Rating: 
Summary: A Chance encounter you'll remember.
Review: David James Duncan is a Montana writer. I arrived at THE BROTHERS K after first reading his RIVER WHY (1988) and MY STORY AS TOLD BY WATER (2001). "I only know that the one thing, perhaps the only thing we can always be certain of," one of Duncan's unforgettable characters observes in THE BROTHERS K, "is that our lives will turn out very differently, and much more darkly, than most of us ever dream as children" (p. 214). Grandawma's insight maps the course of Duncan's poignant novel, which is perhaps similar to Dostoevsky's 1880 Russian classic only in its epic length (645 pages), and in its larger themes of war and peace, crime and punishment, and love, family and death that run through it. Okay, and there's also a goat named "Chekov."Set mostly in Camas, Washington, Duncan's poignant novel follows the memorable Chance family through three decades, the 1950s through the 1970s, and around the world to Vietnam, Canada, and India. Along the way, the Chance siblings (four precocious brothers and their twin sisters) establish their independence from their parents, Papa Hugh, a talented bush-league pitcher with a toe for a thumb, and Mama Laura, a devout Adventist with a painful secret in her past. Through Kincaid Chance's narrative, we also follow the lives of his brothers, Everett, a draft dodger, Peter, "a scholar monk" (p. 414), and Irwin, a gentle, Christian foot soldier. At one point in the novel, Kincaid finds his family rallying together, "headed for an insane asylum in California. We looked more as if we'd escaped from one. But in the pouring gray rain, I felt clarity. With the war still raging, I felt at peace. With Papa in despair, Everett in prison and Irwin in the asylum, I felt release. I didn't understand my feelings, didn't even desire them, really, but they kept filling me so full that my eyes began to well" (p. 564). THE BROTHERS K is a novel about crash landing in a good place (p. 398), and a novel you won't soon forget. G. Merritt
Rating: 
Summary: Leave it to Chance
Review: Half way through book two I became conscious of the fact that I was reading what would from that point on become my favorite book of all time. I have recommended this book to anyone I know with a soul and/or a sense of humor. The one downfall of this book is that it's only 700 pages.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful and very worth reading again and again!
Review: My only complaint is that it ended!! I am awaiting giving this book to my daughter in a week and have spoken about it and recommended it to many....even before I finished it! This is truly a book to save and think about for a long, long time. I hope many people pick it up and enjoy it as much as I did.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: A friend recommended the book to me earlier this year and it has since become one of my favorite books and one I plan to read again sometime in the near future. Duncan's creativity and writing ability makes him one of the great authors of the past few years. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading and a great story.
Rating:
Summary: From my perspective
Review: Essentially, every 6 months or so since Spring of '94 I find myself on the holiest of missions. In search of Mr. Duncan's newest creation. Not since Arruba and the Spring of '94 have I been moved by anything close to Duncan's testimonial on America and its character. The Brothers K, one of maybe six books published in English residing in Curacao's airport duty free was a last minute purchase between flights. It would be nice to say 'the Fates' intervened, but more likely, I got lucky. Along with almost every other review I can only say READ THIS BOOK and you will not regret it and maybe even (if only for a little while) be changed by it.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful, complex and well written
Review: The Brothers K was my first Duncan book, and I was very pleasantly surprised. The book was a powerful, complex story of a family whose love wasn't always easy and wasn't without a great deal of complexity. I felt the book dragged a bit towards the middle, but the ending was well worth it, as I was crying my eyes out. An exceptional read.
Rating:
Summary: The best book I've ever read
Review: I am writing this review solely because I want people to hear about this book. It is absolutely amazing and I want everyone I know to read it. Whenever someone asks me what it's about, I falter because it covers so much of American ideals and history. It is an amazing character novel that makes you want to meet everyone in it from the protagonist down to the Sunday school teacher. Duncan depicts everyone with such detail. The first time I read this book I couldn't put it down and I've had the same experience after reading it three more times. There is so much to it that you'll never be satisfied. When my friend recommended this book to me he said these words, "This guy (Duncan) writes with so much passion. there are characters in here that say everything you ever wish you could have said." He's right. This book is perfect and I dare anyone to find flaws with it. If you've ever wanted to know exactly what to say and when to say it, you should read this book. Not only will it increase your desire, but it will satiate it. READ THIS BOOK!!! it's so good
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: Duncan's novel "The Brothers K" is a masterpiece that takes the reader into a family's trip in time. The authors come alive to the point that you miss them when finished reading. A wonderfully written novel and very thought provoking. Duncan is a genius.
Rating:
Summary: Baseball and Life Woven into Sublime Tapestry
Review: I wish teenagers (and of course adults) across the country were reading this book, which so adroitly weaves together the hilarity, cruelty, and desperate poignancy of life--families, romance, sports, war, failure, and what constitutes the meaning of success as a human being. (By the way, you don't have to be a baseball fan to love this book. Like the best novels, it is universal.) In it you can measure yourself, your own family, your own life and come away filled with a sense of Grace. Thank you David James Duncan.
Rating:
Summary: Papa toe
Review: What a great book! It grabs you from the beginning and never lets go. It will be of special interest to baseball lovers, or anyone born in the early fifties. A very witty book. Very well developed characters, a great book for book clubs.
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