Tim

Rating:
Summary: A repeat read
Review: As a person who adores both Harry Potter and Salman Rushdie, this is one of my all-time favorite books. I have read this book at least 8 times in the past few years, and I have lent it to many a friend and loved one. The story is engrossing, the characters are complex and endearing, and McCullough's writing is magical. As a writer and an editor, this is a story I appreciate every time I read it.

Rating:
Summary: Her finest work
Review: Colleen McCulloch has written many books but I consider this, a very early work, to be her finest. It is a simple story of unconventional love, beautifully told. The characters are very strongly drawn, and it is easy to identify with the feelings of Mary Horton as she comes to grips with her love for a young man so totally unlike her. It is a topic which could so easily have led to a different and tasteless result - instead it is a truly lovely book.

Rating:
Summary: Her finest work
Review: Colleen McCulloch has written many books but I consider this, a very early work, to be her finest. It is a simple story of unconventional love, beautifully told. The characters are very strongly drawn, and it is easy to identify with the feelings of Mary Horton as she comes to grips with her love for a young man so totally unlike her. It is a topic which could so easily have led to a different and tasteless result - instead it is a truly lovely book.

Rating:
Summary: Lovely romance uncluttered by conventional form.
Review: I don't like typical romance novels. I found in "Tim" an unconventional, simplistic and beautiful love story. After the first few chapters I was mesmerized by Mary and Tim and started to watch them fall in love. I shed many a tear reading this book and plan to reread it many times to enjoy another good cry.

Rating:
Summary: The way it should be
Review: I read "Tim" many years ago and to this day it is my favorite book. I recently listened to the audio version and it really came alive. (If he/she is a good reader, audio is the best way to go) Neither the movie with Mel Gibson nor the made for TV "Mary & Tim" with the Murphy Brown character came very close to conveying the true depths of this love story. McCullough was able to reach down into the souls of these people and show their intrinsic beauty and describe a love that has nothing to do with age or appearance but everything to do with who these people are. When you were little and your mum told you that it's what's inside that counts, you believed her. But we all found out later that it isn't really like that. Ms. McCullough allows us to believe in that again, at least for a little while.

Rating:
Summary: a refreshingly different romance
Review: Not your typical gooey love story... but cute nonetheless. This book teaches us that beauty really is only skin deep... a cliche, I know, but by the time you finish this book, you'll wish everyone thought like Tim. He is one of the most likable characters ever, so simple-minded, yet so insightful. This book also has something important to say about the power that the opinions of others can have over us. I loved this book and it changed my life forever... even though the whole time I was reading it I found myself thinking, "Loosen up, Mary!"

Rating:
Summary: If you liked Forrest Gump. READ THIS!
Review: There are no words to describe this wonderful and moving novel. Yes, it maybe a bit outdated, but the charatcer of Tim has so much heart and goodness in him, that most readers will wish he was real so they could take him home.
Tim is a somewhat mentally handicapped 25 year old (think Forrest Gump). He lives with his mother, father and sister and basically just works and lives a simple life. He lives this simple life because that is what everybody thinks he is limited to. Until Mary comes along....
Mary is a 40 something spinster, who likes order and no confusion. She lives in her own simple life also till Tim enters it. At first it looks like an employee to employer and then mother to son, then friend to friend. It becomes so much more complicated as their feelings grow into something more. But many things are against them, the age difference, their lifestyles and most importantly, Tim's mental capacity.
Through Tim's outlook on life, Mary comes out of her shell and finally enjoys what is around her. She helps Tim feel important and learn so much more then he was ever able to understand.
This story becomes so much more than an enduring love between a man and a woman. We see two lost soul who equal each other in so many ways.
The only thing missing is a much longer book, or even a sequel to see how Mary and Tim have succeeded.
So beautiful and poignant!!