Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Book!, May 29, 2008
This review is from: All the Way Home: Building a Family in a Falling-Down House (Hardcover)
I too, live in Akron Ohio and my husband and I are working on our 1928 home, so when we saw this book in our local bookstore it was irresistable!
We gulped the book down the same night - first me, then my husband (he started it at about 2am and finished it the next day), finding it wonderfully well-written, humorous and poignant (near the end).
His adventures in house restoration were far more extreme than what we've had to tackle but we could totally relate to his desire to return a once-beautiful structure to its former glory. Akron indeed has some very special neighborhoods with really wonderful, full-of-character yet affordable homes (including spectacular Tudor mansions like David's). They've all changed hands numerous times over the years and many have suffered from neglect and/or really unfortunate decorating decisions, but their bones are marvelous and they are really worth the effort to renovate and restore.
Intertwined with the very humorous saga-of-the-house, though, is his personal struggle with parenthood, ego, obsession and his attempts to balance work, an overwhelming renovation project and his fears that he was neglecting his family through his efforts to provide for it.
It made for an absorbing, at times hilarious and also touching read.
I don't want to recommend it only to people who are working on their houses (or have in the past) but I have to say that if you are or ever have, you will really relate to this book. The sheer hard work, the choices you struggle with, the level of perfection you settle on, the sense of accomplishment and the feeling that you'll never be finished - all are addressed here. Also, the attraction of old, beautifully built homes that seem to embody a kind of romance not available in modern houses. Anyone who looks for "character" in their dwelling will enjoy this book.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I loved every page!, June 16, 2008
This review is from: All the Way Home: Building a Family in a Falling-Down House (Hardcover)
"All the Way Home: Building a Family in a Falling-Down House" is the true story of Akron resident and Beacon Journal writer David Giffels' attempt to restore an old house to its original beauty.
When Giffels' wife finds out she's expecting Baby No. 2, they go hunting for a larger home and find a big, run-down old mansion in Akron. Giffels admits that he loves restoring and reconstruction projects, but this fixer-upper needs an awesome amount of work. He is driven by a challenge, a "wholly impractical, mostly secret yearning to find peace through chaos," and he has just enough knowledge to be dangerous.
He gives us terrifying descriptions of the state of the house -- including smells so vivid that I needed some fresh air: "The ceiling drooped heavily and dripped with cobwebs and flaking paint and strange extensions that looked like stalactites made of dirt. The thick plaster on the walls was reduced to piles of horsehair-infused sand on the floor and the walls were stained and restained with rust streaks and calcified blotches where the leaky steam lines and water pipes had left their mark. The walls seemed poisonous. The whole basement smelled of something that had been soaked and dried and soaked and dried until its scent had texture in three dimensions: one old, one new, and one fermenting." Oh, dear Lord. There is so much wrong with the house, I'm amazed he didn't turn his back on it in the beginning: there's no running water; the roof, windows -- 733 panes of glass -- and drainpipes are compromised; the flooring and walls are warped and filled with holes; not to mention that raccoons and other critters have been or still are in residence.
But he's filled with an image of the house's former glory, and he's tantalized by the idea of "a life of butler's buttons and summer bedrooms" in a mansion a mile from Stan Hywet Hall. As we live through the renovations with the nice, self-effacing guy and his gentle wife and son, we see how all the work affects their lives, and he says that "as much as I was trying to change this house, it was changing me more."
This absolutely lovely book is an intimate, funny, heart-warming and heart-breaking memoir, with occasional commentary from Gina, the usually patient wife. This is so well written; it's a keeper.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Terrific!, May 30, 2008
This review is from: All the Way Home: Building a Family in a Falling-Down House (Hardcover)
I'm not someone inclined to enjoy a "home improvement book", but Giffels' ALL THE WAY HOME is much, much more than that. Not only is the story in itself interesting, and the family and personal dynamics artfully explored, but this book is simply written in beautiful prose that is often funny, touching, and always engaging. Highly recommended!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
