Rating: 
Summary: A great American novel
Review: I bought IN THE FALL because of the rave review it got in the New York Times, a real rarity for a first novel. I was hooked from the beginning. The fragmented sentences totally fit the country life Norman, Leah and their kids enjoyed. It evoked the constant chores and passing seasons of farm life. I loved Mr. Lent's characters and plots, found them believable and probably pretty accurate for the time and circumstances. But most of all, I'm in love with his use of the language. Soaring, lyrical, an incredible gift with language, he can turn around and sucker punch you when you don't expect it. You know something is coming, but you never have a lot of notice and it's always far worse than you think it's going to be. I loved the Pelham's story and hated it to end. I hope Mr. Lent continues to give us more masterpieces, but if he doesn't, his contribution to American literature is secure.
Rating:
Summary: Page-turning literature
Review: In the Fall is a remarkable first novel, inahbitated by fully-developed characters living in a complex and evolving world. But it really is a simple book, too. And therein lies its beauty. Jeffrey Lent's ability to create these complex characters -- much like John Irving without the humor -- and move them from just after the Civil War up through the early 20th century exhibits a singular talent. He takes us through the extraoridnary events of their otherwise ordinary lives. And we feel as if we're there in New England, and there in the South with them. The writing is beautiful and lyrical, yet I turned the pages as quickly as if I was reading "The Bourne Identity." Lent's writing soars in the middle third of the book, and In the Fall has some of a first novelist's ending problems, but the writing is throughoughly enjoyable. I imagine that In the Fall will inevitably be compared with Cold Mountain. Both first novels, both feature the Civil War and its affect on our nation, both wonderful works of literature. Yet In the Fall truly stands on its own as a distinct work of art.
Rating:
Summary: Seasons in our lives, unspoken emotions of generations
Review: Jeffery Lent is a stroke of genius in his detailed depth of his characters emotions. The story is developed around several autumns (falls) over multiple generations. Issues of love, hate, good and evil are dramatised over the echos of the civil war. Interestingly the unspoken thoughts of the stories average family members - especially when in the parental role is unique and easily identified by parents in today's world. One wonders if the title In the Fall is reference to the time of autumn or the "fall" we experience when we emotionally expect for one thing in life to happen and we "fall" - something else is the outcome? When northern raised Norman returns from the south after the civil war with a young negro "wife", Leah, in tow- is his abolishonist mother's sudden departure from the homestead a "fall" of her own expectations? Was the telling of a long held fantasy as a personal reality by the "fallen from perfect health", bitter at the south's falling, Mr Lex 25 years later to Leah a "falling of her own mother" she could not endure, so she also "falls"?
This book requires somber reading. The story is beautiful in it's telling of man's relationships - unspoken thoughts that lead us down the road of life from summer into fall. Baby boomers will love this one!
Rating: 
Summary: A Beautiful, But Flawed Novel
Review: Jeffrey Lent is a writer of tremendous talent and In The Fall is a
wonderful, if flawed novel. It is the story of three men,
grandfather, father, son, and it is the story of their family. We
meet Norman Pelham as a young man, leaving his home in Vermont to
fight in the Civil War. He returns to Vermont with a former slave,
Leah, whom he marries. They raise a family, but Leah must return home
to North Carolina to face the ghosts that haunt her there. She comes
back to Vermont soon after, so torn apart by the evil she has seen (at
this point, we don't know what it is). [I]t is only [her grandson],
Foster, who is finally able to face down the demons hauning his family
and to discover what happened to his family. Foster's journey to
North Carolina to discover the truth, the last 150 or so pages of the
novel are among the most powerful, most thought provoking writing I
have ever read. I am blown away by Lent's exploration of the evil in
human nature, the evil embedded in American history and how he makes
it personal--intertwining it with the lives of the Pelhams. That
being said ... the novel could have used some editing. Sometimes,
Lent's prose is too self-conscious and stiff. Also, as to storyline,
the fact that Norman, Jamie and Foster all wind up with essentially
the first woman they become involved with was a little hokey,
especially for a novel of this power. These flaws, though, are
overwhelmed by the strengths of this novel. I look forward to Lent's
future work and highly recommend this novel. It will stay with the
reader long after it is finished.
Rating: 
Summary: Really Good story, sometimes bogged down in writer's prose
Review: Okay, I read a review of this book and was interested. A friend recommended it, and I was interested. I bought the book, saw the author's photo on the jacket, and I was interested. I started reading, and I was interested. Then I had to take a break. Now, I will admit that I am a lover of story first, and prose second; which might taint this review. I understand and really do appreciate a writer who can craft language in a beautiful way. However, I found that at times Lent's prose was interrupting the telling of the story. Getting used to the cadence of his language took a little bit, but once I did, I was able to read through. I loved his characters, I loved the time he took with them. And thought he really had an interesting story in there; just that at times it got bogged down a bit. I will fully admit that I had these problems with Cold Mountain also, and while these books are not the same at all, I believe if you really liked CM, then you'll really like this one.
Rating: 
Summary: try marrying better
Review: P>You have to give Jeffrey Lent credit for several things here. First, he has the unusual idea of approaching the issue of race in America from the perspective of Northern New England, one of the whitest sections of the country. Second, the book is wildly ambitious. The stories of the three generations of Pelham men summon, in turn, Cold Mountain, The Great Gatsby, and Huckleberry Finn. The miscegenation angle of the book is Faulknerian. The narrative is unwaveringly serious, and the Pelhams and their women are presented as nearly iconic figures. Even the title of the novel is intended to call to mind the Fall of Man. The book's every page cries out to be treated as great literature. On the other hand, the story is so contrived as to strain credulity--although the Norman and Leah section is apparently based on a real Vermont couple. Writers of fiction are to be forgiven the conceit that strangers fall instantly in love. But surely once is enough for this hackneyed device. When it happens to three successive generations of men from one family, we're entitled to object. Moreover, given that the objects of their affection are in turn a slave, a hooker, and a cousin, it 's fair to ask whether this is love at all, or whether these men are not falling in love with types, rather than actual women. These characters just don't seem to behave like normal human beings, and they certainly don't speak like regular people. The whole thing has the stagy, overwrought feel of a Greek or Shakespearean tragedy, in which the reader is constantly aware of the deus ex machina. But perhaps the greatest flaw is Lent's rather fundamental misunderstanding of the story of Man's Fall. The entire point of the Book of Genesis is that God has granted Man free will, despite the troubles it will cause. Certainly it has been a curse at times, but it is also our greatest blessing. It gives us the measure of freedom and control over our own lives and future that may one day enable us too to achieve godliness. But Lent repeatedly suggests that our fates are inevitable and inescapable, that we have no control over our own futures because we are so tightly bound by the past : [He] did not want to be what he was. The same way Mother thought she could leave her old life behind clean he did the same. But it does not work that way. And judging from the events that befall three generations of Pelhams, he also believes that those fates, those futures, are typically unpleasant. In the Fall was released to much hoopla and has won wide critical acclaim, so some folks must be enjoying it, or, at the very least, identifying with Jeffrey Lent's dour pessimism. I just found it depressingly antihuman. GRADE : D
Rating:
Summary: Rich and elegant
Review: "In the Fall" is a first novel written by someone who was born to write. The story has such depth and the characters so fully drawn that reading the book is a pleasure that rewards. Set in Vermont between the Civil War and the Depression, "In the Fall" begins with Norman Pelham returning from the Civil War with his new wife, Leah, a former slave, whom he met when he was wounded and Leah was on the run from the plantation. It would seem that Leah has escaped the South and the legacy of slavery in her New England home, but that is far from the truth. The past ricochets through the following generations, leaving a young grandson to look for the truth. The Pelhams, with their strong, unconventional relationships, stubborness, and fits of violence, are an interesting bunch. "In the Fall" is an unusual and compelling debut.
Rating:
Summary: Language Tedious
Review: I love long, lanquid sentences, even indulgent ones if they describe a world or thoughts that are new to me. However, this is probably one of the most tedious books I have ever read, and I read fiction for a living. I picked up this book after reading interviews with several prominent (male) southern authors who said that Lent should be read by all. However, his prose is so affected that I wanted to scream. Please, God, find a subject and a verb now and again. The CONSTANT fragments ruined the rhythm of the writing and were so jarring that I almost became angrily frustrated as a reader. Lent is no Faulkner, and he would do good to find his own voice.
Rating:
Summary: I happen to like the writing style
Review: This book is incredibly descriptive and verbose, but I like that style most of the time. I felt deeply compelled to keep reading this interesting family saga but was very disappointed by the last section where Foster goes to learn the truth behind the mystery of his grandmother's life. It falls flat and is just disturbing but not truthful sounding. What I liked best was the story of the love between Leah and Norman and the parts where Foster grows to know his 2 Aunts, who are the best characters inthe book. Much of the praise for this book is about the language and the depth of the story but I have to agree with some who criticize and say it often feels contrived. Still, I feel Mr. Lent did a fine job and has great promise.
Rating:
Summary: Logorrhea mars ultimate success
Review: Mr. Lent's excessive, even self-indulgent, wordiness mars what is otherwise an extraordinary story, well-told. Does every leaf, every rock, every waterfall,every thought require a poetic simile? Some judicious editing would have improved the book. It took an effort to slog through it, but in the end I am glad I did.
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