The River [Hardcover]

Rumer Godden (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, New York (1946)
• ASIN: B001SW78VI
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quiet Profundity, September 24, 2001

By 

P. Mcchesney "patmac" (Syracuse, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: River (Hardcover)

In this brief book Godden captures the bittersweetness of a girl's approach toward womanhood, and tackles the biggest issues humans face - birth, death, identity, loss, and faith. With a concise, poetic hand, the author illuminates the spiritual and intellectual journey of a child who is beginning to piece together an understanding of the world around her, and to identify her place in it. The river is a simple, beautiful metaphor for the events that flow through the girl's life.
Godden's evocative book touched my own recollections of childhood - the remarkable clarity of taste, smell, sensation, thought and feeling, the electrical insights flashing into awareness almost reflexively. Deeply affecting read, if one is quiet enough to hear all that is taking place within the simple narrative.

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book to Read when You are ten, then every year after., October 16, 2001

By 

"byzantine55" (So.Cal USA (when not in Byzantium)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: River (Hardcover)

This Book gave me another world view, as it takes place in India in the 20's . It has an un-American style of writing, British 1920's which I think children should be exposed to and it is a lovely story about life and death and the circle of it all. The characters are a British family. The children are the main charcters, particularily the 9 year old girl, Harriet, the style of writing strongly influenced the way I write fiction. I would love to produce a movie of it. It is lyrical and original. I've read it at least ten times. One of my late grandmother's legacies to me was Rumer Godden's books. Thank you Grandma Hunter!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Simple but Challenging Novel, August 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: River (Hardcover)

I think it is fairly thoughtless to say that The River isn't a deep or thought-provoking read. The plot is so simple, and comes in such abrupt waves that one might not notice the amount of time the protagonist, Harriet, spends considering life, death, and our purpose here. It's richly symbolic and very subtle. The coming of age element of the story is told in a deft and beautiful way, and the ways in which the characters view life will get you thinking. Highly recommended (if you can find it).