This is an excellent portrayal of a good man, who puts his money (and time, and effort) where his mouth is, the very essence of Christian love. What a sweet human being. How touching the scene where he follows a woman fantasizing that she is his birth mother, and he is somehow protecting her from potential muggers. How touching that he enjoys the ethnic diversity and his dealings with the Hispanic and Black communities. How could anyone possibly not enjoy Mr. Ives in all his goodness?
Rating: 
Summary: Not for everyone.
Review: I enjoyed this book, but cannot think of anyone to whom I will pass it along. It is a very quiet, introspective story. I continually had the feeling that the author was laying the groundwork to begin his story, but that's the tone that continued through the book...a plodding, solemn walk through a man's life after his emotions are fossilized. I am not of the Christain faith, so perhaps I could not relate the way Christians would.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful, beautiful story.
Review: I read a lot, and if I compiled a list of the best books I've read in the last decade, this book would be way up on the list. The writing is lush and practically sings off the page. A description would bore you, but trust me on this - you will love this beautiful, moving story
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful, beautiful story.
Review: I read a lot, and if I compiled a list of the best books I've read in the last decade, this book would be way up on the list. The writing is lush and practically sings off the page. A description would bore you, but trust me on this - you will love this beautiful, moving story
Rating:
Summary: It does not get much better than this.
Review: I read a lot, and this was the most honestly moving book I have read in a long, long time. Beautiful, painful, funny, surprising, achingly sad, hopeful. It seems to say everything about life in the very specific tale of a multi-faceted man.
Rating:
Summary: What's the Point?
Review: I'm a little shocked by all the 5-star reviews. Some episodes in the book were quite touching, especially Robert's dream of Jesus and the elevator scene, when Edward deals with his inborn feelings of rejection.
However, I have to disagree with the other reviewers on two points. I did not like the prose style much at all. Hijuelos, in my point of view, falls into the "telling not showing" pitfall over and over. It reads like an AP Story...for 300 pages.
Second, I found the spirituality insipid and inconclusive. What was the point? It didn't seem to go beyond the quote on the cover jacket--being religious is hard. Actually, since 97% of the world adheres to some kind of religion, I would think it's the other way around.
I'm sounding harsh here. I suppose it's because I'm disappointed after reading a string of magnificent Catholic novels, such as Vipers' Tangle, The End of the Affair, Charming Billy, and even Lying Awake.
On another note, it's interesting that the chief "miracle" in _Mr. Ives'_ involves the healing of a skin condition, as in _The End of the Affair_.
Rating:
Summary: Better than I expected, but overdone
Review: I'm not religious, so I expected not to like this book. It was better than I expected. The vignettes of life in New York (though I'm not a New Yorker) were detailed and interesting. However, Mr. Ives is a rather one-dimensional character. His only negative thoughts are about his son's murderer--none of the petty angers, lusts, jealousies, etc. you'd expect any person to have, and a religious one to often work to overcome. Ives' first mystical experience is believable (though I don't believe in mystical experiences). He is not sure whether it is a sign from God or a mental aberration--and if the former, what it means. He fears and is puzzled by it, which seems like a normal reaction. But then his daughter has a mystical experience that is shared by another person, so now we know mystical experiences are real. His neighbor is visited by his wife's ghost, saying one last, "I love you," so now we know souls persist beyond the grave, and that mystical experiences are benign. Then Ives' son appears in a dream and heals a skin disease he's had for years--and when Ives wakes up it's gone. So now we know God is good, too. In summary, I think Hijuelos laid it on a bit thick.
Rating:
Summary: A tested faith
Review: In MR. IVES CHRISTMAS, Oscar Hijuelos' gives us Mr. Ives, a quiet spiritual man who is loved and loves. Ives is successful in his profession, he loves his family and friends, and he is truly a part of his community. Hijuelos also presents us with Mr. Ives' great agony; the sensless murder of his son and his desperate attempts to understand it. We see Ives' life in brief glimpses, each time we get a better understanding of the man and the world that he is part of, but he still remains a cipher. It's as if he is not a fully formed person, or perhaps it's the distance that Hijuelos wants to create in this man who does not truly know where he came from. I found this distance to be my great obstacle in liking this book more. Ives is more symbolic of a crisis of faith than he is a human being. I couldn't connect with him even as he was in the throes of anguish. Hijuelos' prose is marvelously readable, he creates a Manhattan that you can feel. Too bad I can't say the same thing for mr. Ives.
Rating:
Summary: A remarkable and unforgettable book
Review: In this beautifully written novel Hijuelos gives us characters that live, love, suffer tragedy and die while revealing their innermost thoughts, hopes , fears, and doubts to the reader in a most touching and evocative way. The main character. Mr. Ives , is a man who has from earliest childhood been given reason after reason to lose faith and yet he is a man who perserveres and finds beauty in life while living a life of faithfulness to his family, friends, coworkers and even many strangers and random characters that he encounters. He is dealt a serious blow with the loss of a child and yet as he struggles to comprehend, and has his moments of severe doubt and depression he remains essentially good and faithful. This man is no mystery though, Hijuelos has created a character of flesh and blood and spirit who reacts to life in ways that ring true and the reader will relate to real people he/she has known.
Overall this is a beautiful life affirming story that follows Ives and his small circle through the years and in short episodes at different intervals in time conveys their humanity and struggles so vividly that we come to know them like family by the time we finish.
The story is set in Manhattan and the various scenes are also realistically depicted by a writer who obviously knows and loves the city.
A remarkable and unforgettable book.
Rating:
Summary: O beautiful humanity!
Review: It's a diamond that cuts into the great spiritual wasteland. Oscar Hijuelos nails the virtues of moral truths and redemption of love, forgiveness, compassion -- those simple selfless qualities that our world considers trite. He does it through an amazing story of a quiet, humble man whose deep faith inspired: Ed Ives. This book is among my top favorites ever. I laughed, cried (blubbered while reading parts to my wife, actually) . . .
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