Rating: 
Summary: Unforgettable.
Review: No review, just a question. Is it true Atticus is being filmed in Hollywood right now? If anyone knows, please let me know.
Rating:
Summary: A moving account of parent-child love
Review: This book grabbed my attention early on. Hansen uses words sparingly but conveys so much emotion. I was drawn to the dignity and goodness of Atticus, the waywardness and guilt-driven waste of Scott. And I kept wondering, could I love a son such as Scott with the same depth and constancy as Atticus. For those reviewers who did not care for the book, I would strongly encourage them to try the audiotape version. The poetic beauty of Hansen's prose is especially noticeable when you hear the words read aloud. I first was introduced to the novel this way and then went on to buy the book because I wanted to be able to re-read my favorite parts.
Rating: 
Summary: A story of the redeeming power of love
Review: This is a book about love at its most healing. Atticus Cody starts out with a crazy son and comes to believe that he is ending up with a dead one. The quiet fight he undertakes to recover his lost son is hallmarked by the ferocious love of the parent for the child, which mirrors that of the Redeemer for the sinner. The action takes place in a town aptly named Resurreccion, and there the father, powerless in many ways, takes on the terrible business of recovering what he believes is his murdered child. The madness which has burdened Scott throughout the whole of his adult life and rendered him unable to function usefully is that of intense guilt. We find out in flashbacks through the eyes of both father and son that since the day that the car Scott was driving crashed and killed his mother, himself and his father have been painfully estranged. On that day also Scott began the descent away from reality. Atticus is a rich man. As he sets out for his son's house, (number 69 on the block), to solve the mystery of his son's murder, he reflects in the taxi that it was the day he discovered his sixty ninth oilwell, that he figured his family were going to be alright. His quest for a son first apathetic and then dead, seems futile. Ron Hansen tells the story of this painful history delicately, as though he is as fearfully treading the unfamiliar, guilt-laden, mad territory that Scott inhabits as is Atticus. He steals up on the story, dropping a hint here and a fact there. We find that the son was bright, and went to Stanford. We find that there was a time when he was lively and interested. We get a strong impression throughout of the father's sense of powerlessness, and an even more powerful impression that his crusade is fuelled by nothing more than simple, overwhelming, unconditional parental love. The beauty is in the telling. Through the genius of Hansen's deceptively simple writing, we come to understand how it is that the father would undergo anything if only he could get his son back. The absent mother poignantly lives in the memory and in the love of both men. Just three words she is remembered to have said express the enormous love she felt for the son even at the moment he was crashing the car which killed her. `Oh, honey, no', was the simple endearment which became the last phrase she ever uttered. The guilt and remorse the son feels for her death is never stated, and neither is the deep conflict of the father, as he mourns first his wife and then the son who killed her. But these deep emotions run through the book as a great tide, informing every action the characters take. Redemption comes, and it is love which brings it, the love of the parent for the child.A plausible story wrapped up in an almost implausible plot, to my mind, `Atticus' is even more compelling than Hansen's bestseller, `Mariette in Ecstasy'.
Rating:
Summary: Response to other reviews of Atticus
Review: In response to David Clark's review of Atticus, I would have to say that I disagree. In his review, Clark states that the characters are underdeveloped and generic. He says that the story of Atticus and his two sons, one who is infallible and perfect and the other who is unstable and struggling, has been told too many times. I would say that Hansen has created a story line of reality. Often times in our own lives, there is a "black sheep" of the family, but in this case, Hansen has approached the story in a different manner. Hansen drops hints as the plot forms, leaving the reader with questions and wanting to read on. Hansen's characters may seem "generic," but they draw from the reader emotion. As you read the book, you want to know more about the characters. Clark says the characters are underdeveloped. Hansen presents his characters in pieces, drawing the reader to keep reading, to find out each of their mysteries. Hansen's suspense to find out what really happened and his use of imagery, enables the reader to vividly picture the people, places, and events of the story. I think Mr. Clark's idea of mystery is Sherlock Holmes, which is traditional and ordinary, unlike Hansen who captivates the reader with suspense, imagery, and the thought "What just happened here?"Another review that caught my attention was from a tenth grader from Rhode Island. As a college student who has read many books, and may I stress many, I think that this student has been exposed to the traditional methods of literature. In reading his/her review I noticed that the student touched on aspects that appear traditional, such as plot, character, and resolution. Ron Hansen's goal is not to give the reader a beginning, middle, and end, with charcters that are not complex, or a happily ever-after ending. His goal is to captivate the mind of the reader, bring about imagery, create suspense, and leave the reader with questions. Not all books have a story line that come full circle. Atticus is the type of novel that makes you think, and brings about a mystery that not many authors can grasp.
Rating:
Summary: A mediocre mystery but a touching story
Review: To call Atticus a mere mystery novel discredits the amount of heart that hansen put into his story. Forty pages into the novel, I was laboring over its agonizingly slow pace, consisting of overly fond descriptions of each tree between Resureccion and the Codys' farm in Antelope. The plot itself was fairly intriguing, suspenseful enough to keep me reading, but it was the intricacy with which Hansen weave his story into that landscape and its people that is impressive. You get the impression that his story was drawn from the intrigue that the Mexican people held for him. He creates them beautifully, lovingly, and makes you feel as if he saw them with your own eyes. Hansen is capable of conveying this landscape at this other level; his images are out of a microscope and their movement is played in slow motion so that they are magnified. That's why I felt as if I were watching a nature show in the beginning - but there was a reason for it. And Atticus rises right out of this land. His simplicity and connectedness with the natural world are mirrored in each detail. You can't help but grow incredibly fond of Atticus, and that he is a reflection of Scout's father in To Kill A Mockingbird only underscores that impression. At once, you are touch in understanding that he is a father tortured by love for his son. Hansen's writing is moving because it is so simple and honest, so that to call it a mediocre mystery would be missing the point.
Rating:
Summary: This is a well written novel and deserves a lot of credit.
Review: I'm writing in response to JMC from Omaha. This is one of the most well writen books I have ever read. From the begining where the father, Atticus, and the son, Scott were introduced and the finale were the reader is the most surprised that he will ever be. This is like all the Hardy Novel's rolled up into one. Another thing that adds to the suspense of the book is that it is set in Mexico, near Cancun. This book has everything from the prodical son, the detective father, a shaman medicine man, an imposter from Germany, and a small girl that looses her life tragically. The character of Scott Cody is developed extremely well from the beginning of the novel to the end. The reader immediately knows that he is in his forties and has moved around a lot. We know that his father sometimes isn't proud of his son, or what he does. He certainly isn't liking the trip to Mexico. Overall, this book was a fun to read detective story that anyone can enjoy at any age. JMC from Omaha must have been delerious when she wrote this review on December 23, 1998. Maybe it was the Christmas season that was getting to her and she had to get her frustration out on this wonderfully written book. At least that is what I think.
Rating:
Summary: Story of Prodigal Son Disquised in a Mystery
Review: Redemption, unconditional love, and suspensful are a few words that come to mind when thinking about Ron Hansen's contemporary novel Atticus. This novel not only had the flair of a mystery but it also had the underlying aspect of a relationship between a father and son. The story is of Atticus Cody, a Colorodo rancher and oilman, and his fight to find his son Scott's murderer after he dismisses the idea that his son committed suicide. Hidden beneath the superficial aspect of the novel lies a religious theme that dates back to the biblical story of the prodigal son. Throughout the novel the reader sees that Atticus and Scott did not have the perfect father-son relationship that everyone dreams about. Scott who squanders his inheritence in a careless way in Resurreccion, Mexico in escape from his haunting past felt as if he could never live up to his father's expectations as much as his brother Frank, a well known political official, did. This father-son conflict begins to resolve itself as the reader sees the compassion that Atticus has for his son. The prodigal son reference becomes evident as Scott begins to realize the love that his father has for him. A love so unconditional that no matter what Scott could have done his father could forgive. Atticus is a very emotional and thrilling novel. After getting past the mystery aspect, it is a touching novel that makes a person think about their own realtionship that they have with their father. Ron Hansen did a brilliant job in writing this novel. The way he wrote it in two parts from both Atticus and Scott's point of view was an excellent way to display both men's thoughts and feelings. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a mystery novel but most of all to a person who appreciates the realtionship that parents have with their children.
Rating:
Summary: Suspenseful prodigal son story
Review: I read many novels, but my husband does not. This one really hooked us both. The plot appealed to us both because it was suspenseful and also tackled emotional issues as a father struggles with his son's death. A great read.
Rating:
Summary: Great story
Review: One of the reviewers called this novel a "literary" mystery. I think that is a perfect description of this book. Hansen weaves a tale full of emotion and compassion while at the same time crafting a superb "who-dunnit". This is only my first of Hansen's works but there will definitely be more.
Rating: 
Summary: Low rent Cormac McCarthy
Review: Perhaps I'm missing something, as this book is well reviewed by many. To me this book is simply a variation of Cormac McCarthy themes, poorly written, almost pompous in a sense.
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