Customer Reviews

Rise the Euphrates

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

 

 

My boss's father, who is Armenian, loaned me this book two years ago and I found it to be one of the most unforgettable novels I've ever read. I read an average of 2 to 4 novels a month and most of them get donated to our local library when I'm finished (including most of Oprah's picks). Few books merit a permanent home in my personal library but this will certainly be one of them. Unfortunately, it is out of print and now I'm desperately trying to locate a copy. The first chapter was one of the most emotionally painful & horrific reads I've ever encountered. I'll never forget the characters of this book or their collective experiences that span three generations. This book must have a second printing... and Oprah, you have GOT to read this one.

i am guessing anyone that rates this book terribly low does not know any armenians personally and knows little or nothing about the genocide as well. i can tell you that i married into an aremenian (and greek) chicago family in 1999. this book does capture quite a bit of the fascinating, interesting, and entertaining nature of the armenians in america. reading the author's account of a second generation armenian growing up in the 1970's -i assume 1970's-was pretty right on and a fun and thoughtful read. not only a great snapshot of this 1970's family (and its history before) but a horrific glimpse of the genocide that continues to hover over these people (in the past indeed, yet always there.) why anyone decides they can or should annihilate any other person or specific race/nationality is beyond comprehension...luckily people like this author are here today to laugh, cry, decipher and share their unbelievable story. i am certain all aremenians who were born in america since the genocide can relate to this book...especially the women.

One of my all-time favorite reads. I have no Armenian connection (and not much previous knowledge of Armenian lit), but fell in love with this book for its story--a weaving together of the ups and downs of family, firsts, growth, love. It is a gift to readers who want to dive into a story that is filled with heart and with hope, and are looking for those moments in writing that leave you speechless. Highly recommend!

This book is a curious mix of successes and failure. Some of the characters are memorable and sharply drawn (the grandmother, Theresa), others are just a collection of cliches and forgettable (the narrator who is the voice of the novel most unfortunately). I'll admit that I lost interest in the story about 2/3 of the way into it. This was because the plot was so meandering and I had ceased to care about the characters. The best thing about the novel is its treatment of the Armenian genocide (a freighted term, which if you are already informed about this historical period you will know). The early sections dealing with this are terrific and memorable. Once the action is transferred to Connecticut it starts to deflate. Also praiseworthy is the treatment of the Armenian diaspora in the U.S. With a lot of editing to sharpen the focus and weed out the family drama cliches this would have been a better book. Oh well.

With every turn of the page, I felt more and more like I was reading my own family's story. I have never been so personally affected by a book before. Thank you Carol Edgarian!

I've read hundreds of books. Mostly fiction. This book is one of the best I've read. It reads like a beautiful and sad ballad. I purchased this book on a whim after reading the inside cover and am so thankful I did. It is far better than every best seller I've read. After reading this one I was inspired to read anything and everything about Armenians and this horrible period in history. I have quite a collection of books now. This is the only book to date that I would read a second time.

I was extremely moved by this book, as were all my friends who read it, and I would like to share what Amy Tan, Robert Stone, and Rick Bass had to say about it:

"Carol Edgarian is a remarkable writer of intelligence and compassion. She has written an important story that is at once unique and universal. In RISE THE EUPHRATES, history and personal story deftly intertwine to create a complex of emotions and questions about humanity, love, and family." -- AMY TAN

"RISE THE EUPHRATES begins with vivid, chilling scenes from the Armenian holocaust, follows one of its orphans to the New World and becomes a commentary on the variety of the American experience. It is a wonderfully written family chronicle, full of observartion and insight, that both moves and entertains." -- ROBERT STONE

"How often do you get to read a book that captures you so entirely and deeply that it controls your days, measures them out and defines them by how long it will be before you can get to your next night's reading? RISE THE EUPHRATES is one of these rare treasures: a work of power, grace, beauty, and exquisite tenderness." -- RICK BASS

Since the publication of RISE THE EUPHRATES, Edgarian has been at work on a new novel, has published numerous pieces in magazines, and edits a prominent magazine of her own. If you would like to find out more about her work, you can locate her online at http://narrativemagazine.info

I read a lot, and this is one of my favorite novels. It is one of the great pleasures of life -- a book with the kind of depth that catches your attention and won't let go. What blew me away were Edgarian's artful turns from the story of genocide to the story of a mother and daughter whose love is suffused with the shame of all that has come before. I wasn't looking for a history lesson, and Rise the Euphrates transcends historical events into a timeless rendering of the ways in which the human heart holds grief, and how such sorrow is transformed, one generation at a time. Seta Loon begins the telling, seeking a bright new future for herself by way of the past. Ultimately, Seta is the only one who can redeem her grandmother's choices. Beyond this, Rise is one of those rare novels that pulls you into its wide arms and won't let go.

This may not be the worst novel ever written, but then again it might,according to the New York Magazine review which essentially made this first novel the poster child for sophmoric bad prose. And this thing may not be perfect, but at least this woman finished a novel which is hard to do, and at least she wanted to be a writer, which, I suppose, is a noble pursuit, and yes maybe the title makes you want to hang yourself, it's THAT, pompous, but what the hell, we're all just people, and we're all brothers and sisters, and I could drift off into a million directins now because I've been drinking, but basically the book's bad but it's not as bad as depicted in the New York review, nor as funny. It's just not good, but what's more criminal than this book, is the review which appeared to have crushed this author's spirit, which is sad, because she has potential or had potential. Asta La Vista, baby. -R. Ford.