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on March 31, 2017
OH NO! What about GEORGE KING of Atlanta, Georgia? I just cannot, I repeat CANNOT believe the book ended. THE BOOK, mind you, not THE STORY!! Oh my gosh.....to have experienced all the tragically induced emotions this story caused me only to end in LIMBO really p's me off. Because I could already see the HAPPY EVER AFTER ENDING VIA GEORGE KING FROM ATLANTA , GEORGIA....Great story , no ending.
on April 30, 2016
Books like this one come along only a few times in a reader's lifetime. I'd rather pick my own word to describe its mood. I won't write much about this book because I don't want to give anything away, except to say I thoroughly enjoyed the story and totally did not see the ending coming. I only wish I could go back and read this for the first time again. Clegg has won my heart with his previous book and this one and he's made me hope daily that he's at work on another book. I wish he'd call me when he's ready to publish something again. He's that good.
on October 14, 2015
If you pick this book up and it doesn't grab you in the first twenty pages, trust me, stick with it! Clegg's characters are complex, developed human beings with pasts. Each character has so many links to others as humans do. This book is so very human. It records the minor little things that Clegg recognizes as the small matters that make up one's life.
on October 16, 2016
Wow!! This is a beautiful and meandering tale of grief, blame, guilt and the lives changed forever by a terrible accident on the eve of a wedding in a small town. The story unfolds through the eyes and heartbreak of various characters, and at various times in the chronology, starting with the morning of the disaster, but jumping to the time before and after. June's daughter Lolly, her finace Will, her ex-husband and her boyfriend Luke are all staying at her home on the eve of Lolly's wedding, when the house explodes killing everyone inside and June is left, having been out of the house at the time, with everyone in her life gone. After the funerals she disappears and the only person with a family member who is still in town is Lydia, the town outcast, as she tries to process her grief alone. These two tell the majority of the tale though we meet others, along the journey, damaged by life, who bring their perspective and bring the story together. It's a skillfully and gently woven tale that nevertheless will smack you in the face with the power and grief of loss. Once picked up and committed to, you won't want to put it down and you'll be thinking of these characters for days afterwards. I read a few pages at a time but found it hard to follow in this manner, so about four short chapters in, I just started reading and didn't stop until I finished.
on May 17, 2017
Liked this book very much as it portrayed the trails and tribulations we as humans must endure as long as we are alive. The only thing I did not like was the way it was written. It was difficult keeping up with the characters . I wanted to take notes as I read to keep it all straight. This was the book club selection and a very good choice.
on August 7, 2016
I just do not get the people who gave this book bad reviews. This was such a good book. It reminds me of the movie Crash how everyone's lives connect together. I had this on my wish list for awhile. But there where some bad reviews so I hesitated to purchase it. Amazon had it on sale the other day, so I took my chance and glad I did.
This is the best book I have read so far this year. Grant you it is a sad story and the ending isn't happy rainbows but how could it be, if you lost everything in your life. The writing is very good and it only takes a lazy Sunday afternoon to complete.
Some people complained that there was no dialog. Oh please, really. . . The author is telling a story and you do not have to be a brain surgeon to follow the different characters. Frankly, there are not too many characters to keep straight as some have stated. This book is worth reading.
This is the best book I have read so far this year. Grant you it is a sad story and the ending isn't happy rainbows but how could it be, if you lost everything in your life. The writing is very good and it only takes a lazy Sunday afternoon to complete.
Some people complained that there was no dialog. Oh please, really. . . The author is telling a story and you do not have to be a brain surgeon to follow the different characters. Frankly, there are not too many characters to keep straight as some have stated. This book is worth reading.
on March 27, 2017
Lots of characters. Don't how they are connected until end. It is enjoyable,but it takes a while to get into.
on November 25, 2016
Recently I've started four books, all different genres. For some reason I've been struggling to get past the first few chapters of each one...until this one. I started this book and was immediately hooked. It is beautifully written, coloring each character so precisely that you feel almost like a voyeur knowing more than you rightfully should. There were lines that touched me so deeply I was compelled to underline them, not a common habit of mine when reading fiction. If you love good stories and well developed characters, some deep and touching emotions and a bit of universal truths thrown in, give this book a read. I haven't read any if its reviews but intend to do so now to see if others were as touched by it as I was.
on November 17, 2015
this exceptionally powerful (first?) novel -- long-listed for this year's man booker prize -- grabs you from page one with a scene of devastating destruction for a family...the rest of the book is told from the shifting / conflicting POV's of the survivors...a kind of American "rashomon" in the wake of tragic loss...the attempts to deny...to cope....to move on....the intense physical and emotional fallout.
the writing is alternately biting and poignant...always tight, never overdone, often beautiful...(a real gift here for the just-right metaphor)...the observations are sharp and telling...the revelations both surprising and "true." the dialogue is mostly plain-spoken but with unstuffy eloquence all its own...each character is both strong and in some kind of denial on the various roads to "moving on."..."getting over it, getting past it"...coming to terms with it...a writer to savor now and keep an eye on,,,i'll read whatever this guy does next.
the writing is alternately biting and poignant...always tight, never overdone, often beautiful...(a real gift here for the just-right metaphor)...the observations are sharp and telling...the revelations both surprising and "true." the dialogue is mostly plain-spoken but with unstuffy eloquence all its own...each character is both strong and in some kind of denial on the various roads to "moving on."..."getting over it, getting past it"...coming to terms with it...a writer to savor now and keep an eye on,,,i'll read whatever this guy does next.
