Customer Reviews

Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(37)

 

 

Kris Radish wrote a great story. There were so many phrases that just jumped out at my heart, that I'd like to share a couple... "...I've had a world of loss dropped into my hands... but we're women and we deal with it and we do it in a way that somehow becomes a gift... Isn't it something that we can take something that is so painful that it makes you drop to the floor and turn it into a lesson that actually makes you glad it happened? That's what women do. We get on with it." AND "... women understand schedules. They understand sacrifice. They know what it feels like to never sleep, to always get up first... and they know that they all have many more miles to go, more hands to hold, more, so much more yet to give. And to receive."
You can read the professional reviews to determine the gist of this novel. I can only say, the message was thought provoking and comforting. I thought of my dearest friends and am grateful.
I would have given it five stars, however a couple of the characters (my age) were prone to expletives that I cannot relate to and thus I'm unable to share this book with my Mum. This was my first Kris Radish novel; won't be my last. She left a memorable impression.

After reading the first third of this book, I recommended it to a friend, but by the time I finished the book I was more than ready for Annie's journey to be over. The premise of the book is great and the life lessons important, but they are repeated so many times, the reader feels like she has to duck.

The first half of the book is fun to read and a grand adventure, but I think I need to call my friend and modify my recommendtion.

I agree completely with the last two reviewers. The theme of this book was so contrived. I would have dropped it after the first 50 pages had I not been reading it for my book group. It was sheer torture for me and I found myself skipping large passages of "Annie adoration" just to finish it. I thought there would be a little more humor considering the cover and the description on the back. I had a hard time keeping track of who knew whom, where and when. I ended up not caring very much about any of the characters, including Annie herself. Almost none of the situations seemed realistic, the first example beginning with the women ending up standing on the very ledge where Annie had stood years earlier, after walking many miles into nowhere and ending with the stranger and his son who Annie's book had helped many years ago and he setting up a virtual 24 hour "life of the rich and famous" event for them.
My feeling is "so many books, so little time" and this one sure was a waste of my time.

I, too, could just not finish this book. It felt like such a shame because the idea behind, and the title, and even the first pages had me really looking forward to the story. But three-quarters of the way though I'd just had enough. I found the writing style very ponderous. The switching tenses were confusing, the book is mostly written in the present tense which just doesn't work for this kind of writing.

My biggest criticism is of the cloying, sentimental prose that infused the whole piece (or, certainly, as far as I read). Moreover, as another reviewer mentioned, this author never gave her audience any reason to enjoy her characters. It is all "tell" and no "show". Everything is assumed. I never got any sense of why this Annie was so beloved, which is the entire premise for the book! And the five main characters were simply irritating. The author seemed to want her readers to fall in love with these women, to look to them as models to which they might mould their own lives. But there was no rational as to why these women were so fabulous, or why any self-respecting woman might consider their characters admirable or aspirational.

For me, this is the worst kind of "womens" writing: sentimental, superficial schlock. Ultimately it was just not worth the time or effort expended in reading. Don't bother.

I received this book from a sorority sister who's husband had recently died.
The book has been read, commented on, and passed around a group of us who
have been friends since college.
I did not read it from any "literary critic's standards" point of view.
I simply enjoyed the story, with both laughter and tears, and vowed to work
harder to keep those college friendships important in my life. There is no
doubt that my funeral will be very different from Annie's, but I hope my
friends and family who are still alive when I'm gone will remember me with
the love and fondness that Annie's friends had for her.

I also read two other books by K.Radish, and while I did enjoy the reading,
I did not like them nearly as much as "Annie..." I'm glad I read it before the others,
as I might not have been willing to put in the time reading it had I read
her other books first.

Every reader brings her (or his) own set of standards and interests to the
task of reading a book that has been recommended by others. If you did not
like this book, oh well. But each person who starts it will have to
decide for herself whether or not to complete the reading. I have often
found that my opinions differed from "critics," but if a good friend
recommends a book, I'm much more likely to enjoy it also.

Give it a try; make your own judgment.

i was intrigued by the premise, but had to fight my way to the end..i was so sick of the repetition & the characters' self-congratulatory "oh we're so wonderful, we're such fabulous women, let's toot our own horns for another hundred pages" routine that i really had a hard time even finishing it. i probably wouldn't have, if it hadn't been lent to me by someone i value & i wanted to give it a fair chance. i skimmed most of the last half & when i was done i said to my husband "FINALLY i'm done with this thing!"

This book was very disappointing. I had to force myself to finish it. The repetition begins on the third page and then beats us over the head until the end. Why a book celebrating women and their friendships has to bash men is beyond me. In writing a book contemplating death, Radish never once considers faith. Her characters are all carbon copies of one another, and the story which is supposedly about great transformations teaches us nothing except that a vacation refreshes us. Duh! Don't spend your vacation, or any of your valuable time on this one.

I was so bummed with this purchase. I didn't like the way the author would continually go on about one thing. I found myself skipping through paragraphs and still knew what was going on. I finally gave the book away.

This is the best book I've read in a long while. I thought it would be a funny book, and it was but also was so much more. Every chapter had a 'oh yes, I've been there' moment. It made me tear up frequently though it wasn't a sad book. I think reading this book will profoundly change the way I look at things in my life. I do believe that older women (over 40) will understand it more fully than younger women. I plan to give it to all my best girlfriends this year for Christmas. One of those books that you don't lend - a keeper!

I have never thrown a book in the trash before, but that's exactly what I'm doing with this one just so no one else gets suckered into reading it. There is no conflict in this book, no character development, no richly-told scenes, no humor. And why does Kris Radish hate men so much? Halfway through the book, I was praying for someone to say something nasty, get in a fight, fall in love, anything to break up the boredom. By the end of the book, I was praying their stupid plane would crash . . . and that no one would hold a traveling funeral for these dull, saintly women.