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Rating: 
Summary: Thought-provoking and enjoyable
Review: An interesting conjoining of two very different stories. I read them in order, starting with "Ordinary Love" and then moving on to "Good Will." At the end, I found myself wondering what links the two stories? In both, there is a father who directs his family to such an extent that he could be called controlling or even an egomaniac. In "Ordinary Love" the father is not present; he is the "fifth man", invisible, but the scars left by his words and actions have sunk deep. In "Good Will", the father is the protagonist, and through his own eyes we see the results of his actions. Unlike the other reviewers here, I preferred "Ordinary Love." I enjoyed the character of the mother, who narrates the story. She strives to be objective and offer a balanced viewpoint. She has a depth of self-knowledge. Also, she watches her children with great love, and that lends the story real warmth, which I thought was missing from "Good Will." I plan to read both stories again. There's a depth of character and thought here that can't be fully taken in with one reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Will, an extraordinary novel
Review: Good Will is by far one of the best novels I've ever read. Ordinary Love was good too. There is nothing ordinary about Jane Smiley's characterizations in Good Will. Those characters could not have been more real if they were real people in the room with me. The psychological, emotional, and moral complexities and motivations they display, the remarkable way in which it was all written and put together..2 years after reading this book, I'm still in awe of it.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing ordinary about this storyteller.
Review: Smiley gives us an intimate view into two very different families and the ways in which their different parenting styles affected their children's lives irrevocably. Smiley is a master of character development. When each story begins, you have a certain view of the protagonist and other characters. As the stories unfold, your feelings about each character change. This is a book to be read more than once.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing ordinary about this storyteller.
Review: Smiley gives us an intimate view into two very different families and the ways in which their different parenting styles affected their children's lives irrevocably. Smiley is a master of character development. When each story begins, you have a certain view of the protagonist and other characters. As the stories unfold, your feelings about each character change. This is a book to be read more than once.
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