Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
Here's what I remember about this one: DEPRESSING.
Could not put this book down!! Hamilton's style was unlike anything I've read before. Can't wait to read 'A Map Of The World'. Thanks Oprah!
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Oprah’s book club pick in November 1996! My fiancé’s mom mailed me this book (she rarely mails me books and when she does, they’re GOOD) and I’m glad she did.
dark
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm not sure how to feel about this book. I was transfixed for the first 50 or so pages by both the story and the style of writing. It was like reading the diary of a 12 year old; not very challenging, but amusing and slightly insightful. Then the narrator gets older (and older) and continues to write like a 12 year old. After a while the constant changes in tenses and dumb stuff she says starts to get annoying. I kept wondering if anything was going to happen, if any of the characters were gonna make me feel anything. Eventually, with about 35 pages left, something happens that made it interesting again for a few pages. Then it goes right back to boring.
The Book of Ruth won awards, so I guess some people thought it was good. It wasn't the worst way to pass a couple of days while I was at home sick with covid, but my life would have been perfectly fine without ever having picked it up.
The Book of Ruth won awards, so I guess some people thought it was good. It wasn't the worst way to pass a couple of days while I was at home sick with covid, but my life would have been perfectly fine without ever having picked it up.
dark story about a woman with troubled childhood and marriage--very sad...
Somewhere in this book is the most visceral literary depiction of falling in love I've ever read in my life.
3 STARS
"Author Jane Hamilton leads us through the arid life of Ruth Grey, who extracts what small pleasures and graces she can from a tiny Illinois town and the broken people who inhabit it. Ruth's prime tormentor is her mother May, whose husband died in World War II and took her future with him. More poor familial luck has given Ruth a brother who is a math prodigy; Matt sucks up any stray attention like a black hole. Ruth is left to survive on her own resources, which are meager. She struggles along, subsisting on crumbs of affection meted out by her Aunt Sid and, later, her screwed-up husband Ruby. Hamilton has perfect pitch. So perfect that you wince with pain for confused but fundamentally good Ruth as she walks a dead-end path. The book ends with the prospect of redemption, thank goodness--but the tale is nevertheless much more bitter than sweet." (From Amazon)
A well written novel.
"Author Jane Hamilton leads us through the arid life of Ruth Grey, who extracts what small pleasures and graces she can from a tiny Illinois town and the broken people who inhabit it. Ruth's prime tormentor is her mother May, whose husband died in World War II and took her future with him. More poor familial luck has given Ruth a brother who is a math prodigy; Matt sucks up any stray attention like a black hole. Ruth is left to survive on her own resources, which are meager. She struggles along, subsisting on crumbs of affection meted out by her Aunt Sid and, later, her screwed-up husband Ruby. Hamilton has perfect pitch. So perfect that you wince with pain for confused but fundamentally good Ruth as she walks a dead-end path. The book ends with the prospect of redemption, thank goodness--but the tale is nevertheless much more bitter than sweet." (From Amazon)
A well written novel.
I found this book to be a very depressing view of life - but very well-written. The narrator's voice holds true throughout and the characters are so well-developed that the reader can easily predict their responses to situations. I'll try another book by this author and hope for something a bit more uplifting.