Rating: 
Summary: Family cries
Review: The book was a page-turner, thought-provoking, but not entertaining. It has a dark, brooding sense of family, with no place to go. Each character has it's own destiny, but it didn't tie together. The secret sins may have unearthed emotions that were understood, but not necessarily dealt with. Also, no inner light was shed on Fritz, to circumvent his nasty behavior! The ending wrapped things up in a hurry, thank goodness, giving us some promise of hope. If the author's intent was to carry us into the reality of a dismal family life, it rallied!
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: Please do not waste your time reading this book. It is extremely slow and boring. I continued reading, waiting for something to happen. Nothing ever did. I have enjoyed most of Oprah's choices, but not this one. Very disappointing!
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful handling of a bleak situation
Review: I just finished this book and have to say that as a reader and a writer, I was quite moved. If I could put together wonderful, evocative sentences like Ansay, I'd be thrilled. It reminds me of E. Annie Proulx's Postcards, which was also a very dark, bleak story, but was written about in such clear, gorgeous language that it made me ache.I have friends who are trapped in loveless marriages and I know that Ellen's situation would resonate all too profoundly with them. I found the characters believable, and heartbreaking. For people who are looking for "uplifting," check out a fifty cent romance novel. Don't look to literature. This is enduring literature.
Rating:
Summary: Oprah...you're getting lazy!
Review: After spending ten hours on a car trip reading this book, I realized I would have been more entertained by watching the cold gray scenery pass me by. Is Oprah really reading these books she is praising? I would like to know exactly what she found in this book to recommend. I can find boring, average books to read without Oprah's help, thank you!
Rating: 
Summary: Insights into behavior and life in general
Review: As a social work therapist I found this book to reflect the idea that all behavior is purposeful, all behavior has a reason. Ansay does a nice job to assist the reader in understanding each of the main characters by not only looking a life from their eyes, but also by going into a little historical analysis of each of the main characters. Still, I found the book, at times, confusing. It was not uncommon to start reading a new chapter and needing two or three pages to realize that I was no longer in the same time frame as the previous chapter. I would also get really involved in a particular chapter, having it than come to an end, and than become disappointed because the next chapter deals nothing with what was in the previous chapter (at least not directly). Yes, this is a rather, sad and depressing book. I think "Barb" is the only refreshing character in the book. But, this does provide a great reflection on what life is like for many. For every miserable person one witnesses in life, there is a story behind it that provides greater insight on why that person is the way they are in life.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointment
Review: What a drag and a chore at that! I got little or no pleasure from reading this book and found a lot of the long paragraphs both boring and skip-worthy after awhile. I stuck with it hoping Elln would wake up. She turned out to be a limp dish rag with no sense of self and it was too late by the time she came to her senses. The other characters were totally pathetic; the husband, James was a total baffoon, the grandfather, an unloved, pathetic & bitter old man.The daughter was the only one with a glimmer of hope and backbone. Oprah needs to get a grip on her themes and intentions when choosing such books. A disappointment indeed.
Rating: 
Summary: Climbing Vinegar Hill
Review: Yes, I agree with many reveiwers that this is a "dark book" but then a book containing "vinegar" is not necessarily going to soothe the reader's palate. I appreciated the author's effort to show us how these characters evolved. There is always a reason, usually unknown, as to why we behave the way we do toward others. Without the excerpts explaining the husband's mother's past, she would have just seemed like a mean, eccentric old woman. But I wonder at the end. Did she really leave in the morning? Making a change for the better is not a tough decision but it is a tough action.
Rating:
Summary: Can I give less than one star?
Review: This book was horrible. Whatever you do in your life, don't read it
Rating:
Summary: A moving and breathtaking read
Review: I read VINEGAR HILL before the Oprah success in the summer of 1998. It was a particular busy summer of teaching and mothering, so whenever possible, I would escape into Ellen's world. I soon found I couldn't put the book down as I read late into the night. I found myself so drawn into these characters. I loved the courage of Ellen, how she begins to take the first steps away from her family. I also loved the children and found them to be so authentic and believable. I especially loved the relationship between Ellen and her daughter. It's always stunning to read how cruel family members can be, (the spoken and unspoken criticism) but Ansay tells the story with such grace, humor, and love. There is a darkness in this midwestern family, but it's a darkness that so many families will relate to. I gave it to my mother to read, and she loved it too. Bravo for Ansay for creating a world of rich, three-dimensional characters with real problems and real courage. It made me read her other books...RIVER ANGEL still haunts me with the boy, Gabriel, being so loathed by the people of the town. The chapter from the teacher's POV gave me chills. MIDNIGHT CHAMPAGNE, her latest, made me laugh out loud in so many places...She gets into all the heads of characters so completely that as the reader, I know I am along for a great ride. I can't wait for her next one. Her collection of stories, READ THIS AND TELL ME WHAT IT SAYS is also terrific as is SISTER, her novel about a lost brother (and sister). Each of her books is a rich canvas of fascinating worlds filled with real people with all their pain, joy, wit - she writes of the human condition, and she's a master.
Rating:
Summary: Depressing, Bleak and not worth anyones time
Review: I don't think i quite every felt about a book what i feel towards this one. I read it just hoping to find something that would make me feel hopeful for these characters. There was no sunshine you could feel the gray that hung over this family. I told all my friends to not even bother to read it, that it was probably the most depressing, bleak book i have ever read. I should of read the reveiws by other readers before i bought it.
|
