Vinegar Hill

Rating:
Summary: Vinegar Hill - Left a sour taste in my mouth
Review: I chose to read Vinegar Hill because it was an "Oprah's Book Club" selection and have been mostly satisfied with other selections I have read. A fast-read book but very disturbing. At first, I felt sorry for Ellen but by the time I got half way through the book, I wanted to ask her "what are you still doing there?" If I had had in-laws like that, they would most certainly be my ex-in-laws and it wouldn't have taken me that long to leave.

Rating:
Summary: bitterness is not good for the soul
Review: I began, and finished Vinegar Hill upon the suggestion of a friend. I found the seeming stream of consciousness pleasurable and refreshing - sometimes she loses you when jumping from character to character, but I didn't mind it - it was more or less poetic and dreamlike. However, I found that each and every tidbit of information made me sadder, and more bitter, and not even able to place myself into Ellen's frame of mind or situation. I would like to write more, but, I will say only that I really didn't like the story - it left me empty, bitter, and just "dark"". Don't forget - I DO like the style of writing. I am interested to read other books by the same author as long as I don't feel like jumping off a bridge, not that I would, at the end of it.

Rating:
Summary: Very sad and depressing!
Review: I recently saw A. Manette Ansay on the Oprah Show and was very impressed with her as a person. She captured my attention and her personality was engaging and delightful. Vinegar Hill, like many other of Oprah's recommendations, describes a woman's struggle and the way she deals with her life and inner-self. In Vinegar Hill, the heroine, Ellen, unfortunately doesn't really escape and make her situation better; instead the reader is left asking, "Why doesn't Elllen react? Do something? Go to her own family for help? " Rather depressing. The rest of Oprah's books, especially Where the Heart Is and The Book of Ruth also describe a woman and her battles, and in these the woman does triumph and find her seemingly lost spirit. Vinegar Hill is extremely well-written, I just wish the subject were different and characters more likeable.

Rating:
Summary: right to the bone
Review: From the start, I was drawn into the story, but with a curious feel, like I was actually living the main character's life. Her pain felt real, her wounds raw. It was most unnerving.

Rating:
Summary: Hard to finish, but I did it
Review: This was a very difficult book for me to read. The only reason I read it was because my book club chose to read it. It was not normally a book that I would have picked to read. Having said that, I realize that I found the book to be confusing and hard to follow. Ellen seems to be the main character, and yet the author keeps switching the point of view from the husband to the mother-in-law to the daughter and even to the aunt, Salome. What the author didn't tell us and I was dying to know by the end was why the father-in-law was such a beast, and more importantly why everyone kept putting up with him. This story took place in the 1970's not the 1870's. The best part of the story was when Ellen turned the hose on her weak-minded husband. All I could think of was what took her so long?

Rating:
Summary: Vinegar Hill -- A Sour Place
Review: Vinegar Hill, highly touted and recommended by Oprah, is a disappointing book. The story is not one that takes us away from our own dysfunctional lives, but throws us into a seriously dysfunctional family who live on Vinegar Hill. The story is not enjoyable and I asked myself WHY did I waste my time reading such a story when I was through. I commend the author's talent at putting such a story together, but it certainly is not enjoyable reading. I will hesitate in the future over the decision to buy an "Oprah's Book Club" selection.

Rating:
Summary: Vinegar Hill-perfect name
Review: I thought this book was a very good read. While the characters were terribly fustrating due to their lack of expression and communication, I find that many of us live in similiar situations. While I hope we all do not have as "salty" experience as Mary-Margret, Ellen and James you can't dimiss what they were all hoping to achieve as dreams of how their lives should turnout and what the true reality of thier lives were. I like the name Vinegar Hill because it suggest this quiet little subruban town with incredibly sour undertones, yet we must not underestimate the importance of vinegar... could have been wine gone sour yet could still be very purposeful; but if you originally wanted a fine wine you will be greatly disappointed. The important thing to do is work with your vinegar. This excellent story is about people who expected wine yet made do with their vinegar.

Rating:
Summary: Makes me glad I have such a happy life
Review: I personally found Vinegar Hill quite depressing. The whole novel is very dark and sad. Caught within the confines of her parents - in - law's house, the heroine finds herself languishing. her husband is unhelpful and the children are forgetting what it was like to live in a loving household where everyone actually manages to speak to each other without being unkind or rude. That said, I found vinegar Hill very affirming. It helped me to see how hopeless situations can become, but also allowed me to see that no situation is without a solution. Ansay writes with great compassion, explaining each and every character, so that you don't just understand that the heroine has been wronged, but in their own way each of them has their demons and skeletons in the closet to deal with. Read Vinegar Hill and cheer at the end when you find the outcome.

Rating:
Summary: a stinker!
Review: One star for this one is over-kill! There is little progression of plot (where is it?). The listless (and shiftless) characters lack depth and importance. The author is struggling to take her people and story somewhere but they don't want to go. We keep flashing back to events that have no relevance to the story. I'm left wondering "What was that all about? Do I care?". These detours explain nothing, and do nothing to further the long awaited plot. The author writes beautifully but leads us in circles. I'm left wondering why I bothered forcing myself through this chaos of one-dimensional characters that don't get saved. They're left to wallow in this stinking dung heap. This one is not good enough for the thrift store.

Rating:
Summary: Very Enjoyable
Review: Before purchasing this book, I read a number of customer reviews on Amazon.com. The recurring theme was that the book was depressing and that the main character was weak. Notwithstanding a vast number of 'negative' reviews, I purchased the book and was pleasantly surprised. I found that the only way to fully appreciate the story was to view the situation from the standpoint of a 30 something year old woman, living in a small Mid-western farming town, conservative Catholic during the early 1970's. Essentially, I viewed the book as a story about the struggle of a woman to establish and preserve her own identity in the face of outside forces i.e., family, religion, in-laws, expectations etc. I basically saw is as a conflict between what she should do as a good "Christian wife and mother" and what she needed to do as a person and how she ultimately resolved that conflict. I also saw Ellen as a woman who was trapped by those outside forces and expections. Although many reviewers of this book thought that Ellen was somewhat weak and spineless, I felt that she had an enormous amount of strength to do what she needed to do in light of the pressures of outside expectations. I think that the base example was when she went to talk to her sister about leaving James. Her sisters response was one of shock and disbelief and her sisters advice was to have another child. I think that Ellen would truly have been weak if she were not aware that her life was not right and changes needed to be made. However, since she was aware of the problems in her life/marriage and decided to take steps, particularly at a time when leaving your husband (in the Catholic religion) was something that women did not do, showed a great deal of strength. She knew that if she left her husband, she would have absolutely no support or understanding from either her family, church, friends, etc. Her desire to make a better life for herself and her children resulted in her taking measures such that she and she alone was in control of her life and destiny as opposed to outside circumstances. Another point that was interesting was her realization that the killing of the twins was Ann's way of making sure that Mary Margaret was not trapped. It was with that realization that Ellen realized that she was not alone and did not have to be trappped. All in all, good book.