The River King

Rating:
Summary: River of Sorrows!
Review: Alice Hoffman is a wonderful writer known for her books filled with magical realism, similar to authors like Isabel Allende (House of Spirits) and Laura Esquivel(Like Water for Chocolate). This author also write the book Practical Magic which was made into a movie starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman.

And while Alice Hoffman's latest book, The River King, is also filled with imagery and a writer's vivid imagination, as a reader I felt as though something went wrong with this book. And I'm stil not sure what happened since I have always enjoye dHogfman's books mreo than other authors'.

The River King takes place at a boarding school where previously all sorts of strange things have happened. It is a classic tale of the haves and the have nots as students from various backgrounds assmeble the first day. One motherless young man is sent by his father to try and make his way in the world while a young woman,a scholarship student, feels very out of place. The teachers have made their own alliances while the old timers reminisce about the way things use to be. And rounding out the characters are the townspoeple clearly though to be the have nots and yest the ones who are keepers of the Haddan School secrets.

What a young man is found floating in the river, an investigation begins to see, if in fact, he killed himself by drowning or if he was killed. With a cast of interesting and eccentric charcters, I thought this book would have been as good as some of Hoffman's other titles. Unfortunately, nothing in this book really grabbed me or caused me to gulp it down. Also, the topic wasn't that new or or presented in a fresh manner that I finsihed it with that feeling that I was sad it ended.Ultimately I was left disappointed in the plot and outcome.

If you're interested in reading Hoffman books which will captivate you then do read Turtle Moon, Practical Magic or Local Girls. These titles are among the very best I've read from her so far. And luckily, I still have quite a few titles left to read.

Rating:
Summary: Incredible and Moving
Review: Maybe it's my age and maybe it's Alice Hoffman, but I continue to be deeply moved by her stories as they stay with me long after I've read the last page, closed the book, logged its title into my book list and found a proper place for it on one of my shelves. When I read a book by Alice Hoffman I am transported into the world of which she writes. THE RIVER KING was no exception. I could smell the roses that grew on the grounds of the Haddan School, feel the pain of Gus and Carlin, of Betsy and Abel, of Helen Davis and her false love. When you read an Alice Hoffman novel you are never left behind. Her words invite you into the story and as you settle comfortably into place you are amazed and dismayed when you realize there are only a few pages left to read. THE RIVER KING is magical in a way only Alice Hoffman can create magic. Her ability to spin a tale of love and mystery and sadness and joy is unmatched.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining... could've been more satisrying
Review: This book is uneven. I plan to read more of Alice Hoffman's books, and I thoroughly enjoyed this (I listened to it on tape). But the flaws that came to the surface (to use an appropriate metaphor) almost overrode the pleasure.

Slightly reminiscent of The Secret History, The River King deals with undercurrents in and around a small New England prep school. As two of the central characters, Carlin and Gus, meet in their first year at the school, we are intrigued by the background of the school and the pressure that's placed on them both to fit into the student body. Hazing pranks and ordeals that turn deadly result in tragic death, which is investigated by a local cop who carries a lot of baggage of his own. His involvement with a teacher at the school further complicates the story and his life. Magical realism - a whiff of the supernatural - informs the book and the behavior of the characters that knew or want to know about the victim's death.

The Good
- Alice Hoffman's writing style and dialog works - a small example are some of the sentences that come out of Eric (Betsy's fiance)'s mouth. We know pretty early on that he's a soulless academic, totally wrong for her.
- The magical elements are wonderfully portrayed, even if they don't exactly go anywhere. What's the point of all the minnows? And the sightings of all of the dark shadows and figures in the photographs?
- The death of one of the minor characters is depicted wondefully and is extremely moving. This passage is a tour de force of evocative writing.
- The symmetry and contrast of the love stories: Carlin and Gus, Betsy and Abel, and others.
- Things like the cat and its peripheral role in illustrating Harry's character. (But can we get over the rose motif? Please?).

The Bad
- This plot doesn't resolve as so much end. The really bad guy is let off the hook, for one, but in general, the cruelty and insensitivity of some of the surrounding characters in charge (Bob Thomas, the head of the school, Eric, the house parent at Chalk House) is never brought home to them or to anyone else. As a result, one is left with a bad taste in one's mouth. It's not always necessary for justice to be done, but at least give us some dramatic irony when it's denied.
- Back to the plot and the exposition near the end: what possibilities there were for the investigation to meet up with either a fortuitous chain of evidence, or, better yet, a conspiracy member who turns! What drama was shortchanged by the decision to merely lay out the facts of the victim's final night alive in narrative style, rather than to have it be discovered, deduced, or confessed to. It's as if at some point, Ms. Hoffman had been planning to call P.D. James, Elizabeth George, or another expert murder mystery writer, on how to get the facts out in the open (like there was any mystery in the first place) and couldn't find anyone to consult with. As it is, what curiousity we have isn't so much satisfied as grudgingly allowed to be answered - it's not far from "Oh, by the way, here's how the victim died". (It's not quite on the same order as waking up and finding it had all been a dream but has a bit of the same downer effect).
- The chronology in the story was hard to reconcile with the pace. Things seem to happen all at once, then a few weeks go by, then another flurry of events, then another few weeks ...
- Finally, I've never read a book that actually had too much back story, but if anything, this is it. There are so many allusions to Abel (the cop)'s brother's death, the suicide of a faculty member's wife a long time ago, and Abel's background as a womanizer, that, upon smelling one of these digressions coming, one wants to duck and shout,"You're losing the plot here!"

In the end, I'm interested in reading more by this author. I really like her style, characterization, and use of imagery; this latter makes it almost immaterial whether there are supernatural elements at play. In contrast to another reviewer, I would love to see this as a movie, although the amount of reframing and just plain major surgery that would be necessary would make it almost unrecognizable. I'm pretty sure Alice Hoffman wouldn't be pleased with the result. But there are excellent possibilities for this in the right hands.

Rating:
Summary: As always, Hoffman delivers magic!
Review:

To truly experience Alice Hoffman's work, you need the ability to suspend all rational thought for a bit. Hoffman's tales are conjured with both a writer's voice and a magician's wand. She is never boring.

In THE RIVER KING, Ms. Hoffman tells the story of a small town in Massachusetts...she divides the town into the haves and the have nots. An elite private school adds to the class distinctions.

When one of Haddan School's students is found drowned in the troubled Haddan River, city and students alike are effected.

Haddan School's own troubled past becomes part of Hoffman's tapestry. The fragrance of roses appears in the middle of winter. Fish appear out of nowhere. The dead boy's image shows up in photographs. Bees swarm in October. Mysterious illness strikes students. No one rests until the mystery is solved.

THE RIVER KING is one of Hoffman's best efforts. It is not light, easy, summertime reading. It is to be savored and will linger with you long after you've finished. Like Hoffman's past work, some mysteries are solved. Some will never be.

That's what it's like to read a good Alice Hoffman story.

Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Rose Hips and Silver Fish
Review: This was a great book! It takes place in the small town of Haddan, Massachusetts, and it is the tale of small-town secrets, innocence, guilt, and the unspeakable crimes committed by a group of rich,upper-crust boarding school boys. Of course there are a few ghosts thrown in for good measure, because where would a small New England town be without its requisite ghost stories? The characters were very interesting, and I liked the way the story was told from the point of view of many, rather than one. One of the things that I liked best about the book was its rich descriptive language, especially that of the geographical area. I could hear the chirping of the crickets in the summer night, smell the loamy dampness of the river's soil, and see the lush green fiddleheads growing by the riverbanks as Alice Hoffman described it in her story. I grew up in rural, small-town New England, and reading her descriptions made me yearn to go back there again. I have read other Alice Hoffman novels, including "Practical Magic," and this was even better in my opinion. I also thought this would make a great movie. Couldn't you just see Aidan Quinn playing the blue-eyed Abel Grey? I highly recommend this book to everyone out there. I think you will like it. It's wicked awesome!

Rating:
Summary: A Pleasurable Read
Review: The River King, by Alice Hoffman is a well-rounded book. There is the right amount of sentiment, tragedy, and suspense to balance the plot and the overall experience of the book. While this particular work does not excel in any of these categories, it is a nice combination.
It is set around the late 1990's at a private high school in the small town of Haddan, Massachusetts. The main story follows the lives of an incoming freshman, a new photography teacher, and a local police officer. Everything plays out in a continuous cycle of events that intertwine and include the past and the present.
While The River King may not be the intellectual thriller of Conrad, or have the wildly imaginative characters like in Faulkner, it is good writing for our day and age. The themes are modern and the story is life-like. I would recommend it as a good book to read for pleasure.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This book missed the mark for me. I did read it, but I did not find it necessarily engaging. I think that this may have been targeted for a younger audience. It was dark in an odd way - not like Practical Magic, however. I felt a little cheated when I finished the book - I did not have that 'good' feeling that comes after having read a 'good' book.

I do appreciate Alice Hoffman's talent, but I did not feel this book showcased it as well as others have. I much preferred A Probable Future.

Rating:
Summary: Maybe she's a great writer, but...
Review: I'm unfamiliar with Alice Hoffman's other work, but if this book is indicative of her talent, I'm inclined to remain that way. I have a tendency to continue reading books I dislike, just because I don't like to quit things halfway through, so I kept on reading well past the point I had begun to wonder "why am I reading this?". The plot is as worn as an old shoe and the reader must continually endure schmaltzy references to the "mysterious wafting scent of roses" indicating - what? A ghostly indication of the character's victimhood? As if we didn't recognize this on our own? The characters seem to have been ripped straight out of a melodrama, complete with fainting spells and evil sneers. And the ending is just halfhearted. There's sure to be a movie, where at least the only wafting odor will be that of popcorn.

Rating:
Summary: move over Practical Magic
Review: it is my belief that this is Alice Hoffman's best work, her writing is simply beautiful from beginning to END! this is the first novel of her's that i completely enjoyed, though i loved the movie Practical Magic the novel was severely lacking and her others i cannot seem to get into, but this novel pulled me and wouldn't let go, i loved the character of Able Grey and the whole situation built up around him and his mysterious family history, and how could u not feel sorry for the character of Gus and just want to love that poor teenage boy who couldn't seem to fit in...all and all it is a wonderful and beautiful book! go read it!

Rating:
Summary: A disappointment
Review: I had a hard time getting through this. I will usually give any book a good long time to kick in and hook my interest, but The River King just never did. Worse, it bored me to tears....when it didn't have me squinting at the pages, saying, "What?" To put it succinctly, this was one of the most bizarre and puzzling books I have ever read. The characters practically define the term "one-dimensional"; I never understood or cared about any of them - once I figured out who they were in relation to one another that is. They did not fit, alone or together with one another. As a matter of fact, everything in this book, from the plot (or lack of one) to the setting, from the dialog to the development was jerky, disjointed and malformed. What a waste of time!