Rating: 
Summary: Charming but a bit slow moving...
Review: I am not one to keep reading a book that has lost my interest, and I almost stopped reading "Empire Falls" because, it certainly isn't action packed. But based on the reviews I read here I kept at it. The pace did quicken about 1/3 way through, and I started to enjoy the "Northern Exposure"-esque quirky characters and dialog. But the tragic twist near the end just put me off. There's too much of THAT kind of violence in reality (I won't give it away but the other readers will know what I'm referring to) and it just didn't seem to fit with the 80% of the story I had previously read. Anyway, it wasn't a waste of time but it wasn't that great either. I appreciate Russo's style but the story just wasn't that enjoyable for me.
Rating: 
Summary: More, Please, Mr. Russo
Review: What a wonderful book with wonderful character development. It is easy to feel for almost all of these characters, even the antagonists, on some level. The character of John Voss is exteremely timely in today's worlld...we see far too many children like Voss who don't snap; yet some do, as we all know too well. Another reader called us "misled" by his character, but isn't that the way it really is? Don't we always hear just that "he was a quiet boy who got picked on a lot?" Russo is a fabulous writer. This is the first book of his that I have read, and I will start "Straight Man" next.
Rating:
Summary: Empire Falls.
Review: It took me awhile to be fully engrossed in Empire Falls, but through no fault of the book. At first it was hard to fully understand the main character Miles, which can be fully blamed on the fact that I am, as of reading this amazing book, 20. Yet as I read the book I could start to see little bits of myself in him, be it how he reacted to a situation or parts of his youth in the flashbacks.I'd honestly recommend this book to pretty much anyone who is into reading at all. It is a bit lengthy, but there is so much going on in the story that you won't notice how much you've read until you look at the number on the last page. One warning though you might have a different outlook on life from reading this book, I know I have.
Rating:
Summary: Humor Saves It
Review: Russo sanitizes the working class for middle-class intellectuals, confirming their bias, and pandering to their tastes with a carefully sensitive, slightly condescending viewpoint. His characters have a quality of caricature, which works nicely with the humor, but real emotion is completely lacking. The ending seemed grafted on to the book merely to make it topical. Tick is a wonderful character--Russo writes teens very well--but her intuitiveness failing her with the troubled boy seems implausible. The boy himself is a misleading character, changing uncomfortably as the book neared its end. The book is exhaustingly long without adequate payoff. Still, Russo is wonderfully funny in places and this kept me alive as a reader.
Rating:
Summary: Humor Saves It
Review: Russo sanitizes the working class for middle-class intellectuals, confirming their bias and pandering to their tastes with a carefully sensitive, slightly condescending viewpoint. His characters have a quality of caricature, which works nicely with the humor, but real emotion is completely lacking. The ending seemed grafted on to the book merely to make it topical. Tick is a strong character--Russo writes teens very well--but her intuitiveness failing her with the troubled boy seems implausible. The boy himself is a misleading character, changing uncomfortably as the book neared its end. The book is exhaustingly long without adequate payoff. Still, Russo is wonderfully funny in places and this kept me alive as a reader.
Rating: 
Summary: Not his Best, but Better than most any other...
Review: Not as good, or as personal, as his novel "The Risk Pool", yet, even Russos' mid-quality work is better than almost everyone elses BEST writing. The interpersonal detail between the characters in his novels has never been equaled, in my opinion. Anyone who just recently discovered Russo, should defintely read ALL his novels. If they liked "Empire Falls" they will LOVE "Risk Pool", "Mohawk", "Nobodys' Fool". If you read Anne Tyler immediately after reading a Russo novel, you should be able to see that he writes better than the more popular and better known authors of the genre. I don't know, I could be wrong, but I doubt it.. :-) ;-) JT in NC
Rating:
Summary: Disregard "I imply, you infer" and read this wonderful book
Review: Don't let the haughty review of Feb. 6, 2003 put you off. This is a terrific book, enjoyable in every way. If the previous writer was as intelligent as he thinks he is, he would not have written "payed" (it's "paid") and he would have correctly capitalized and punctuated the phrase "Pulitzer Prize-winning." Hoist by his own petard -- arrogance. "Empire Falls" deserved the Pulitzer Prize. It is vastly superior to the pretentious, heavy-handed, over-hyped "The Corrections." Russo is a first-rate storyteller who creates characters you will care about. His dialogue is natural and a joy to read. I also highly recommend his previous novel, "Straight Man," which is even funnier. It's right up there with Jane Smiley's "Moo" as an insightful (and very funny) inside view of academia.
Rating:
Summary: Small Town Misery
Review: Anyone who has grown up in a small town will be able to sympathise with the characters and the situations Richard Russo so carefully crafts in his sad, lyrical and yet darkly funny Empire Falls. Although the book might have been victim of too much praise and fame - just looking at some of the other reviews proves my point - if given the chance, it slowly creeps up on you emotionally, to leave you completely surprised and breathless by the beauty and realism of the tale. It took me about 100 pages to really get into it. But once I did, I was completely caught by the story. Miles has always lived in Empire Falls, Maine, a small town that is on its way to being yet another forgotten place ever since the town's factory - the place that employed more than half of the town's residents - folded. Miles is the cook and manager at the Empire Grill, the town's only diner, owned by Francine, the old woman who also owns three quarters of the town. Francine is the kind of woman who thinks that owning the town also means that she owns its citizens, something that isn't far from the truth. Only, Miles isn't happy in Empire Falls. His wife has recently divorced him, his daughter is getting more secretive, his brother is attracting problems as usual, and the past is slowly coming back to haunt him, especially the memories of his deceased mother, a presence that is very much haunting throughout the whole novel. Plus, problems with Francine arise as plans to change the town are revealed. The characters are all very vivid, though I can't confess to understanding them all completely. Especially the relationships between parents and kids. I wasn't keen on the way in which the kids treated their parents in this book. Old people are usually very annoying and ridiculous (this is most obvious in the relationship Miles has with his father Max). Then again, the oparents often are the source of comedy in an otherwise very somber novel. That aside, Empire Falls is a very touching novel from one of America's most poetic and entertaining novelist. This is a literary novel that actually pleases. It has very little pretention, as if Russo was writing this story for anyone who would be willing to spare him a few hours of their time. Never will you forget these characters, nor the very touching and affecting finale. Empire Falls is an all-American novel that shows just how great your life can be, if you just make yourself look a little under the surface of thigns.
Rating:
Summary: The good the bad the ugly and everyone in between...
Review: Reading through this masterpiece of small town drama that is "Empire Falls" I was wrapped into the characters so neatly it took me by surprise that it was a novel and not a reporter narrating one of those reality series...
Excellent!
Rating:
Summary: Love And Hate, Tear and Laughter of Town Life
Review: I must confess that during the middle of the book I throw it aside, owing to its slow progression. But alas, not until the last 100 pages do I know what a master Russo is. I do not want the story to end here. I have finished this book a weeks ago, but even now I still wonder what will happen to the characters in the small town NOW ? This is such a strange book that after the reading you find yourself very acquaint with the characters, each of them. They are real people. And what a expert Russo is to construct so many vivid scenes, combine so many clues, and entwine all of them into a climax, incredible climax. The image of the town life is so strong, and you believe that there IS a town named "Empire falls" in Maine. Any sitcom basis on this book? or Movie? I wish.
|
