Helpful Score: 1
On the plus side, this is a well-constructed generational novel of great depth and an extremely ambitious set-up. There are extremely compelling story elements and a historical aspect that is vividly depicted. The downside is that there are few characters that I was able to really like, and those that I did were minor figures in the narrative. In addition to that, it really is largely a rip-off of a very real life story. The dream sequence is extremely irritating (you'll know what I mean if you read it), and the book doesn't exactly come to a complete conclusion. In the end, the writing warrants four stars, but it is not a book I could say I love. That being said, it did win the Pulitzer, so is a fairly important contribution to literature.
Helpful Score: 1
The first time I read this I was too young, but re-reading it recently I was drawn to the complex characters who have to negotiate a self and a career and a love which do not necessarily have the same needs. As an academic, I and nearly all of my colleagues have had to negotiate the tricky business of solving the "two-body problem" without destroying everything else along the way. And, the physicist in me just plain loves the title.
This book was recommended to me by a good friend. It's her favorite. I was blown away. The writing is fantastic. The whole mood of the book is one that overtook me. It reminded me of The Thornbirds because it's a sweeping saga of a woman's life of struggle. The narrator is writing the story of his grandmother's life. At times I became impatient when the story turned to his own life but in the end it was his life that struck me most. Read this book! (Pulitzer Prize winner, too!).
Good but too long and "wordy"
My wife liked it. Author won Pulitzer Prize
An excellent book! Alternates between present day and his grandparents time. Easy way to learn about western, mining, and engineering history. I enjoyed reading this book.
This book was utterly facinating. It made me more interested in finding out about my great-grandfather. The author kept my interest to the last page.
Easy to see why this was an award winner.
It was on the power of other reviewers' words that I decided to request and read this book in the first place, and they were not mistaken! As one said, it was hard to get into at first, and I wondered what all the hype was about until...well, the deeper into the story I read, I could only agree with the person who wrote it was "stunningly beautiful writing". Every few pages, I wanted to copy down a turn of phrase, or the author's description of an event. Not surprising, since he was a professor of creative writing himself, that he knew the craft so well. It won the Pulitzer Prize, which also is not surprising. Based on the true story of his grandmother as left behind in her letters and her own writing, it is well worth the hefty length.
