Customer Reviews

Man, Woman and Child

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

 

 

Though this story was interesting and kept me turning pages, I found Bob, the protagonist, difficult to sympathize with. He deeply loves his wife, yet he gives no good reason for having been unfaithful to her. Segal seems to want the reader to believe that Bob is a good man who has only been unfaithful this one time (an interlude that lasted for a few days rather than a more excusable single crazy incident), but how is the reader supposed to reconcile his supposedly honest nature and passionate love for his wife with his actions? Perhaps this novel is supposed to draw sympathy and understanding for human weakness, but what it actually ends up doing is chipping away at the reader's faith in true love by saying that even the most in-love of couples would cheat if it were unlikely they would ever be caught.

A story of a man in a dilemma of keeping his family happy and on the other hand, his love for his son who was born out of an affair a long time ago. Every emotion is depicted very nicely and the ending is as true as it can be.

Though this story was interesting and kept me turning pages, I found Bob, the protagonist, difficult to sympathize with. He deeply loves his wife, yet he gives no good reason for having been unfaithful to her. Segal seems to want the reader to believe that Bob is a good man who has only been unfaithful this one time (an interlude that lasted for a few days rather than a more excusable single crazy incident), but how is the reader supposed to reconcile his supposedly honest nature and passionate love for his wife with his actions? Perhaps this novel is supposed to draw sympathy and understanding for human weakness, but what it actually ends up doing is chipping away at the reader's faith in true love by saying that even the most in-love of couples would cheat if it were unlikely they would ever be caught.

I've never really been one for Love Stories, and I avoided Erich Segal like the plague.. well I really missed out on something wonderful for a very long time. Richard Bach first showed me that a love story can be very interesting reading. Segal showed me how well it can be written. Man Woman and Child is one of the best books I have read, ever. What I loved the most was the crispness of the book. It took me about an hour to finish the book. It's been ages since I finished a book so fast. And it's a great thing, because this is one book you DON'T want to leave halfway. Sheila Beckwith is a beautifully sketched character. You can't help it, your heart goes out to her. The most striking thing is the realism. How can an author get into the minds of his characters, and be so realistic about it. I honestly didn't see the real need to bring in Dr. Gavin Wilson. If you think he was really essential to the story, please tell me why. I would have rather had Sheila not bothered by temptation, but then I am an idealist. I think this book really brings out what most men secretly believe, Fidelity. And more than that it reassures that Love really does supersede everything else. You can beat anything, as long as there's love. Great Book.. If you haven't read it yet, READ IT!

For those who found 'Love Story' incredibly mushy, this book (M,W and C) might just serve to restore your faith in Erich Segal's writing abilities. I consider it Segal's best book.

From the first page when the protagonist learns about a son he never knew existed till the denouement, the story moves rapidly.

The characters are very believable. Bob Beckwith is not a very sharply defined protagonist - he seems to be always reacting to others' actions than initiating any on his own. But Sheila Beckwith is much more appealing than her counterpart Jenny in 'Love Story'. The characters of the Beckwiths' two precocious daughters is also well drawn.

The dialogues are vintage Segal - crisp and memorable. Segal is one of the few writers of this type of fiction who uses four and five syllable words so regularly. He has done a lot to enhance my vocabulary. :)

All in all, a very satisfying read.

Segal can write a cunning novel in so few words. In this book the gripping idea of a marriage rocked by the discovery that a single infedilty led to a child being born several years ago. With the death of the child's mother the father discovers the child, and struggles to combine his family under one roof. The ultimate question of what we would do, and what we can do to forgive those we loved is the heart of the matter here. Beautifully written as all Segal novels are.

Erich Segal was not my favorite then, but when i got to read this book, he became first on my list. He really imparted the feelings of a man torn between his family and his other son. The realism of the story hit me and i was moved into tears after finishing this novel... I tell you, you got to read this book or forever miss the opportunity of reading one GREAT story!

This book by Eric Segal speaks of a huge sacrifice by a
woman. Man, Woman and Child touches upon the right emotions.
He brings out the characters into life-like forms.

The story protrays a very difficult situation brought about
on a family but a mistake in the past. It takes us on a
journey through this situaion as the family faces it. Eric
Segal goes on to describe the frustrations felt by each
member of the family, and how they overcome the problem.

All in all, it's a very touching story which brings out a
host of emotions in its readers. A great story about the
forgiving capability of a woman to save her family.

I thoroughly enjoyed each page and by the end I was emotionally drawn out by the book.

It was a very easy book to slip into and feel immediately empathetic with all of the characters involved. I read it in one sitting during a sleepless night and really enjoyed it.

This is, without a doubt, the worst commercially published novel I have ever read. The characters are wooden, the writing is stilted. The action flails around, going nowhere for long stretches. Example of the bad writing: The narrator's voice in the novel (third person omniscient) tells us about one of the characters, that she was "fourteen, going on twenty." Now mind you, I don't mean that a character said that in dialogue. The NARRATION said that. Using hackneyed cliche's like that is what I call bad writing. I can't believe that this book is still in print and was actually made into a movie! Spare yourself!