Rating: 
Summary: A sorry choice
Review: In this day and age time is a commodity, hard to come by. We complain about not having enough time to do the things we like to do, for example, reading. Luckily, books like this one are published! You see, this book is just like reading Wuthering Heights, The Horse Whisperer, Cinderella, Lassie and The Woman Who Walked Into Doors. Imagine! You can kill five birds with one stone! Well, don't take me too seriously: this book does not do justice to any of the ones mentioned (not even Lassie). Here are my reasons: The first thing that annoyed me about this book is the fantasy license that it takes. For example, a horse cannot singe lilac bushes, no matter how fast it's running. Moreover, the lilacs will not smell sulfury after a horse, regardless of how evil and wild it is, runs down the street. More fantasy: How about tears so hot that scald your face leaving little pinprick scars on your cheeks? How about fainting during sex? Can your (long) hair turn white in two months? I know that happened to Marie Antoinette when she was waiting for her execution, but her circumstances were a little different from March's. After all, March only needed to get a ride to the store to buy some hair dye. The second thing that annoyed me was that the storyline is unplausible: teenage girl falls in love with teenage boy and viceversa, and cannot get over each other no matter how many years go by. Come on! How many times during high school did you cry yourself to sleep over some guy whose name you can hardly remember today? There is also something wrong with generous Henry Murray, because he does not change his will or makes provisions after taking in a foster kid. This is why the evil step-brother takes advantage, like in Cinderella, only Hollis is no princess with a heart of gold. This is too much melodrama for my taste. Something else that is too unrealistic (unless you are a Kennedy) is that there are too many dead people in the book: March's mom and dad, Alan's wife, Hollis' wife and son, Richard's parents, Judith Dale. Most of them died in tragic circumstances or were too young. I also cannot believe that Gwen went from being a spoiled teenager devoid of any inspiration to becoming a self-assertive person after simply seeing a horse in a pasture. The analysis that Gwen makes of herself is also way off base. That would be difficult for a very mature 15-year old, and Gwen is not being presented as very mature anyway. The third thing that really annoyed me is that there is not a single lovable character in the book. March is a pathetic idiot, Richard is a pushover, Alan is scary and let's not even mention Hollis. There is no redemption for anyone at the end. This book is not worth your time.
Rating: 
Summary: A Tale of Blind Love...
Review: Meet March Murray. She's a wife and a mother of a teenage girl, Gwen. They return to March's hometown to attend the funeral of her housekeeper and friend, Mrs. Dale. Shortly after arriving there March runs into her former boyfriend and first love, Hollis. After their first encounter in twenty years we see March's life spiral totally out of control. She is consumed by her passion for this man. She calls her husband and says she's not returning home to California. She stops looking after herself, her daughter and her friends. No one can reach her. Whatever Hollis says is okay with her...she is overtaken by this blind love. March is in a dark place...a relationship where there is violence and bitterness. She no longer thinks for herself. Her only role is to please Hollis. Alice Hoffman's novel is a story of the darkest side of love...if you can call it that. I found the story to be disturbing and I was hoping that March would wake up and realize what was at stake here both for herself and her daughter. The ending was what I expected but I did find it satisfying. The characters were real and the writing was wonderful. This is my first foray into the world of an Alice Hoffman novel. It won't be my last.
Rating: 
Summary: depressing.......
Review: I thought this book was pretty well-written, but the subject matter was depressing and very sad, and the characters unlikable. It gave me an uncomfortable and somewhat disgusting feeling after reading it, which stayed with me through to the next day. Also, I found it kind of odd that every one in the book was beautiful, handsome and/or had been in their youth. Not my kind of story!
Rating:
Summary: just plain dark
Review: I'd give this a 1 for character development, but a 5 for writing style, so it averages to a three. Hoffman writes her characters beautifully -- I felt as though I was inside March, and I despised Hollis. I particularly felt akin to Gwen, because she is the character I understood the most. However, she was the only character I understood. I I wished I had known more about March and Hollis when they were younger, then maybe I'd understand who they were when the novel begins. Since I didn't, I felt like I was simply observing these sad, morose creatures completely screw up their lives. And since I didn't know why, I felt very unsymathetic towards them. And therefore, I just couldn't enjoy the book.
Rating:
Summary: a disappointment
Review: ...I found Hoffman's characters to be unlikable, as well as inconsistent. The use of the word "f***" throughout the book did much to give me a feel (as well as some nausea) for the heartlessness of hero/villain, Hollis, but when the word came in the voice of the heroine..., March, it rang opposite her romanticized view of her relationship with Hollis. ...I didn't have any sympathy for Hollis, where I fell in love with Heathcliff. And no character in "Here On Earth" seems to be better off in the end for having made it through the novel. Many relationships severed, but few lessons learned...
Rating:
Summary: Poor!
Review: I have read some of the reviews for this before writing my own. I am surprised that people think this is a knock-off. Not because the was a great and original story, but because it was so poor one would have thought a knock off from a classic would have be better. Anyhow, I didn't like this book at all... every character horrible. The scenes provided nothing but doom and gloom. This was cast somewhere in Mass, which I despised her using my great state for such a horrible peice of "work". If you have to read this, don't bother buying it. Save your money and go to the library.
Rating:
Summary: Not an original work
Review: I'm glad to see that several others agree with me...Hoffman needs to credit Bronte for the plot and characters! As soon as Hollis comes to live with the Murray family, it is obvious that this book is a shamless knock-off of Wuthering Heights. It's not the worst book I ever read, but if you haven't read Wuthering Heights, do yourself a favor and read it!! It's time better spent.
Rating:
Summary: Blatant Wuthering Heights Rip Off!
Review: Character for character, plot for plot, "Here on Earth" is a blatant rip off of Charlotte Bronte's "Wuthering Heights". I was shocked and very dismayed to discover that a modern author with so many books to her credit would do such a thing! There is no mention ANYWHERE of the 'similarities', much less an acknowledgment of the novel as an 'adaptation'. It amounts to nothing less than PLAGERISM of a timeless classic. The author should be embarressed (I was embarressed for her while reading it.)
Rating:
Summary: Read Another!!
Review: There are so many other, better books to read than this one!!!! This is not a horrible, terrible, very bad book - BUT - it also is really not very good. Having said that, the beginning starts off well enough but page by page I lost interest. The only reason I finished it was because I thought something big and interesting would happen - IT NEVER DOES. This is a strange book and I am puzzled as to why this was one of Oprah's picks - it was profound or especially well-written. Try some of her other picks - I guarantee you will like them better!!!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Realistic heart-breaker
Review: This book revealed a very poignant life of a young woman as she overcomes the obstacles before her. It was definitely not uplifting. . .but was inspiring. It really makes you feel like your life really isn't that bad.
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