Rating:  Summary: Horse Whisperer still Evans' best work Review: An enjoyable read, but the plot wasn't as well-developed as was the plot in 'Whisperer.' At times, I wondered what certain details were supposed to lead me to wonder, or believe, and some of those questions were unanswered at the conclusion of the book. Yet, Evans' is capable of telling a good story. I'd like to see more.
Rating:  Summary: A flawed book. Review: The Loop is a book that would have been so much more relevant if it wasn't so political in its hatred for and steroetypical depictions of ranchers. They are important, also. The book made them seem like uneducated savages. That is a crime that the rest of the book is not quite capable of redeeming.
Rating:  Summary: Not as good as Horse Wisperer Review: The story was a little different, but not much. It pretty much mirrored The Horse Wisperer.
Rating:  Summary: not quite up to the horse whisperer, but loved the setting Review: I enjoyed this book, but loved the horse whisperer. the setting was perfect - I believed the essential part of the wolf experience - the love story was believable - but - the whole thing was obviously made to go direct to the movies. this was also a problem with his first book. On my top ten list, problably around a 7.
Rating:  Summary: Another great story from an excellent story teller!!! Review: For anyone who has an affinity with animals this is an excellent story that touches the heart. Evans seems to have a true understanding of animal behavior and of human behavior and emotions.
Rating:  Summary: Excellent story about life and nature!! Review: This book makes you laugh, and makes you cry, and makes you hope that the wolves won't die!! Life is a circle, and The Loop shows you life, as the characters struggle with emotions and strife. Helen Ross and Buck Calder come alive in this town of Hope, & from summer to summer their lives loop in a struggle like a tug-of war on a rope. You can see both sides as they fight and debate, but the welfare of nature becomes so great! When you finish with this book, it makes you realize, that sometimes we must try to see the other sides. I enjoyed the emerging relationships, and all the personalities were keeping me in suspense, for I felt that the principles presented were so true-to-life that it mirrored many aspects of our world. Thank you, Nicholas Evans for a really eye-opening and informative novel about love, life and nature. Wolves will never be the same to anyone who reads this book. Peggy Barr
Rating:  Summary: An excellent and engrossing novel. Review: Nicholas Evans' "The Loop" has some things in common with his earlier book, "The Horse Whisperer." Both are long novels (well over 400 pages) set in Montana. Both convey Evans' love of the land. And both books explore profound questions of humanity's relationship to the beasts with whom we share the planet. When the two novels are weighed in the balance, though, "The Loop" comes out the clear winner. The characterization in "The Loop" is much more rich, detailed, sympathetic, and believable. But the most striking difference between the two books is plot. "The Horse Whisperer" got off to a wonderful start, but it fell apart before the conclusion. (Robert Redford apparently felt the same way. He completely rewrote, and improved, the ending of the story.) "The Loop" suffers from no such weakness. From beginning to end, it holds together as an engrossing, well written, truly memorable novel.
Rating:  Summary: Fell a tad short of intriguing, symbolic, deep, meaningful Review: The wonderfully descriptive text transported me from my own little midwest world to a world I never thought/expected/desired to enter. That is the world of wolves. And in this novel, their world was Montana and the wolves shared it with those who loved them and those who feared and hated them. The first half of the book was well-crafted, giving us very interesting characters; a tremendously-described setting; a promising plot; symbolism, and mystery. I was well-hooked. While not entirely disappointing, the second half of the book seemed a little rushed--leaving some characters unfinished if not dangling. Some seemed, in the end, to have had no real purpose to the story---while others never quite fulfilled theirs. And character transformation suddenly occurred with little warning--which made this reader wonder if the transformations were to be taken seriously. There was so much that was symbolic in this novel, allowing me to read deeply and with thought. Yet---some of that symbolism was completely lost. It was as if the author had notions that only he could really understand. We couldn't get into his head, so we couldn't always get the symbolism. i.e.: 3 holes through which narrow sunbeams shined ??? What was THAT about??? I often wished the author was right there explaining some of his intention to me. But---in spite of these things, I still really enjoyed the novel. It kept me interested, hopeful, somewhat intrigued and I was not disappointed at the end. (I would've liked it a tiny bit more if Luke had been 20. The age thing was unnecessary and distracting.)
Rating:  Summary: A very entertaining read Review: By reading the other reviews, this book seems to be one that you love or hate. I, myself, thought it was a very entertaining read. Some reviewer's claim his facts aren't 100 percent true. It doesn't really matter. The story was well written and the character's were interesting. I found "Buck" to be a great character. He peaked my interest throughout this book. I was less interested in the "Luke" character but I did enjoy reading about "Helen". I was touched with Mr. Evan's description of Helen and Joel's romance in the beginning. It is the character's of the novel that make it worthwhile reading and in remembering, and I feel that Mr. Evan's has written a memorable novel. I did enjoy the "Horse Whisperer" novel and I have enjoyed this one. I will read more from this author in the future. People should try to take the facts of wolves a little less seriously. The wolf doesn't usually prey upon dogs or babies but this is a novel. A story that is made up of idea's and the freedom to express them by the author and he has done a vivid description of wolves, the character's and Montana as a backdrop.
Rating:  Summary: Superficially entertaining Review: This book was entertaining and had no problem keeping my attention, like a good tv show. But somewhere between "The Horse Whisperer" and this one, Evans has gone off on his own Loop. I just didn't find the same quality. I did not think there was much about the character of Helen to sympathize with, really. I felt also that Evans tried to recreate the nature-intuition of "Whisperer's" Tom Booker and it came out looking like a bad fax transmission in the character of Luke. The ending is trumped-up and Evans could use some subtlety in conveying the wolf theme in this novel. I sympathize entirely with the animals but really felt beat over the head by it. I would have gotten it with much less cheese.
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