Rating: 
Summary: Beautifully written but slow moving story
Review: I was not as enamored of this book as most of the critics - especially those who gave it the National Book Award. The book is written in three distinct sections that all get neatly tied together with a bow at the end. The first section deals with Paul McLeod, a recent widower who has left his home in Scotland and is wandering around the Greek isles. The middle, and longest section, deals with his son, Fenno, a gay bookstore owner in Manhattan. Fenno's relationships with his family are explored here, as well as his relationship with Mal, his friend/neighbor who is dying of AIDS. The last section is devoted to Fern, who is so newly impregnated she hasn't had a chance to even tell the father, who is out of town. Fern is staying with Tony, an ex-lover of Fenno's, and somehow all the characters in the book come together in this relatively short section. The descriptive writing is beautiful, and the relationships under glass are interesting, but it is a slow moving, forgettable story.
Rating: 
Summary: I tried..........
Review: I started this book and read the first 50 pages and found it torture! I put it down, waited a week, and started it again. I ended up re-reading the beginning 3 times! I really hate to give up on a book - but this one just didn't grab me. Sorry.....
Rating: 
Summary: Read part one ...then put it down
Review: Part Two is long with tiring flashbacks back in time. The story drags and I longed to see some warmth in the characters. The cold and selfish characters did not capture my attention. Some clever and witty writing kept me reading but it was slow going.
Rating:
Summary: National Book Award???? Really???
Review: After starting this book once before and putting it down from boredom, I was determined to finish it the second time around. (Upon finishing the book I realized I should not have been so determined).The novel, broken up into three parts, lacks reader interest, good story flow and connectivity. The author tries to tell the story and history of the McLeod family but I found it way too complicated to comprehend the story the author was trying to convey.
Rating:
Summary: A Slow Read
Review: I am normally a fast reader. This book is well written, but the story line is slow and drages. It took me some time to get through this book. The book was a dissapointment, considering it won the National Book Award. Not something I would recommend.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I read this novel a little while ago and was really disappointed in it. I'd bought it because it had won the National Book Award, hoping for a really well-written, memorable and thought-provoking book; it disappointed me on all those counts and I'm surprised it won that prestigious award. Unlike most of the reviewers here, I found the first section, 'Collies,' the flattest and least emotional, the hardest to get involved with, though I never did really care about any of the characters. And yes, the second novella is overly long, but I did pick up interest in the book with this section as it's in first person and somehow that seemed to help the book become a little more alive. I did, however, find the subject matter of this second section somewhat 'deja vu'; somehow it didn't present anything much new to me in exploring the interior life of a gay man. And I hated Mal, who seemed so cliched a character (and so dislikeable!). I did, however, like the last section of the book the best! Connections were being made over an ordinary dinner, the dialogue seemed sharper and more interesting; I found this last novella refreshing after the previous two, and akin maybe to a British skit. I was disappointed, though, that the sketch/drawing from the first section--which seemed such a perfect link between Fenno and Fern--never found its way into this last June (I wonder why not?). I also found myself actually liking Fenno in this last section, when I'd been either neutral or not liking him before; he seems to transform here, into a kinder, more likeable man than he was earlier on, and somehow this seemed a bit out of kilter. I did like the idea of three novellas which connect sometimes disparate characters--the way life miraculously does sometimes. But on the whole, I didn't think Glass succeeded in pulling this off, and it seemed like she was trying too hard with her writing, which I did not find either lyrical or beautiful. The previous Natl. Book Award Winner,'The Corrections' by Jonathan Franzen, was also about families and in comparison with Glass'novel, I found Franzen's SO much better written (though yes, a very different style), with more to say about families. Maybe Glass will do better the next time out, though I'm not impressed enough by this one to seek out future books of hers.
Rating: 
Summary: Graceful stories of family life and love
Review: This book contains 3 novellas presenting interlocking stories of a single family. Overall, they are beautifully and gracefully written, each section bringing its main character to a key turning point in his or her life. The first section, focusing Paul McLeod as he travels through the Greek islands and copes with recent widowhood, nears perfection. The second, longest, and weakest section, the story of Paul's estranged son Fenno, throws so many issues into the mix that it could have been a 500-page family saga all by itself. The third section, tangentially related to the first two, is slight but refreshing after the overwrought middle story. The book is worth reading for its descriptive detail as much as for its plot and characterizations.
Rating: 
Summary: Remarkable book
Review: I found this set of three, intertwined novellas a remarkable, if imperfect work. Glass is a marvellous stylist and is more interested in conveying mood and images -- a city approached by jet is a "jewelbox" -- than in plot. The entire book is structured as a series of alternating episodes from the present and an important time in the past. Not an easy read by any means. Like the previous reviewer, I found the outer 2 novellas to be the best. "Collies" in particular is a special piece of writing. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: On again off again
Review: I'd get lost a little in this book and then get reinterested. It's not written in a very consistent way but the characters are fascinating and believelable and genuinely sympathetic. The plot is well developed but it does get twisted a little in the middle. Enjoyable but not a recommended first choice.
Rating:
Summary: Elegant, but not too much work
Review: I loved this book! Along with The Life of Pi, this was my favorite read this year. You owe it to yourself to sit down with this gem!
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