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Title: STONES FROM THE RIVER by Ursula Hegi ISBN: 0-684-84477-X Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 01 March, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.22 (277 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Amazed at the hostility in these reviews!
Comment: I usually try to avoid Oprah's picks for literature. After I finished She's Come Undone, I unknowingly picked up Stones without realizing that it, too, had Oprah's stamp of approval. The first few chapters--the ones dealing with Trudi's mother--bored me and I started to wonder why everything Oprah picked had to do with mental illness of some kind. Once I became engaged in this book, I could not stop reading it. I am amazed when I read other reviews by people who say that this novel is trite or that it's difficult to care about the characters. Not many Americans could relate the experience of the Nazi regime from the inside. Hegi stunned me as she gave me a clearer insight into World War II Germany (which my high school history classes failed at miserably). This piece works on so many different levels. Trudi's disability, if that's the word for it, is an allegory to which almost every other element in the novel can be compared. Stones connects a "biography," a story of a community, and a compelling account of a horrific time in world history. You don't have to care about Trudi, but didn't anyone feel for Alexander or Frau Abramowitz? I'm giving it four stars; Hegi lost my last star for making the first few chapters way too difficult to get through. But this book is definitely rewarding once you get into it.
Rating: 5
Summary: Simply superb
Comment: This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. The story is woven into a rich and vibrant fabric. There are those who would criticize it as an apology for German attrocities and compare that time in history to our VietNam war. Not the same. VietNam was brought to us in living color every night on every TV in every home. Telecommunication in Europe in the '40s was a lot slower and during that time in Germany news was sifted, sanitized and doled out in small portions via press and radio. Never mind that. Other critics complain that 3 year old Trudi could never have been so "knowing". Ha. This is ... hello ... FICTION! That notwithstanding this is a wonderful book. I thought Trudi was a brilliant character, full of pathos and humor, and very, very human. It is not perfect literature. It's not an accurate historical account of pre- and post-war Germany. It is a very readable, thought-provoking book; an interpretation of history by a gifted writer. I particularly enjoyed the metaphor of the "stones" and the river: ever changing, always the same. Doesn't make sense? Oh well, that's life. I would wholeheartedly recommed this book to anyone who appreciates a good story.
Rating: 5
Summary: I couldn't put it down
Comment: I read books during my 30-minute lunch break at work, and I sped through this novel, always wanting to sit for longer than those 30 minutes each day! Hegi weaves a beautiful story that made me laugh out loud, even cry at times. The characters are wonderful, and Hegi's descriptions really put you in early 20th-century Burgdorf. She also does a good job of weaving connections that support the themes like storytelling and individuality/differences as beauty.
Reading the back cover before reading the novel actually made me wonder if I would like it, but I'm glad I did read it; the cover just does not do the book justice.
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Title: A Virtuous Woman by Kaye Gibbons ISBN: 0375703063 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 05 November, 1997 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds ISBN: 0425162443 Publisher: Putnam Pub Group Pub. Date: April, 1997 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: The Book of Ruth : A Novel by Jane Hamilton ISBN: 0385265700 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 01 December, 1989 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons ISBN: 0375703055 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 05 November, 1997 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen ISBN: 0440226104 Publisher: Dell Pub. Date: 02 February, 1999 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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