Rating: 
Summary: Moving, bittersweet, terrifying, and funny
Review: I read All Quiet on the Western Front some 20 years ago and thought that its author captured the horrors and war in a remarkable, compassionate, unforgettable way. But Hull took it up orders of magnitude by examining the long term devastation and just plain sadness for not just the soldiers, but everyone who loves them--the dead and the living. It's a wonderful story.
Rating: 
Summary: lost in julia
Review: What a tremendous debut novel....I was lost in this book from the moment I picked it up. An incredible testament to the human condition. It forever changed the way I look at the aged and the aging process. Amidst all the chaos of war and the humbling experience of growing old in America, love triumphs over all. I can't wait for Jonathan Hull's next novel. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Best book in years
Review: Living in a small, remote village in Alaska, and having no television, my husband and I read constantly. We both agree, that "Losing Julia" is one of the best books to come out in years. It seems to be a book that Hemingway would have been proud to write. I thought the descriptions of war and the descriptions of growing old were remarkable. While showing the sadness and sometimes...horror of both facets of life, the book also showed honor, love and tenderness that can come from both war and growing old. This is a book that I KNOW I will be buying copies of to send to family and friends.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful first novel
Review: Hull's "Losing Julia" is a tour de force: the horrors of war; newfound love (under unusual circumstances) and lost love; the nostalgia of a crusty old codger in a nursing home - explored with skill, humor and finesse... Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Thank you
Review: I'm the publisher of Losing Julia for The Netherlands and I would like to thank the people who wrote down their reviews on this beautiful book. I'm happy we share the same thoughts.
Rating:
Summary: Wit, Brilliance & Eloquence at its Best
Review: I have not read a fiction book in years that was as insightful as to the human condition - what we think and feel on a daily basis, but fail to say to others. It made me realize that my own internal ramblings, strange as they may seem, exist in others. This book, a phenomenal achievement, made me laugh throughout, take personal stock of my life and had the power and depth to make me cry at the end. I was moved by all these emotions during the reading of Losing Julia. It is so exciting and rare to find a book that is virtually impossible to put down, once commenced. My only criticism is that I wished it could have lasted longer. I was truly sad to have to let it go. I am eager to follow this gentleman's career and future books.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful journey
Review: I adored this book. Hull reveals an astute understanding of love and death - two favorite subjects in all of literature - but doesn't trivialize either. Patrick is such a beautifully drawn character that I was willing to make this difficult journey with him, and glad in the end that I did; from his harrowing experiences in the trenches of WWI France, to his equally painful reckoning of his life at its dusk. And throughout, there is Julia. The woman who enters his young life almost as an apparition, and then becomes in many ways the sole reason for his existence. I could almost hear the soundtrack playing behind what is a wonderfully visual journey. My only question: When's the movie? I'll stand in line.
Rating:
Summary: A Novel to Savor
Review: How many of us find the time to truly take stock of our life at various stages of our stay on this planet? Jonathan Hull's superb novel "Losing Julia" provides the reader the rare opportunity to experience the love and regrets of a good and decent man from his youth through old age. This exceptional story is told through the journal of Patrick Delaney, a story stretching from the trenches of World War I France to the experiences of an old man fighting a terminal disease while living in an assisted care facility. Holding the story together perfectly is Patrick's experiences and descriptions of love at various watersheds in his life; from his love of his fellow soldiers experiencing the agony and utter waste of war, to the experience of finding and then losing a woman who is a perfect spiritual fit to what Patrick needs and what he can give in return, and finally to an old man living out his remaining months trying without success to remain distant from others because they all die too soon and too frequently. Hull's writing is brilliant, conveying Patrick's thoughts and emotions perfectly as he matures. While the major thrust of "Losing Julia" is every person's need to love and be loved, the novel conveys the suffering and misery of war as no mere history could. War is more than casualty counts and property destruction. Hull very effectively conveys the emotional scars that war burns into the souls of its participants...and even its observers. "Losing Julia" is an altogether engrossing read, an emotional and thought provoking experience. Readers will remember and savor this story and these characters for a very long time.
Rating:
Summary: An Extraordinary Debut
Review: Jonathan Hull's debut novel is an inspired and beautifully-crafted story about love, war and life. Patrick Delaney is a complex and artfully-drawn character. His reflections on love and war are insighful and poignant. I did not want this book to end. You will never forget Patrick Delaney. And you will be hearing much more about Jonathan Hull.
Rating:
Summary: One very fine first novel!
Review: While Jonathan Hull's writing is not at the same inspired level as Mark Helprin's (whose is?), the form of his novel owes a great deal to MEMOIR FROM ANTPROOF CASE and SOLDIER IN THE GREAT WAR. At times, the resemblance was uncanny.LOSING JULIA might not make my year end top ten. Or even my top twenty. It's a bit too long and often redundant. What it was like, for me, was spending a langorous few days with a good and interesting man, Patrick Delaney, who told me all about his life, his war experiences, what it's like to face slow death a second time in a nursing home, to hear his thoughts on just about everything from children, to love as a changing force, to art and its meanings. He's a most interesting companion, this Patrick, rueful, introspective and incisive, who I'll not soon forget. Nice stuff. Very nice indeed.
|
