Customer Reviews

Second Nature.

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Reading over some of the other customer reviews, I notice that many people criticized this book for being too unrealistic. I think those people are missing the point. This is a modern fairy-tale, and fairy-tales are meant to be lessons about what it means to be human, and how we are supposed to live our lives. Using the "Wolfman", Stephen, as a metaphor, Hoffman manages to show how our modern world can cause us to forget our connection to the rest of nature. Using the events in the story, she shows how fragile and precious love is, and how grief and tragedy can cloud our vision and cause us to place blame on innocent people.

This is the third novel by Hoffman I have read, and it is by far the most poignant and most philosophical. Hoffman is a magnificent writer, one whom I strive to emulate. If you are looking for a touch of magic, a story which might illuminate for you what it means to be human in the last part of the twentieth century, Hoffman is the author you should read. And this book would be a great place to start!

I may be biased, because I just love this author, but this was truly a great book. You begin reading it like it is a fairy tale, and soon forget the unlikeliness of the story line -it becomes utterly real to you. This was truly an excellent book - I don't know if I would have read it if I was unfamiliar with the author, but I am so glad I did. I recommend it to all of my friends.

I've read several of Ms. Hoffman's books and enjoyed them all. Second Nature, however, stole my heart. I loved it.

Then I read the reviews and comments from some of the other readers and had to sit back and wonder why it moved me so much while other readers clearly found it unbelievable. I'm a published author myself, and as such, a very critical reader. So, yes, there were plot holes, things that couldn't possibly have happened. But Ms. Hoffman's weaves a spell of magic with her writing that forced me to suspend disbelief. Her books take me back to when I read for the pure pleasure of the story rather than how she plotted a scene or developed a character. Her writing is simple and beautiful, and I couldn't have cared less whether Robin could have actually walked out of that hospital with Stephen. Or whether a she-wolf would in reality take in a human child and raise her as her own. I wanted to believe, and for the space of this very special book, I did. To me, that's pure magic.

Nothing spectacular about this read. Here on Earth and At Risk is by far this authors finest work. Second Nature is the story of a child raised by wolves and later captured by hunters (original isn't it?). The Wolfman is later indoctrinated to the ways of human beings while constantly longing to return to his family of wolves. After being rescued from a state asylum, the Wolfman is taken in by a mother, separated from her husband, who of course ends up falling in love with the Wolfman and being impregnated with his child. In the midst of this predictable drama are a series of murders of small animals and then of a child in the town (surprise, surprise!). This is a nice story for teenagers and the extreme daydreamer but no real literary value here, in my opinion. The writing is smooth, but everything else about he novel is simply elementary.

I read this years ago, but figured I should add to the positive reviews of this really wonderful novel. Maybe it's my romantic side, but I absolutely loved it. It is blamed for being unrealistic. OF COURSE it's unrealistic. Men, brought up by wolves do not turn civilized in the matter of weeks. But SN does not claim to be an anthropology textbook. It is a love story, and an extremely beautiful one at that. It is also the best that Hoffman has written (I think)--the atmosphere of a little town where time stands still is done masterfully, as is the atmosphere of that same town when something goes dreadfully wrong. The romance between the main characters is wonderful. I highly recommend it to all you romantics out there (but NOT to those seeking to read a true antrhopological account).

I got about 3/4 of the way through but just lost interest. I kept thinking I was missing something. Did this woman (main character) who was going through a divorce and being much harrassed by the local police (having a glovebox filled with citations), a teenage son and cash flow problems really just show up at a hospital and walk out with a wolfman who asked her to take him home? Then she sets him up in her guest room and teaches him to read by leaving books with him and a few pages later he is so transformed as to be her guest at a friend's barbeque! Too many holes and leaps of faith for me.

Alice Hoffman is a master at taking an entirely bizarre and improbable situation and make it seem like something that could happen to anyone at anytime. She has a spare and yet fluid way of writing that is faintly magical and yet entirely believable. I have read most of her books but I think this is my favorite (this and "Turtle Moon"). What Hoffman does better than anyone else is create characters who are loaded with flaws and faults and yet are somehow amazingly lovable.

Stephen, the central character of this story, is a man who was raised by wolves. Don't we all know someone like that? And yet, with her deft hand for counterbalancing toughness and vulnerability, Hoffman makes him seem like the guy we have all been waiting for. I'm not a fan of the popular genre of books that are identified as "romance" --- for me Hoffman is the consummate romantic. Her characters are utterly unique and entirely ordinary with that one curious little twist. Stephen, as designed by Hoffman, is the original "sexy beast". Read slow and savor.

Alice Hoffman's books are darker and weirder, and her writing style is much different, than my usual reading preferences. Initially, I was drawn to her books because Long Island is the setting, or Long Island references are incorporated into many of her novels. I quickly became spellbound by her books!

Although it's hard to imagine that a single mother would take an undomesticated man into her household, the story had sort of a Jungle Book or "My Fair Lady" feeling to it. Stephen was raised by wolves in the wild and the way he communed with nature and utilized his survival skills was fascinating! Robin was a compassionate and likeable woman, and the chemistry between the two sizzled! Supporting characters added color and depth to the story. The killings were kind of gruesome, but the reader knows Stephen wasn't responsible even though he is the likely suspect, and it wasn't difficult to guess who the killer was.

This is the second Alice Hoffman book I've read. Although it's not as brilliant as her "Blue Diary", I still found it wonderful. I read it in a night. No, I didn't think I'd ever read a story about a man raised by wolves and like it. Hoffman treats her subject so well however, that I was drawn right in, facts be dammed. It's a story about relationships and how we as humans often times act like animals and vice versa. Try this book, I think you'll like it!

I've taught fiction writing at the university level and had two of my own novels published internationally, so I always read with a critical eye. Alice Hoffman is a brilliant storyteller and one of my favorite authors. Although "Second Nature" is not one of her best-known works, it is my personal favorite. The characters seem real and the romance believable and compelling, erotic and deeply touching. Of the thousands of novels I've read over the decades, I have re-read maybe half a dozen. This is one of the wonderful stories that I felt compelled to read again.