Customer Reviews

The Light Of Falling Stars

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

There are some books that beg to be read. You're standing in the bookstore or the library, scanning titles and one catches your eye. You pick it up, hold it in your hands and flip open the front cover to scan the synopsis. You think, "Well, maybe." You open it up, check out the font, the spaces between the lines, the way the pages look and think, "Possibly." You turn to the first page and begin to read, "A plane crashed. It was August, a hot, dry day." And you continue reading as you head to the check out counter (or click your mouse to add it to your shopping cart). THE LIGHT OF FALLING STARS is one of those books for me. A first novel for J. Robert Lennon, I first read it three years ago, just before my first trip to Montana where this book just happens to take place.

The book carries you through the aftermath of the plane crash and its effects on the people in Marshall, Montana. You come to know them on a level that is both intimate and real through Lennon's descriptive and easy-flowing prose and dialogue.

This is a book you'll be glad you found.

This book is almost without plot, and overabundant with character. Still, with characters like this, I can't complain.

The story starts with a plane crash. This is a grand, dramatic event, so overwhelming that it's surreal. But the heartbreak lies in the details; a discarded barrette, the litter of lettuce falling around a man while he eats a storebought sandwich because he doesn't want his wife's cooking, a badly done sketch, a lock where none was before. The author's writing style is measured and plain, but he sneaks bits of poetry into his prose. Even the ghosts in this book are so plainly painted that they seem absolutely real.

Certainly this book is not for everyone. A reader searching for a hero would be disappointed in the very commonplace individuals who populate this small town. Their inertia and denial, though beautifully rendered, can be frustrating. But there is quiet heroism in the way they absorb the blows of their individual tragedies, gather up their dignity and move on with their lives.

"The Light of Falling Stars" is a debut novel by J. Robert Lennon. In light of events of September 2001, I found this book to be haunting and insightful. It follows several residents of the small town of Marshall, Montana after a plane crashes in some woods on the outskirts of town. Of the over 50 passengers kiled in the crash, 31 of them are from Marshall. But the book doesn't tell the tale of those who were killed, it instead focuses on those that they left behind.

Paul and Anita Beveridge live in a renovated fishing cabin on the edge of a National Wilderness area. They are a young married couple whose relationship is faltering. They are out in their backyard arguing on a hot August evening when the plane's engine clips the corner of the roof of their cabin and they witness the plane crashing in the nearby forest. Lars Gowgill is a young man who goes with his friend to pick his girlfriend, Megan, up at the airport after she spent the summer in Seattle with her family. Trixie Bogen is a lonely, old women who lives by herself in Marshall and she is awaiting the arrival of her ex-husband.

The novel explores the story of these characters in the aftermath of the crash. It shows how they handle the loss, how it effects each of them, and how they learn to continue with their lives after the tragedy. The story delves into love, loss, mourning, and relationships.

The writing in "The Light of Falling Stars" is simple and beautiful. The writing captured my attention immediately and kept me turning the pages. The novel offers an excellent exploration of human emotions in the aftermath of tragedy.

It is easy to see why Lennon`s debut novel was likened to Anne Tyler`s work on its release; both share a vigorous intention to portray instinctive human behaviour in its base form, whilst also dealing with the pre-occupations of modern life. I found the book to be accessible despite the improbable circumstances involved and without undermining the tragedy of events such as plane crashes and so on. Probably the most entertaining quality of the novel, however, was the language. Lennon has created for himself a style that is refreshing but yet comforting. Its a book that requires no re-reading of paragraphs or re-scanning sentences, the best way to describe the style is as "organic". If you add to this style a catalogue of well placed metaphors, you have a book that is in need of being read.

I'm not a sentimental person, yet this book made me cry. Anyone who has ever lost someone in any way can relate to this book and mourn with the characters. What's so touching is how each character copes with their loss and strives to overcome it. A must-read. Absolutely captivating.

This was one of the most engrossing reads I've ever experienced. From the first page to the last I was thoroughly involved with the story and all the characters. I was very sorry when the book ended.

There are many things I liked about the book. The story is compelling and certainly more than holds the attention - the whole theme of the loss of love, the crushing disappointment of chances recognized too late and missed, and then the process of redemption that may or may not come later, is one of the most poignant imaginable in literature as far as I'm concerned. This author handles it magnficently well.

The characters represent a very diverse range of personalities, and they are developed very well by the author. I felt as if I knew them. I also liked them - they all came across as knowable, likable people.

Finally, many of the readers'reviews that I've read on Amazon.com have been critical of the ending of this book. The feeling seems to be that the endin! g is unsatisfactory and leaves too many things dangling and unresolved. While I can see where people are coming from with this, I nevertheless strongly disagree. Certainly it is true that things are not resolved with any sense of finality, and we wish we knew what was going to happen next in the lives of these people. However, each of the major characters in the book reaches a significant node, or turning point, in their life at the end of the book. In the last section of the book something happens to each of them that represents the possibility of a significant new beginning. Go back and look at the last three-four chapters and see if you don't agree. To me it seemed that the ending was extremely subtle and quite satisfying. In fact, any sort of neatly tied up ending to this story would simply not have been believable nor would it have worked. I think the author handled the ending perfectly.

In summary, I can't recommend this book enough - it is a superb piece of wo! rk.

Like many others, I thought the premise of how a plane crash impacts a disparate number of characters in a small town held great promise. Of course, the problem wasn't with the premise. I think it had much to do with the characters that made up this sad group. When you center a novel on a group of characters whose common trait is the inability or unwillingness to act, you create a story that is annoying. My annoyance was replaced by irritation when each character's storyline ended with some small, lame act that, I suppose, is a sign that each is finally on his or her way. In fact, the only character that I found interesting was the kidney transplant patient befriended by one of these "nowhere" characters. Unfortunately, she was just a small part of this book. I suppose that's because she wouldn't need a plane crash to make her get a haircut, like the most annoying of the characters, Paul.

As a professional writer who reads dozens of books a year, I have to say I found this to be one of my 2 favorite books in '98 (the other was Ahrundati Roy's God of Small Things). As others have said, I was immediately hooked by the eerie premise of telling the stories of various people touched by the crash of a plane near a small town. But where others say they wanted more from the ending, perhaps they were looking for more of an action-novel type treatment. I think Lennon set out to write a literary quality novel, exploring the subtle nuances which many of us recognize in life and love but could not imagine how to put into words. Kudos, because that is quite an achievement. Suffice to say, I looked this book up at Amazon more than a year after reading it, just to leave this review. I think this author deserves to be read.

I didn't want this book to end, it was so gorgeously written and real and moving and true to life. I can't get over the writing - natural, effortless, uncomplicated - but it went right to the heart and truth of what i see life as being. The character of Bernado blew me away and the ending of the 'story' with him was a joy. I could go on and on; picked the book up at random at the library and what a wonderful discovery ..

I was completely caught up in this book the minute I opened it. It took me one weekend to read it, and even though I was initially put off by the subject matter (plane crash), I'm so glad I stuck with the book. I thought the characters were so well-written, especially Lars, and the stories were nicely intertwined. The only thing that prevented me from giving this book a 10 was the fact that I was a little confused and unconvinced about how quickly some of the characters were able to "move on" after the plane crash. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone--it's a great read.