Rating: 
Summary: A truly wonderful reading experience
Review: I first read Tam Lin when I was a sophomore in high school, and it quickly became my favorite book. The deftly woven allusions to countless works of English literature, the incredible believablity of the characters, and the climactic struggle at the end all combine to create a wonderful, if obscure, work of fantasy. In reading Tam Lin, one seems to live and breathe the lives of the characters: they become your friends. The intricate layers of the plot are like that of an onion; you keep peeling them away, discovering something new with every reading. I am now in my first year of college, and Tam Lin was the first book I packed. Three years after my first reading, the magic, power, and intelligence of this book are as clear to me as they were that first time. Clearer, for with every reading, this book's light seems to shine a little brighter.
Rating:
Summary: Several Novels In One
Review: Because Dean's Tam Lin is so layered, every time you read it you get a different story. And it gets better every time.
Rating:
Summary: My Absolute All-Time Favorite Book!
Review: Pamela Dean masterfully evokes in the reader the consciousness which prevailed during the era from which the orignal story of Tam Lin evolved: that Faerie surrounds we mere mortals, and that any one of us might slip under its seductive magic. Dean's choice of a college setting is ingenious not only for the reasons she puts forth in her afterword but also because academia is an otherworld itself, into which so many of us are enticed and from which a good percentage never return. The story is magical, moving and funny, even more so if one is familiar with the literature quoted (but accessible to those without the English or Classics backgrounds). The characters are engaging; how refreshing to have a heroine who is truly intelligent, pragmatic and spunky! I first picked up Tam Lin when I was in college, the year it was published. The story struck a particular chord in me because it captured so perfectly that magical aspect of the college experience; so many people in academia are otherworldly that one can't help but look at them askance, and this story promotes the feeling. I re-read Tam Lin periodically, and recommend it to anyone I meet who has a flair for imagination. A word to the wise, however: DO NOT loan out your own copy -- people love it so much it rarely returns home
Rating:
Summary: Tam Lin was one book that I couldn't put down.
Review: This book was recommended to me by my brother in law, a folk
major. It took me a while to find it, but when I did, there
was no question that it would go to the top of my favorite books list. The heroine is someone I can relate to, and the
conflicts were deep and really made me think. The author has a way of making college life in the midwest come to life
with color and everyday things that students will do. I would reccomend this book to anyone who loves the freedom of
college life mixed with mistery, ghosts and fantasy. I've read it over and over again.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful and life-changing
Review: I credit this book with playing an important role in
changing my life. Aside from its gloriously understated
plot, its brilliant character developement, and its flowing
ethereal narrative, it reawakened in me the desire to
pursue studies in classic literature. This book simply
brims with quotations and obscure references. Reading it
is like searching inside your life for your past and your
present, while giving you inspiration for the future.
Some people meditate; I read Tam Lin.
Rating:
Summary: One great book!
Review: Pamela Dean, in this book, weaves a intruiging and entrancing story about college kids in a small Midwestern college.
Living near a college myself, the atmosphere seems utterly appropriate. The characters were strong and Dean based
the fantastic elements on reality very well. When the magic is introduced at the end, it seems like a right and
proper way to end the story. I have always loved the old ballad of Tam Lin, and Pamela Dean adds a new and wonderful dimension to the old story in her story. It was one of the best and most believable fantasy books I have
ever read!
Rating:
Summary: Among the best fantasy I've ever read
Review: This book has a real-world feel to it, as if you're reading
the diary of the main character, Janet, as she goes off to
college. There isn't any magic through most of the book --
it sounds more like a diary than like a fantasy novel. Yet
I kept reading anyway, because Janet's observations about
her college experience ring so true that they're fun for their own sake. Eventually you reach the end of the book and find out that, yes, it definitely does belong on the Fantasy shelf.
This is one of my all-time favorite books.
Rating: 
Summary: Carleton College in the 60s (oh yeah, some fairies too)
Review: I've read "Tam Lin" probably 5 or 6 times now. It's a book not quite like any other I've read. It purports to be a retelling of a Scottish ballad involving fairies, but Dean really doesn't do much more than hint at this until the end. What she does for most of the book is reminisce about her time at Carleton. We students have fun poring through her descriptions and identifying dorms and buildings and areas on campus. We laugh at her characterizations of the different departments. It's great. You'd be amazed how many people say that "Tam Lin" influenced their decision to come to Carleton. But other than Dean glowing over her college years, there's not much else to redeem the book. The main character is whiny, and the plot develops at a very strange pace (lots of space devoted to Janet's freshman year, then a couple chapters on her other three years, then a chapter or so on the fairies). As other people have mentioned here, more attention was paid to intricate literary references than action or, for that matter, fairies and ballads. Read it if you're a die-hard fantasy or ballad fan, read it if you're a die-hard Carleton College fan, otherwise there's plenty of other good books out there.
Rating:
Summary: nya-nya-nya-nya I WENT to the college in the book
Review: And Carleton is just as wonderful, awesome, and invigorating as the college in the novel. I first read Tam Lin while in High School and immediately decided to go to the college in the book. Dean's charecterizations of college life, studies, and then general weirdness that goes on at a small liberal arts college are spot on. When her deft interweaving of the fantasy elements is added--this is an incredible book. The story is well done; the plot elements are consistent and interesting and the sheer presence of literature and books in the novel is sure to be enjoyable for anyone who enjoys books and reading. A wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: great story, nice retelling
Review: I enjoyed the modern retelling, especially using the perils most college women face. The struggles the heroine goes through are timeless for other young women, and she faces them practically. I also really enjoyed the literature quotes and learned a great deal about the classics. Good book!
| 
