Rating: 
Summary: Julie and Hank's first year!!!
Review: Gap Creek is the 14th Oprah book I've read so far. I
enjoyed this book of a couple's first year of a marriage. The reason it didn't get five stars was because of the writing. I know that the main character was supposed to be shown as a hillbilly, but writing like this gets on my nerves. And I fear
that I'll lose my knowledge of proper English.
Julie moves away from her mother and three sisters to begin a life with her husband. This book is plagued by misery, but if you can withstand that, you'll find this book a good read.
This reviewer gives Gap Creek by Robert Morgan
4 stars:)
Rating: 
Summary: Ridiculous!
Review: Annotation-"Gap Creek" is a story based on love and marriage between two very compassionate human-beings. Gap Creek is a story of growing up, overcoming obstacles, and managing life with all hands. This story will open up your heart and take you into a world filled with realities of what married life can turn out to be. Author Bio- Robert Morgan was born and raised in Green River, a small community in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. He studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and in 1968 he earned an MFA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. In 1971 Morgan began teaching at Cornell University where, since 1992, he has been the Kappa Alpha professor of English. Morgan's childhood memories include that of growing up in a small and isolated valley in the North Carolina Mountains are a fertile and constant inspiration for his fiction, which deals with such powerful and formative experiences as attending Pentecostal services, farming, marriage, and fighting disease. Since 1969, Morgan has published four books of fiction, including The Hinterlands (1994) and The Truest Pleasure (1995) named a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year and a New York Times Notable. (bookbrowse.com) Evaluation- I found the story of "Gap Creek" to be somewhat gory, but at the same time there was meaning and suspense to the story that kept the pages turning. This story is a very realistic way of life early in the 1900's when life was very frightening, and a lot tougher than it is living in today's world. The two main characters Hank and Julie fell in love and agreed to marry. They moved to Gap Creek where Hank got a job at a mill. Julie's job was to take care of Mr. Pendergast's house that he rented out to the couple. Throughout the story many unfortunate misshapenness take place such as Mr. Pendergast dying, Hank losing his job, Julie becoming pregnant, Fires, floods, and many more devastating events that took place. Julie and Hank had to live off of food from their garden, and canned food that had been saved up from the winter. They had to wash and boil their clothes to keep clean and survived on Milking cows to drink from. Life was not easy, but Hank and Julie managed to survive.
This is a story that will open up your eyes and make you look at your life a little deeper. "Gap Creek" teaches us the lessons of marriage that anybody can manage to run into throughout ones life. Marriage is not always just fun and games. Hank and Julie were two lovers who despite their many obstacles always had compassion for each other. All through the many up's and down's. They needed one another to survive and they did just that together.
Rating:
Summary: Ridiculous!
Review: I checked out the audio version and could not get past CD 4. The constant "I said/he said..." drove me crazy. However, the worst thing about it was the unbelievably dreary story line and how unrealistically mature and introspective Julie was. Her character, for all she went through, was actually one-dimensional and predictable. All the book amounted to were detailed descriptions of country life and too many down home southern sayings. It was one trial after another with ridiculous "tough" insights by Julie. This was not realistic! Do not waste your time on this book.
Rating: 
Summary: The Best book I have ever read!
Review: I have to say it again, this is the absolute best book I have read! A co-worker knew that my family was originally from south-western VA and knew I was looking for a good book! Wow did she get it right! It's a story of Love, Loss, Family, and hardship, as well as a story of surviving eventhough the world around you would just as soon see you fall flat and not make it.
(not to mention it will really make you want a good jelly biscuit! I have read almost all of Robert Morgan's books but this is definately my favorite.
Rating: 
Summary: Not too sure about listening to this on audio.
Review: I know it was supposed to be indicative of the person's dialect and lack of education, but listening to the first person account of a life told through short, choppy, simple sentences got old, real fast. I will, however, give major kudos to Jill Hill (the reader)! She did a fantastic job of making me feel like I was actually listening to Julie (the protagonist) telling her story. So, for that aspect alone, I would recommend the audio version. But, overall, I feel like I would've enjoyed the story more had I just read the book.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting read
Review: I read this once before years ago and when I discovered that it is on Oprah's booklist, I decided to read it again. It's beautifully written and I enjoyed it more so the second time around ~~ especially since I had gotten married since the first time I read it. However, like a lot of Oprah's other selections, it is rather depressing. Ok, maybe depressing is the wrong word to use. It is very realistic look at life in the early 1900s when life is still tough and hard, especially for mountainfolks who have no money for medicines and knowledge. Julie is a hardworking woman who meets Hank and agrees to marry him. They moved to Gap Creek where Hank got a job in a mill. They rented a house with Mr. Pendergast where Julie's job is to take care of the house and their landlord. Through a series of unfortunate mishaps, Mr. Pendergast dies, Hank loses his job and Julie gets pregnant. Together, the naive couple struggle to survive the harsh winter ~~ where a huge flood destroyed most of their food crops that they had saved for winter ~~ and together, they find an inner strength they didn't know they had. They basically grew up, as most newlyweds do when they leave home for the first time. It is a realistic look at life. Marriage is not about roses and sweet dreams coming true. It really is a marriage of two minds melding together in spite of obstacles placed in their ways. This is a marriage about survival. They needed one another to survive that first year. And together, they will beat the odds for as long as it takes. I enjoyed it ~~ even the rather descriptive details about farm life and having to butcher your own animals for meals. However, that time wasn't too long ago that we haven't forgotten it. It's a rich look into life that once was and reminds us of how good we have it now. 1-30-04
Rating: 
Summary: Nice read!
Review: I recently finished reading the novel "Gap Creek, The Story of a Marriage" and was fairly impressed by its message. A young girl endures and survives an upbringing in the rural mountains of Appalachia. Withstanding merciless grief over too-soon deaths in the family of mostly females, her fate is to be forced into a life of hard physical labor to support and sustain the family of her mother and four sisters. Julie successfully persists with this way of life until meeting and marrying. The story unfolds to reveal a young couple, married with too little money and too many woes. One particularly gloomy afternoon in their days old marriage, Hank strikes Julie. Julie is devastated, although a strong woman, she could not and will not stay with an abusive husband, but after a revealing visit from her mother-in-law, soon realizes what may have caused Hank's error. The young couple survive countless horrific tragedies driven by poverty and misfortune during their new life in this strange place called 'Gap Creek'. This is a story of a young unfortunate couple who may have lost each other along the path of a hard life, but have remarkably, through the power of love, forgiveness, hard work, and perseverance, find their way back to each other with a renewed sense of respect, commitment and triumph. There is no doubt that they are survivors and that they will continue to survive - together.
Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking and eye-opening
Review: I've read the reviews of Gap Creek that have been posted to date, and like any worthwhile book it seems to have a mixed following. I am from a part of South Carolina very close to Caesar's Head, and, as our power goes out semi-regularly, I can identify with both his descriptions of the mountains' beauty and the work involved in a non-mechanized lifestyle. Morgan portrays the area and the time period realistically and vividly, but he does not attempt to sensationalize either his subject or his characters. He depicts Southerners as strong, self-reliant people with compassion and insight, a welcome change from the usual "ignorant redneck hick" stereotype that has pervaded literature in the past. I am very glad that Oprah chose this book for her club because I feel it represents the South, and particularly the Appalachian culture, in a positive light...but it does not idealize it, either. I found this novel deceptively simple; it is very easy to miss its subtle power if one attempts to skim the pages. This is not particularly light reading...if you want an "easy read," get a comic book. This is an eye-opening account of a life hewn out of the wilderness, of humanity's fragility, and of the power of faith. If you take the time to absorb Morgan's message, you will never forget this book.
Rating:
Summary: An all time favorite
Review: The story is sad, sad, sad! The end is redeaming and allows us all a chance to look inside ourselves and find strength
Rating:
Summary: The hardships of "Gap Creek"
Review: This fine novel written by Robert Morgan displays the hardships of living in the Appalachian high country during the end of the 20th century. The powerful beginning was a tearjerker but made the reader realize the family's struggle to survive. It is easy for some to take this life for granted but when reading this novel, it makes the reader count his blessings. This story begins with the death of Julie's little brother Masenier. Julie soon becomes the "man of the house" when her father becomes ill in the sense that she does all of the physical work in the forest. This is where Julie of 17 meets who soon is to become her husband Hank. Soon after their marriage, they find a house in the valley of Gap Creek. From here the first year of hank and Julie's marriage is played out. Julie prevails over the natural disasters, tragedies, physical boundaries, and culture differences during the strenuous first year of her marriage. Along with hank losing his job and Mr. Pentegast's, their landlord, death, Julie faces domestic abuse, a fire, and a flood. During all this time, Julie becomes pregnant with her first child. Although this is all physical hardship, Julie manages to find a mental escape once and a while to free her mind to find the strength to withstand this marriage. This novel is the work of a genius. He portrays the life of an average family beautifully in every aspect of the book. There is never a predictable moment as the author writes of the serious life and trials a young girl goes through, to some extent, even today. Julie is a true heroine and fights the elements to withstand the life of a young wife in the Appalachian highlands and the hardships of survival mentally and physically.
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