Customer Reviews

Beaches: A Novel

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Well 10 years on since the great movie came out based on the wonderful book "Beaches" I just had to read the book... And i am so glad that I did, this is a must read if you liked the movie. You'll laugh, you'll cry and share all the emotions of these wonderful characters! My Favourite!! Loan it to your best friend!

Beaches is a novel that will make you laugh, cry, and fill you up with love. It shows that opposites do attract and can stay connected through thick and thin. When Cee Cee Bloom- a marvolous singer - meets Hillary Whitney, they become two peas in a pod. Though they are not right there by each other all the time, they write each other letters trying to keep the other one in touch. When Hillary comes down with a disease, she asks Cee Cee to go along to watch her and her daughter at their summer beach house. The ending will make you cry and that's where I end. If you've seen th emovie "Beaches", you'll absolutely love the novel by Iris Rainer Dart.

The first and last chapters mirror the film almost precisely, but everything in between is incredibly divergent. I'm having a hard time reviewing the book as an entity of it's own without comparing it to the film. I kept hearing Bette Midler's voice in my head while reading it. I have to go watch it again, I think. I did enjoy reading it. I can't really even say which is better. I sort of wish I'd read the book first. Ah, well. Even if you've seen the film a thousand times, this is worth your time.

This book is easy to read and is very entertaining. It will make you laugh and cry. It has been years since I have seen the movie (and I remember loving it) so I really don't know how the two would compare. I would definitely recommend this book.

I was extremely pleased to be dealing with this vendor. I had a bit of a problem receiving my item but the vendor was most helpful and accommodating and immediately sent a replacement and then, today, I received two copies--therefore, I know it was not the vendor's fault in any way but rather the mail or post office. The book copy is beautiful, just like new. I am very pleased with my purchase and recommend this vendor highly.

The novel "Beaches" by Iris R. Dart was wonderful. The book was just as compelling as the movie. I had seen the movie before I had read the book, so I knew what basically happened. But Mrs. Dart's book goes into much more detail than the movie, and it is a wonderful read. The character that stand out the most is Cee Cee Bloom. That character is very interesting, and I even heard that Mrs. Dart wrote that part with Bette Midler in mind. Well I could certainly tell because it was just like her. It was hard for me to see past it being Bette Midler, because I am a big fan of hers. But this book is very well written, and very descriptive, especially when talking about the characters and thier emotions and personalities. I could not put this book down, and I read it in a few hours, which isn't bad for a 15 year old gal from Kentucky. It is a wonderful book, and thank God there was a sequel

Having seen the movie Beaches more times than I can count, I was looking forward to the book. I am therefore sorry to say that I didn't like it that much, and that is a rarity for me I generally like the book more.

The basic story stays the same: Cee Cee Bloom and Bertie White (Hillary in the movie) form an unlikely friendship when they are 10 and 7 years old (respectively). Through many years and personal hardships they remain friends, until a tragic illness brings them together.

What didn't I like about this book? Cee Cee Bloom is not a very nice person in this book, and I found it hard to really care for her. In the movie Bette Midler gives her a clear vulnerability that wasn't apparent in the book. It also seemed to me that the author had Bette specifically in mind while writing the story, as if it were already a screenplay in her head. The character of Bertie was whiny and sad. I wanted more than once to say: Come on woman get on with your life!!, but it never seemed to happen. The clichéd fate of one of the male characters was kind of `been there done that' and I expected more from the author.
Nevertheless, because of fond movie memories the book scored extra points, that's why it gets a high 3***.

To be honest I was very disappointed with the book. Maybe it's because I watched the movie first and then I read the book. I love the movie, it's one of my favorites, that's the reason I decided to read the book in the first place. I thought books are always better then the movies, but in this case I was wrong. In the movie they changed a lot of the things, but in a better way I thought. If I was you I would just watch the movie, don't waste your time reading the book.

Beaches is a moving novel about the friendship of two opposite women. There is CeeCee Bloom, the talented, out-going, white-trash-type girl from the Bronx, and Roberta White, who is rich, beautiful and smart. They meet in Atlantic City, when Bertie is on vacation and CeeCee is in a variety show. The two are friends immediately and stay that way throughout life, through the good, the bad, the affairs, the fights. CeeCee and Roberta teach us that a true friendship lasts forever.

This book is about two friends, Cee Cee Bloom and Roberta White, who met durring their childhood and stay friends until Bertie dies. The book is so real. You really get into it. A couple of times, I even wanted to slap one of them. You'll definatly cry in the end.