Evening

Rating:
Summary: Descriptions of death and that special love hit home.
Review: If you have recently lost a parent, and sat with your family around the bed for the many days it took for their body to surrender to death, you will find yourself weeping at Minot's accurate description of death and dying. Trying to piece together the parts of your parent's life you never really knew, giggling over the effects of morphine on their speech, and trying to sort out where God is in all of this, you will relate all too easily to what is happening in this novel, and ponder what really is important in life. Those special high moments when you feel you really are in communion are what, in the end, life is all about: love.

Rating:
Summary: poignant, I felt I knew Ann Grant from the first chapter
Review: This was my first Minot novel. She may very well copy the style of Hemingway, but it's difficult not to become completely swept away by her writing, her characters and her tremendous ability to describe some remarkable moments in the life of Ann Grant. I found myself very absorbed in this tender book, and have recommended it to many of my friends. It was my pleasure to read it. I didn't want it to end--and what a heartbreaking finish!

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and Heartbreaking
Review: I love Minot's writing and by the time I finished the book, I was so enthralled by the story. How could Ann have been so delusioned...? But that's the beauty of the whole tale. Do we all hold on to these snipets of memory? I think we do, and from Minot's storytelling, she understands the way we actually think through these events.

Rating:
Summary: beautiful story, beautifully written
Review: I read her last book "Monkeys" in one sitting and loved the story and became hooked on her writing style. Fortunately she perfected it again in "Evening". At times I found myself re-reading passages because they were written so wonderfully and also so moving. This story teaches a poignant lesson about independence and relationships. One of the best books I have read in a very long time.

Rating:
Summary: This novel magnificently captures the fugue state of reverie
Review: Minot's storytelling ability is phenomenal. The fugue state of reverie and love are captivating. It made me remember my own first encounter with love. Highly readable.

Rating:
Summary: A jumble at best for a start...but, it improves
Review: I liked this book. The beginning is confusing...but, the story unfolds and is worth sticking around for. The hindsight view of lost love and resulting life choices are something we all have wondered about at one time or another.

Rating:
Summary: What is happening to Susan Minot?
Review: The writing is becoming too pretentious; I am constantly aware now of the writer's hand in all this. MONKEYS remains a classic for me, elegant and sad and true, but since then, imitation, self-consciousness and ego.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing love story ...
Review: While the story line was what caught my attention, being a true romantic at heart, the effort in separating her present day delirium from the wedding weekend, her children from her past friends from her lovers, and everything in between, took away the enjoyment, as well as the anguish, of Ann's life. I found it difficult to connect to any of the characters with either feelings of like or dislike. If Minot's main message was that Ann never had depth for anyone or anything in her life other than Harris, then she succeeded, because neither did I. Perhaps if read cover to cover, with no interruptions, I would have gained more, but it was difficult to read over a week's time.

Rating:
Summary: captivating
Review: I read the entire book in two sittings. I found the story line to be enthralling, very poignant and moving - not a classic but a darn good read. The characters were quite human and it is a captivating story. I definitely intend to read Monkeys now and look forward to future works by Ms. Minot.

Rating:
Summary: A total disappointment
Review: The author's style of writing, 5 sentences run together without punctuation, is so annoying I had to reread each sentence to understand what she was saying. You will never really get to know the characters as its like looking at it through a window, not experiencing it.