Customer Reviews

Love and Glory

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

 

 

This book is one of Robert Parker's few non-Spenser novels, though the protagonist has some sort of family resemblance to the Boston gumshoe. Like the Spenser novels, it's told in first person narrative and makes plenty of literary references. There's a friendship with a black man who boxes (like Hawk), and the girl eats fastidiously (like Susan). Much of the book takes place at Taft University, a fictional college that was the setting of Parker's Spenser novel Playmates.

But what's most interesting about this book is that the protagonist describes his experiences as a writer and his work on a doctorate in English literature. At this point the character has less in common with Spenser and more in common with Robert Parker himself. One is left wondering if through this novel, Parker has given his readers more of an autobiographical glimpse of his own life and literary career.

Some friends of mine gave me a copy of Love and Glory as a present. They knew how much I liked the author (actually, I like the Spenser mystery series, which are penned by the author), and thought that I might like this book as well. Since I am not a rabid fan of love stories, the book found its way to the very bottom of my 'to read much later list'.

Well, to make a long story short, given that I read a book a day, I eventually got around to Love and Glory, and I now regret not having read it much earlier. Parker spins a tale well, with characters that, despite all our best efforts, we come to care about, a clipped, succinct writing style, and an absorbing narrative. In this love story, we meet a young man who goes off to college, falls in love with a flighty, free-spirited, but somewhat confused classmate. She naturallly breaks his heart, he eventually suffers hardship and a protracted fall from grace, and we watch as he picks himself up at rock bottom, dusts off his backside, and slowly but surely climbs the ladder to personal success one slow but sure step at a time, using nothing but strength of character, force of conviction and the flicker of undying love for the woman who once spurned him.

Of course, you can guess the ending to this wonderful tale, but as they say about life, it is not the destination but the journey that matters most. The hero's story from idealistic young man to a man in his own right is both touching and highly motivating. Parker's penchant for dropping life lessons here and there are evident in this story, and at times I got the feeling that I was actually reading a Spenser novel, only in this setting, everyone's favorite Back Bay PI chose to go to college and grad school, eventually becoming a writer, and not a detective. There were also some interesting similarities between Boone, the hero of this story, and Spenser, such as both serving in the Korean Conflict, both sharing a love of literature, and both possessing a love, bordering on religious devotion, for one woman.

In sum, I liked Love and Glory, and I think most people will like it, too. Spanning a time period between the early 1950s and the middle 1970s, it also provides the reader with a good glimpse of a turbulent in American history. For me, the book was an interesting departure from my usual fare (mysteries, assorted non-fiction and god-awful sci-fi), and in future, I may add more of the genre to my eclectic reading list.

If you enjoy the Spenser novels, you will probably enjoy this - although the novel is not about Spenser. The main character wants to win the fair haired maiden at any cost and in that sense is romantic. What is lacking is any real history of the main character that would give him more life. The ending is like a fairy tale. The main reason I read this was to provide insight into the thinking of the author who created Spenser, who in my opinion is a wonderful character. If I hadn't read the Spenser novels and really enjoyed them I doubt I would have read and enjoyed this novel.

It is hard to comprehend what the other reviewers here missed. This is a deeply moving and timeless story of love, loss, horror, redemption, pursuit, return and sacrifice. The writing is clean, evocative and will touch you. You will feel, you will cry, you will understand.

This was one I had not seen of Robert B. Parker's books. It's a good book and great to add to my collection.

I didn't know there was any question of it. I first picked this book up years ago at the library because the opening is set at Colby College, a school attended by several friends and acquaintances and just up I-95 from here. I enjoyed it enough to follow the librarian's advice and try the Spenser novels (there were only a few then). It is generally assumed here in New England, home of Parker, Spenser, and Boone, that the story is based on Parker's own experiences. I'm buying a copy now for my son's girl friend, a Colby alumna.

As a long time Parker fan I found this book to completely different from his usual books.

His usage of just 2 characters allows you to get involved in their lives even though the end of the book is somewhat farfetched.

Since it is more of a love story than his other writings it has you rooting for the poor guy who gets a Dear John letter when he is in the Army and then has you cheering for him as he is pulling himself from a "lost" life of drunkeness and despair as he strives to win back his former girl friend

I found it an enjoyable book and lets you see another aspect of Parker's writing.

This was a Parker novel to which I truly looked forward. Everyone who has a bit of sarcasm and humor in his soul loves Spenser, but this is Parker if he had become a "serious" novelist. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys Parker's writing and who is willing to appreciate the author for himself. Make sure to find the hardcover version as this novel is now 27 years old and popular paperbacks rarely survive for that length of time.

This is apparently one of Parker's early books. It is enjoyable but not the more polished of his later works. I have been a Parker fan for many years and have read almost all of his Spenser and westerns. I will miss the new ones that he would have written.

This small love story is a deeply satisfying read, sharp-boned and achingly tender. Love stories run the spectrum from soup to nuts, bawdy to ethereal. Mr. Parker's Love and Glory seems to me to be a worthy archetype of the best of breed of a middle ground for the young and not so young reader. At its core it concerns itself with the male character's recognition of and efforts toward becoming the best man possible for the woman he loves. He works to release self pity and the arrogance and short-sightedness of youth. At the novel's end he again offers his mature love as a gift to his beloved. The icing on this luscious cake is his willingness beforehand to accept both a final rejection and the certainty that his love will occupy his heart for the rest of his life. Mr. Parker accomplishes this with the reader's great thanks: there is just enough prose to create three dimensional characters worth caring for. He does this within a relatively small book, whose story line fluidly brings us to a emotionally satisfying conclusion and whose meaning echoes in our lives. For me, after multiple readings, that's as good as it gets.