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About Grace
About Grace
Author: Anthony Doerr
David Winkler begins life in Anchorage, Alaska, a quiet boy drawn to the volatility of weather and obsessed with snow. Sometimes he sees things before they happen -- a man carrying a hatbox will be hit by a bus; Winkler will fall in love with a woman in a supermarket. When David dreams that his infant daughter will drown in a flood as he tries t...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780007146970
ISBN-10: 0007146973
Publication Date: 1/3/2005
Pages: 416
Rating:
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 1

3.5 stars, based on 1 rating
Publisher: Fourth Estate Ltd
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 6
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed About Grace on + 41 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
This was a very thought provoking book. Fear is a very paralyzing emotion for the main character in this book. It was heartbreaking and heartwarming.
xserafinx avatar reviewed About Grace on + 78 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
The majesty of nature, the meaning of courage, the redemptive power of love and the pathos of isolationall are gracefully explored in Doerr's story of the price paid for a gift. So why does so little seem to happen in this beautiful, ponderous and sometimes monotonous first novel by the author of the exquisite collection The Shell Collector? David Winkler has seen glimpses of the future ever since he was a boy. As a 32-year-old hydrologist in Anchorage, Alaska, he dreams of his future wife; soon they meet, fall in love and run away to Ohio, where she gives birth to their daughter, Grace. But when he dreams that he fails to save Grace from a flood, Winkler abandons wife and child, hoping to flee the future. He becomes a hermetic handyman on a Caribbean island near St. Vincent, befriended by a local family. The years pass until, emboldened by his surrogate family's grown daughter, a gifted marine biologist, Winkler realizes that he must embark on a journey to discover if Grace is alive. This is a lyrical tale tuned a bit too fine: Doerr's dreamy prose accords more attention to nature than character, so that Winkler, transfixed by the wonders of water and snowflakes but singularly unreflective about his actual life, is a frustratingly opaque protagonist. There are gorgeous moments here, but a stifling lack of story.
reviewed About Grace on + 38 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
wonderfully written...moving ....sad.
reviewed About Grace on + 15 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
The setting reminded me of Smilla's Sense of Snow. The protagonist's life and search for meaning lead the reader through a maze as he searches for his daughter and finds grace throughout the journey. I really liked it.
Nee avatar reviewed About Grace on + 82 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A very interesting and symbolic novel. Great for book clubs!
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