Customer Reviews

Errands

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Judith Guest has once again, since "Ordinary People" wrapped grief around her readers and allowed them to actually feel what loss is like. I used to think I knew how death of a loved one would affect me, but now that I've read "Errands" I no longer can assume I'll know how to react. At first I thought that Annie the mother was a bitter and inflexible woman and did not truly love her children. However, as she tried to be everything to everyone - a mother, sister, daughter and good employee, I realized that she was only "acting" the roles in an effort to avoid the true grieving process. The children, unfortunately, suffered the most in this novel. Judith Guest's ability to take the reader into the minds of each different child helped one visualize in a more florid way the trauma that they endured. Annie was not an easy character to like; Harry, the oldest, made me want to reach out and help. Errands was a quick, easy read that brought you to tears yet warmed your heart

This wonderfully composed, emotionally engaging story follows a young family on their remarkable journey, coping and adapting to their life's circumstances when their family dynamics change with the sudden illness and death of the husband/father. It was very realistically presented, especially from the children's viewpoints. My heart was with Jimmy thoroughout much of the novel and I related very closely to Annie's frustrations as a mother, especially in dealing with her children not getting along with each other.

I probably wouldn't have read this book at all had it not been for the opportunity to listen to this abridged audio-version, so I appreciate this chance to experience it. However, I did feel that I was missing out on important bits and details along the way that were probably included in the complete versions, particularly development of the secondary storyline about Jess and her almost-divorced boyfriend Ryan. Also, I have mixed feelings about the way the story ended - there were a lot of loose ends left hanging and after investing so much emotional energy into these characters, I was left wanting to know more about what happened to them beyond just the one year following their life-altering circumstance that this story covers.

Still, all-in-all, it was a very pleasant story to listen to.

This is the story of widow Annie Browner and her three children and the way they cope with the sudden death of their husband and father from a brain tumor. They have all the difficulties you would expect. The death benefits are not generous. The kids have school problems. Annie has not been employed for 14 years and suddenly must find a job. Relatives are unbelievably cruel. Yet there are a whole bunch of people out there cheering them on in a quiet way. While I have never dealt with the sort of grief the Browners go through, it seems as if all of those stages you read about are in this book. At the end, you get the feeling that they are through the worst stages and that life will, after all, be worth living for the Browners. A good read.

I picked up this book because I had been so stunned by the skill Judith Guest exhibited in 'Ordinary People'. But apparently she's grown much more tolerant of flaws in her writing since then.

This book reads like it was totally unedited. While normally I am a patient reader, halfway through the book I just put it down and couldn't bring myself to pick it up again.

Is it mature? Yes, yes, yes. Kindly refrain from bombarding me with indignant comments to the effect that Guest's writing has *matured* since 'Ordinary People'. Perhaps it has. But it takes more than maturity to make a good book. First of all, take the characters. Is there even a single distinctive or memorable one in the lot? Kenneth draws the most sympathy from the reader, because he is dying, and because the moments within his head when he is trying to sort out the meaning of his own existence are beautifully written. But even so, the fact that he is dying is his most outstanding characteristic. When he dies, the sense of loss is acute, and very well expressed. Unfortunately it is not enough to carry the book.

Annie and the kids are, to be honest, rather dull. Their personalities are stereotyped, especially Harry's--another teen-deprived-of-father-figure delinquent for the ages. In general, people in this book seem to be defined by their problems, instead of being defined by genuine personalities.

What really turned me off this book was the dialogue. Dialogue has many purposes: to inform the reader about the speaker's character, or to further the plot, to contribute to atmosphere, to set the tone....none of these things are accomplished in the useless lines put forth here. It sounds like the author wrote down everything everybody said at her own family picnic--no matter how boring or pointless--and made a novel out of it. Certainly the mundane is an essential fact of existence. But why dwell on it to the point of insanity? I find it more inspiring to wash dishes than to read dialogue like this, because at least I'm accomplishing something.

If it hadn't been for the popularity of 'Ordinary People', I doubt this book would have been published without serious reworking.

I picked this book up randomly at the Hope Lodge in Rochester MN. We were there for my husband to begin his chemo and radation for a serious brain cancer, after removal of the large tumor in his brain. Fate? Chance? I don't know. I only know that the books cover, which gives nothing away as the contents, spoke to me.

My husband is alive. For how long no one can know. When one faces the horrific prospect of losing the love of one's life, books like this one help, tremendously.

I think Guest captures the turmoil perfectly. The pain, which you cannot ever articulate and the agony which comes with a terminal diagnosis are written with simple truth. The chaos that something like this brings to a previously ordered life, is apparent in her writing. Perhaps one needs to experience this grief, this loss before they will completely appreciate this book for what it was to me.

In the end, the book gave me hope, no matter what time and fate may hand to us. A hope, that one day life may regain some sense of balance and normalcy.

At about the half way point in this book, I was tempted to give up. The incessant niggling and carping of the children was beginning to irritate me so much that I could have cheerfully banged their heads together. When Annie Browner's husband, Keith dies, her overwhelming grief takes over her whole life to the exclusion of the needs of her children, 12 year old Harry, 11 year old Jimmy and 9 year old Julie, who are hit hard by their father's death, but who are, of course, too immature to comprehend the total devastation of their mother's every waking moment. The normal behaviour of young siblings is exacerbated by their frustration in attempting to make sense of their feelings, and the pinch and punch rough stuff and the non stop aggressive verbal exchanges make for hard slog reading...this is when I nearly gave up. The story highlights the complete self absorption of the young as well as the difficulty of the newly widowed mother to rise above her own feelings of grief, to care for the emotional well being of her children.

Remember Ordinary People and it's stunning debut into the literary world? Well, here's author Judith Guest again with Errands, another great book about the complexity of family life. This time it's a young Midwestern family facing the death of the father. The family is so undone as their lives crumble that at times I was tempted to stop reading. If you are, too, gear up and stick with it; you'll be glad you did. Slowly, slowly, Guest allows us to watch their gradual return to a level or normalcy.
Judith Guest has a particularly good ear for dialogue, and in this book she reveals this talent best when siblings are fighting.
Great read.

When so many novels scoot by on waves of glitz and style, Judith Guest's "Errands" moves slowly, deliberately through the daily life of a family in Michigan. There are no movie stars, power brokers or politicians here. The characters are, as her previous novel was titled, "ordinary people" living ordinary lives.
The critical event of the novel is the fatal illness of Keith, husband to Annie and father to Harry, Jimmy and Julie. Annie is strong, so strong that she cannot let herself be taken under by the grief and anger that well up inside her. So she holds herself straight, takes a job, snaps at her children, and keeps going. Meanwhile, the children fall apart, each in his or her own way. Annie's sister, Jess, watches the family's ordeal. And she steps in when she is needed, while trying not to push too hard. She has her own problems, emotionally thrown by her intense love affair with a married man.
In the hands of another writer, Annie would be a very unsympathetic character - cold and aloof, demanding from her children the same stoic strength she requires of herself. Yet Guest is able to show us the suffering inside Annie, and how she tortures herself more than anyone else as she tries to hold on to sanity in the only way she knows.
This book is not a quick read, but a thoughtful, powerful and moving experience. The beauty of Guest's writing lies in her willingness to look at everyday life and accept it, believe in it. She shows that how we face and deal with the real challenges of life is what matters in the end.

I had first picked this book up at the library because we had to do an old-fashion book report in my Honors English class. I finsihed the book in three short days! The story was so amazing and such a tear-jerker. I hadn't cried over a book ever since Patricia Hermes' books. This books shows just how long it takes to get over grief. I loved that Ms. Guest wrote from the kids' as well as the widow's point of view. You really felt for every one of the characters. I recommended it to everyone I know.

The book was great reading, yet the ending left me<br>confused, and disappointed. I also am a mother of 3, and I<br> have a strong knowledge base of the grief process. I foundAnnie's reactions and inability to "be there" for her childrenquite depressing. I believe for most mothers, their reactions, responses, and displays of sympathy towards their children whoare coping with the loss of their father would be much moreintense, warm, loving, and caring. I believe most mothers areinnately in-tune to their children, regardless of their own personalcircumstances. The telling of the story by Ms. Guest is very enticing.The detailed information she gives to the places in Michigan was a treat for me, a native Michigan resident