Customer Reviews

The War of the Roses: A Novel

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

 

 

I have seen several reviews of this book which were negative. I have also seen the movie. The conclusion that I have come to is that most people--including the script writers--have missed the main point of the book.

The impression that I have is that everyone thinks this book is about the moral destruction that divorce can cause. Admittedly, there is a lot of this in the book. Still, I feel that the main point is that the moral destruction isn't caused by the divorce so much as it is the passion for material objects.

The Roses define who they are by what they own, and giving away any part of what they own must therefore diminish who they are. As a result, the only outcome of a property division is obviously a fight to the death. Not even the children matter as much. And the finale, with the children following the parents' footsteps, is truly chilling. One does indeed sympathize with Anne.

In the end, remember that this book was written in 1981. Don't read it as a black comedy on the horrors of divorce. Read it as a black comedy on the horror of the onset of the Yuppie phenomenon.

I was obsessed over the movie for a long time and when I read this book it had the same theme and characters but it was vastly different than the movie. The ending was almost the same, but it was shocking how much they did to each other. Everyone seems to think it was about materialism only. I disagree. It was about investing twenty years of your life and wanting something to show for it, and I think their anger and revenge stemmed more from an attitude of 'How dare you waste my life' or 'How dare you ruin our family' that it was more the main theme than the house. The house just happened to be caught in the crossfire. It definetly makes you think, and is by far one of my favorite books.

This is one of the extremely RARE times when the movie was better than the book. In the movie, things escalate logically, with a little humor to keep it from getting too dark. Even at the end, when both spouses have "lost it," there was an enraged logic to their actions. In the book, things got TOO over-the-top. Filling a bathtub with rancid food, turning the whole house into a booby-trap, it was just not believable.

At times, it digressed into a "women's lib" commentary on how a woman exists just to validate a man. A key plot point is that Jonathon doesn't understand why his wife wants a divorce. In the movie, we can side with Barbara at times, just as we side with Jonathon at other times. In the book, she just comes across as needing some cheese with that whine.

Get the movie, skip the book.

I really enjoyed reading this book. However, this is one of those rare times when the movie is much better than the book.

It's Adler's best book, and yes, it's better than the movie. A funny, scary look at how far people can go when everything is at stake.

I remember seeing the movie years ago, and enjoyed that. When I came across the book, I said what the heck, and purchased it. Wow, what a story! This is destined to be a classic. This book far exceeded my expectations, and I highly recommend it.

You know how people are always saying that the book was better than the movie? The War of the Roses is the perfect example where the movie that followed was better than the original book. In fact, it wasn't until years after I saw the movie that I even realized that there was a book that preceded it.

Since I love the dark humor in the movie and its characters (perfectly portrayed by Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas), I decided to give the book a try to see how it differed and also to see if I could get even more scenes involving two of my favorite movie characters: the Roses. I already knew the characters from the movie, so I figured the transition to the book would be easy. Unfortunately, the characters were dull and lifeless on the pages. The movie was much darker, more humorous, and really developed the characters more than the book did. After reading the book, I didn't come out with any new knowledge about the characters, didn't find them as intriguing, and don't care to follow-up my reading with the book's sequel, The Children of the Roses.

Skip the book and watch the fantastic movie.

It sent the message that material things can be dangerous in any relationship. I have read this book many times and each time I read it, it reinforces that idea.

Warren Adler's book "War of the Roses" is actually not well written, but does manage to be disturbing enough. But the cartoonish and irrational escallions of the divorced couple was definately not believable. You feel very badly for the children and for Anne, as both Mr. and Mrs. Rose steam full ahead on a path of destruction which will doom them both. Only merits 2 stars