Rating: 
Summary: Terrific, haunting book on identity
Review: Though it doesn't hold up with consistency throughout, Evening is still one of the best books to come out in a long time. Minot doesn't tell the reader how to read or what exactly to glean from this tale, but that is the point. Through the scraps of memory, the narrator builds her life, identifying with unexpected moments and people from her past. The great love she has clung to is ultimately, not what she lived for, and in a stunning section toward the end of her life, she realizes that despite the false values and dreams she chose to sustain herself where not the true driving forces behind her choices in life, that she did indeed, for better or worse, live her life to be true to her own self, to her own heart.
Rating:
Summary: A simple plot made intricate by beautiful & clever delivery
Review: A particularly moving novel that is brilliantly written. The slow demise of Ann's health and mind is aptly depicted in the structure. As the book progresses the confusion intensifies which parallels Ann's increasing confusion of her own thoughts as she tries to differentiate the present from her memories. The frustration felt by the reader trying to sort out what is going on at times helps us empathise with Ann and her frustration of what her illness was doing to her mind. The author briefly jumps from one time and place to another with Ann as she recalls her life through a progression of flashing detail. Only the memory of her one true love were clear and precise. The novel raises the issue of lost opportunities, and the "second bests" that are "accepted" in its place. Loved it. Thought it was brilliantly and beautifully written. My only question is: Who was John Winters with the animal heart? Did I miss something?
Rating: 
Summary: Virginia Woolf Rip Off
Review: While Minot shoots for the stars, her abtruse prose lacks clarity and insight that is essential in the success of a literary novel. The plot and characters, which do have potential, are actually hindered by the overly precious, purple prose. Monkeys still stands as Minot's best work.
Rating: 
Summary: Exquisite and excruciating
Review: So maybe it's not great classic literature! I found Minot's narrative to be moving, enriching and transforming. In the reading of it I heard the echoes of those clay-feet people I've known who inhabit my heart. The memory of them is the fire of my soul. This book touched that flame. "Evening" has a permanent spot on my bookshelf. I will recommend it eagerly but loan it out protectively.
Rating: 
Summary: "misunderstanding of the real manner".
Review: When I read this book I was really surprised that Susan Minot didn't get to her point and did not deliver the message of it. The book is cheap in the sense of money, but's worth less than the seven dollars I payed for it. I do not intend to be cruel with Ms. Minot but I would recommend a classic instead
Rating:
Summary: what's all the fuss about?
Review: Minot begins her novel well but seems to mishandle a number of the themes throughout. She allows cliche to rule the overall theme. There is a rushed or thoughtless quality to a number of important passages where her author's hand disturbs, if you will, the surface of the water into which we peer. At times her assertions undercut the events and weaken the prose and narrative.While I can see Minot has talent, I am left wondering why so many critics (in published reviews) have gone gaw-gaw over her stylistic ability. I think that is her greatest weakness- the plot is strong, the story and characters interesting, but her writing is without clarity, focus, and true insight. I judge her so harshly only because she has clearly attempted to write in a literary and timeless vein- it is my opinion that so far she has yet to fulfill the glittering praise she has harvested and this book will not stand the test of time.
Rating:
Summary: Poignant
Review: As her family conducts a bedside vigil, sixty-five-year old Ann Grant Lord lies dying from cancer. To ease unbearable pain, Ann receives morphine, which seems to leave her in a state of delirium that has her reliving the highlights of her life. Ann "talks" to her only true love, Dr. Harris Arden who she met when she was twenty-five and attending a friend's wedding. Though they shared a heated but brief affair, Harris went ahead and married someone else. Ann never fully recovered from the loss of the love of her life. She professionally sang and married several times. She gave birth to a boy who died when he was twelve. Through it all there has been only the unattainable Harris for Ann. As she gets closer to death, Ann's chats with Harris intensify. EVENING is an incredible accomplishment as Susan Minot displays her talent to provide a poignant look at a dying individual. Ann is a fabulous character, whose life seems plausible and real. Though many readers will unfortunately shy away from a story line starring death, they will miss one of 1998's best novels. Ms. Minot deserves to win some awards for this tour-de-force that describes the late EVENING of a person's life. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: A dying woman remembers her greatest love
Review: A wonderful story by a wonderful writer. Anne Lord is on her deathbed and during the last night of her life remembers the man she loved most. While various nurses and family members wander through her bedroom she recalls being married three times but her most important memory is of one weekend at a wedding in Maine when she instantly fell in love with another guest who returns her affection but is already engaged to another woman. A chain of events occur during the weekend that result in a tragedy giving more meaning to her affair. I read this book in one sitting I was so caught up in her memories, my only problem with the book was it jumped around so much from present to the wedding weekend to other events in her life that at times I was confused and had to read sentences twice to understand where we were. I enjoyed seeing her life pass before my eyes before her death.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read!
Review: Stunning in its depth and honest portrayal of very *human* relationships, this novel will touch just about anyone. None of the characters are perfect, and in their inperfection-- Minot reveals their true beauty. Honestly one of the best reads I've ever had, I highly recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: Insightful take on memory and thought processes
Review: I'd been reading about this book for months but hesitated to pick it up because I wasn't interested in the genre. But it ended up being an amazing and enchanting reading experience. Most compelling were Minot's depictions of the thoughts and feelings of a dying woman. Anne's jumbled memory and seemingly random and trailing thoughts were somehow more lucid and insightful than anything I'd ever read. I could relate to the way she was repeatedly injected with happiness/remorse as snapshots emerged from the past (expressed in a straightforward fatalistic melancholy tone)even though I'm only 25 years old. Not sure if men would enjoy this book as much as women, but I would definitely highly reccomend it.
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