Customer Reviews

The Living End

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

 

 

What a breath of fresh air for the CBA market! I stayed up late to finish The Living End last night and it was time well spent. Quirky, yet real-life characters (reminiscent of Anne Tyler) inhabit and leave their mark on Pearl's crumbling world. And no trite or easy answers here as Pearl struggles to find meaning and purpose in a broken world.

Samson's command of language is enviable - sometimes fierce, sometimes tender, but always exquisite. A great book, and if you're smart...you'll read it.

Also recommended: Anything by Richard Russo, Anne Tyler, Tom Wolfe, Brad Whittington, Leif Enger

Lisa Samson continues to amaze with her ability to surprise and move us through real, flawed yet somehow dignified and hopeful characters. This is my favorite of her books so far, and I can't wait for the next!

The book was about a women whose husband/soulmate dies unexpectantly after a stroke. She is quite devastated and doesn't know how to move on. She decides to fulfill her husband's "to-do" list and then end her life. But she meets so interesting people along her quest to fulfill her husband's to-do list, people who help her to find her faith in God and to make her realize that her life is worth living after all.

I love books by Lisa Samson. Her sense of humor and unique voice comes through so good. I love her flawed, yet lovable characters. I love the names Pearly, Cheeta, and Peta.

The author did a really good job in showing how much pain Pearly was in when she lost her husband. It was clear that she loved her husband very much.

Pearly comes up with a unique way to commit suicide. I won't go into the details as I don't want to spoil the book for you, but things are resolved beautifully at the end and Pearly decides that life is worth living and that she has so many people who love her. I loved how all the things happened at the end of the book where Pearly's life is spared at the last minute and how God really makes things happen for a reason and that He really is in control

Lisa Samson has a subtle way of presenting God's truth without sounding preachy and without making you feel like she is shoving the Bible down your throat.

I highly recommend this book.

This is the first of Samson I have ever read, and I really enjoyed it a lot.

Pearly, quite an eccentric character, loses her husband to a massive stroke. In the beginning of the book is when Joey dies, and Pearly is totally grief-stricken. So much so that she is really in deep denial and can't attend the funeral or anything. She has a friend arrange the whole thing as she just can't face it.

In going through Joey's keepsakes, she finds his journal that he has kept up for years. He was always such a strong believer in God, and had a lot of faith, whereas Pearly never did any of it. As Pearly goes through the journal, she finds her husband worried a lot about Pearly's lack of concern for God and prayer.
She also finds a list of what Joey intended to do while he was alive, and Pearly, needing fulfillment somewhere in her life know, decides to fulfill her husband's wishes. But after she does this, she wants to die and be with her husband, and she has plans for suicide after accomplishing this.

Well, as the story moves right along events happen to Pearly that will change circumstances. And it takes a long time, but eventually she'll come to believe, and finally fulfilled seeing that life has a purpose for her; in fact many purposes.

Lisa Samson draws such vivid, real characters that I feel like I know them. Or want to. Their quirkiness is always endearing and their actions authentic.

The Living End is no different.

Pearly Laurel could be me. Or my best friend. Maybe you. Written with incredible skill, and amazing attention to the truth of her character, I found it a difficult story to read but compelling nonetheless. A story, and people, that make you care.

Can it get any better?

It would be hard to come away from this book without your outlook in life being forever changed. I couldn't put it down.

I admit that I am a diehard Lisa Samson fan, but this is her best book yet. Pearly Laurel made me cry and made me laugh. I suffered with her when she lost her husband, and I rejoiced with her as she found both healing and a unique family. I was definitely surprised by the ending. This was an I-can't-put-the-book-down read that made me stay up way too late, into the wee hours of morning, just so I could see what happened next.

This was not an easy book for me to read because there was little chance of remaining detached from Pearly. Using superb skills, Lisa Samson pulled me into the very thoughts of a freshly widowed woman. The details were incredible: I could see the dust settle in the empty house, taste the bitter shaving cream on the mirror, and feel the comfort of Joe's shirt. To be a bystander was impossible.

Pearly develops from a woman focused solely on her husband to an individual, a friend, and a mother. As always, Samson's characters make the story come alive. There is nothing better than a fresh perspective on life. Find it within the pages of The Living End.

Lisa Samson's most recent novels have been about modern women in hard situations and how they deal with them. This is the story of how one childless, unbelieving woman struggles when her believing husband dies unexpectedly. Mrs Samson's books are always emotional, always deeply thoughtful, and always have some kind of quirky fun to be found somewhere within. Very real life, in a way that makes you think with your head and heart, they also offer a refreshing and different perspective on God. Lisa Samson's stories are never predictable, and The Living End is no exception, with a breathtaking ending. Great for yourself or as a gift for a friend, Mrs Samson is one of the best authors you could choose to read.

This was a really touching book, one I should have saved for a vacation because I stayed up way too late on a work night finishing it. Lisa Samson knows how to approach real life and death issues with such gut-wrenching honesty, humor(the zany, quirky, off-beat kind that I enjoy,) and hope. Lisa Samson always gets to the heart of the matter and makes me examine my own life. This is one great book, all about this journey we call life!