Depressing, and frustrating, but a good book. It chronicles the ambition, rise, and fall of a tenet farmer. The hurdles he faces, and how he eventually succumbs, had an air of inevitability about it.
The descriptions of farming life in the south were interesting to me, since I didn't know much about post-Civil War tenet farming. I hadn't realized what an unfair system it was.
I didn't have a lot of sympathy for Alvin marrying someone wholly unsuitable for him. More common sense would have perhaps allowed him his dreams.

i suppose its some kind of sign of my sentimental nature that i'm reluctant to show that made me enjoy this book so much.

The Blind Assassin is three stories in one and all intertwine in the end. This was the first book I read by Margaret Atwood and has left me wanting to read more.

What a strange novel. With the narrative style, it took me quite a while to figure out what was going on, although I had guessed most of it by the end.
Lots of the book- especially the parts about her youth- felt interesting but tedious after a while. I could have done with a lot more of the Blind Assassin story.
It's hard for me to care much about characters who are locked into their lives and make so little effort to move out of their situation. I felt like that about both the girl and adult narrator.

BLURB


REVIEW

A keep-you-up plot, I was hooked by the end of the first page, and that doesn't happen all that often with me.

A hauntingly sharp, splendid read. Keep an eye on this author.

What a surprising and strange novel. I was expecting less, but this was interesting. It seemed part fantasy, part romance, part memoir. The narrative style made it hard to tell what was real and who was who until the very end- I guessed most of it but was still charmed by the odd style.
In some parts, the suspense was almost too much for the audio book, although contrived (as is much of the narrative).

Not as interesting or deep as "Look at Me".

The Keep – cousins prisoners eastern_Europe
Claustrophobic paranoia, intentionally mediocre writing and a transparent gimmick dominate this novel centered on estranged cousins who reunite in Eastern Europe. Danny, a 36-year-old New York hipster who wears brown lipstick (and whose body can detect Wi-Fi availability), accepts his wealthy cousin Howard's invitation to come to Eastern Europe and help fix up the castle Howard plans on turning into a luxury Luddite hotel (check your cell at the door). In doing so, Danny can't help recalling the childhood prank he played on a young Howie that left the awkward adolescent nearly dead—or so writes Ray, the druggie inmate who's penning this novel-within-a-novel for his prison writing workshop.

Subsequent chapters alternate between Danny's fantastical castle travails (it's home to a caustic baroness bent on preserving her family seat) and Ray's prison drama. There are funny asides and trappings (particularly digital technology) along the way, and the sendup of castle narratives generates some chuckles. But the connection between the two narratives, which Egan reveals in intentionally tawdry fashion, feels telegraphed from the first chapter, making for a frustrating read.

I was completely confused, and I'm still not sure what I read or what it meant. However, like some Edward Albee plays, under strong direction, this play could be very funny and provoking, if staged. Six characters: 5 women, 1 man. The eldest is "Grandma," and the other characters are her 3 daughters, 1 son, and 1 outsider - the girlfriend of one of her children. Play is bizarre - but in a good way.

I thought this book would be just another character novel, heavy on description with unreal-seeming characters, in the same vein as so many books I've read recently. However, I found this book to be strangely moving. I liked the characters' relationship with God, especially the pastor, since I feel like it so closely resembles my own. I really felt the pain and loss of the characters- they seemed more real to me than most in the genre.
Also, and interesting period piece for a small town in the '50's. Different life expectations, everyone goes to church, very stoic, etc.
I really enjoyed the resolution, too. Mostly happy ending that didn't feel like a cop-out.

Author of Amy and Isabelle. "This time it is the late 1950's; the place is the small town of West Annett, Maine. After the death of his wife, the Reverend Tyler Caskey tries to hold together what is left of himself, his family and his town. His five-year-old daughter is deeply troubled and won't talk, and the townspeople who once turned to him for confort now threaten to turn on him in his most desperate hour. . ." Good book -- not as good as "Amy and Isabelle."

As other reviewers have suggested, the Laments are aptly named. Tragedy visits the family frequently, but it is less of a jolt to the readers than it might be, thanks to Hagen's light touch.

It may be that Hagen's subjects evoke more sympathy for their disasters since the source of their troubles is typically not a personal defect or weakness, but the collusion of external racism, greed, callous speculation, or misinformation. Watch for one character in particular to shed naivete late in the book, and finally break down the last barrier to a more hopeful future.

Large families sagas allow writers to explore much more than mores against birth control; in 'The Company Car' C.J. Hribal isn't shy about pitting the Czabeks against the increasingly intangible American dream.

The narrative jumps between the modern day observations of one of the grown children and the memories of his childhood, but the events of the past were never spoiled, even though the reader has a sense of where the things will end up.

Watch for the announcement at the end - and not the one alluded to by the narrator for almost the entire book.