Customer Reviews

Life

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I should probably start off this review by saying that I am not the world's greatest reader. I've read the Twilight books because some girls I knew wanted me to. They then yelled at me because I didn't read them fast enough. I think it took me more than a month to read each book. They are now yelling at me for not having finished reading all of the Harry Potter books yet.

Anyway, when a friend gave me a copy of Life to read, I was able to read it in a day and a half. I actually enjoyed reading it and couldn't put it down. It's a smart, funny, and realistic book about a couple and their feelings for each other.

I think one of the things that I liked most about it was that it's a love story that guys can read. I don't have to hear about how hot some guy is. It makes me feel good that a girl could like me for just having a normal body. And I liked how Jack loves Christine, even though she clearly has issues. It's hard sometimes to get the person you love to understand why you love them. I think my favorite part was actually when Christine was writing about Jack. I liked hearing what she thought of him and why she did the things she did. If both of them are confused about the opposite sex, it was just nice to hear it.

And it is nice to have a book that I can discuss with my guy friends and female friends without feeling like less of a man.

I have been a fan of Jack Gunthridge for awhile now. He is a very meticulous and deliberate comedian, who is not afraid to do certain jokes, even if they take a little bit of time to set up. Part of what makes him great is his ability to set up jokes beautifully, and then come out of left field with a one liner that fits perfectly with the situation, but also is unexpected. This makes his work fun and exciting. Just when you think you know what to expect, he throws you off in a logically unexpected way.

Life is an interesting entry in his works. It is more serious than Thursday or Fairy Tale Romance, which are more firmly established as true comedies. Life is funny, but not really a romantic comedy. And it can't really be called a romance novel or a love story. It's about growing up and being in love, but it doesn't fit in a genre. It is as if you took the seriousness of a drama and combined it with an episode of Seinfeld. Personal tragedies and heartaches are combined with everyday life in a touching and funny story. This is his most stylistically mature work to date. He proves that he is more than just a comedian with this book. He is a great artist and scholar of human nature.

As I am filling this out, Amazon is asking me to tag this book as a children's book. This is not a children's book. The book delves into the depths of emotions, desires, and hormones of being a teenager. It never gets worse than a PG-13 movie, but Jack Gunthridge has pushed the envelope more with this book than he has with any of his other works.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a fast reader, and if I book doesn't hook me within the first few pages or even sentences, I won't read it at all. With Life, I couldn't put it down. Gunthridge puts you right in the story; you feel for everything that goes on within his finespun teenage life.

The book starts off with a rather unconventional look at the birth of a human life. No one wants to think of their parents having sex, so Jack prefers to think of his emergence into this world to be a virgin birth. Honestly, I had never thought to look at it that way and right then, I knew Jack had an interesting mind to share with the world. Most of Gunthridge's book deals with the hot and cold relationship of Jack and Christine. Jack is a sentimental boy, lovestruck over Christine. Christine, having experienced a tumultuous childhood, has the proverbial "daddy issues". Together, these two young people have to work through their issues to strengthen their relationship.

Gunthridge's high school autobiography fits somewhere in between the psychological ramblings of Salinger's Holden Caulfield and the beautifully written letters of Chobsky's Charlie. Life trades in an action-packed storyline for a cerebral romp straight through the teenage mind of Jack Gunthridge that I found very much enjoyable from a reader's standpoint.

I was excited to read the book based on the reviews. I would like to start this off by stating I did appreciate the writing style of this book. The back and forth discussion type of quality was refreshing. I made it almost to the end of the book before I deleted it from my library completely. I am appalled that this book is considered a childrens ebook. The book focuses on two teens who haven't had sex yet but plan on it. The couple's relationship is all about being intimate without actuallly having sex. Sleeping nude together; taking showers together; talking about it all the time. I would never let my teenager read this for fear of them getting ideas. Call me old fashion but I don't believe teens should be experimenting with each other as this book suggests. If you have high morals, stay away from this book and don't let your kids near it.

I should have been more skeptical about the rave reviews for this thing. The comparison to Salinger is pure sacrilege. Just because you attempt to write about teenage angst and use a bunch of dirty words, does not make you anything like Salinger. Franny and Zoe, The Catcher in the Rye - they transcend time and appeal to readers of all ages, but this, this... there are really no words for this. It's just bad. I read a great deal and this is not a book I could finish. It was so trite and ridiculous, maybe it would appeal to a teenager, but perhaps that is just insulting to teenagers.

I got the impression that this book was for teenagers, but I certainly wouldn't have my teenager read it, as it had way too much talk about sex in it for my liking. Perhaps an older teen. This was deleted from my library before I finished it.

Jack Gunthridge's "Life" is a difficult book to put down. As I get older, I remember less and less about my own childhood and teenage years. This book sparks a nostalgia about those times in my life that I only wish I could still remember. "Life" offers a glimpse at the extraordinary love that can be shared between two average human beings. Neither Jack or Christine live a life very different from the kinds of people that we meet on a day to day basis in our own lives. "Life" offers a candid view of reality that is both touching and intriguing.

This book was only barely readable. The writing was worse than sophomoric and I never found that I cared about the characters. I am glad I got it for free because that is what it was worth.

There seems to be a part of us that sees our parents in us. We either see their strengths or weaknesses. It is not enough that we are just trying to escape our past, but we are trying to escape our parents' pasts as well (p75).

Written in a voice so honest and rich that to truly appreciate what is being offered one must experience it, Jack Gunthridge's Life: An Autobiography As Told By Jack Gunthridge is a modern literary masterpiece. Presented in narrative form, this work reads like having a conversation over coffee with a close friend. Gunthridge invites his reader's into a time of life when transitions rage as quickly and ferociously as adolescent hormones.

Jack and Christine are linked from birth. In fact, Christine claims she owes her existence to Jack. If it were not for his parents conceiving a child, her competitive father would not have followed suit. Unfortunately for Christine, she is not born a boy, and an early rejection from her father begins an intensely intriguing journey with the opposite sex that contributes to the pain and joy of Jack's heart.

Interestingly enough, Jack also experiences rejection from his own father, but the rejection is involuntary and arrives in the news that his father is killed by a drunk driver. Gunthridge recalls, "The facts are this. I was about to lose my virginity, when I lost my father instead . . . My father was actually killed by the impact of Lee's car hitting his. His car then burst into flames. The tragedy of this is that the one thing that my father did not want in life was to be cremated." (p 23).

From their young days playing house to becoming heads of their own households while still in their teenage years, Jack and Christine's lives are linked, and Christine quickly becomes the love of his life. There is no doubt of his love for Christine, and he bluntly exposes his feelings for her to his readers, taking them by the hand into the heart and soul of the unrequited lover beginning at the age of six.

Unlike so many works where one reads only one version from one voice, even when recounting the voices of others, Gunthridge invites the important players in this journey to add their particular views of his recollections. With equal honesty, we get to know Jack not only from his heart and from the desire of his heart, but also from his best friend Arthur and from Melinda, who loves him as much as he loves Christine and loves him enough to let him be with his happiness.

Much more than simply a story of adolescence, Gunthridge writes in a voice reminiscent of J.D. Salinger. His accounts cross the generation line. If you have ever loved, you will be touched by this work. He crosses the act of love with the past, present and future bringing forth unexpected emotional involvement with his words, ideas and philosophies. He reminds readers why we love in the first place, why we consider the meaning of life, and later, why we examine the meaning of our own existence.

For such powerfully touching words to come from such a young voice is extraordinary. This is not a simple memoir from a high school student, the mere fulfillment of an assignment, another reflection of teenage alienation and loss of innocence. This is a declaration of love for all time, not only for another, but in the end, for one's self. The ultimate love comes from the self and is expressed only when one is ready for more than passion. It is, as Gunthridge writes, "not a question of love or desire. I am looking at the commitment and how to keep it" (p 92).

This work can easily be read alone or on a Saturday afternoon with the one you love. It can be shared between and across the generations. Gunthridge has given us one of those novels that you pass on to those you care for in your life. His work is an opportunity to experience now what will later be considered a classic. Read Gunthridge's Life and get a taste of profound writing in its youth and prime, poised to be as influential on the future of literature as the writer himself.

I put this book on my kindle because it was free and looked interesting. I flew through reading the book. I think it is because the way it is written is unique. It is kind of like reality TV in book form. I continued to read thinking that something shocking was going to happen. It really never did though, but it kept me interested enough that I continuted reading in hopes of something amazing. It is not a book I would read again for sure, but something kept me interested. It is about a boy writing about his relationship with a girl. I think mainly I kept reading because I wanted to know if they ended up together as adults. I think I was a little disappointed because I never really knew for sure. It felt like it lacked closure to me. I understand why you never really know because the author explains it in the book, but it still just left me feeling left hanging. I wouldn't really recommend the book with such other great books out there to delve into. Not to mention I was shocked by the things the girl said in the book, and I did not even realize this book was for younger readers until reading some of the other reviews. definitely inappropriate for young readers in my opinion.