Rating: 
Summary: I Can't Believe I Read The Whole Thing
Review: I finally finished "I Know This Much Is True". There has been much written about the story line. I will just give you my opinion of the book.Wally Lamb writes about men who are caught up in arrogance and pomposity. I think he was writing about himself. The book is a puffed up piece of self-analysis concerning a miserable family history. His use of mythology, Sicilian, Hindu, and Native American, as an analogy for the life of his characters is obvious and pretentious. I would prefer to figure out the mythic themes myself, rather than have them thrown in my face. It didn't take long to realize this book had a lot of repetitive filler. I skipped through whole chapters of this book. If you are a good "skim" reader, go for it. If you are a reader who likes to read every word and savor them, I would think it would get very tedious. The ending definitely has a tacked on feel. Wally Lamb must have gotten bored with the whole thing himself. Actually, considering how depressing the majority of the book was (and how ineptly the main character, Domenick, handled the situations thrown at him), it was really kind of a relief to have the nicely tied up happy ending. Unrealistic, but a relief. Kind of felt like a Bromo-Seltzer at the end of a too rich meal.
Rating: 
Summary: READ THIS BOOK!
Review: This book screams, "Read me!" It is, hands down, one of the two best books I have ever read. The author follows the characters through everything in such a gripping, enthralling manner. Be prepared to get choked up!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent! This is what writing is all about.
Review: First, I never thought I would get through this massive novel but whenever I saw it at the bookstore, it seemed to keep calling my name until finally one day I figured I would give it a shot. I was going on vacation and wanted a big novel to read while at the beach. Well, this was more than I had anticipated. This book captured my attention from the very beginning and I didn't stop until I was finished 3 days later. What a writer! I won't go into the storyline, since it has already been done before, but I will tell you this is one of my all-time favorite books and if you enjoy great writing and a great story, buy this book. After reading this I read "She's Come Undone", which was very good but did not have quite the impact on me that this book had. I anxiously await his next book. Highly recommended!
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Summary: How much more can I love this book?
Review: I am a huge Lamb fan. When I read "She's Come Undone", the first thing I did was run to the store and pick up "I Know This Much is True". I had never read a 900 page book, but this time it didn't slow me down. I could not put this book down. I loved the way the characters were written and the bond shown between the twin brothers. This book just felt like home to me, so I recommend it to people and hope they get the warmth as well. I still say that "She's Come Undone" is my favorite book of all time, but this one runs a very close second. I hope that Lamb writes more soon, I cannot get enough of his style and heart.
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Summary: Fascinating--a saga encompassing every aspect of tragedy
Review: This was an outstanding epic about the life and the traumas causing and caused by schizophrenia. 40-year-old Dominick Birdseye's identical twin Thomas is a victim of this horrible disease. For years, he has been dealing with the devastating effects of having a loved one drifting in and out of a state psychiatric facility under minimum security, putting up with his religious rantings about how he is a prophet of God. However, when Thomas does the unthinkable and cuts off his own hand in a sacrifice to call President Bush's attention to stopping the Gulf War, things will not be so simple. Instead, Dominick's brother will be placed in the cruel confines of maximum security in a forensic psychiatric institute. Once he is there, Dominick is forced to confront all the pain he feels as the survivor of insanity, having mirrored every instance of injustice which was faced by his brother, while in the meantime facing the frustrations of daily life such as his not-yet-dead love for his ex-wife, the death of his infant baby, the victim of his stepfather's abuse (while never knowing who the real father of the two illegitimate twins is), the knowledge that his mother always favored his gentler brother, and the prowling of a much younger girlfriend. This book is so complex! Author Lamb was granted an NEA prize just to write this book and it is easy to see why. Inspite of its near 900 pages, you will find yourself making dents in it daily because it is such an attention-holder. What I liked was that author Lamb gives us a whole spectrum of interesting characters, yet gives us a full window, rather than just a glance, of what their lives are like. There is Dessa, Dominick's Greek-orthodox, gentle yet determined ex-wife, there is Ray Birdseye, his gruff, ex-marine step-father, Leo, his sleazy yet good-hearted bestfriend, married to Dominick's ex-wife's sister, and Lisa, the crew-cut sporting, tough-talking but kind psychiatric social worker, who fights hard for Thomas--and of course, many many more. Interestingly, as Dominick fights to hold onto the pieces of his marred and tortured life, everything that he does is paralleled with an autobiography of his grandfather, an Italian immigrant who lived a life of self-righteousness which led ultimately to tragedy. You will find yourself attracted to the way that in spite of the pain and depression which steep in this tale, everything about it is so creatively expressed; you will manage to walk away feeling uplifted when you have finished this book. This is a masterfully-crafted work, amazingly well-written as author Lamb gives us not just a glimpse, but a fully-articulated portrait of the lives of those affected by a chronic psychiatric order.
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Summary: Incredible Book
Review: I read She's Come Undone, and I wasn't that impressed. That was why I was skepticle to read 1,000 pages of the same author, but everyone told me it was a wonderful book, and being a psychology student, I figured i could relate to the schizophrenia. It was the most amazing book I think i've ever read. I've read my share of books, and I'm picky, but this was excellent. I think any one that's ever had some sort of even mild hardship in their life should read this book. It was wonderful- read it-- you'll be glad you did!!!!
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Summary: It doesn't get much better than this
Review: Having read She's Come Undone and loved every, single, heartwrenching page of it, I was afraid that This book would be a dissappointment. How wrong could one woman be?! This story has everything and more besides, mystery, violence, despair unlike anything I have read before, humour (albeit pretty dark) and love, deep,searing and frightening love that I for one could locate in my own life's experience. It says it in the title, and I would like to recognise here that truth is the quest in this book. Dominic Birdsey (the protagonist)is mean and cruel and totally human in every way. I loved him dearly. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with a desire to be DAZZLED by fictional writing. I took it to re read while i was in India this year and Wally Lamb became my travelling companion. I would like to thank Wally Lamb from the bottom of my heart for sharing his gift with me.
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Summary: BRAVO WALLY for I Know This Much Is True
Review: Read "She's Come Un-Done" loved it, had to read more from Wally. Read "I Know This Much Is True" and have to say it's the BEST book I ever read.. A book that keeps you interested for 1000 pages is a work of ART. This book made me LAUGH and made me CRY. A definite 2 THUMBS up - HIGHLY RECOMMEND :-)
Rating:
Summary: Touching portrayal of human spirit and emotion
Review: Wally Lamb's touching portryal of the human spirit and emotion has caputured not only my heart but the hearts of all who have read this book. He is able to express the innermost feelings that we all experience and yet don't always understand ourselves. He shows us that mental illness is just basic human emotion taken to an extreme, and that who you are depends on both where you come from and how you get to where you're going.
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Summary: A voice of praise amongst many...
Review: How can I describe my reaction to this novel? I'm not sure, but in reading the other reviews, I see that many had a positive reaction. I did as well, but normal superlatives don't quite describe what I felt when I walked away from this. Wally Lamb's first novel - "She's Come Undone" - was amazing for it's style, topic, and the fact that he seems to have pegged the torments of an overweight 14 year-old girl perfectly. I say seems because not being one, I can't vouch from personal experiences, but I've been assured it's accurate. This novel is similar but with a totally different subject matter - family bonds, feelings of responsibility and guilt, schizophrenia's effect on a household, anger - are but a few of the topics covered. In reading the novel, not only did I learn, but I also found myself looking at myself differently. The way that Lamb writes about anger and how it eats up a life and spits it out used was amazing. His ability to put me into a character's head had me viscerally reacting to the experiences the character was going through. I finished this book exhausted - and not just because it is over 800 pages and heavy. A great read. A stimulating one. A worthwhile one. Based on his track record, I can't wait for his next effort.
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