Empire Falls

Rating:
Summary: Russo doesn't disappoint
Review: I anxiously awaited another Russo novel, and I wasn't disappointed. This book is definitely not for people who want mindless reading. You have to want to feel something for the people you're reading about, and he makes you do just that. He has a knack for drawing you in and making you feel sympathy for even the the least sympathetic person.

Rating:
Summary: 60 Is No Magic Number
Review: Russo achieves rare depth of character in "Empire Falls." His depictions are so vivid that soon you feel Empire Falls is your own hometown--one you need to get out of. His candid portraits zero in on humanity's frailties and strengths. After a couple of hundred pages, I started to worry that Russo was offering random vignettes as he switched from the daughter to the high school principal to the neighborhood priest and back to Miles, the main character. But Russo writes disciplined fiction which is very much on purpose. Each character's viewpoint is a necessary contribution to the whole. The novel is so beautifully crafted that even when it needed to end, I didn't want it too. Special highlights include Miles' driving lessons (my own were only slightly less traumatic) and Janine's growing disillusionment with her husband-to-be, who is much older than he leads her to believe.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!!!
Review: In the vast wasteland of re-hashed subjects, hyped biographies, and tired self help books is this wonderful depiction of blue collar life. Mr. Russo gives us realistic complex characters living their lives and strugglng with nobility through the daily obstacles. Miles Roby is one of the most likable characters in modern fiction. We are taken through his life as he evolves. He is heroic in ways that modern fiction's former cops/secret agent/mercenary-turned detective/investigator/security specialist could never be. He is like so many people we know, he may even be just like us. In showing Mile's vulnerable moments, foibles and screw-ups we also see his many strengths. The characterizations are vivid. These are people we could know. None with exceptional physical beauty or abilities that go beyond those of the normal person yet these people are so much more interesting than the larger than life but at best two dimensional heroes in current fiction. This is an insightful character driven story. At the end of which we are left wanting more not because it was lacking but because the story was a good one.

Rating:
Summary: "Empire" Falls Short
Review: I will rarely abandon a book but I came close a few times on this one. Having seen the title pop up in respectable places (although I was unaware of its Pulitzer at the time of my purchase) I was disappointed in this book. The characters were unremarkable. Plot lines I hoped would develop - expected even - didn't while others dragged on endlessly. And, frankly, I tired of Russo's over-reliance on forced, misplaced, syrupy analogies. I gave Empire Falls 2 stars since it kept my mind occupied on long flights. Unfortunately, when I bought it I was hoping for my mind to be stimulated.

Rating:
Summary: My first and last Russo book
Review: Russo's character development is good, but the characters were dull, and not that funny (although I think that was the intention.) The ending felt rushed, and it was a real let down. After 400+ pages, I expected more, especially since I wasn't 'hooked' into the book until page 200. There were no surprises, it was very predictable - it felt as though Russo was letting us in on secrets that most readers would have figured out 100 pages earlier.

Rating:
Summary: Terrific characters
Review: This book will not disappoint you. Russo creates terrific three dimensional characters and places them in a vivid setting. I disagree with other reviewers that this book has the markings of a literary American classic, but it is a solid book and a good read.

Rating:
Summary: Wicked good.
Review: Empire Falls is a beautifully crafted, inventive and substantive character-driven novel. Having lived in college for four years in a milltown in Central Maine, in places, the novel seemed almost more realistic than the actuality of dwelling in the fabric of the milltown. That's possible only because Richard Russo has a talent for making both his vividly sketched blue-collar and blue-blooded characters really come alive. The credible story line is unafraid to assume some creative risks and the result is breath-taking imagery that lingers. Russo really succeeds in building a small town of his unique characters and tells the story so that we see them realistically through the eyes of the fellow citizens of Empire Falls. The storyline holds more than its fair share of surprises with a truly inventive twist at the close of the novel. The author's sanguine sense of humor carries one along as the plot gathers steam and the different threads become entangled in realistic and usually satisfying resolutions. Russo may owe homage to Elizabeth Strout for his portrait of ordinary life in a Maine milltown. The river itself ultimately proves itself a formidable player in the cast of Empire Falls. Russo seems to sum-up the lives of his characters this way: "Lives are rivers. We imagine we can direct their paths, though in the end there's but one destination, and we end up being true to ourselves only because we have no choice." Empire Falls offers living proof that character is destiny. Perhaps, that's one of many reasons why this novel is so "wicked good" that it justly earned a Pulitzer Prize.

Rating:
Summary: Pulitzer Shmulitzer
Review: Without the underhanded assistance of the venal French Ice Skating judge I cannot imagine how this book won a Pulitzer Prize. The writing is incredibly sloppy and the forward motion is glacial. Yes, there are some interesting and likeable, if somewhat exaggerated, characters, but I got so tied up in the author's misuse of words ("inference" and "vagaries" are only two glaring examples) and apparent misunderstanding of the proper use of tenses in the English language, so weary of his sentences going on long after they'd purged themselves of useful information, that I simply did not care. Where the heck was his editor???

Rating:
Summary: Even the title is ironic
Review: Janine Roby Commeau defines the theme of this book- irony (and bitter irony at that). Every relationship, interaction, friendship in this small town is dipped in secrets and all of them come back to entrap every character. As nihilistic as this sounds, the tone of the narrative and voice of the author is so warm and engaging- you would love to have "that literary voice" narrate the tale to you. It' a friendly voice, the kind you might hear at the Empire Grill if you were a student at Fairhaven College. The voice also comments (in the character's perspective) on the perception of the scene..so you, the reader get to know everyone-real well.
Miles and Tick (father and daugher) play a little private game with each other-laughing about the literal meaning of common signs. For example, they read "Chicken smothered in barbeque sauce" as a news item, rather than a menu item! It occurred to me that the overarching story in this book is the "fall of the Whiting Empire"- and like Miles' signs- so even the book title "Empire Falls" itself becomes a news item!
Be careful with this book side! splitting descriptions intorduce tragic consequences- like life.

Rating:
Summary: Engrossing
Review: I was almost turned off by the fact that this novel won the Pulitzer. After several times passing up the book, I finally sat down and read it. It is a simple story about a town in Maine. That is the easiest description possible. Mr. Russo has managed to convey feelings that I recall when I was 16, 21 and 27. He has such a firm grasp on the characters that you feel as though you have known these people all your life. It did wrap up quiclky but as in real life, sometimes that does happen. Do yourself a favor and walk in the Miles Roby's life and town. You won't regret it.