Gap Creek (Oprah book of the month)

Rating:
Summary: A little monontonous
Review: Even though I have to say I liked the book, I did alot of times find myself skipping down the page due to repetative descriptions of taters. I kept waiting for something to happen and was a little tired of reading "I fixed taters and grits for dinner" over and over. The description of every single meal just got old. However, it is a story that makes you think how hard life was, how death was so much a part of everyday life and the strength it took to not live but just survive. A good book if your looking for something with not too much depth to it that you can read in two evenings.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: A wonderful book, beautifully - and sometimes painfully - developed and delivered. Full of complex characters; a story of love, loyalty, life struggles and growth. A book that I could not put down!

Rating:
Summary: Get yourself a copy of this book.
Review: I really love books that give you characters you can almost reach out and touch they are so real. Like Wilson in The Triumph and the Glory, Mitch in the Firm, and Aubrey in the Patrick O'Brian books, the people in Gap Creek are unforgettable. A terrific novel!

Rating:
Summary: Congratulations, Robert Morgan!
Review: First, congratulations Mr. Morgan, you've made it! You're at the top of your career now, and it'll only get better (especially sales!). Great book...I read this 325 page book in 2 days and this is quick reading, but very heavy too. You will experience life of very poor folks living in the S.C. mountains and like Oprah says "you'll be glad you live in this day and age" after you read this. As in all of the Oprah picks, you have the opportunity to live in another world, another lifetime. Morgan's descriptions allow you to enter their world effectively and now I can't wait to read his other books...A great read, will be easy, quick reading...and very memorable.

Rating:
Summary: A fast read, interesting but far from "a masterpiece"
Review: Narrated by the main character Julie, the story shows us the first year of a young couples marriage and the difficult situations they find themselves in and how they learn to cope. Overall, I enjoyed the book. It was a fast read and there was always something interesting going on. It never got bogged down in sappy insight or rambling prose. There was no real resolution though and I found the drastic turn-around of some of the characters (i.e. Hank and Ma Richards) to seem somewhat rushed and a bit too "neat". Robert Morgan did a pretty good job of getting inside a womans head to tell this tale. However, the romantic situations (the first kiss and marriage bed scenes), in my opinion, did nothing for the story. I found it unbelievable that two very young people could be that uninhibited or sure of themselves. I highly doubt that this 17 year old virgin would be given to psychedelic visions.

Rating:
Summary: FEELING SORRY 4 UR SELF? READ THIS BOOK!
Review: This book is all about the reality of living. Life is hard. Life does not get easier. However like the main person in this book, Julie, we do get wiser. And in our wisdom we are better able to deal with the hand god haa delt to us. Julie is a very hard worker. She inspires you to work hard in your own life. We see her take care of her mother , father and sisters in the beginning. Then she marries for love but also in the hopes that things may get easier. She finds out marriage is the hardest job she will ever have. As many of us find after we married our husbands they have FLAWS. Julie finds this too. Her husband looses his job, had a mad flirtation with her sister, is abusive and weak. She has to carry him . But instead of giving up and going home (witch she considers) she decides to disect her husbands personality and learn to accept him as is. We see in the book she is the back bone of her home until she has her child. She must then allow her husband to BECOME a man. She becomes ill and HE is forced to do all the work around the house and try to save his baby. He does indeed grow into his potential. After yet another tradgedy ( one of many in the book) guess what this YOUNG amazing couple does ? They go on with thier lives. They are a testament to the human spirit. We really can endure more then we think. In the book the author makes it clear: FAITH, PATIENCE, ENDURANCE, ACCEPTANCE, PERSERVERANCE AND LOVE truelly can conquer all. If you come away from this book uninspired then you have missed out! Julie is a hero for all.

Rating:
Summary: This is an emotional thrill ride!
Review: Why is it that at every election season, we hear the same reviews about the same pencils. I think that it is time we stand up to our Canadian opressers, and say nay! We must revenge! Why oh why is it that we are ruled by Cats? Did we lose a war? My father used to say that if you get your hand stuck in a bear trap, you should always appoligise to him for setting it off. My father always loved me, though I never knew the man. My moms told me he was killed in a war the day I was born, but I hink they killed him and burried him under the porch to quench their love. Oh man, I need a drink.

Rating:
Summary: An authentic voice
Review: In Gap Creek, Robert Morgan speaks TRUE to the mountain spirit: in tone, attitude, language, and behavior, this is an authentic capturing of the spirit of a "real" woman (not beautiful, brilliant, etc.) in a real era. It's one of the very few novels in which poor southern mountain characters are neither "glamorized" (as being the most virtuous or most villanous, the hardest living, hardest drinking, most put-upon by natural and human forces) nor denigrated. These characters do not all make moonshine or play a dulcimber.

Rating:
Summary: Is Like Coming Home
Review: Age provides the vision I use to see today. My grand children don't know the depth of poverty but hear the descriptions of my family's 12 X 16 canvas covered wall tent -- my childhood's tiny mountain home. Robert Morgan's novel makes it all stand out in my memory once more. To read "Gap Creek" is like coming home again for the first time. The story line is delivered with precision, emotion and speaks well of strength of character. If you are looking for realistic fiction, appreciate the struggles of America's hard working women and men who have strong faith and courage and often -- with hungry eyes, dream of something better -- read this book. Growing up we never knew another class of people put us just below (them) as Julie who just went about the business of surviving. I highly recommend reading another book Amazon.com lists. Unlike Morgan's novel, LIFE WITH NOAH is nonfiction. It tells about a turn-of-the-century Adirondack Mountain hermit Noah John Rondeau, who escaped civilization for a life in the wilds. There he befriended a young lad, Richard Smith. The true story is written from Smith's perspective. It is a story of friendship in elegant common man's prose. A story of joy, of rediscovering one's values, of faith, survival and adventure in the wilds of America's oldest mountains, living with -- and truly appreciating nature. This book will not collect dust. I find myself continually rereading portions. I have yet to find more spirited nature writing from the heart.

Rating:
Summary: Gap Creek
Review: I have just finished Gap Creek and felt compelled to write a review. I read it because of Oprah selecting it and it had very good reviews. I read a lot of books and I can't for the life of me understand why this one was chosen by Oprah or why the reviews were so good! It didn't seem to have any real plot and all it talked about was hard work and food. I don't know what I missed. I like it when Oprah selects books that have the potential for a real discussion of ideas and opinions like Map of the World. I just finished reading The Pact by Jodi Picoult and thought it ws wonderful and had so much more to think about it. I would love to see Oprah select that or Barbara Kingsolver's Pigs in Heaven. Oh well, just my opinion. Will check back to see how others feel. Happy reading to all!