I Know This Much Is True

Rating:
Summary: Powerful storytelling!
Review: This story is long.....that's obvious by the size of the book, which seemed a bit intimidating when I picked it up! It sure didn't feel long....I wanted more! Dominic and his family had such stories to tell, and learning about their history was gripping, suspenseful, and utterly enjoyable! Dominic's relationship with his identical twin brother, Thomas, is depicted so well, it was excruciating to feel what Dominic went through at times.....while the entire time, admiring his loyalty. Dominic felt his brother's pain probably more intensely than Thomas himself. As an identical twin, I could relate perfectly to this! This story takes you into Dominic and Thomas' world, details their adventures, problems, etc., and goes on to explain the origin of some of their deep-seated neuroses. Learning about their mother's past was truly satisfying....the twins' grandfather's demons had been passed to his daughter Concettina (the twins' mother), and she, in turn, let them infect her sons! Such insight into a family's "skeletons"!

This story will pull you in and keep you completely enthralled for all 897 pages! It's a journey you'll never forget!

Rating:
Summary: Probably one of the best books that I have read, ever
Review: This is the story of twin brothers bound not only by birth and family but by tragedy, secrets, abuse, fear, uncertainly, loss of identity but ultimately by redemption and hope. It's a lengthy novel which grips you from the start and doesn't let you go until the very end. I was moved so many times and changed my opnion about all the characters on more than one occasion vacilating between admiration and repulsion. One brother (Thomas) commits and "unspeakable act" which influences every character in the book particularly his twin brother (Dom) who has spent his whole life trying to break free from his schizophrenic twin and deny who he is and where he comes from. I really recommend this book - it will leave no reader untouched - it will make you depressed at times, laugh, cry and cringe at the horror of mental illness but it will make you realize that all is not lost.

Rating:
Summary: Oh please!
Review: Only an avid watcher of Soaps would think this book was good. Unlikable characters, over the top situations and a too good to be true ending made me want to burn this book when I was done. It's perfect material for a bad TV movie!

Read Stones from the River, Posionwood Bible, The Mermaids Singing, or just about anything else instead.

Rating:
Summary: I Know This Much is True - Excellent book!
Review: I would put this in my top 5 books list!!! It was exceptional, a great read! I enjoyed every minute! I hope Wally Lamb rights more very soon. Both this book & "She's Come Undone" were superb! Kudos Mr. Lamb!

Rating:
Summary: Dealing with emotions--Grief, Anger, Love--it's here.
Review: Ok...this book missed 5 stars by just a rabbit hair. My cousin, Laura Whithorn, was reading this book last year. I added it to my wish list & my other cousin, Carol Lucero, bought it for me during Christmas 2000. Yes, it's about twin boys and one is a schizophrenic but it's more than just that psychological exploration. It explores 'growing up' and one's past. It makes you think of your own past. I liked how the author wrote: Think of your past as a well in the ground. Wells are good things, are they not? They give life-sustaining water, they replenish. Well, this book really grabs you with interest when you get into the twins' Italian Grandfathers' life-story manuscript. What a dramatic story! It is mentioned that parables instruct and this entire story does teach you...I know this much is true!

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: This was by far the best book I ever read. I was kinda hesitant to start, being such a long book, but every time I put it down I couldn't wait to start up again. I highly recommend this book....It was so great. I'm waiting for Wally to write more.

Rating:
Summary: Captivating, Incredible... definite "BUY IT"
Review: This book is one of the few books that had me completely hooked from the beginning. I had not read "She's Come Undone" at the time I read this, so was totally unfamiliar with the author. Wow....

The character development is incredible, the intertwining stories amazingly done. I shed more than a few tears!

Definite read....

Rating:
Summary: Better than She's Come Undone
Review: An excellent read. You may wonder how the tale of a divorced, middle-aged, schoolteacher-turned -housepainter, trying to "find himself" could make for 800-plus pages of superb reading. Wally Lamb pulls it off -- often sad, sometimes cruel, occasionally laugh-out-loud funny, and ultimately very satisfying. Wally Lamb is Anne Tyler with a twist. This book will stay on my "favorites" bookshelf for a good long while.

Rating:
Summary: Superb and heart rendering
Review: Wally Lamb has done an excellent job of weaving the love for one's brother with the guilt for gifts not given. In a true-to-life narrative, the author takes us through what it must be like to live for another person while trying to live one's own life - and the pitfalls in between. I found this book to be a fast read and extremely thought provoking.

Rating:
Summary: Enlighten yourself, learn something, do good for your soul!
Review: This has to be one of the best books I've read, certainly one of my very favorites. It's a richly rewarding, yet distrubing novel about one twin brother's relationship with his mentally challenged twin brother, the twists and turns their relationship takes, how one brother's life leads the other's. You will not be disappointed, nor will you soon forget this book. No, I won't sell you my copy!