The Sight of the Stars

Rating:
Summary: Like reading Cliff's Notes
Review: Reading The Sight of the Stars was like reading the Cliff's Notes of an epic novel. This story could have been great. It could have tugged at hearts and been movie material. Instead, this was like reading the outline. Paragraphs spanned weeks or months. The characters were plain, unfortunate, and sadly lacking in personality. Sorry... I wanted to like it.

Rating:
Summary: What a disappointment!!
Review: There are so many time-frame discrepancies in this book. She refers to a guidance counselor in the high school. It's 1907 for Heaven's sake - no guidance counselors back then! Most people didn't even earn a high school diploma! Author also speaks of bio-chemistry. In 1912, it would have been just plain chemistry. The sons in this book referred to their father as "Pa", but called their mother "Mom". Surely she would have been either Mother or Ma. Mom is a much more recent name. And she speaks of people taking accounting classes. It would have been bookkeeping back then. These concepts were so distracting to this reader. Belva Plain's writing has deteriorated with every book since her first terrific "Evergreen". Don't bother to buy this book. Borrow it from your local library, if you feel the need to read it at all. Such a disappointment!!!

Rating:
Summary: One of Belva Plain's Best
Review: This was a wonderful book to read, and follow the charactors through the beginning of the 20th century to the near end. The book was engaging, and well written. Plain missed the mark with the blackmail story with the brother Leo, which made for a confusing ending. All in All, it was one of her better works.

Rating:
Summary: Great Disappointment
Review: What can any reader say about an author who hit big with her first book Evergreen during the 1970's. The story of a young immigrant who goes to work at the home of a wealthy family and becomes involved with the dashing son, also gave birth to several other books in a series focusing on these two eventual families. Evergreen was also made into a television movie with Armand Assante and Lesley Anne Warren which I still enjoy watching. To say that I loved and continue to love the book , Evergreen, is an understatement and so with each book that Belva Plain wrote I was first on line to buy a copy. But in the succeeding years her books which took place during present day and grappled with many of the ills of our society like infidelity, embezzlement and betrayal, failed to move or interest me and most likely the last book I will read by this author.

The story of a man that goes from rags to riches in a retail operation beginning in the early 1900's, marries the girl of his dreams and has many children and grandchildren has certainly been told before and in my opinion better in books like As the Crow Flies by Jeffery Archer and A Woman of Substance. Plain fails to deliver memorable characters or anything else of much value in this book I'm afraid to say. Despite a rather odd brother and historical events like WWI and the Depression plus a dark secret about the main character's failed to interest me more than a ho hum and ultimately led me to rate this book as low as I did. In addition I wondered why errors like words which were never used in this time period weren't caught during editing .It was almost as if this book took place now and the author simply used the early years to create a sense of a generational novel.

Perhaps once cherished author lie Belva Plain should know "when to hold them and certainly when to fold them. I keep hoping Belva Plain' newest books will be as good as her first one. Regrettably this may be the last time I will read one of Belva Plain's new books preferring to revisit Anna and Paul Werner in Evergreen instead.

Rating:
Summary: Wishing for Another EVERGREEN!
Review: What can any reader say about an author who hit big with her first book Evergreen during the 1970's. The story of a young immigrant who goes to work at the home of a wealthy family and becomes involved with the dashing son, also gave birth to several other books in a series focusing on these two eventual families. Evergreen was also made into a television movie with Armand Assante and Lesley Anne Warren which I still enjoy watching. To say that I loved and continue to love the book , Evergreen, is an understatement and so with each book that Belva Plain wrote I was first on line to buy a copy. But in the succeeding years her books which took place during present day and grappled with many of the ills of our society like infidelity, embezzlement and betrayal, failed to move or interest me and most likely the last book I will read by this author.

The story of a man that goes from rags to riches in a retail operation beginning in the early 1900's, marries the girl of his dreams and has many children and grandchildren has certainly been told before and in my opinion better in books like As the Crow Flies by Jeffery Archer and A Woman of Substance. Plain fails to deliver memorable characters or anything else of much value in this book I'm afraid to say. Despite a rather odd brother and historical events like WWI and the Depression plus a dark secret about the main character's failed to interest me more than a ho hum and ultimately led me to rate this book as low as I did. In addition I wondered why errors like words which were never used in this time period weren't caught during editing .It was almost as if this book took place now and the author simply used the early years to create a sense of a generational novel.

Perhaps once cherished author lie Belva Plain should know "when to hold them and certainly when to fold them. I keep hoping Belva Plain' newest books will be as good as her first one. Regrettably this may be the last time I will read one of Belva Plain's new books preferring to revisit Anna and Paul Werner in Evergreen instead.