Customer Reviews

Alive Day: A Story of Love and Loyalty

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Alive Day" is a feel good read about the loss of purpose, identity and hope that overwhelms people who have sustained severe, life changing injuries, and the healing that faith and committed relationships can facilitate. Published by the Thomas Nelson Company, a gamut of complex socio-political issues is addressed in a way that is too soft, inoffensive and tidy to challenge the reader significantly. The entire incident with Dr. Craig is a clumsy moral statement that added little to the story. The book also lost points with its stereotyped characters and the essentially predictable, fantasy-like resolution. Showing how the power of hope and goodness can transcend despair and darkness is of the greatest value when it invites people outside of their comfort zone. I am not certain that this does.

I really wanted to like Alive Day. The story is solid and the intentions of the morals are so genuine and strong and the story is furthermore written by blind man. Nevertheless, I cannot, in all honesty, say I liked reading the book or that the writing style was very agreeable. The message in the book - of loving oneself even if there are faults within us - is important, and the call to arms to support our troops and our veterans is very noble. Still, one can't help but lament the fact that the writing is choppy, trite, and very cumbersome at times.

I'm very sorry to have to submit a harsh review when it's abundantly clear the author is trying to do something so useful and honorable. But this book delivers on no levels.

To begin with, the writing is atrocious. The dialogue, pacing, tone...basically everything you learned about in 9th grade English class are all a complete mess (and would have probably earned a C+ in that class). It's actually sort of insultingly bad. It's as if the author read a pamphlet on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Veterans and then tried to morph it into a novel. The dialogue is absurd, the events completely unbelievable.

The book's cover is deceptive, as well. I chose to read this book based on the twin enticements of the cover photo and subtitle, as well as the Betty White endorsement. In fact, though, the dog is barely a character at all. So if you're an animal book lover, don't be tricked -- give this one a miss.

Several of the characters are sympathetic but by and large they're stock characters with no depth.

Sorry this book wasn't better. The soldiers who suffer from these issues deserve better representation in fiction.

This is a long question:
How can I be so hard-hearted to offer just one star to a well-intentioned book that takes on issues surrounding combat-wounded veterans and respect for the disabled...as it asks us to look past what obviously separates us so that we can find what truly connects us?

Here's how:
In "Alive Day", Tom Sullivan and Betty White (although the true extent of the collaboration is unclear) have given us a work of fiction populated by cardboard cut-out, central-casting characters. Nobody in this book does anything that surprises us. The dialog is uncomfortably stilted; conversations are often extended op-ed pieces about current events and social issues clearly weighing on the minds of the authors rather than the souls of the fictional characters. While these monologues may indeed address important modern problems, they don't present themselves as believable conversations between actual people.

The book also contains fundamental errors that further diminish its ability to engage realistically. At one point, the wounded Marine at the center of the story talks about his "tactile commander" while on patrol in Iraq. Presumably his direct superior he was talking about was not about being touchy-feely and offering group hugs at work, and instead was a "tactical commander"...which makes far more sense.

John Lennon said it best: "one thing you can't hide is when you're crippled inside". The intent of this book is clearly noble as it takes on issues of race and ability. But as a work of fiction, it's the paperback equivalent of a Hallmark movie, and it's badly crippled by every component. The people (and the dog!) are too nice and wonderfully unflawed. The outcome could not have been more visible from the start if it had been composed in a neon sign. All of the conflicts are contrived, and the plot diluted by the frequent injection of unabashed commentary that clearly is the voice of the author, and not that of any of the characters.

This simply is not good fiction. When the outcome is never in doubt, when characters offer no surprises...it just isn't a very interesting read. The underlying message here may have been better addressed in a work of non-fiction essays that did not have to pretend to be a novel.

Alive Day is not about a dog. Alive Day is not about a blind man learning to adjust to life and love his guide dog. Alive Day is about a rehabilitated blind man Brenden Mcarthy helping a marine Antwone Carver out of his depression after losing his legs in Iraq.

That's not what I was expecting. Had I known that that was the main focus of this book, I probably would have passed. Also, judging from the cover and the sub-title "when your best friend is your second chance" it seems slightly misleading. (I received an advanced copy and I just noticed that the sub-title has been changed to; "a story of love and loyalty") This is still an O.K. book though, it's just like some other reviewers have pointed out, a little too sweet. It's true, they're right, these people are way too "perfect", they tell everyone they know how they love them at least 20 times a day. This can become repetitive after a while. Along with the mantra, love conquers everything; love is the most important thing in this world. Another thing is that everything that happens in the book is extremely predictable right down to the end.

But, Tom Sullivan is still a good writer, so it still feels plausible, yet overdone. The best parts in this book are when Nelson comes in; Sullivan is very good at conveying dog behavior onto paper. If you're looking for a story more along the lines of what I expected this to be, then check out the book that preceded this, "Together - A Story of Shared Vision". That book chronicles the time when Brenden lost his sight and first found his dog Nelson.

However, if the subject of this book and a feel-good ending is what you're looking for, then you've definitely found it here, mildly recommended.

Mr. Sullivan has a marvelous story to tell, and this book serves a very important purpose in that it bridges an understanding for non-blind people of the experiences of the blind and the adaptations that they make, physically, spiritually and psychologically. It also makes people aware of the intricacies that go into the training of guide dogs, and of just how amazingly much they are able to learn and be of great service.

And then there is the theme of the rehabilitation, which nearly failed, of a physically traumatized marine injured in the Iraq War. And through this I for one learned about the role athletics play (in this instance, basketball) in such recovery, and the scope of wheelchair basketball on a national level, and even the Paralympics on the U.S. and international levels. I admit I had little knowledge of either.

Another interesting feature for me, never having been in Seattle, was the setting of Bainbridge Island and the ferry commute to the city, both of which seem delightful.

The story is related in the third person, and I found the narrative to be inconsistent in tone and expression. The writer seems to be at his best in descriptions of intense moments and strong action. However, I believe he falls into the trap of using clichés, rather than original expressions, especially when depicting personal relationships. The wives, for instance, are so picture perfect that you wonder if they live on this planet. The family children, although little is said of them, seem to be paragons of virtue, and family life is smooth sailing and sheer bliss. No complexities here, but difficult to absorb for the reader. More character dimensionality would enhance the book.

I haven't read the author's nonfiction works, but it seems to me it would be a natural genre for him and his talents.

Wish the dog had had a greater role in the story. Nevertheless, whenever he is "on stage," so to speak, the book lights up.

This book follows Tom Sullivan's book "Together," which is also a
terrific, terrific book. You would benefit from reading it first and would enjoy it
and learn from it, but this book easily stands alone if the other one is
not convenient for you to get first. I think it would also work just fine to
read to read "Alive Again" before reading "Together." Each is a wonderful
read.

More than a good read, though, both of these books give you a lot of
information and understanding about disability. In "Alive Again," Brendon is
blind and living an extremely productive life. He works with a Marine who has
been terribly injured, to help him find a new direction in life.

In both books, Brendon's guide dog Nelson is a star! It's wonderful
reading about him, and from a writer who has had guide dogs of his own and knows
them. "Alive Day" has a lot of drama, too. It's a great story. Very
worthwhile. This is a book you don't want to miss!

Upon receiving this book and starting to read it I found that I was unable to put it down. It was a simple read and in many ways a simple plot but it is truly captivating as a young African-American marine tries to deal with the fact he is paralyzed from the waist down. His help comes in the form of a white psychologist who had become blind after an accident and his large black guide dog. As the relationship between the three unfolds, hope is born with love and loyalty. For the plots sake this does not take as long as I am sure it would in real life but you left with a tinge of hope for yourself as you close that last page and a belief that whatever life throws at you it can be used to your advantage. If you are looking for a story to make you cheer and believe in hope then have a read. If you are looking for a positive slant on how to deal with becoming disabled then read this book. If you are looking for a nice simple read that can be an enjoyable time then this is your book. I will look for more by this author in the future as I loved it.

One would like to like this novel more. It is chock-full of possibilities for topical relevance, social commentary and good old-fashioned tearjerking pathos, as Brenden McCarthy, a blind psychiatrist with a loving, supportive family and a remarkable guide dog, attempts to reach and rehabilitate a paralyzed and traumatized veteran of the Iraq war, Antwone Carver.

The trouble begins with the setup: McCarthy is blind, Carver is African-American. Compassion and empathy are literally color-blind here, and the situation is too contrived for comfort. Carver's wife Darla and Brenden's wife Kat are both impossibly saintly, the callous surgeon who handles Carver's case impossibly creepy (he makes a pass at Darla even as he breaks the news of her husband's permanent disability). And so it goes, not helped by dialogue that frequently lapses into thinly disguised editorializing. "When a federal bureaucracy runs the show and there is no competition, maintenance and care fall into the basement," remarks a character at one point. What is this, a diatribe against health-care reform?

The inherent drama of the situation does suffice to keep the reader going, and once in a while author Tom Sullivan, blind himself, cuts through the platitudes and produces a sharply written scene that touches the heart. Carver's description of the IED attack that led to his paralysis, and his agony as he witnesses his comrades burn to death, is one; Brenden's revelation of a past suicide attempt is another. Would that there were more such moments in what otherwise all too frequently reads like a novelized Lifetime movie.

This was a pretty good and inspiring read, but not exactly what I thought it was when I ordered it. I was hoping for more of a dog centered story as I was going to give this as a gift to a brown lab owner who is crazy about her dog. I didn't end up giving it as a gift and instead read it myself.

I won't bother to paraphrase the story as several other reviewers have admirably done so already. I will say it is a topical, inspiring story that makes you really think about the effects of war on our brave service men & woman. Not to get too political in a review but I feel our government has "shielded" us from the direct aftermath of this prolonged conflict we're in. Most of us civilians forget we are at war most of the time so it doesn't upset us and interfere with our comfortable consumer spending lifestyles. I guarantee if we all had to make personal sacrifices like in the days of WW II we'd have ended this conflict long ago! This book is a vivid reminder of what many of our war hero's will have to deal with for the rest of their lives.

I recommend the book both as an inspirational and touching story, and a vivid reminder of what some of our servicemen & servicewoman are going through when they return home after being catastrophically wounded, and living with a lifelong disability.