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Summary: A gripping meditation on love, loss, and renewal...
Review: Ron Hansen is probably the most overlooked important contemporary American novelist working today. He has,without much fanfare, been publishing some of the most stunningly original, lovingly wrought, and highly-readable fiction for more than a few years and I find it satisfying that with this novel he has enjoyed some measure of mainstream success. This novel is the best "literary" mystery since Paul Auster's New York Trilogy, and Atticus Cody is as grand an American archetype as Will Kane in "High Noon". Atticus, the man, is a wondrous creation possessed of decency and wit, and I have not been so moved by a good man doing the right thing since Frank Bascombe in Richard Ford's "The Sportswriter" and "Independence Day". Perhaps I can praise this book best by saying that it caused me to mourn my father all over again-- a real-life decent man who loved his own prodigal son with unerring constancy. I miss you Dad.
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Summary: Not a "Murder Mystery!"
Review: Read it if you love a suspensful tale whose mission is not to puzzle but to pleasure with its poetry.
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Summary: BEST BOOK I HAVE READ THIS SUMMER.
Review: I guess you are in for an interesting story when you recognize the name " Atticus" and realize the main character is named after the father in "To Kill a Mockingbird".I have to admit I purchased the book after reading the first page of Chapter 1. One line stuck out "You have lived sixty-seven years and now you have seen a sundog." Reading that compelled me to buy the book. I instinctively knew that I was in for an interesting journey. Ron Hansen's exploration of a common tug 'o war between a son's perceived expections of himself through his father's eyes played out between his characters Atticus and Scott Cody was incredible to witness. Mr. Hansen took me through Atticus and Scott's journey from absolute loss to wholeness. I hated to see Page 247! I recommend this book to a person who is looking for a new author to read, and has no idea where to start. I saw a sundog when I finished this novel, my hats off to you Mr. Hansen! .
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Summary: A tale of forgiveness.
Review: When you wear a life jacket, you are doomed to remain on the surface. Many have commented on Hansen's less than desirable ending. Frankly, I'm confused. The book I read was ultimately satisfying and deeply moving. Anyone concentrating on the surroundings, imagery, events or suspense has missed the boat. Writers do not write to show off plot formations or simply link images together, they write to move the reader, to touch a vulnerable spot, to cause one to feel. Feel love, feel pain, feel something. Hansen can rest assured that one reader has felt. I find it amazing that a person could read lines similar to- "I will never forgive myself for pulling away when his hand touched mine." If you fail to see the beauty of this story, it is truly not due to the failure of Mr. Hansen.
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Summary: Have I read this before?
Review: If Atticus, by Ron Hansen had to be summarized in only one word, that word would have to be "mediocre." Beyond the first few chapters the book is hardly worth reading. The characters are terribly underdeveloped and even worse than that, they're generic! The story of a man with two sons, one infallible, successful and perfect, the other unstable and struggling to become what his father is not, has been told one too many times (and that was before this book came along). Despite these short comings, it can be said that Ron Hansen has eloquently written this "murder mystery." Thie imagery is vivid and gives you the feeling that you are there in Mexico with Atticus. In fact the imagery is the only thing that will keep the reader reading, but in the end, even that drags on. Hansen completely abuses the element of suspense, and makes the book more of a chore to read than entertainment. Atticus shows complete lack of originality and is subsequently uncaptivating. Ron Hansen's book is by the book, which leaves the reader feeling as though they've already read it. In short, you might want to read something else.
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Summary: could use a little work
Review: I think that Ron Hansen's Atticus deserves more credit then it is being given. Although the book did go slightly downhill in the end it was a compelling, beautifully written novel. Ron Hansen's use of description was captivating and intriguing. He described the scenes in Mexico with such detail that the readers could actually picture themselves there. However, there were some definite disappointments in the novel. Hansen seems to get bored with what he's writing and almost drop the description and suspense completely from the second half. Hansen also seems not to have a purpose for many of the things he had his readers so intrigued in. For example the character of Scott is built up in the first half of the novel and is dropped completely from the second half with no further explanation of him whatsoever. I also think that Hansen should have used the death of Scott's mother to enhance on Scott's mental instability and the origin of his actions, but instead Hansen doesn't mention it again in the story. This novel definitely has a lot of potential. It is a good story as it is written now, but would be even better if Hansen rewrote the end continuing his vivid use of description and suspense all the way through.
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Summary: Full of promise but leaves you hanging
Review: Vivid imagery and an inviting story line hooks you into the book right away, promising the reader a puzzling mystery. Yet as the story matures, certain events don't seem believable enough and appear to transpire by sheer luck. The fragile plot, at times strain the credibility of the characters which don't seem well thought out. They aren't complemented with enough background history to fully understand them. The author also fails to elaborate on many important aspects of the book. For example, Scott's brother Frank wasn't sufficiently developed into the story line which would have been an interesting contrast between a prosperous senator and Scott who was a slacker barely getting by week to week. Atticus, the father of Scott and Frank, was also a successful oil man, foreshadowing a book about Scott living up to his families expectations which appears to be the foundation of his problems but is neglected as a component of the story. The death of Scott's mother is also ignored, leaving the reader a vague concept of Scott's past. Then the author plainly leaves the reader completely in the dark about who Rienhardt Schmidt is. A lack of his background history makes him an intangible character. I found the book interesting and full of potential in the beginning , but seemed to drag on and lack suspense as I patiently waited for it's climax. It is a good book if you have nothing else better to read on rainy Sunday afternoon. There are better mystery books you can read that won't abandon you with such a disappointing ending.
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Summary: Leaves the reader very disappointed and unsatisfied.
Review: My tenth grade English class just finished reading the book Atticus. Atticus is one of those books that in the end, leaves the reader very disappointed and unsatisfied. It starts compellingly, introducing the reader to a murder mytsery. Hansen writes the first half of this book in such a way that makes the reader not want to put the book down. It is so full of detail and imagery that it is as if you, the reader, are actually in Colorado, or Resurreccion, Mexico. The landscapes and vistas materialize right before the reader's eyes thanks to the excellently detailed writing of Ron Hansen. But then, in the second half, the book takes a turn for the worse. Although the writing is still good, the plot and content of the book loses all of its luster. Hansen does a good thing by changing the narrator and adding dimension to the book, but one could argue that this is where his creativity stops. Unlike in the first half of the book, everything seems so convenient, leaving nothing for the imagination. Not only does the reader gradually lose interest in the book, but he/she is left with many lose ends that he/she is forced to tie up themselves. We never find out what exactly the point of Stuart's character is in the book, the signifigance of Scott's mother's death, or even what becomes of Renata. Simply put, this book, which had much potential in the beginning, lost it all with the flip of a page. It seems as if Hansen was just trying to hurry and get the book finished. If Mr. Hansen took the second half of this book and rewrote it, making it constant to the high energy and suspense of the first half, I think that Hansen would have a book worth a perfect ten, or at least a nine.
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Summary: Better than some but not the best
Review: Atticus is a superbly written book that has a so-so plot. Upon reading the book cover, one would think one is in for an enigmatic murder mystery, but what the reader gets is a half-baked story about a grown man who never grew up. The story line follows Atticus, a loving father, as he investigates his son's suicide. The images of Mexico that Hansen puts in the readers mind are very vivid. The reader could actually go to Resurreccion and find the places that are talked about because they are described so well. The plot is so-so because the ending is given away too early in the book. Murder mysteries are supposed to keep the reader guessing, and Atticus just does not do that. People who read mysteries often will know the ending way before it is explained. Hansen attempts to end the book, which is supposed to be a murder mystery, emotionally by implying the father/son relationship is fixed, but his attempt is too little too late. Explaining why is too hard for words. It was the lack of feeling I had at the end of the book. The reuniting of father and son just didn't do it for me. If you're looking for a book that will keep you guessing until the last ten pages, Atticus is not for you.
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Summary: Good Mystery with a Powerful Theme
Review: Atticus by Ron Hansen is an excellent mystery about the love of one man for his son. When Scott's Cody's father Atticus finds out he has been murdered in Mexico, he travels south to learn more. He soon finds that the facts don't add up to be a simple suicide as the Mexican police are saying. Atticus keeps you guessing up until the end, and the plot twists keep the reader engaged. More than a simple whodunit mystery, the book offers a masterful style and wonderful description of the strange people and surroundings in this Mexican town. Most importantly, the reader gets emotionally attached to these characters as they each struggle for what they want most. This book is great!
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