Customer Reviews

Widow for One Year

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

I truly enjoyed this book. As in many of Irving's works, the themes of impossible coincidence and the "sins of the father" run rampant. The notion that fiction can simply be fiction is not lost in this rich novel with its seriously flawed characters. The main character Ruth, is a true person in the sense of her lack of true decisiveness and ability to acknowledge that the world isn't perfect but oddly comforting. The sentiments and questions regarding parental responsibility and love are important and the concept that what happens in our past is inherently linked to our future is persuasive.

Perhaps this book is not a literary giant yet it takes a stand on the true meaning of fiction -- it can be whatever it wants to be. This is a great summer read that has more meat than the average beach book.

It's hard to believe this book can be called quality. To me it is immature, unskilled writing. Characters, especially Ruth, are unbelievable. I'm trying to figure out what I'm missing but as an inveterate reader of literature, at all levels, this is a disappointing read.

I Finally finished this book today. It's going straight into the trash can. The characters are not realistic at all, the story goes all over the place and it'd take me too long to go on with what's wrong with it. I'm sorry to have wasted my time reading it when there are so many good books to be read.
D. Nusser
San Diego, CA