Customer Reviews

Bright Flows the River

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have read this book years ago. It's content has stuck with me over the years and now that I am married I wanted my husband to read it. He is very picky about books and authors and I wasn't sure if he would like it. But he did very much so. The book contains a message to all of us who live in this modern and often so phony world with it's perceptions of what life's priorities should be all about. It is a reminder that we should listen to our inner self, follow our heart and dare to life outside the "box" society often wants to put each and every one of us into. Some of us simply don't fit in such boxes but dare not to be different and suffer daily with the struggle to fit. I often remember the content of this book in certain situations and am happy to have found a copy at Amazon.

Carla U. Kelly

Taylor Caldwell's descriptions not only of the physical attributes of her characters but most especially the emotional conversations that go on in their heads shows that she has a handle on depicting what real people are like. You come away with a sense of having known these people and felt their joys and sorrows. They react in distinctively true-to-life fashion - they don't always have it all figured out. She gives us characters not only to love but who share their wisdom with us and give us a sense of having someone *big enough* to look up to in her heroes. If you like "character novels" this is a great read!

This book was written in the late 1970s, and features one of the "hot topics" of the day, the male midlife crisis. Full of now-passe Cold War references, pre-AIDS era social behaviour, and surprisingly hostile views of marriage, home and family, this book is intriguing, densely written, often rewarding, sometimes annoying. It is not a "light read".

Through flash-backs it explores the events leading up to the attempted suicide of Guy Jerald, a rags-to-riches American entreprenuer obsessed with financial success. He is "trapped" by his sense of duty in a passionless, mismatched marriage. His ex-Army buddy and psychologist, and a female lover, attempt to help him wrestle with his demons. Strengths: good characterization, much detail, human insight, well written for most part. Flaws: author overuses certain pet words and harps on favorite themes; main character is actually selfish and weak, which undermines my sympathy for his "torment"; author can't make up her mind what her "heroic male" should be: the father, who "lives and lets live" peacefully on his farm, or the "warrior hero" who confronts "Fascistic Communism". A minor classic of 70s fiction.

This book probes the minds of two friends who though separated by years and an ocean find they must each examine their lives and make the serious choices they have spent their lives eluding. It is the attempted suicide of Guy Gerald and the subsequent visit of his army buddy James Meyer that bring them together to face the issues that change them forever.

This is my second favourite by Taylor Caldwell, it is well worth a read, especially for those finding themselves at crossroads in their lives.
I disagree with one of the comments that said that in this books characters do what they like without any thought for anyone else. If you look carefully, those who chose to do live the way they feel like have no children or married children, and their spouse actually feels relieved by their decision. No one is hurt by their choice, on the contrary.
It isn't a book about the puerile "following your dreams" it is a book about living your life for yourself and not to impress others or to make others think well of you.
And as always with Taylor, the book is strewn with reflections on life, love, religion, education and wars...

Unlike contemporary authors who have no way with words and write things bluntly, Taylor Caldwell is full of subtlety and allows her readers to use their imaginations. This book delves deep into the human psyche more than any other book I know and offers a very logical and interesting insight into a person's motives and fears.
An unprecedented author, her books are original and yet underrated to a point where we have to buy them on Amazon.

I'm sort of bemused reading this, especially by the repeated use of the term "fascistic communism." I've enjoyed many of the author's books (although they do tend to be overwrought), including this one. Although it appears the main character is supposedly Guy, I think the main character is actually James, the British psychiatrist, who is pompous and unlikeable, and will spout off his inane political beliefs (all of which history has proven inaccurate) at the drop of a hat. It's a strange mixture of conservatism espoused here. The good characters would rather starve than ever take the hated Welfare, and at the same time, the author unabashedly trashes marriage, "the family," and children. An interesting read, overall, though to be taken with a large grain of salt.

This has been my favorite book for a long time. I was happy to find a hardback edition.

Caldwell is obviously much taken with the "philosophy" of Ayn Rand. Objectivism favors people who do whatever they want to do, listening to no one's advice, unconcerned for the damage they may be doing to others. It mistrusts sacrifice, calling it manipulative.

The book in a treatise with dialogue slipped in between harangues. Caldwell's device is constant flashbacks to the early days of the hero, who is in a hospital, catatonic after attempting--but failing--suicide. Characters are heroic or wimps--no shadows here. All the good women are ugly and all power is terrific. Reading this novel is like watching a cobra swallow a mouse: it's mesmerizing.

I read this book eight times in the 1980's when I was a political conservative. As a former Caldwell fan, I excused and overlooked the embarrassing cliches and stereotypes. Now, as a liberal Democrat, I'll gladly admit that Caldwell's view of politics and people is too rigid and bizarre for the real world. In Caldwell's world, everything is black or white. Liberals (Democrats) are stupid, evil, war-mongering socialists while conservatives are loving, peaceful, strong and sexy! In this novel, the conservatives enjoy great sex while the liberals are prudish, frigid and physically ugly. Caldwell believed that Franklin Roosevelt was a rabid socialist/Communist. Although she condemned Hitler, she excused the Nazi-husband of one character by saying "he was just doing his job." She's into conspiracy theories and condemns the younger generation (circa 1970's) as stupid, lazy and worthless. The ONE teenager she writes of favorably is a small town boy who wants to be a farmer. And she attacks the public school system for its evil teachers and "socialist brainwashing" of the young. My favorite character is Sal, a fun-loving but "common" woman of the earth. Beth, the heroine of the story, starts out okay but becomes exceedingly annoying as she spouts cliche after cliche attacking the "evil" liberals. And the book is filled with the fear of a Communist take-over of the U.S. from within, making it very dated now. Caldwell was a member of the ultra right-wing John Birch Society and her views are prominent on every page. Read it with a grain of salt! It's morbidly entertaining but don't take it seriously.