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leahreadsalot's review against another edition
2.0
Here's what I remember about this one: DEPRESSING.
proseandpostre's review against another edition
5.0
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!
esmemazzeo's review against another edition
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
3.25
ascoular's review against another edition
4.0
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.
cebolla's review against another edition
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
2.75
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.
marie_gg's review against another edition
3.0
dark story about a woman with troubled childhood and marriage--very sad...
jamieh2024's review against another edition
4.0
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.
solaana's review
4.0
Somewhere in this book is the most visceral literary depiction of falling in love I've ever read in my life.
novelesque_life's review against another edition
3.0
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.