Rating: 
Summary: Empire Falls
Review: Empire falls was a nice well written book. But honest I did not like the book as a hole. I did like this book because it was not what I was looking for. Since this book won a prize I was trying to see, what was so exiting about this book. I was looking for some action and some excitement so I can go "wow". But that is not what happened. It took me to talk to my teacher, to relive why this book was good. It won a prize because it was very well written and it made you feel the feeling of the characters. It described the character perfectly and helped you make a mental picture of the character: what he/she was like and even what they look like. It describe the town well and it also made you think about the people in your town and how are they similar to the people in the book.
If you are looking for a nice easy read, one you understand and picture the character and the setting of the book I would recommend this book for you. If you are looking for an action packed, full of excitement and gore I would not recommend this book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Empire Falls
Review: Empire falls was a nice well written book. This book is very commendable to some and to others not very like. Honest I did like the book as a hole. I did like this book because it was not what I was looking for. Since this book won a prize I was trying to see what was so exiting about this book. I was looking for some action and some excitement so I can go "wow". But that is not what happened. It took me to talk to my teacher to relive why this book was good. It won because it was very well written and it made you feel the feeling of the characters. It described the character perfectly and helped you make a mental picture of the character, what he/she was like and even what they look like. It describe the town well and it also had you thinking about the people in your town are similar to the book.
If you are looking for a nice easy read, one you understand and picture the character and the setting of the book I would recommend this book for you. If you are looking for an action packed, full of excitement and gore I would not recommend this book for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Russo's writing perfect in defining modern human nature
Review: Book Review Empire Falls This book is certainly one that can adapt and appeal to people specifically looking for a book focusing on human relations and behavior. Russo does indeed make up for a lack of overall plot with his uncanny ability to write in a warm, humane style perfect for defining the people of small-town Maine and their relationships.
A book about a once-thriving mill town of the 1950's, this story does not fully accomplish what a plot-hungry reader may be looking for. What most of us would like to ultimately see is the town to again become the booming place is once was. Curiously after this does not happen though, a reader may contemplate what the actual plot is and where it is heading. It is hard to follow in this sense; the book continually jumps from past to present, back to past again until they finally meet up in the end. Even finished, I am not sure what the author was trying to accomplish in this format; a somewhat mixed message was concluded with this book. A reader may also find the reward at this conclusion less appealing than hoped for.
This story can indeed become very dry at times, a marathon of unconscious reading. Though the small stories of the townspeople's past experiences are enjoyable, these in turn have little to do with plot in the present tense of the book.
I cannot simply criticize this book for its shortcomings though, because it is an awesome reality of modern human nature. Each character in Empire Falls represents a different type of person- all of which I am sure we are familiar with in our own experiences- from the soft-hearted main character Miles, to his obnoxiously comic and cynical father Max, and to his egotistical opponent accordingly dubbed the Silver Fox. This is why some people simply cannot put the book down, because of that familiarity which is so close to us; for that we can all relate to this book. This book deserves merit in the ability to define people, and for that alone, that is why TIME Magazine may have recognized it as the "best novel of the year". Again though, these reviewers may have that appeal to them more than overall plot.
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Summary: A Terrific Book
Review: Richard Russo won the Pulitzer Prize for best fiction for Empire Falls in 2002. After examining other reviews on this book I discovered that whether Empire Falls was deserving of such an honor is highly debatable. Though my validity is lacking as to qualify me to make a claim on this matter, seeing as I have read few of the fiction novels published in 2002, I do believe Empire Falls to be a wonderful book filled with layers of understanding and excellent character development.
One of Russo's greatest triumphs in Empire Falls is making the average man such an interesting person. The book centers on Miles Roby, a simple man who lives a fairly bland life. Russo's success is developing depth to such a bare character. Often characters become interesting because of events or dramas they experience, such as gruesome accidents, passionate affairs, or homicides. Russo creates interest by describing his characters in a way to involve such humanistic qualities. Miles becomes someone easily related to because of his personality not his dramas.
Another terrific quality of Empire Falls is Russo's use of metaphors. Throughout the book he plants seeds of understanding such that if they go unnoticed to the reader they will not be at a disadvantage yet if they happen to pick them up they add a great flavor to the text. Some are more obvious than others but each one adds something unique to the book. Also many are open to personal interpretation, such as Miles fear of heights which seemingly develops mysteriously when he matures into an adult.
Empire Falls is a book stocked with characters of the most tangible kinds, and a plot line to savor. When the book seems to be dragging it helps to attend to the character development and Russo's use of metaphors. Whether Empire Falls is worthy of the Pulitzer is beyond my speculation but it is a brilliant book worth the read.
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Summary: Empire Falls Richarad Russo
Review: Empire Falls, a novel by Richard Russo, is about a single man living in a small town in Maine who works at a restaurant. The plot of the book is quite boring; although Russo's use of characterization, both direct and indirect, and his use of flashbacks made this a book worthwhile reading. I really enjoyed Russo's writing style; it is easy to read and to understand. After reading this book you feel like you have lived in the town of Empire Falls, Maine. You know restaurants on Main Street, the high school, and you know the lives of the people who live in it. If it were not for his way of writing, I would not have read past the fifth page. Another pleasing thing about the novel was the way Richard Russo did not just write about a single character, Russo would jump around and fill the reader in on the lives of Tick and her friends, or Mile's friends, and other characters. Russo also used humor in his writing; this makes the reading more enjoyable. Almost every line would have a humorous twist to it, whether it was a funny childhood story or a crack on his father, Max. In conclusion, the plot was a bit dull, but Richard Russo's style of writing, use of characterization, flashbacks, and the immensely satisfying use of humor makes the novel Empire Falls worthwhile to read.
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Summary: Just Didn't Get the Point
Review: Without delving into the plotline, I just have to say that I was severly dissappointed in this novel after reading so many rave reviews. The hero is weak; the climax reveals no victory, and the ending...just ends - not making you want more, but making you wonder, "Why did I waste my money on this book?"
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Summary: TAKE TIME TO READ
Review: I was immediately drawn into Empire falls mostly because of he writing style Richard Russo offers. The story follows somewhat of a slow, descriptive pattern but the details allow the reader to understand the past, and well as the present of all characters. Understanding problems Miles Roby had to face would not have been as interesting if you were not told of his childhood experiences. Each character led completely different life styles, although many comparisons can be made from Miles to Max, and Janine to Tick. Some points were a bit drawn out, but the most interesting parts were the way Richard Russo talked about the different lives characters led, which made Empire Falls seem more realistic. The relationships made throughout the book show what a small town is all about, and you are even drawn into some relationships, such as Janine and the "silver Fox," because you may be able to relate, even as a reader. The reason I enjoyed the book was because I could understand the point of view of characters, as their stories evolved. Tick, the daughter of Miles and Janine, was a teenage girl facing problems in school and with friends. This is a low scale of understanding. The older the character, the more involved their life story seemed to be, and the more you focused on what their real problems were. Being an adult, more expectations are given to you, and the way Miles Roby handles these is quite interesting. I rate this book and four out of five stars for style, and three out of five stars for an interesting story line.
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Summary: Absorbing Fiction
Review: Empire Falls is a truly absorbing tale of life in small-town Maine, with believable and endearing characters who will resonate long after you finish it. I was somewhat disappointed in the ending, however; I had hoped for a final confrontation between the book's protagonists...and perhaps a bit less far-fetched drama! Whatever ending you might prefer, the story is engrossing and enjoyable.
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Summary: Doesn't deserve the Pulitzer
Review: "Empire Falls" is a good book, but it isn't a great book, and it isn't worthy of a Pulitzer. Heck, it isn't even Russo's best work (I'd say "Nobody's Fool" is his best), nor the best novel of 2001 (try "True History of the Kelly Gang" by Peter Cary). Did the Pulitzer Prize committee simply feel that it was Russo's time? Don't get me wrong, "Empire Falls" is entertaining and engrossing, and it works on multiple levels. It shows Russo's incredible narrative skills as it dances between generations and events in depressed, small-town central Maine, neatly wrapping it all together by tale's end. Despite its label as a "comic novel," however, there is much more tragedy here than comedy, as it chronicles the painful degeneration of several of its main characters. Miles Roby, the story's central character, is a largely pathetic figure who finally (of course) rises in the end, providing the lone positive transformation, but it seemed to me that the opposite was true for virtually every other character, including those who are dead at the book's start. His mother, Grace (what else?), for example, who is perhaps the most tragically flawed character in the book. Principally through flashbacks we see the effects on her sons of her folly and desperation. And the appearance in the local high school of a sullen, abused and ultimately homicidal boy, John Voss, serves as a vaguely provocative parallel to the marginal neglect and abuse that shaped Miles Roby. I think "Empire Falls" is good commuter reading. But it's a far cry from being a literary classic.
Rating:
Summary: Pulitzer?
Review: Reading Empire Falls was like a long, never-ending walk in the park on a nice sunny day-a walk that doesn't end until your feet are swollen and blistering and you are forced to sit down and take a rest. Despite its well-developed, realistic characters and magnificent dialogue, the novel was rather slow and excessive, with long, drawn out paragraphs that, while bringing you into the time, place, and mind of the narrator, make your head throb with their over-emphasized simplicity. Though Russo's writing style is pleasant enough, and he picks and chooses the arrangement of his sentences so carefully that the temptation to skim over a paragraph or two can be deadly to your understanding of the many "secrets" and little nuances embedded within them. Russo does this so deliberately that sometimes he even actually starts stating and explaining what anyone with common sense has already grasped from the passage in the three paragraphs following it. I felt forced to digest each and every sentence within the book, and although I usually enjoy doing so-especially when it is challenging-it just became such a chore. And whoever thought it would be a good idea to publish the flashbacks in italics made a bad decision. Squinting to read italicized words smashed together in tiny font was extremely distracting. This 'portrait' of a small middle-class town, presented without prejudice or restraint-was decent, but the melodramatic climax ruined the entire story. Miles suddenly becoming a volatile superman after being such a clueless pushover was just weird and contrived. If I had been watching the story as a movie in a theater, the crowd would have jumped out of their seats cheering at the point where Miles began to stand up to Mrs. Whiting and Jimmy Minty. Yeah, it was good to see him overcome his issues, but just seemed wrapped up a little too neatly in a heroic package of melodrama. On the other hand, the John Voss incident was quite stereotypical and predictable. Although this wasn't a completely horrible book, I'm walking away from it feeling like it was a waste of time, and it certainly didn't deserve the Pulitzer. For better writing and a more interesting small-town story, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil offers up the quirky mystery and voyeuristic imagery that Empire Falls attempted, but failed to grasp.
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