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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
this is a re-read. I've read this book more than once, and remember loving it, but can't remember a thing about it. That's the beauty of a poor memory...books and movies are new to me every time!
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Pretty grim and all-around unpleasant, from the characters themselves to the plodding plot to the end that makes you want those hours of your life back. Skip if prompted.
Wow...thats all I can say. Well, not quite ;) The atmosphere was oppressive in this book. Not that that is a bad thing. It made me feel just as trapped as young Ruth in the story of her life.
Which, in turn, made me identify with what this nightmare of a life had to be like for her. This book is beautifully written but for those more sensitive to atmosphere be warned...stock up on anti-depressants;-) 'cause you are in for a heck of a ride.
Which, in turn, made me identify with what this nightmare of a life had to be like for her. This book is beautifully written but for those more sensitive to atmosphere be warned...stock up on anti-depressants;-) 'cause you are in for a heck of a ride.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This book was interesting. The figures of speech were so detailed, and the narrator had such interesting descriptions. The ending is what really got me
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is Jane Hamilton's first novel and it is a whopper. It's the story of a small-town girl and her struggles with growing up with a mother who's lost any compassion or sweetness and a brother she can't relate to. This girl, Ruth, despite an intelligence that she's unaware of and so is everyone else, ends up marrying a dangerous, drug-riddled fellow. Throughout the story, which lags at times in Ruth's simple cadence, there are bits of foreshadowing of some life-changing, terrible day. So you keep reading through 300 pages and the book's nearly finished and then it's there, and you're suprised and shocked and saddened even though you knew this terrible day was coming. It doesn't exactly sneak up on you, this moment, but it does kind of knock you out.
Hamilton, as with later books including A Map of The World, is good at writing about terrible things, trials of the soul. A drowned child in that case. I won't spoil this one for you.
It's worth a read because it takes you into a life you'd probably never experience or imagine, and the language is beautiful.
Hamilton, as with later books including A Map of The World, is good at writing about terrible things, trials of the soul. A drowned child in that case. I won't spoil this one for you.
It's worth a read because it takes you into a life you'd probably never experience or imagine, and the language is beautiful.
Could not get into this book so I did not finish reading it. Actually I did not even make it through 1/4th of the book. I used to hate not finishing a book, but I have a very long list of other books that I'm anxious to read, so I had to cut this one loose.