Rating: 
Summary: love Jane Hamilton, didn't love this book
Review: I have read Book of Ruth twice and Map of the World. I loved them both but had difficulty getting through this story. I found the affair boring and would have liked to known less about the e-mails and more about the family relationships. What would have happened if they had found out early in the book? How would they have coped?
Rating: 
Summary: Is this the same author?
Review: Judging by the reviews, this is a book that readers either really like or really don't like. Count me in into the latter group. I have been a Hamilton fan since "Map of the World," but I was very disappointed in this book. The characters were not realistic, despite an intriguing and viable premise. In my opinion, the adolescent son's voice was stilted and the parents were both too weak to inspire the readers' empathy or interest. I didn't like any of the characters and forced myself to finish the book, hoping for a meaningful resolution, which didn't come. I hope Jane Hamilton will get back on track with her next book.
Rating: 
Summary: I savored this book-it was incredible.
Review: I loved this book. It was unusual in it's tone, and had many different voices, but was so articulate and spoke very honestly to many issues. It resonated with me, and I savored it-only let myself read one chapter a night because I couldn't bear to finish it. It is the best book I have read in a very long time. The way that Ms. Hamilton uses language is phenomenal. She has a true gift.
Rating:
Summary: Disobey the critics-don't read this one!
Review: Disobedience is poorly written and not worth endless, boring hours attempting to find a plot. Granted, the premise was interesting--a 17 yr old boy discovers his mother's affair by snooping in her email. However, that is where interest ends and confusion begins. The author has countless point-of-view problems; the voice of Henry is of undeterminate age and 17 and speaks at the same time (sometimes in the same paragraph). The plot is slow moving to the point of tedium. By page 100 I was wondering who cares!
Rating:
Summary: Bullseye
Review: It is difficult to consistently capture the voice of diverse characters, but Jane Hamilton continues to hit the target, as in Map of the World, Book of Ruth and now in Disobedience. She is in the skin of the narrator, a young boy in the interstitial space between adolescence and adulthood. In this novel, he struggles with discovering his own sexuality, his mother's betrayal of her marriage/family and the parent-child elastic bond that is stretched to is finest sinew, right before he leaves home for college. The other members of the family are finely woven into the story. Some sentences and phrases gave me great pause. However, this is not a plot to be devoured, but a novel sipped in small doses, so that you can feel the words slip down your gullet.
Rating:
Summary: Bullseye
Review: There are few authors that can consistently capture the voice of very diverse characters from novel to novel. Jane Hamilton has managed to continually convey this from Book of Ruth, to Map of the World, and now Disobedience. She is in the skin of an adolescent boy who is trapped in the interstitial space between teen and adult. She aptly portrays his struggle with his own developing sexuality, his mother's betrayal of her marriage, and the child-parent elastic bond at its further stretch-right befor he leaves the home for college. And yet the book also peals with the truth of other characters, the daughter, husband and close friend Karen. There were sentences and phrases in this book that gave me pause. This is not about a plot to be devoured --this book should be sipped in small doses so you can feel the words slide down your gullet.
Rating: 
Summary: By no means this author's best work
Review: Having considered Map of the World one of the best books I have ever read, and having considered Book of Ruth a very unique and special book, I could not believe this book was even written by Jane Hamilton. The narrator seemed to accurately describe the other family members without really caring about them. (Is his detatchment supposed to be proof that he is adolescent?). After observing his mother's affair electronically, he seemed to have learned nothing from the experience, and come to no realizations afterwards. Most of the events in this character's life were isolated and without any theme or connection to a "point". A brief conversation with his mother at the book's end was supposed to suffice as a conclusion. I finished this book feeling totally disappointed and dissatisfied.
Rating:
Summary: Dazzling foray into torture of adolescence
Review: Henry Shaw, a "middle-aged 17-year-old," accidentally discovers that his mother is having an affair. The book follows the progress of the affair as well as Henry's own awakening feelings about sex and love. By the end, everyone has learned a lot about themselves and the meaning of family, without any of the hyper-dysfunctional behavior so common in recent novels. An added plus is Hamilton's exquisite writing and understated style, setting scene after scene perfectly.
Rating:
Summary: Not Like Anything You've Read Before
Review: Jane Hamilton's latest novel, "Disobedience", isn't like anything I've ever read before. Her characters are NOT main-stream Americans; there are musicians and a couple of Civil War fanatics for example, and while tales of female infidelity have been done to death (usually literally, see "Anna Karenina") I don't think it has ever been told through the eyes of the woman's son who discovered her perfidy through e-mail spying. I was especially intrigued by the juxtaposition of sister Elvira being able to eavesdrop (camouflaged as a boy) on the men of her Civil War reenactment regiment, and that of the protagonist, Henry spying from the kitchen on his mother's female reading circle. Both are privy to the unfettered ruminations of the opposite sex, but when discovered, the reactions of the two groups couldn't be more different. "Disobedience" is a fully satisfying read.
Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ 4 ANY PARENT WHO HAS EVER ...
Review: Considered an extra marital affair. How Ms. Hamilton understands what is going on in the mind of a 17 year old boy who is coming of age amazes me; how children view their parents & their home life verus the reality; & the aftermath of seeing their fantasy life shattered. This young man does grow up as a result of realizing his parents, infaliable as he once thought them to be are actually human beings with human frailties & faults. I don't remember when I've read a book this well written...nor will you
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