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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
I think the protagonist was supposed to be sympathetic, but he was merely pathetic. The women were not well flesh-out characters.
Overall, I did enjoy this book though I would not read it again. It is the story of a man with four wives and how, even with the wives and many kids, he is not happy. It focuses on him and one of the kids mostly but does also delve into the wives a bit. To me it shows how when you appear to have everything, you can still be very unhappy. When you are always searching for something better, you cannot enjoy or appreciate what you have.
50 pages in, almost 3 dozen people in the family, and I haven't found one I like even a little bit yet. Chucking this one.
I had recently really gotten in to watching Sister Wives on TLC with my roommates so I new I had to read this one when I came across it at barnes and noble. It was actually an awesome read and interesting look into a community that seems so sure of their ways and faith. I loved that it was told from many different angles of the main characters and the subtle things such as the radioactivity woven into the plot. I would definitely recommend this as an intense new twist on a novel of the American family.
I got distracted by other reading and don't seem to have the motivation to return to this one. I didn't feel any real empathy for the characters, perhaps because I can't find a way to relate to a polygamous way of life?
I read the entire book while on a 5 day vacation. I couldn't put it down. It's a great story. Sort of has a Tom Robbins feel. Very unexpected things keep happening. Loved it.
I picked it up because I couldn't walk past the title. I mean, "The Lonely Polygamist"? Brilliant title.
I greatly enjoyed this book. I think the group of characters that narrated different chapters were a great combination, and showed insights into the different roles and perspectives of a polygamist family. It was also written really well, and I was sucked in by the characters. All in all, I was engrossed from when I read the title in a bookstore.
I greatly enjoyed this book. I think the group of characters that narrated different chapters were a great combination, and showed insights into the different roles and perspectives of a polygamist family. It was also written really well, and I was sucked in by the characters. All in all, I was engrossed from when I read the title in a bookstore.
This is really somewhere between a 2 and 3-star for me. I just could not make this book work for me, although it's hard to express how. I think there's a solid 2-300 page book in here, but the author seemed to feel the need to turn it into a great big American Novel a la Franzen, Irving, et al, and in doing so added (or neglected to trim) a lot of fat - unnecessary backstory, shifting perspectives, overwrought metaphors, nuclear fallout? - that just made the whole thing, to me, seem bloated and scattered. Udall also has a habit of refusing to let the reader make any leaps or guesses of his own, feeling the need to spell out every single character's motivations and emotions the entire way ("x happened to Rusty, which made him feel y, so he did z").
It's easy to say this, of course, and I was resisting it the entire way, but I would recommend a few seasons of Big Love over The Lonely Polygamist any day.
It's easy to say this, of course, and I was resisting it the entire way, but I would recommend a few seasons of Big Love over The Lonely Polygamist any day.
wow - great characters, well written, intriguing plot twists. There are a few things I can't believe, but I don't want to spoil it. Definitely a great read (I read it on CD and I thought the voice was great).