While I Was Gone

Rating:
Summary: Fine Writing and Real Feelings
Review: This was my first experience reading Sue Miller. I was drawn tothe book by the multitude of good reviews from reputable publications, and those reviewers were right about this work. It resonates, it moves, it captures character, memory, emotion, and some of the mystery of human nature. The characters became so life-like for me while I was reading that I found myself thinking about them, psychoanalyzing their motivations, seeing their faces in front of me. I guess the book reached me in particular because I fall into Jo and Daniel's generation. I too experienced life in a group house in the late sixties and early seventies and I easily related to all the yearning and pent up idealism of those times. A word about Sue Miller's penchant for detail: I think what good literature does is sort out the details of living and make a work of art from them. The details draw you in, and finally produce emotional impact that stays with you. So if you have no patience for detail and just want lots of action, a la trash novels, stay away from this one. I for one am happy I discovered Sue Miller.

Rating:
Summary: Great story about Fixing the wrongs in your life
Review: While I Was Gone -- by SUE MILLER; is a exceptional, intelligent writing at its best - Absolutely Fantastic, compelling and suspenseful all at once. I didn't want to put it down. It compares to "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden, "I Know This Much is True" by Wally Lamb, "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood: A Novel" by Rebecca Wells; "She's Come Undone" by Wally Lamb, "When It Rains" by Marjorie Spoto, "Drowning Ruth" by Christina Schwarz and "The Davinci Code" by Dan Brown. A Must Read.