Customer Reviews

Our Lady Of The Forest

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(20)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

In contrast to a couple of other reviewers below, I, as a Catholic, found this book to be an amazing feat of poetic, insightful analysis of the tensions that we all strive to resolve in some manner, between the frailty and caprice of our human nature, especially in the area of sexuality, and our desire for greater faith and grace, and between the "Church" as simultaneous institution and living organism.

As a happily married parent of three children and very active in "mainstream" parish Catholic life, having been involved in charasmatic Catholicism and Marian devotional groups, having traveled to Medjugore in the late 80's, having witnessed a supposed "Marian Locutionary" and the surrounding "hoopla" in the Chicago area at about that same time, having seen saints and shams, and having a rather broad knowledge of the various theological, philosophical and mystical topics interjected and alluded to, "en passent," such as Manichean Cosmogeny, Kaballah, and Platonic solids, I thoroughly enjoyed the perceptive character development of the various personalities involved, whom the author uses to embody and present the various elements of conflict. Through these personalities and their encounter with this unfolding apparition and the "visionary," we see our humanity exposed, and the Grace of God working in unusual, subtle and surprising ways in dark and hidden undercurrents.

In the end, we find that God does indeed "work in mysterious ways" and most often in spite of our foolishness and weakness! For the reviewers who accused the author of being "anti Catholic" and too focused on sex, I would say just the opposite. Yes, if you are offended by the laying bare of our human condition, as in the stark portrait offered in Tom Cross, or the "un-priestly" struggle of Fr. Collins with sexual desire, you may wish to skip this book. (Or maybe, it's time to open your eyes to what God already clearly sees in each one of us ... remind me again, why did Jesus come? To redeem sinners, or something like that?)

In my opinion, this book is an inspiring affirmation of our great God and his grace, the Catholic faith and the rather colorful assortment of characters that comprise "the faithful" and give vibrancy to our Church. I listened to it on CD on a solo 800 mile drive and found it an enlightening and agreeable travelling companion.

OUR LADY OF THE FOREST is a departure from SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS. Much as Bret Ellis did in AMERICAN PSYCHO, Guterson is sticking his neck way out here.
The plot is fairly simple. A young girl encounters The Blessed Virgin Mary in the woods while digging mushrooms. Before she knows it, she's got two thousand pilgrims breathing down her neck.
The trouble with this scenario is that Ann Holmes is a homeless person who's been known to smoke marijuana now and then and is also not averse to eating magical mushrooms. And she's not even Catholic! Guterson has fun making sport of Ann's devotees; much of the book is a satire on religious groupies whose gullibility is too much to believe.
The setting for OUR LADY OF THE FOREST is Washington state; Guterson adds a little environmental conflict in the person of Tom Cross, an out of work logger whose life is slowly swirling down the toilet. He feels responsible for his son's paralysis and he latches onto Ann of Oregon as his possible salvation.
Ann is a shy young girl and all of this hullabaloo is a little bit too much for her. That's where Carolyn Greer comes in. She takes on the role of Ann's spokesperson. She doesn't believe a word of this but she knows a goldmine when she sees one. She's a sort of Jimmy Buffett character who needs to earn money so she can winter in Mexico and some of the money meant for a Our Lady's new church sticks to her fingers.
The other main character is a first-year Catholic priest who lives in a trailer home; his church smells of mildew and he's thinking of leaving the priesthood. When he meets Ann, he's enticed by her Kate Moss, heroine-babe sexuality.
All of this is a whole lot of fun if you don't take religion too seriously and I guess that's the point Guterson is trying to make.

Yes, this is a novel about faith and religion but it is one of those rare books published these days which can appeal to readers holding widely divergent views on the subject. From one perspective this is an inspiring story of faith and redemption...from another, a cautionary tale of cynicism and greed. And to his credit, the author David Guterson never discloses to the reader his own thoughts or views. His main characters--Ann Holmes, Father Collins, Carolyn Greer, and Tom Cross--are each fully developed and true to life. They are at times humorous, at times irritating, and at times so very, very sad. This is a beautifully written book...even better that Snow Falling on Cedars. And like Snow Falling on Cedars it is one of those books which friends will encourage their friends to read.

I've seen some other reviews here state in plain terms that the depiction of Father Collins is a stereotype and offensive to the Faith.

I can understand that sentiment, but as a Catholic myself, I disagree with it. Collins is intensely human, first of all, doesn't act on his fleeting thoughts of lust (and they are fleeting, mind you ~ the notion that he's "obsessed" with sex is absurd because he's clearly not). He's just a man, even if he is a priest, so I say give him a break. More importantly, he's a good man, and trying to be a good priest ~ ultimately it's his meek heroism that is among the many miracles in the book.

More importantly, Father Collins recognizes that it doesn't matter whether Ann Holmes saw the Virgin Mary in the Forest or not ~ because regardless of what she did see, Mother Mary was there.

I relentlessly read depictions of the Church in literature and among the hoardes, this is one of the fairest, even-handed handlings of the faith out there. Sure the faithful are rendered as full of pock-marks and Guterson doesn't gloss over anything about their weaknesses and failings. But never once does he stoop to bash the faith. For that I applaud him.

Our Lady of the Forest runs in fits and starts.

This story of young girl who is having visions in the primeval forests of the Pacific Northwest is initially compelling, but then gets more tangled and confusing as it goes along. This is a complicated feat because the novel does not concentrate on an extraordinary amount of characters or themes, yet somehow you find yourself losing your way.

Anne, the "Joan of Arc" of the story, is a well drawn character who we are intensely interested in, despite Guterson's error of giving away most of Anne's tortured background right off. However, her friend, sceptic, and chief disciple is made out to be nothing more than a caricature of her own irony. There is no heart beating there, even though the author bestows her with heavy-handed secular motivations such as wanting to steal from the massive collections to fund her winter in the tropics.

Indeed, all of the characters aside from Anne and Tom Cross, (an unemployed logger who is mean to the core, but obviously searching for healing,) are just mouthpieces to state religious and philosophical questions that anybody with even a freshman Introduction to Philosophy or Theology class already knows. Within the first few pages we get stuff from Aquinas, Pascal's wager, etc. However, the book doesn't go on to illuminate these ideas or fulfill their arguments. Rather, we get long digressions that ultimately prove frustrating, not in their content, but in their context.

The community and the world in which Guterson has set his story is indeed fascinating, but perhaps the book is too short. I had a feeling that Guterson has too many things going on to be accomodated by the brief length. It seems as if the story ends too soon. The author conveys a deep passion for the area and some of the people, but unfortunately, not for the subject matter, and a result he loses not only his interest, but the readers as well.

There is poetic brilliance and exposition in the prose, but the dialogue just seems so contrived and leaden, especially in the beginning sections. As a playwright, I am around dramatic texts all of the time and I am witness to the struggles and pains that playwrights take towards getting dialogue right, because, basically it is all you have. I think it would serve some novelists well to try and write a play or two. Guterson included.

It is so difficult to find work with vibrancy that adds to a contemporary interpretation of Mary, Queen of the Cosmos, and David Gutterson in Our Lady of the Forest has managed such a task with grace and sensitivity.

Gutterson's characters are flawed and very human, and perhaps that's what makes the book so powerful. Mary, in her greatness, looks past flaws and into hearts. As I read the book, I was reminded of the story of Lourdes and St. Joan d'Arc, yet the book is far more than a rehashing of these stories.

For me, the book was REAL--Ann Holmes is a contemporary version of Bernadette but with modern and tragic complications. There is no sugar coating as in the church-accredited tales of Mary--Gutterson deals with the ugliness of sexual abuse, drug usage, depression, greed and mental instability, but moreover, he presents to us a story of beauty, spirituality, vision and undaunted belief. As I turned the last page of the book, I was sad that it ended. The book was like a good friend--in my life there are few people who understand a deep adoration of the Virgin, and for 300+ pages, I felt that Gutterson was one of them.

On a personal note, for many years, it has been the Virgin who has brought me back around and reignited my own spirituality. Our Lady of the Forest is a good read for those who like well-written fiction and a must-read for those who seek to deepen their understanding of the role of the Mother of God in the comtemporary world. It is, simply, a beautiful and moving book.

After his great Snow Falling on Cedars and his thoughtful and underrated East of the Mountain, Guterson comes back in full force with his new effort Our Lady of the Forest. This might very well be his most philosophical and intelligent work to date. Our Lady of the Forest is the kind of book that makes you think and debate everything it tells you.

Ann is a young girl whose life consists of nothing but struggles. After running away from home at a very young age, she now lives in a tent on a campground, picking mushrooms for a living. She has few friends, passing the time the only way she knows how; by taking drugs to relieve herself from the everyday pain she constantly feels.

One day, during her daily trek into the woods, she sees something floating above the trees. She falls to her knees and goes into a trance-like phase. When she awakens from it, she tells the people around her that she has just seen the Virgin Mary. When this event reoccurs the next day, and the one after that, Ann grows a small gathering of followers that seems to grow by the day.

Soon enough, the small town of North Fork quickly fills up with the visionary's followers. But as thousands gather around the young girl, others cannot let themselves believe in her vision. Primary among these are the town's priest, who, although infatuated with the girl, cannot let himself believe she is seeing the Virgin Mary. And then there is the town's troublemaker whose mind is so boggled and confused that he does not know what to believe anymore.

Are the visions real? Is the Virgin Mary really coming to the young girl with words or wisdom and warnings? Unfortunately, Guterson does the grave error of answering this question. But this flaw aside, Our Lady of the Forest is a great book that keeps attacking one of today's most touchy subject; the place faith and religion holds in today's modern world.

As with his previous novels, the prose in this book is flawless. Guterson is a master storyteller who has an incredible way with words. He often leaves you breathless with his gracefully long descriptions of people, places and events. The dialog is sparse, and the emotional content raised to its limit.

Our Lady of the Forest is the rare kind of book that, while being highly philosophical and intellectiual, still remains entertaining for the reader, a thing that can only be attributed to Guterson's realistic and touching characters and his storytelling skills. You will love to hate these people, and hate to love them as well. Mixed emotions is just the thing Our Lady of the Forest wants you to feel. Another great effort by a skilled, masterful author.

The character development in this book is absurd. Ann is mentioned all over the place in the context of the dialog of others, but has such little development that in the end, she barely matters. The priests are stereotypes, and terrible ones at that. Many parts of this story could have been cut and were absolutely boring. I am so disappointed in this book and the overall story. I'm angry at how negatively G. characterizes people, society, (not that I want a happy go-lucky book, but G. is just obnoxious, self-serving, and elitist) and the faithful. The quirks of Carolyn are idiotic and not humorous. The only one you end up feeling something for is Tom Cross (albeit mildly in that Hallmark Channel ending way). This book could have been so much more. G. has proven himself as a smart and talented writer. Too bad this book got in the way.

I was delighted to find this book after reading and thoroughly enjoying "Snow Falling on Cedars". Unfortunately, this book does not come close. There is a recurrent theme of raunchy sexual thoughts that permiate the book and add nothing to the story. A suggestion or a thought from one of the characters perhaps but we are continually bombarded by the lustful ... thoughts of the priest and the raunchy thoughts of another main character. Too much and unnecessary as were the continuous references to Anne's period and allergy problems.
I was also disappointed in the ending, felt it could have been so much better. Instead of uplifting it was depressing and unsatisfying. Hopefully Mr. Guterson has another good book in him - this isn't it.

I keep waiting for Guterson to write another book as good as Snow Falling on Cedars, and maybe that's not fair. But, judged against that stellar book, Our Lady of the Forest comes out a poor second. It concerns Ann, a runaway teen who has Lourdes-like visions of the Virgin Mary, and her depressed logging town sees her as their last hope for prosperity.
The book is written in multiple points of view: a doubt-ridden local priest, a modern-day female hobo and opportunist, Ann herself, and most interesting, a guilt-ridden logger whose is torn up over an accident that left his son paralyzed. Heavy stuff here: sin, guilt, faith, exploitation - and love. Ann is pulled between the dichotomy of virgin vs. whore in this modern-day morality play.
Beautifully and lusciously written, but it's not Snow Falling on Cedars.