The Horse Whisperer

Rating:
Summary: BEST BOOK I EVER READ
Review: forget the movie, it doesn't even compare to the book. This book was fantastic, I literally could not put it down. I recommend this to anyone, horse lover or not.

Rating:
Summary: This Horse Bucks the Author Before the Bells Rings
Review: How good is a novel that's 90% great? Does it merit an A-? To begin at the end, the novel's climax takes two As the World Turns turns that, in the first, abandons the chiseled characterization of the Whisperer himself and, in the second, slaps on the reader a feedbag of sugar that he's supposed to happily munch. Aristotle said many a writer ties the knot well but unravels it ill, and these loose threads make this reader ill. Before the ending we are treated to realistic glimpses into a harsh universe, one where death and injury lurk at the turn of every runaway truck, one where the roads back from trauma are rutted and murky and sometimes impossibly steep. An Englishman, Evans draws a portrait of the United States from New York to Montana that sings with detail and truth, no small feat considering the differences in the landscapes he portrays. Gracie, his injured teenager, cries out with a realistic teenage angst against the fates, against her mother and father, and against the man her mother finds to restore her. The marriage of modern parents - focused on careers, not humans - is acidly and accurately shown. Evans' prose is edged and evocative. And after all this heart and skill we collapse at the climax in laughter and disbelief. If a book that's 90% great sags for 10% in the middle I'm not sure what we have, but in the Horse Whisperer the 10% turns it into an unrealized work that I can't recommend.

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Summary: The greatest cd book I have listened to.
Review: Mr. Evans out did himself with this book. It is vivid, and Mr. Coyote's voice matches the contents of the book exactly. I enjoyed the book so much I have encouraged many others to read it.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect!!
Review: I loved this book.I bought it two weeks ago cause I had seen it in the bestsellers.I read it and loved it.I'm interested in horses and this book reminded me of my horses in Montana.I loved Annie's character because she helped Grace as much as he could.And I was fascinated by the idea of giving plane tickets to Tom Booker.

Rating:
Summary: An immoral story with a very disappointing ending.
Review: After struggling through The Horse Whisperer, I was left feeling betrayed by the author. The ending of this story was as morally bankrupt as it was implausible. I actually felt angered for having wasted my time reading this book.

Rating:
Summary: A good start culminating in a disappointing end.
Review: The story starts off on a fine morning.....u actually begin to sense something's gonna happen....a sort of premonition. I liked Annie's character. She's a strong willed women, who took it upon herself to rehabilitate Grace with the help of Tom Booker. The narration was good. But the end was disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: What ?
Review: The horses and humans in this feeble novel are all lame if you ask me. What a tedious book. I only got a third of the way through it, set it aside FOREVER, and logged on to amazon and ordered "The Triumph and the Glory", which I've heard so much about. I hope it's better than The Horse Whisperer.

Rating:
Summary: Nice yarn but klutzy prose and questionable ideology.
Review: The narrative -- basically a girl on horse getting into an accident and then only recovering with the help of a Montana horseman -- virtually collapses under the weight of the author's infatuation with baroque adjectives. This is a mixture of feelings, blood and tears, the occasional soft porn thrown in for good measure, eventually sending the message that the earthy plain Montana ranchers (incidentally blue-eyed and blond Aryan heroes) are morally far superior to slick city folk. Most of the time, the suspense holds, so in a way it's fun reading, but the stereotyping is almost harder to bear than the indulgence in real estate selling adjectives. Go, read some Hemingway, before writing another epic!

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Summary: Its popularity is even more disturbing . . .
Review: Offering review 470 of this book is doubtlessly of little value. The reviews themselves, however, are far more interesting than the novel. I loved the movie. I bought the video and have watched it many times. I thought it accurately portrayed the realities of a kind of stoic idealism, understanding how moral choices and humans as moral agents both develop their greatest significance when facing fiercely poignant realities. It didn't get on a naive and simplistic high horse, but neither did it capitulate to the allure of instant gratification and mendacious shallowness. I must agree with a number of others here and say that the movie suckered me into reading the book, which, especially as the romance spirals out of control, possesses none of the aforementioned virtues of the film. Bad books come and go, but more disturbing is the extreme popularity this one has enjoyed. That so many seem to agree with the book's conclusions on how to behave in relationships and commitments leaves me wondering whether the book and the movie will have the same audience. It also makes me wante to re-read Christopher Lasch's CULTURE OF NARCISSISM and MINIMAL SELF, so I can wrap my mind around why it is so many found this book appealing.

Rating:
Summary: Great story marred by absurd Greek tragedy, but read anyway!
Review: This talented author, who spins a wonderful tale of love, endurance, patience and forgiveness, suddenly goes schizoid at the end. Or else he chose a lazy, farfetched "solution" to a love triangle. There's no way a man of Tom Booker's kindness and humanity would have performed such a pointless sacrifice. (Especially after Evans emphasized repeatedly that there was nothing wrong with Tom and Annie having an affair. What did he say - something like, "If this was wrong, what on earth was right?") Grace had already been through a horrific ordeal as a result of a horse accident. Due in large measure to Tom's influence and teachings, she had recovered. There's simply no way he would have put her through another trauma. The movie ending is far more credible. Yet, despite its "Greek tragedy" ending, this book has a lot to offer. Just see the movie afterward.