by Leif Enger
ISBN: 0802139256
I decided to read this book based on a comment Steve made when I reviewed The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint.
This is the kind of novel that I think about as a story book for grownups. The narrator — Reuben Land, age approximately eleven during this story– is consciously telling the reader his story. He is a trustworthy kid, even points out his own faults, and I was happy to listen to his tale.
It is an intersting narrative, one that begins, like the Brady Udall’s book about Edgar, with a miracle. A different kind of miracle, but still, it opens with a boy who really shouldn’t have survived and did anyway. There are other miracles in the book; it turns out Reuben’s father Jeremiah is something of a miracle-worker or miracle-magnet. He is a man of deep faith and tries to raise his family that way too, but there are problems that do not seem amenable to spiritual solutions.
After Jeremiah rescues a local girl from a probable rape in the high school lockerroom by the local bully and his dimwit sidekick, there are threats and violence between the Lands and the boys. Reuben’s older brother Davy winds up shooting the two other boys when they appear in his house in the wee hours. He kills them both; he is arrested, put on trial, and escapes before the jury adjourns to render a verdict.
What follows is the story of how Reuben, his western-obsessed poetry-writing younger sister Swede, and their father are led by questions, faith, hope, and longing on a trip to find Davy. The best way I can describe it is as an “unbelievable but believable” story that feels pretty good to read. Describing a book this way makes part of my brain go “ick” and if I anyone else said this about a book, I would most likely roll my eyes before going “ick.” Yet it is true, and I did like it, and I am recommending it.
This book was not very good at all, plus they killed all those trees for no reason!! oh my gosh what are they teaching us?!?!?! Well I’ll half to admit that the part about the tomato pudding was pretty good! yum.
sorry i meant HAVE.
put a smile on your face make the world a better place!! yo mamas a pajama! PEACE BRO
My teacher made us read this book and i really could not keep my mind on this and ever time she gives us a opened ended question its hard for me to do it because i did not understand it!!!!!!
I read while sleeping, go figure. BORING AS HELL.
what i meant was, the book made me go to sleep
this book is really sasd and depressing and took me forever to read. usually i read books pretty fast …if there good. and this one took me forever and kept dragging on and on
I’m a freshman and read the book this year; it is very good and I love the themes in it of good vs evil, redemption and faith
I am going into my senior year of high school and I LOVED this book. I saw above that many people (especially high school students) thought it was boring and impossible to get through, but I COMPLETELY disagree. I loved the way the narrator drew the readers in. And it is a long book, but once I got hooked it only took about 4 days to finish.
Anyone considering reading this book, definitely give it a chance. I think that many of the people who are criticizing it are just immature and upset that they can’t take the easy route and just read the sparknotes (there aren’t any).
I am going into my senior year of high school and I LOVED this book. I saw above that many people (especially high school students) thought it was boring and impossible to get through, but I COMPLETELY disagree. I loved the way the narrator drew the readers in. And it is a long book, but once I got hooked it only took about 4 days to finish.
Anyone considering reading this book, definitely give it a chance. I think that many of the people who are criticizing it are just immature, not ready for challenging literature, or upset that they can’t take the easy route and just read the sparknotes (there aren’t any).
I liked it. It was slow at first but then it really started to grasp my interest about 50 pages into it
Please someone find notes on this book.I cant find sparknotes or cliffnotes.PLEezzeeeeee
I’m only in the beginning of the book… and it already seems so pointless and boring. I mean, who cares about a boy who shoots a goose?
this book makes me want to punch a baby-seriously
i wish this book was funny or something, or like so stupid that it was unintentionally funny. its just so boring the only part i found entertaining was when jeramiah was flying. im half way through it and theres NOTHING going on
I agree with Yeah about the bias and the religion thing…but as open-minded Americans, we should at least give it a chance whether we’re Christian or not. I honestly really don’t like Christians who are too…Christian. I’m agnostic and somewhat Buddhist. But I’d still give this book a chance. I’m halfway through it and I have to finish by tomorrow for a test…It has a boring feel to it, but I like it…sometimes I can’t focus but it’s a lot more interesting than the last two books I read.
i have to read this book as an esl student!
can someone find the summary for me plz!
Tanks
chuckcheng@hotmail.com
I think it’s very amusing to see the difference between those who post positive and negative comments. It seems as though all of the analytical, in-depth posts are from those who liked it, because you really have to understand it. The people who say things against the book have nothing better to say that “it’s boring” and “it’s biased.” Honestly if you’re too lazy to write the word “you,” you shouldn’t be attempting to read a book like this anyway. And as far as Mr. Yeah (very clever), I find it kind of funny that the main problem he has is that it’s biased and manipulative, when the book openly tells you to draw your own conclusions, while this guy blatantly tells everyone, regardless of their beliefs, that there is no God and calls them all bastards for having that belief… very mature. Because THAT isn’t closed-minded at all…
I suppose I can understand how you wouldn’t enjoy this book if you’re a hypocrit.
Back to the book. I thought it dealt with very realistic themes, regardless of religion. I think the aspect of Christianity is only meant to emphasise the
beliefs of THIS family in particular and what it is that made them perservere. I think it would have been the same effect if they were Buddhist or Jewish or Scientologists. The idea is that faith in ANYTHING that you believe, and holding on to anything that connects a family, keeps them strong and gets them through life. But I found that the overall theme didn’t really have anything to do with religion at all–but more about the struggle between good and evil or right and wrong that everyone encounters in life. It was very cool.
Oh and also, I thought I might add that I am high school-age (I graduated early, which is why I don’t say “high school student”), and I think whether or not high school students will enjoy it depends on that student… I think honors or AP classes should have the book, but I think the….absent…. mentality of the average high school student may not be able to handle the themes and simply resort to calling it “boring.”
I had to read this book for Honors Gr. 11 English. I loved all the allusions hidden inside. I will agree that some parts the story move rather slowly, but the book itself is beautifully written and its language is poetic. I feel that those who find the entire book “boring” simply did not have the mental capacity to understand and appreciate this novel.
I had to read this book for my english class and thought of it as a decent book. Most of my classmates would think otherwise though. I would not recommend this to teens. However, I believe that it is very rich in meaning and good for those who enjoy literature.
This book is one of the kind you want to read over and over again i loved this book even though i had to read it for englsh class i would read it again some time maby
I think that this was a wonderful book. The storyline captured my attention right from the beginning and though some parts were difficult I thought the ending brought it back. I am in high school and I really do not think that you have to be a certain age to read this book, it is all about maturity and being willing to listen and learn something through what you are reading.
THis book had tooOOOOoOO many pages that didnt make sence with the overall theme of the novel
LIKE HALF of the book was Rueben in an RV driVING!!!
i agree the only attention grabber was DAVY… the killing and suspence he gave was great…
i admitt the ending was kinda worth reading all the Non scene in the book… but come on >>>much of the stuff in this book could have just been compeletely erased… okay novel but not great
This book was whack…
a bunch of readnecks riding in a tralier…
im surprised there wasnt a scene in the book where they lynched a guy lol
damn Crackers
IF your reading this take this advice
this book sucks… the book is about as boring as the authors life ahaha
the was peaceful alright….too peaceful nothing good ever happend
besides the murders
This book wasnt that bad, but it was a required reading, which always makes things less enjoyable. It had a good plot, but the author was WAAAY too descriptive and i tuned out for like all of the long, non sensible description parts. Many of the metaphors (and there are alot of them) in the book refer to things not previously mentioned in the book, and its confusing, although i did like it, i guess.
ok whoever yeah is of course you are entilited to ur opion but i mean come on the book is fiction ok it is just a book ok a bookget over it, personally i wasnt excited over this book but i didnt hate it either it was a lil confuseing but i mean i likeed it i thought it was kinda interesting and i had to do a speech on it and i had alot of info to be able to do it. I guess i wouldnt reccommend it if u are looking for an exciting book but if u want a relazing book then ya read this(:
ok whoever yeah is of course you are entilited to ur opion but i mean come on the book is fiction ok it is just a book ok a bookget over it, personally i wasnt excited over this book but i didnt hate it either it was a lil confuseing but i mean i likeed it i thought it was kinda interesting and i had to do a speech on it and i had alot of info to be able to do it. I guess i wouldnt reccommend it if u are looking for an exciting book but if u want a relazing book then ya read this(:
I have to say this book seemed to have potential… “seemed to have”…
By reaching page 100, the story is practically told. The other 200 pages are boredom after boredom. I mean, if you like those kinds of books, go for it… If you’re human, you “probably” wont like it.
Judy (above) said: I, too, REALLY enjoyed this book. The writing is delightful, with the sardonic and innocent thoughts of young Reuben. Would high school kids get into this book, do you think?
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I’m going to assume by the long list of comments from high school age students that most would not get into the book. The descriptive, meaningful prose are beyond most of them. It takes years, understanding and perhaps a little sorrow to appreciate a sweet book such as this.
Im about to read this book for honors english III… there are so many different views on it, its all kind of confusing.
Im the kinda person who needs the story to really catch my attention (im an a.d.d. child).
So would it be a good book for me to read?
One of the greatest modern fiction I’ve read. Those who think the book has no theme and is boring are wrong. It is rich in language and has a great story.
fuck this book
I read this for required reading this year in tenth grade English class, and I rather enjoyed it. I’m agnostic, but I didn’t really feel that the religion was overbearing (which I was pretty worried about, initially). The characters are believable, and the storyline’s pretty engaging. If you understand at least some of the allusions and religious references (which are, generally, drawn from the better-known verses), the story’s, also, extremely easy to follow. Honestly, it was a nice break from the dull and, oftentimes, difficult-to-follow books that we are usually assigned.
I just read this for my 9th grade honors english class.
This book gave me a reason to envy the regular english classes because they didn’t have to read it.
I found this book dreadfully boring.
Nothing interesting ever happened, and anything that should have been interesting was twisted up in a way that made it not.
If sappy books are your thing, good for you.
But if you need a book with a little plot twist, don’t even pick this one up.