Member Profile
| Name : | Lori C. |
My Reviews
For a new author to write about her life/family and receive the success she has is a testament to how well written the book is. We read this 3 years ago and are now putting her latest book on our selection of 2010 reads. We were very impressed with her prose and detail while captivating the reader in an authentic, extremely humbling way. Very honest and realistic, any of us could have had her life. Enjoy!
A short read that packs quite a punch. When we selected this book my first thought was that no way can anyone cover their experience during the Holocaust in such a short narrative. Wrong! Elie, along with his associate, does an incredible job capturing the reader from the start. If you don't choose this for a book club read, then do yourself a favor and read it anyway.
This book was actually my recommendation to our club and I apologized to them for making such a terrible pick. Where they came up with the title I have no idea as it really had nothing to do with the senator's wife. Neither the main two characters, Delia and Meri, I thought had much pizazz. The story line really didn't have any meaning and was kind of all over the place, it didn't hold our interest at all, we thought the prose was difficult, and ended up giving it a C-.
We graded the book a B- or C+. Didn't feel the characters had enough definition and in many cases wondered about their background and why they did certain things. Not too impressive for us.
Understanding that this book is composed of short stories is the key to getting through it. The characters in each story/chapter are all different and interesting in their own right, but how Olive plays into each of their lives is uneventful to say the least.
There is a great additional readers guide on Random House under "Teachers Guide". I thought the questions identified there were much more interesting and stimulated great discussion compared to those printed in the book itself. Our favorite characters were Sheldon and Mrs. Beatty.
Our group gave this book a B+. Thoroughly enjoyed the historical avenues the author took. Brought to mind what those times were like and the things people do to survive. Good book club selection.
You know we saw a lot of TV coverage that provided us with ongoing news of what the community was experiencing, but this read takes it to a whole new level. To think of what this family endured and the consequences they paid for who they were is unfathomable .... whether you were Zeitoon, or his wife Kathy, would you have been able to sustain sanity in the midst of this tragedy??? Wonderfully written!
Living in the Pacific NW our group picked this book as we remember the 'real story' behind this book. We all really enjoyed the characters and the prose of the book. Very easy to read, but packed with story line depth. A nice addition to typical 'book club' selections.
if you have thought about reading this book, please think again. Half of our members couldn't even finish it and those that did graded it a C. Lots of other spectacular reads out there .... do yourself a favor and pick one of them.
I didn't feel that the book was as funny as it was projected to be. For fun reading it containted some hefty words that required the use of a dictionary. Yes I know that the author intended it to read that way, however, it became a little overwhelming for a light hearted book selection.
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