Cavedweller

Rating:
Summary: Engrossing but corny.
Review: Dorothy Allison has been a favorite of mine for nearly a decade, so I was thrilled to read Cavedweller. I found myself hooked into the story and felt transported at times to this sleepy town in Georgia, but I couldn't completely give myself over to the story. The characters were not too far off of the outrageous creations of V.C. Andrews (!). A good summer read, but the characters and situations I encountered in Cavedweller seemed like they had been lifted from the sad pages of a Nashville honkytonk songwriter. Unfortunately, Cissy, Dehlia, and the rest will not sing on in my memory as those in Bastard out of Carolina still do.

Rating:
Summary: Well, at least I finished it...
Review: I was disappointed with this book. I bought it solely on a whim after reading good reviews about it on amazon.com, and I have to say that I don't really agree with most of the reviewers. I not only COULD put it down, I had to force myself to finish it so as not to feel like I had wasted my money. I thought Cissy was an empty character, as was Amanda. Dede was the most interesting to read about, though she was fairly predictable. The mother (geez, I just finished it 3 days ago and I've already forgotten the character's NAME) could and should have been given the chance to expound on herself a little more. Too many unanswered questions whirling around her. And, I dunno, the whole cave thing just bored me. Maybe I just missed the whole point of this book.

Rating:
Summary: The best book that I have ever read!
Review: After starting this book i could not put it down. I carried it every place I went just so I could read it every chance I got. All the characters were truly realistic and I was fasinated how Dorthy Allison was able to make this bitter characters come alive without turning it into a sappy fairy tale! A great example of twenty century litature.

Rating:
Summary: An absorbing and emotional story...
Review: I agree with most other reviewers that Cavedweller was not as good as Bastard Out of Carolina. But Bastard Out of Carolina was, quite simply, an awesome book. I think that Cavedweller is definitely worth reading. The characters were wonderfully vivid and the story was absorbing. Dorothy Allison is a great story-teller and paints her characters' emotions very well.

Rating:
Summary: Great Characters! And a book that passes the test of time.
Review: I like to wait a while after I've read a book to review it -- see how much I remember over time. If the book still moves me six months later, then that book goes on my "favorite books" list. This is definitely one of those books! The characters are so full, so human, and so strong in uniquely flawed and believable ways. They remain alive for me, inspiring me and making me laugh time and again. I don't have one criticism of this book. I loved it through and through.

Rating:
Summary: So what if it seems to break in half as two stories.
Review: I am a sucker for a great opening and Allison hooks me completely with that first paragraph. I loved how manic the pace is to return home to her daughters. The cave metaphor takes a while to work and yet it all seems to fit even though it seems a bit disjointed.

Rating:
Summary: Kept me hooked
Review: Even though the metaphor and imagery of the cave may seem overdone...I still thought it was really interesting. And even though I wanted to get to know some of the characters more (esp. Rosemary who was just completely shoved in, shoved out, & shoved in again) and even though I thought some of it was a little cheesy, I still think Dorothy Allison is a gifted writer and took a complex situation and made it emotional and real. I was hooked, I've never read a book of such length so fast before.

Rating:
Summary: um, delia? where are you?
Review: Have you ever been at a party and struck up a conversation with a stranger, who proceeds to tell you something intensely personal, possibly even his or her whole sad life story? The end result, of course, is that you don't know this person any better than you did before. You have learned a lot of personal details, but the individual remains a complete stranger. This is CAVEDWELLER in a nutshell. All these characters, all these details...but who are these people? For Christ's sake, make me care about them! No such luck. Still, I'm looking forward to D. Allison's next book. After all, BASTARD OUT OF CAROLINA was in no way a fluke.

Rating:
Summary: Close but no cigar
Review: I agree with the comments about editing by other reviewers. I found it very disturbing that I dropped $20.00 for this book and there were such blatant editing (or lack thereof) errors. Clint called Cliff, Cissy called Cindy. Penguin books should be ashamed of themselves. The story was intriguing, but didn't seem to go anywhere. As a first draft, I would be impressed. As a big fan of "Bastard Out of Carolina" I'm not so much disappointed in Allison but in her editors.

Rating:
Summary: Mature family reintegration story.
Review: Fascinating and involving novel of a mother's return to normalcy via rebuilding her family. Characters are so real you can touch them and fall in love with them. After a fantastic first half, the momentum fizzles and becomes a cross between Good Housekeeping and Tom Sawyer. "Lost in a cave adventure" is out of place here. But after that the plot tightens agains and the result is a great but curiously flawed novel by a brilliant author who needs a sterner editor.