Rating: 
Summary: weak characters and a poor story!
Review: An avid Tom Wolfe fan, I awaited this latest novel with anticipation. What a disappointment. The characters have absolutely no depth, they are all superficial, shallow, and worst of all--artifical. This book is more akin to a Danielle Steel novel than one by Mr. Wolfe . Avoid the hype on this one-- don't waste your money.
Rating: 
Summary: A lost opportunity.
Review: For the first 300 pages, Wolfe tells a compassionate tale full of characteristic prose. The first 300 build a story best untold in 2000 or maybe 3000 pages. But Wolfe, perhaps answering to the publisher or editor's demands, slams on the emergency brakes and brings the novel to a quick, forgettable close.
Rating: 
Summary: imaginative. Fun. Could not put it down
Review: I felt the book did an excellent job of portraying the New South and its similarities to the Old South. I felt for Conrad Hensley and really enjoyed the ending, although it was abrupt.
Rating: 
Summary: A time passer for those with cheap time
Review: This book is for casual reading only; hardly a literary classic. Often, the writing was plodding and in need of good editing. The plot was hardly epic and the finale was significantly uneven to the rest of the book. At times, Mr. Wolfe seemed clearly out of his element. For those casual critics who felt it deserved a four or five star rating, in time will you be able to quote a life revealing line or turn of a phrase? Was this book really a classic for you or just fun? If you answer "yes, I can" and "a classic", then put down the Danielle Steele novel you are reading and go to your local library for counseling. This book was written with hopes of a movie deal and not for historical reference.
Rating:
Summary: Overblown and overwritten with a totally unbelievable ending
Review: I should have given up when I found this book absolutely just too heavy to hold, uncomfortable to read in any position. I kept waiting for it to get better but it only got worse. Pages could be skipped with nothing lost. I agree with all who said the ending was a monumental disappointment; it was as if Wolfe couldn't think of what to do with the story he spent ten years creating. I finished it last night and have already forgotten what happened to the main character! And the pompous dedications at the beginning .... please! Next time Wolfe should find a good copy editor. Or maybe just stick to the lecture circuit. P.S. All that excessive translation of the "lingo"--yet we never know just how "Croker" is pronounced!
Rating:
Summary: Once again a story about disfunctional Southerners.
Review: I was so excited to read this book after all the praise I read but was I ever disappointed. The bottom line - - who cares! The characters were uninteresting and most importantly unsympathetic. They were down right annoying! I didn't want to get to know them or delve futher into their situation. Great dialogue makes for a great book and A Man in Full fully lacked such! Can't believe I even finished it - - but being the frugal person I am had to. I'm not lending this book to any of my friends. I'm marching straight down to the used bookstore to see if I can recoup my ill spent "investment." Thank goodness for Amazon.com for making this purchase not as steep as it could have been.
Rating:
Summary: A Fiction Masterpiece
Review: Just when I was about to give up on fiction along comes "A Man in Full" to restore my faith. This isn't the kind of book that can be summarized in one or two sentences like so many of the fiction books published today. And unlike those "high concept" books and screenplays which lack interest past their one or two sentence ideas, "A Man in Full" held my interest from page 1 to page 742. If you aspire to write fiction, buy this book. Every question you may have had about how to handle certain elements of fiction-everything from characterization, to dialog, to setting, to point of view, to how to create a scene--it's all here. If you're a fan of Jerry Springer or the Enquirer, you may not like this book. There ain't no pictures in it. But if you're looking for good fiction, you won't go wrong with "A Man if Full." I plan to read it again.
Rating:
Summary: great until the incredibly STUPID ending
Review: This book is entertaining and interesting most of the way through, but then veers off into the most implausible, annoying, and downright dumb ending you may ever come across, with the exception of maybe a comic book or a Star Trek episode. One thing that really, really gets on my nerves is when a writer puts forth a philosophy or a message at the end of a book without bothering to make the rest of the book tie into that philosophy at all. The only thing that bothers me more is when an author spends an entire book developing a character and then to wrap things up has that character do something completely out of personality and context, with no connection at all. Wolfe does both these things. I can only recommend this book with a warning to hold your nose at the end. I think Wolfe himself must have gotten sick and tired of writing the thing, or maybe he had to meet a deadline or something.
Rating:
Summary: It was o.k. and that is it!!!
Review: I keep reading thinking is this it??? I mean over 750 pages and we get to read about lawns compared to a woman's breast. Come on I know I ain't no Frued but really. And the scene of the horse breeding---honey I was raised on a ranch "a big un" and we never took our guest out to the barn to veiw "the breeding". Turn the book loose Zues and butn the thing. I did like the charactors but noway did I love them. I mean Rodger Too White and Peepgrass did those names just come to you or was it when you were looking at the swelling lawns of a breast.
Rating:
Summary: Dickens' comparison is valid
Review: Those who would compare this novel to Dickens are correct in that Wolfe's (like Dickens') women are one-dimensional stereotypes and he is, at times, verbose. Unlike Dickens, Wolfe is not overtly sentimental or maudlin, nor does he have ability to write Dickensian dialogue. But, no matter--this is a worthwhile novel. I am amused that the vast majority of readers who reviewed the book negatively (and who whine about its length) are those who did not finish it.I am also amused that so many feel it did not live up to "Bonfire" when it is SO similiar to that novel, in almost every respect, particularly the ending. (Which is too abrupt and pat, yes.) Having lived in Atlanta, I find it to be all too accurate a portrait of that self-conscious, materialistic city. This is not a masterpiece, but I would not hesitate to recommend it to someone who enjoys Wolfe, journalistic commentary or (often unnecessary) detail. P.S. He explains the "freaknik" misspelling. However, I cannot explain the necessity of all the animal imagery. This is NOT "Macbeth."
|
