The Elegant Gathering of White Snows

Rating:
Summary: A Great Read!
Review: I wandered into a book store searching for something to read prior to taking an international flight. I had in mind several novels but this particular book store had small placards suggesting books that should be read, such as, 'our staff recommends..." I picked up, Elegant Gathering, read the back cover, thought interesting but put the book back on the shelf. As I wandered through the book store, the title and the front cover lingered in my mind. I went back to the book and thought let me read the first page -- and from there I was hooked. I think this is one of the best books, I've read on women and relationships with other women; be that a mother, a grandmother, a daughter or a partner. Flying back home, I read quickly and cried frequently. I'd highly recommend this reflective novel illustrating the passages of life to all of my (female) friends.

Rating:
Summary: This gathering goes on too long
Review: I was disappointed in the "Elegant Gathering of White Snows". The premise of eight women sharing a deep and meaningful friendship seemed initially very promising, but the book read more like a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. The writing is very cliched and choppy. None of the characters seemed especially sympathetic, even though they had suffered loss and loneliness, because they had all spent years wallowing in self-pity and inertia.

The idea that the entire country would be enthralled by these women's "walk" was pretty far-fetched to me as well. And the author adds nothing to the story by throwing in all the minor characters who are drawn to the walking women. Her time would have been better spent developing the major characters more fully.

I lost interest about 3/4 of the way through the book and simply stopped reading.

Rating:
Summary: This gathering goes on too long
Review: I was disappointed in the "Elegant Gathering of White Snows". The premise of eight women sharing a deep and meaningful friendship seemed initially very promising, but the book read more like a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. The writing is very cliched and choppy. None of the characters seemed especially sympathetic, even though they had suffered loss and loneliness, because they had all spent years wallowing in self-pity and inertia.

The idea that the entire country would be enthralled by these women's "walk" was pretty far-fetched to me as well. And the author adds nothing to the story by throwing in all the minor characters who are drawn to the walking women. Her time would have been better spent developing the major characters more fully.

I lost interest about 3/4 of the way through the book and simply stopped reading.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and Inspiring
Review: I was tremendously inspired by a novel titled "The Elegant Gathering Of White Snows" by Kris Radish. I have never felt so connected to the characters in a book as I did these women, ordinary women, each life so different yet connected through the common bond of estrogen. Although this story is that, a story, it proved to be more helpful in all aspects of my life then the volumes of self help books and articles that line my shelves, while at the same time kept me entertained with every paragraph and page.
The women in this book each have tremendous strength and a great sense of adventure that had been squelched by their life's journey. It was refreshing and uplifting to see them come back to themselves and make a statement to the world in such a quiet and unique way.
Ms. Radish has a delightful mind and talent. I eagerly look forward to her next work.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and Inspiring
Review: I was tremendously inspired by a novel titled "The Elegant Gathering Of White Snows" by Kris Radish. I have never felt so connected to the characters in a book as I did these women, ordinary women, each life so different yet connected through the common bond of estrogen. Although this story is that, a story, it proved to be more helpful in all aspects of my life then the volumes of self help books and articles that line my shelves, while at the same time kept me entertained with every paragraph and page.
The women in this book each have tremendous strength and a great sense of adventure that had been squelched by their life's journey. It was refreshing and uplifting to see them come back to themselves and make a statement to the world in such a quiet and unique way.
Ms. Radish has a delightful mind and talent. I eagerly look forward to her next work.

Rating:
Summary: The Elegant Gathering of White Snows
Review: It's exaggerated. I found that the story didn't go nowhere. She could of made like 5 good books out of all the little stories she wrote about different womans. She had good ideals but didn't know where to go with them.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful journey
Review: Kris Radish's allegorical tale is about eight women in rural Wisconsin who meet regularly, ostensibly to read books or discuss life. One night they set out on a walk together for various personal reasons, and the walk stretches over a couple of days. The story gains national attention and exposure, and inspires lots of women worldwide. The walking women have no knowledge of their effect, and are only out as friends supporting one another. Intimate, glorious, and emotive, "The Elegant Gathering of White Snows" is a wonderful novel about friendship and personal liberation. Like "And Then They Were Nuns" by Susan Leonardi or "Wanderground" by Sally Miller Gearhart, this book is not about the individual characters as much as it is about female friendship and the power of women as a group.

Rating:
Summary: Good Idea - BAD Writing
Review: Ms. Radish has a wonderful message, but her writing is so amateur that all you can't see the message for the soap box.

My book club picked this book and that's the only reason I'm still plodding through it. We picked it because of the premise of the book: women bonding, overcoming pain and loss etc., etc. But it's one of the most poorly written books I've read in a long time. Every page screams: "Where was the EDITOR of this thing??".

Want an example? Here you go: Page 5, 3rd paragraph: "As the women talk, they don't see themselves as separate entities even though they are each as different from one another as the proverbial fish is to the bicycle." HUH?????

Also, the book is over-run with unnecessary details that should have been "red penned": Page 140, 4th paragraph: "At the bottom of the bag are two bottles of wine, the same kind they had at Susan's house the day they left." Why do we need to know this?

There are hundreds of examples of what seem to be attempts at colorful language but result in a reaction of "huh?" : page 135, 5th paragraph: "The disgusting echoes of cars roaring past on the highway sounded as if a convoy was stalking the women walkers". DISGUSTING echoes????

With good editing, this book would have been half as long and maybe twice as interesting. Anyone who has ever read Alice Hoffman, Ann Tyler or Kaye Gibbons knows what I'm talking about. Their writing makes you CARE what happens to the characters.

To the reviewer who surmised that the negative reviews of this book were coming from young folks without much life experience: I'm 62 years old and have been around the block a few times, and I'm here to tell you that this book ain't the real world, baby.

I'm willing to suspend belief for a well-written book, but not for one that makes me wish I had a red pen in my hand to "cut and slash" and get to the heart of the matter.


Rating:
Summary: An okay novel about the bonds of friendship among women
Review: One night during a meeting of friends in Wisconsin, 8 women decide to take a long walk, not telling anyone where they arer going or why, not even knowing themselves. Over the course of their walk, they learn about themselves, about being women, and about having an impact on each other's lives.

Not a bad book. The separate stories behind each of the women walkers and the stories of the lives effected by their walk are very enjoyable and interesting. But, when you gather the women together, they tend to lose their personalities and become indistinguishable from each other. Their language as a group also seems overly simplistic, as if it were dialogue from a high school play. It's during these scenes that I started to lose interest in the characters and considered putting the book down and moving on to something else.

I also felt that the public's reaction to the women was unrealistic. No one -- not even their husbands or partners -- tried to stop them or to find out what was going on. No one bothered them at all!! They also treated the group with a bit too much reverence, seeming to place them on pedastal. I also found it difficult to make the connections between what the walkers were doing and the actions of the public. One woman reads a newspaper article about the walkers and decides to leave her husband and move to California, all thanks to the walkers. (Huh? What?)

On the plus side, this novel does a great job at touting the necessity for the bonds of friendship and of womanhood. Everyone needs support of some form or another to make it through hard times. These 8 women are there for one another through thick and thin, and will stay that way for as long as possible.

Overall, not a bad book about friendship. A very quick and easy read.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing elegant about this
Review: The description on the back cover sounded so good that I couldn't wait to read it. I was turned off right away by a bunch of woman complaining about how badly life and particularly men had treated them. The rest of the book was more of the same - lots of "poor me" and wallowing in self pity. I did not find any of the characters likeable or endearing even though we were constanly told how wonderful and special they were.

I didn't find the writing particularly good and I thought it ridiculous that the whole world would be moved by a bunch of woman abandoning their lives to walk. This is definitely a book to miss.