Customer Reviews

In My Father's House

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

 

 

I thought this book was written in typical Ernest Gaines style. His stories never end with everything tied up in a nice little package. Like in the other books, the main character leaves us with lots of questions that we get to think about and ponder. It is not preachy but shows us the complexity of having your sins to follow and haunt you. I loved it.

A good read. Gaines has the ability to create very believable characters undergoing very real experiences. He is able to present the issues of his characters in prose that is clear and easily readable. So why didn't he get a higher rating from me . . . because I didn't feel changed in any way as a result of reading this novel. The story was actually quite predictable. He poses many questions in the novel but doesn't deliver on possible solutions to the challenges faced by the Reverend or his son. He leaves the reader with no better understanding of the complexities of the father/son bond than he may have had prior to reading the book. When I finished this book, I thought, "there must be more", but then I remembered reading A Lesson Before Dying and thinking the same of that book. I do believe that the novel can provide some validation to the experiences of many fathers and sons who share similar situations as the Reverend and Etienne. The book may also serve as a basis for discussion between fathers and sons in troubled relationships (depending on the nature of the "trouble"). For those two reasons alone I'd recommend this book.

Ernest Gaines is excellent!!!! I first came to read his works because of his book "A Gathering of Old Men" which was a Sunday night movie of the week. Every since then I have been hooked he is magnificent. This book left me breathless. The part where the minister has an attack after coming face to face with his bastard son is some of the most realistic writing I have seen in years. Gaines has a knack for allowing his readers to understand that the past affects every aspect of the future. Nothing is done right or wrong without repercussions. He allows the reader to see that throughout the Reverends life he is always making up for his indiscretions of the past. Gaines allows his readers to understand that the Reverend did not abandon his son out of neglect, he abandoned him because he was young and did not know any better. That is very important to understand about many of our fathers today. Gaines deserves a pulitzer for this book, I didn't like it as good as I liked "A lesson before dying" but it is a very close second behind it. Top notch, realistic, hard-hitting, is the only way to describe this book.

After reading A Gathering of Old Men I put Ernest Gaines on my authors to read list. Now after reading In my Father's House I put Ernest Gaines on a list of important writers of the century. Ernest Gaines tells the story of Reverend Philip Martin a civil rights leader who found salvation after a tremendous past. Now he's a respected leader in his community and lives a peaceful life, when he comes face to face with a mysterous stranger who holds the key to his past. Now Rev Martin goes back to where it all began and discovers what happens when you try to hide from the past and what happens when it comes back to haunt you. I loved this book. Ernest Gaines writes story is honest, compelling, and unforgetable. I was mesmorized by Gaines style. He lets the reader in on the complexities and feelings of these characters. After I finished this book it went on my top 20 books of all time. This is a book that should be read by everyone. Another classic by Ernest Gaines.

In My Father's House / 0-679-72791-4

In this incredible novel, Gaines delves into the pain of divided loyalties and the guilt of unfulfilled promises.

When a local leader for black rights is confronted by the arrival of the son he has never known, he must choose whether to stand by the community he knows and loves or the son that he abandoned. The young man is locked up by the police and the civil rights leader is told in no uncertain terms that the only way to save his son is to cancel an upcoming demonstration.

A choice that initially seems easy immediately delves into more complex themes of guilt and resentment. The fact that neither son nor community appreciates the difficulty of his choice only serves to heighten his pain and sense of being trapped. The final decision weighs heavily on his heart: will he fight for the community, capitulate for the son, or flee the entire messy situation? There are never any easy answers provided to the question posed: "To whom do you owe the most loyalty?"

~ Ana Mardoll

I wrote a review on this book before, but because I spoiled the ending by telling you how bad it is my review did not get published, so now I have to write one again. Which sucks!!!!!

A mysterious black man by the name of Robert X. comes to a small southern town to find his father, the respected Revernend Phillip Martin. Who, despite his charasmatic appearence, is a prig who preaches sermons superficially, he is actually a pretty negative character with a sinful past. Martin borne illegitamite children(many) like Robert X. He did not treat his lover and the boy well. The only thing he did was to give him and his mom $3 to make a living, making them suffer ever since. Now the Reverend is face to face with the product of the sins of his past. Now the boy faces him, bent on revenge.

Now the first 150 pages of this book is pretty good. The dialogues are very good, but at this point it took a sudden turn and the ending is simply terrible. It is melodramatic and confusing and leaves you the feeling that this book is like a house built, yet the house is not furnished and one cannot live in it. In a way, it feels as if reading the ending of this book is like going in circles and cannot pin-point your destination and is extremely frustrating. The ending ruined this book. Gaines wrote the ending as if he was drunk from drinking cheap wine or something. No wonder this book isn't the big hit like "A Lesson Before Dying" or "A Gathering of Old Men". Even though most of his endings in his other books give you a feeling of something that's missing. None are as terrible as this one. And if it isn't for the ending I would have given it a four stars, but for the ending, I give it a 2. However, the first 150 pages are still worth reading. It gives one a feel of what it is like to be poor and desperate, with nobody to depend on and your true love thousands of miles away enjoying his life while you wither with old age.

I have always found Earnest Gaines to be an author who creates characters with very real issues who are also very intense and often times, too complicated. In this novel, the main character, Reverend Martin has to struggle with the sins of his past and try to resolve those in light of who he has become in the present.

However, I found that the author, in the form of the main character asked to many questions yet never resolved the issues posed by those questions. The story centers around the relationship, or lack thereof, between a father and a son. Although the main character tries to figure out how he can repair his relationship with his son, he ponders too many issues without resolving the main issue.

At times I felt that the dialogue and story line were somewhat incomplete and/or vague. The incompleteness of the story often led to rereading certain portions of the novel to make sure I had not missed the next step. In essence, the thought process as outlined in the novel was somewhat scattered and at times, it was difficult to get a handle on exactly what was happening with the various characters. At times, it was a mental struggle to figure out the meaning of some of the actions and words of the characters.

If you are looking for a novel that is somewhat easy to read and understand on an intellectual level then this is perhaps not the novel to read.

This is a bad book. The plot is melodramatic and implausible. The characters are one-dimensional and implausible -- in fact, down right unbelievable. The dialogue is stiff, moralistic, hyperbolic and implausible.

It reminds me of the picaresque novels of Spain -- without the humor . The main character rushes from conversation to conversation -- many without forwarding the story one whit. There is no reason for the conversations except to fill paper.

To be honest, I cannot think of one redeeming feature of this book.

This is a bad book. The plot is melodramatic and implausible. The characters are one-dimensional and implausible -- in fact, down right unbelievable. The dialogue is stiff, moralistic, hyperbolic and implausible.

It reminds me of the picaresque novels of Spain -- without the humor . The main character rushes from conversation to conversation -- many without forwarding the story one whit. There is no reason for the conversations except to fill paper.

To be honest, I cannot think of one redeeming feature of this book.