Evening News: A Novel Abridged

Rating:
Summary: The chicken brain
Review: (my friend picked out the title.) Anyway, about the book. Well, I'm 13 years old and guess what? I totally loved it, it wasn't even one of those adult books that you can't even understand ANYTHING. I thought the plot was very touching and heartbreaking, but kind of unrealistic. What made me buy this book was the cover. It was really pretty and it looked like a good book. It wasn't the cover above, it was a really colorful one. I find that if I judge a book by its cover, it's usually a good book. I donno. I'M 13 FRICKIN YEARS OLD! I just like the book!

Rating:
Summary: The chicken brain
Review: (my friend picked out the title.) Anyway, about the book. Well, I'm 13 years old and guess what? I totally loved it, it wasn't even one of those adult books that you can't even understand ANYTHING. I thought the plot was very touching and heartbreaking, but kind of unrealistic. What made me buy this book was the cover. It was really pretty and it looked like a good book. It wasn't the cover above, it was a really colorful one. I find that if I judge a book by its cover, it's usually a good book. I donno. I'M 13 FRICKIN YEARS OLD! I just like the book!

Rating:
Summary: A study in human nature
Review: A vary sad subject, but wonderfully written. I kept hoping the family would talk through their grief; and that the ending would be different, but the reality is that life does not always give us what we want and this was truly a study of what life dealt these people and how they coped (or didn't). I'm glad to have read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Evening News
Review: Evening News by Marly Swick is a story of a family living thought a terrible accident. The story starts out with a mother who is studying for test well her two-year-old daughter plays in her pool. Next door twos boys are playing and they find a gun. The gun goes of some how. The boy who is holding the gun accident shots his two-year-old sister. The story is about how the family deals with the shooting and how the older bother can get his stepfathers love back. In the novel the mother struggles with everything that happens and how she tries not to look at her son differently. The novel focuses on relationships between mother and son, and stepfather and stepson. It tells how they deal with it and the characters ask them selves are they doing what is best for everybody. The setting is in today's world. The setting shows what could happen in any place if a gun is left out and what might happen if kids play with it. The theme in the novel is how a stupid mistake can change everything. The novel tells how you feel about someone can change in one second and how it is hard for people to ever really get things back to the way they were once before. The novel does show the power of love. How if you do truly forgive someone things will work out some way. The novel also shows how people deal with things differently and how you should try to understand why they did one thing or another. I liked this novel. It shows what is going on around us every day. It tells how you can stop something like this from every happening. As you read this novel you feel for everybody who gets hurt. You just want to jump into the novel and try to help the people any way you can. You can not put this book down because you want to know what is going to happen to the families involved. You want to know what happens in the end and if the family will work out all the problems they once had. This novel does make you ask yourself how would I deal with this if it every happen. You ask yourself would you ever leave a gun out like that. You try to image yourself in that place but hope that you never have to go thought what that family has to go thought. This was my first book by Marly Swick but after reading this it will not be my last.

Rating:
Summary: Not for the faint of emotion
Review: Evening News is one of the top five best books I've read in the past year. Swick has mastered the art of subtle writing style. Because some of the writing is so understated, the emotions and impact of a scene in the book will creep up on you, leaving you unable to concentrate on anything else, even after you have put it down. Swick has also sculpted some wonderfully rounded and knowable characters in this book. No one is completely innocent, no one is completely wrong, contributing to the overall theme, "is it in human nature to want to blame someone for a tragedy?" She puts so many quirks and random qualities into the characters, that their personalities seem to rise above the pages. This book is so indescribably good, that I am unable to write a review on short notice that is worthy. If you like Bobbie Ann Mason, Ann Lamott, or just enjoy a good read, buy this book.

Rating:
Summary: good attempt at analyzing family tragedy
Review: From my experience in dealing with death, everyone in the family responds differently and Swick does a good job illustrating that in this book. I also like it that she writes Teddy's experiences from Teddy's point of view, in his voice. You can relate to Teddy much better and understand his frustration in what he's done. The only thing is, I don't think I would respond the same way as Giselle, and it made the story a little less believable for me. In the story, she is relatively calm after her daughter dies and she pretty much goes back to her life. She even has the energy to put on makeup for her daughter's funeral. I find that a little unbelievable, but then again, I'm not a mother and everyone deals with death differently. It's a good story, but not everyone will relate to the characters because death is such a personal thing and in my opinion, Swick hasn't done enough to make us relate to each of her central characters. It looks like it'll make a good made-for-TV-movie, but as a book, it's lacking in deep analysis and full character development.

Rating:
Summary: good attempt at analyzing family tragedy
Review: From my experience in dealing with death, everyone in the family responds differently and Swick does a good job illustrating that in this book. I also like it that she writes Teddy's experiences from Teddy's point of view, in his voice. You can relate to Teddy much better and understand his frustration in what he's done. The only thing is, I don't think I would respond the same way as Giselle, and it made the story a little less believable for me. In the story, she is relatively calm after her daughter dies and she pretty much goes back to her life. She even has the energy to put on makeup for her daughter's funeral. I find that a little unbelievable, but then again, I'm not a mother and everyone deals with death differently. It's a good story, but not everyone will relate to the characters because death is such a personal thing and in my opinion, Swick hasn't done enough to make us relate to each of her central characters. It looks like it'll make a good made-for-TV-movie, but as a book, it's lacking in deep analysis and full character development.

Rating:
Summary: Although depressing, Swick's clarity of prose was beautiful
Review: I enjoyed the keen observations and small delicate details, that really brought the story to heart. I felt like I was living their pain, and felt grateful when I was able to remove myself from the story and realize that it wasn't part of my life. However, the book was hard to put down, as the characters, living and dead, were described in such an endearing manner. I can always judge a book on my feelings upon completion of the text, and my views on this particular one appear to be that I didn't want it to end.

Rating:
Summary: The theme of the story was very good, the spirit too grim.
Review: I enjoyed the theme of the story, the reactions of the characters were all so real and believable. However, the tone was so grim throughout the whole book . While I kept hoping for redemption for any or all of these sad characters, they never seemed to achieve any release.

Rating:
Summary: A thoughtful story that stays with you
Review: I enjoyed this book more than anything I've read in a long time. The characters were realistic and the emotions portrayed seemed genuine and plausible. I especially liked the ending - not the typical "happy ending" but a satisfying and understandable conclusion. I read this book immediately following Sue Miller's "While You Were Gone", and I liked it more.

I cannot understand another reader's comments about the author's prejudice against fat people. That comment seems totally unrelated to the book.