Rating: 
Summary: A Beautifully Written Novel - Much More Than A Love Story!
Review: "Claire Marvel" is a simple love story told with extraordinary grace. Author John Burnham Schwartz writes with spare elegant prose about disparate characters who come together for a time, to love and to betray. But "Claire Marvel" is also a character study and a commentary on how insecurity, poor timing and lack of decisiveness can destroy the closest relationships. It delves into the consequences of action and lack of action, the ability to be courageous in life, to act on conscience, and the growth of character.Claire Marvel and Julian Rose meet serendipitously during a rain storm. He seeks cover at the Fogg Art Museum where Claire is waiting for the rain to abate under an umbrella the color of buttercups. The two are graduate students at Harvard, he in political science, she in art, studying the Pre-Raphaelites. Claire is a free spirit, very visual, absorbed by images, color and line with an artist's sensibility - much more than that of an art historian. She is a "traveler who through circuitous wandering had stumbled upon an unchartered place beyond explanation." Julian is a believer of empirical truth. "It is hard for him to bump up against anything without immediately supplying or reaching for definition." They both carry the baggage of their dysfunctional families. And yet they are kindred spirits and come together effortlessly. Claire's father is dying and asks her to spend some time in France at a small house in the countryside where he had spent some of the happiest moments of his life. She asks Julian to accompany her. Their time together is idyllic. However, flaws in Julian's character cause problems and missed opportunities. The novel explores his past and the reasons for his development as a passive, almost cowardly, man. So the novel becomes much more than a love story. I found the parts of the novel dealing with Julian's relationship with his doctorial advisor to be fascinating. Julian is writing a dissertation on the various incarnations of the Progressive Party. His advisor, Carl Davis, is a powerful professor with close ties to Ronald Regan and the Republican Party. Julian disagrees with Davis' politics but is drawn to his authority and powerful presence. This relationship play a major part in the storyline. Some critics have compared "Claire Marvel" to Erich Segal's novel "Love Story." The only commonalties I found are that Julian and Claire attend Harvard and live in Cambridge for a period. There is little "schmaltz" or sentimentality here. The prose and the author's use of language is often quite beautiful. The tension is taut, as the story unfolds through memory and direct confrontation with the past. I was very moved by the author's compassionate exploration of relationships, passion, regret and loss. Bravo John Burnham Schwartz!
JANA
Rating: 
Summary: A MARVEL
Review: Astonishingly beautiful. Astonishingly wise. A timeless love story written by one of the most talented young novelists today. You must read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written and beautifully realized
Review: Beyond the prose, which artfully meditates between sentimentality and believability, I thought that the book treats unrealized love, well, brilliantly.
Many reviewers have made the point that Claire is a transparent and undefined character (maybe until the final few chapters which are actually pretty illuminating) but I think that's the point. The story is not about the beginning, and eventual demise of a torrid love affair - it is about an attraction that never finds realization. The book seems to be about regret - and the urgency of stepping forward and seizing something that you want before it's too late. Were Claire developed, were their relationship long and drawn out, the author would lose that poignancy (and the mystery) behind those fateful decisions. The story isn't so much about their love, but about a man who will obviously spend the rest of his life wandering what his life could have been. Ultimately, the book is a beautiful study on that path that was never chosen.
Rating: 
Summary: Uhm, no.
Review: Having read and admired Reservation Road, I had fairly high hopes for this book. Sadly, those hopes were not realized. Hero Julian seems to come alive only in those scenes that don't involve Claire. His scenes with her reveal a young man who is the polar opposite to the one who interacts with the other characters. With his landlady, the redoubtable Mary, he is alive and sympathetic. Ditto for scenes with his wonderfully well-drawn father. In one very brief scene featuring Julian's mother, he manages to capture the essence of this character entirely with only a few brush strokes. Yet Claire remains, throughout, as essentially self-involved as Julian. Problematical, and very hard to buy into either his obsession or, ultimately, hers. As well, there are some weirdnesses that should've been caught by the editor. The primary one has to do with the couple going to an old house in France that has been unoccupied for quite some time. Yet without anyone ever turning on a single appliance, magically there is sufficient hot water for Claire to take a long luxurious bath. Anybody who's ever been to a cottage or a vacation home knows that the hot water heater and/or the furnace (or something) has to get turned on in order for hot water to become available (usually, in older places, many hours later.) I mention this oversight because when a point like this evolves into the literary equivalent of a nagging toothache, there is a problem with the narrative. The secondary characters, by and large, are far more real, far more sympathetic than the young lovers who take front and center in this novel. I kept thinking, as I read, of Endless Love which dealt with the issue of young obsessive love very successfully, while Claire Marvel is, unfortunately, not a success. Exquisite writing in this case doesn't assist a book that is, at its base, critically flawed. Julian is such a selfish character when with Claire that it came as no surprise that she turned on him. And Claire is such a cipher that it's difficult to fathom Julian's obsession with her.
Rating:
Summary: Claire Marvel--An Obsession
Review: I admit to some trepidation in picking up a book that is marketed as a love story. But I have to confess, that after I'd read 30 pages of Claire Marvel, I could not stop reading it. Despite having to juggle family and other obligations, I finished it in one weekend, although I savored the images and feelings for weeks afterwards. I was even tempted to read it again, immediately, something I never do. In short, I was obsessed with Claire Marvel. And I'm not the only one. My husband and most of my friends who have read it have become obsessed by Claire as well. This book really makes the reader feel love--in all of its glory, ambiguity and agony--in a way that no other book I have read before does. Put this book at the top of your list, but be warned that it may become an obsession.
Rating: 
Summary: pretentious and silly
Review: I did not find this book believable -it read as if done by a high school student. The characters had no depth. I kept thinking abour Mistry's book "A Fine Balance" and how real and engrossing the story and characters were. Mr Schwartz should be praised for his fine effort -but this book was not for me -sorry!!
Rating:
Summary: Get out your Kleenex and open your heart to Claire Marvel!!
Review: I really wanted to give this book 4 ½ stars, but that's not an option. This was an absolutely fabulous book! I had never heard of John Burnham Schwartz but I had read a review of this book in this month's Elle magazine and thought it sounded like something I might enjoy - that's an understatement!!!! I couldn't get enough. As I finished each chapter, I went back and re-read the parts I enjoyed the most because I didn't want it to end. The story is beautifully written as are the descriptions throughout. You can see the colors, smell the scents, hear the sounds and taste the tastes!!! It all begins with a yellow umbrella and the color yellow is referred to again throughout the book. Parts of the book will break your heart while others will uplift you and then there are the parts that will infuriate you - make you yell into the pages "WHAT ARE DOING & WHY?!?!?" The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars was because of its ending. While I know the author is allowing you to decide for yourself what the character does, I didn't like it. I would have liked a more complete definitive ending. Although it does leave room for a sequel (could this be possible?) I doubt that's what the author meant. It was a beautiful ending, however, I just like my stories wrapped up at the end - one way or another. With the ending the author gives us, the reader is left to their own to decide for themselves how the story ends. A great story, wonderful book - one I intend to keep & return to when I want a meaningful, loving read. Great job Mr. Schwartz! If your future books are anything like Claire Marvel, you have gained a new fan!!!
Rating:
Summary: Get out your Kleenex and open your heart to Claire Marvel!!
Review: I really wanted to give this book 4 ½ stars, but that's not an option. This was an absolutely fabulous book! I had never heard of John Burnham Schwartz but I had read a review of this book in this month's Elle magazine and thought it sounded like something I might enjoy - that's an understatement!!!! I couldn't get enough. As I finished each chapter, I went back and re-read the parts I enjoyed the most because I didn't want it to end. The story is beautifully written as are the descriptions throughout. You can see the colors, smell the scents, hear the sounds and taste the tastes!!! It all begins with a yellow umbrella and the color yellow is referred to again throughout the book. Parts of the book will break your heart while others will uplift you and then there are the parts that will infuriate you - make you yell into the pages "WHAT ARE DOING & WHY?!?!?" The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars was because of its ending. While I know the author is allowing you to decide for yourself what the character does, I didn't like it. I would have liked a more complete definitive ending. Although it does leave room for a sequel (could this be possible?) I doubt that's what the author meant. It was a beautiful ending, however, I just like my stories wrapped up at the end - one way or another. With the ending the author gives us, the reader is left to their own to decide for themselves how the story ends. A great story, wonderful book - one I intend to keep & return to when I want a meaningful, loving read. Great job Mr. Schwartz! If your future books are anything like Claire Marvel, you have gained a new fan!!!
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good
Review: I thought this book was worth it for the feelings about young love and lost love. I enjoyed how the love experiences of the different family members brought varying perspectives to the main story line. BUT...the first part, the development of their relationship rang false and the writing was affected. The metaphors felt like lists from work, and the rhythm was very annoying. Also the main character was quite the wimp, and although he was young, the whole tormented young love thang felt like a Herman Hesse novel (I'm over that phase, thank you). The remaining two thirds of the book was good, but I don't recommend it unless you're into being melancholy and love-torn for the duration...
Rating:
Summary: A Brilliantly Readable Book
Review: If you've read anything about Love and Longing, this is the story that will make you sob. The last book I can remember to make me feel this vulnerable was Scott Spencer's "Endless Love" some 22 years ago. This book is just as beautiful and haunting as that. Oh, please, buy this book and read a rapturous story that will leave you gasping for air! I can't recommend it more highly!
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