Customer Reviews

The Wednesday Letters

5 star:		(92)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(30)

 

 

Do yourself a favor: skip the celeb-gossip books that are bombarding the amazon top ten list, and go straight for The Wednesday Letters by Jason Wright, A Beautiful Bucket of Bones by M. Luci, and Mother Theresa: Come Be My Light. If you refuse your voyeur instincts, you will turn to these novels and find the rewarding feelings of love and hope that all three so graciously inspire.

The Wednesday Letters is a classic American story filled with dreams and the struggles that surround them. A happily married couple, the Coopers, die in each others arms after a life of hard work, faith and love. Their children return for their funeral and find letters that not only show them the secrets of the lives they thought they knew, but guide them to the point of self-discovery, acceptance, and peace. It is a heartwarming story that will satisfy anyone who has ever had a dream and has had to find a way to move along when that dream dies.

What a great book. It made me laugh and cry. The relationship within the family was so realistic and believable to anyone that has siblings. I loved the local landmarks and the pride of living in a small town. The ending was so shocking and unexpected I had to read the last two chapters over again to really believe it. Sit down and be prepared to enjoy a really fabulous book!

The first chapter started the story off with real power. It evokes a strong emotional response. And the latter half of the story also had some very poignant and emotional scenes; the type that put a tear in the eye and a lump in the throat. The story in its entirety was overall quite good, and the quality and emotion of the second half of the story helped make up for some not-so-subtle weaknesses.

After the powerful first chapter, as the Cooper siblings were introduced into the story, the story seemed to struggle to find its direction. Most obvious - and even irritating - to me was the dialogue between the siblings early on in the story. It seemed artificial and ingenuine. Not to mention they seemed to lack adequate development, with maybe the exception of Malcolm. Also, there were parts of the story that were very much over-written, as if the author was trying too hard to illustrate an environment, a character or a circumstance. Unfortunately, this caused some sections to just be hokey, goofy, and even a bit pathetic.

However, I thought in the second half the author seemed to find his stride and ended the book strongly. In the final assessment this was a good story, but it suffers 3 stars for a weak front half, except the first chapter.

What a love story!!!! I "read" this story in my car and I have to say I took a lot of long drives. I could not stop. It's been a month or so since I read this, so I'll not try to give you the details of the book... Amazon has done an excellent job of doing that. What does stand out in my mind are those Wednesday letters and how much this man loved his wife for all of those years up until the day he died. I cannot recommend this story enough. It's one that you'll be thinking about for days. It makes you feel good after all the dust has settled. I wish this kind of love for all of us. Happy reading! JMHO //(*_*)\\

I don't understand the positive reviews of this book I have read. One reviewer said~ His characters are flawed, genuine, humorous, noble, and lovable. No they're not! One of the central characters, Malcom, has major anger issues, he beat a man nearly to death, jumped bail and left the country and doesn't even contact his family for most of the two years he was gone. And he had been in trouble for other things before this. Does that sound humorous, noble or loveable??
I actually found his character to be annoying. He was immature and needed anger management. And we are to believe Rain is still in love with him? With his behavior, WHY would she be? Apparently she has issues of her own.
None of the other characters have any real depth of personality or passion. You don't get a real sense of who anyone is, despite Wright's poor attempts.
I also just did not feel a genuine sense of grief from the characters at the death of their parents. They were even late to the viewing at the funeral home. If they were able to lose track of time and forget, they aren't too broken up.
I found this book to be a dull, boring read.
As for the concept of the writing of the letters every week and the idea for readers to start this tradition being genius, I don't think so. Even the author says most of the letters are boring and mundane.
I imagined passionate meaningful letters. It just wasn't there.
And in real life, noone cares to read a boring letter written just for the sake of writing. The letters should be heartfelt and passionate, or not written at all.
Yes, there is an overall message about forgiveness, which is good, but that doesn't change that this book wasn't well written.

I read this book because it was recommended to me as an inspiring book with an unusual twist. It ended up inspiring me to throw it across the room. I really disliked this book.

SPOILER ALERT: Don't read if you don't want to know.

First, let me say that I am a Christian so the pro-life parts of the book were appreciated by me. I also find the theme of forgiveness a wonderful one to explore in the context of a rape. The premise of family secrets being revealed through the weekly letters was an intriguing idea. Alas, everything else about this book was completely preposterous. I believe in the power of forgiveness but one can forgive without embracing the offender as part of your life. I'm certainly not going to make my RAPIST my pastor. And, wow, how many plot resolutions can you have in one night: the quickie resolution of Matthew's troubled marriage along with his wife's surprise announcement; "Mr. Tweed" , the man Malcolm beat up, shows up after the funeral with a sudden, inexplicable case of remorse after two years with his surprise announcement; Malcom learns that dear 'ol bio dad - the man who raped his mom - is, in fact, the pastor of the church and he is okay with that. We learn that Mom and Pop forgave him ( which is good ) and then HELPED him get his job as a pastor and helped overcome other people's reservations about his appointment. Yeah, right.... What's next.... let's hire the pedophile as the youth minister? I was okay with the forgiveness part but it all seemed highly, ridiculously unlikely as were all of the resolutions occurring in one single night.

The characters weren't well developed either. I didn't get any sense of any real grief at losing both parents. There was very little personality development. Most of the focus is on Malcolm but he was just annoying. The secondary characters were mere stereotypes.

I wanted to like this book. But having a good theme regarding the power of forgiveness does not excuse the unrealistic plot, poor characterization, and pedantic writing.

One of my favorite things about reading is finding an author whose writing I enjoy...and then seeing that author get better and better with each book. I enjoyed Wright's novel The Christmas Jars very much, but The Wednesday Letters blew me away. Wright's sense of pacing is impeccable; his knack for clever and incisive dialogue is a delight. His characters are flawed, genuine, humorous, noble, and lovable. And the Wednesday Letters themselves--and the idea to begin your own--is nothing short of genius.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Wednesday Letters. As in Wright's previous book, The Christmas Jars, the title is also the central "hook" of the story: a sweet, selfless, and ingenious idea that the reader wants to incorporate immediately into his or her own life. Once again, Wright has surrounded his title concept with dynamic and real-life characters, universal themes of love and compassion, and a story that will keep you turning the pages until the rewarding conclusion.
Christmas Jars
Yearbook
First Day

How often do we really think about the choices we make and how those choices affect others? Wednesday Letters skillfully deals with choices and consequences in a way that is thought provoking and life changing. Reading this book made me reconsider my feelings about forgiveness and redemption. If you want to read a story that shows the power of commitment and a good attitude, then Wednesday Letters is for you!

I heard a review of this book as well as an interview with the author on PBS and came straight home and ordered this book and The Christmas Jars by the same author.
Haven't read The Christmas Jars yet; I think one of my kids stole it from my shelf.
However, I was sorely disappointed with The Wednesday Letters. For all the hype it got in the radio interview/review, the book didn't quite live up to it in my opinion. A shallow plot, weak, poorly defined characters and a weird twist took a lot away from the romantic notion that a husband would decide to write a (HANDWRITTEN!) letter to his wife every Wednesday, no matter what, for as long as he lived. Those who read the book might flirt with the notion to adopt the idea (it really is incredibly romantic).
Overall, I found the book to be a bit of a disappointment. Sorry Mr. Wright.