Love You Forever

Rating:
Summary: I didn't like it, but my wife loved it
Review: I picked up "Love You Forever" two nights ago after my wife bought it for a friend's baby shower... and flipping through it I was immediately disturbed by what I perceived to be an immature story about a mother's unhealthy smothering being passed off as motherly love.

My wife, on the other hand, has known the book for years and told me that picking it up in the bookstore to re-read it she began to weep. She is deeply moved by the book, and perceives it as a touching and metaphorical tale that expresses the true nature of a mother's love.

We actually ended up having a terrible fight about it: me arguing that it was a perversely unhealthy story (metaphorical or not), and my wife saying that she felt very sorry for me that I believed such things about what she called an "innocent" book about unconditional love.

And so this evening I decided to visit Amazon.com to see what other people said. I must sheepishly admit that part of me was hoping to read that other people agreed with me. Imagine my surprise.

A lot of people agreed with me. And a lot of people didn't. But what surprised me is that the disagreement my wife and I had was almost exactly representative of the opinions I found in the next 472 reviews at Amazon.com.

What amazed me the most was the consistency of opinions among reviewers. People used the same words, phrases, even shared life experiences in their reviews to describe the book.

Here are some specific examples:

- There is scarcely a mention of "liked" or "didn't like" [this book]. People tend to say they hate or love this book -- very rarely in between.

- The word "creepy" is used by innumerable reviewers who disliked the book -- and sometimes used by reviewers who favored the book to describe the reviewers who disliked it. (The word "slithering" was also frequently used when describing the scene of the mother crawling into her teenage son's room to rock him in her arms.)

- Many people who loved this book write defensively of their shock at all the negative reviews. They often write that they believe people who dislike the book are "perverted" or "incestuous" themselves. Similarly, people who hated the book write of their shock at the fact that people actually love the book. They can't imagine why anyone would.

- The people who love this book say it's the best book they've ever read.

- The words "sweet" and "touching" are repeatedly used by the book's fans to describe it.

- At least two separate reviewers wrote of instances where their children became disturbed at the end of the book, and started having regular anxiety about their parents dying.

- The people who shared a love for the book often faulted those who disliked the book for misinterpreting the book's "metaphorical" story as literal.

- The people who shared a strong hatred for this book often faulted those who loved the book for not seeing that even the metaphors in the story were "obsessive" and "sick."

- There were at least several cases of people reporting they had received the book as a gift, and that they "threw it in the trash." In fact, the phrase or variations thereof "threw it in the trash" came up repeatedly.

- Several women wrote that they were extremely disturbed to receive the book as a gift for their baby shower. All of them said they were shocked that their friend had given it to them as a gift.

- Nearly all of the reviewers who felt strongly about their views (both sides) openly dissented with reviewers who had opposing opinions.

[...]Even so, I still think this book is an exceedingly unhealthy representation of a motherly love, in that I don't think it's a real example of motherly love at all. I know my wife would disagree, so I will respectfully disagree with her and everyone else who really loves this book.

Rating:
Summary: I have been looking for this book for 10 years
Review: I was in 3rd grade the first time a teacher read this book to the class and we all loved it so much that she read it to us weekly. We had the choice to put on play that year, we all chose to do a play based on this book. I recommend this book to everyone.

Rating:
Summary: A Keepsake book~ One to pass on!
Review: I was given this book when my first child was born in '91. I fell in love with it! I cried everytime I read it. The person who gave it to me explained that someone had given it to her the first time she became a mother and she loved it so much that she made it a tradition to give as a gift to every first time mother she knew. Now I do that too. What a lovely perspective on a mothers love...what a great way to say it!

Rating:
Summary: sweet book with a nice message
Review: I received this as a shower gift and I really do love it. It is a sweet story of a mother's unconditional love for her son and how she expresses her love through a song that she sings him each night as he sleeps. Then as a grown man, he encorporates that piece of his childhood into his expression of unconditional love for his own daughter. The story was inspired by the author's own personal tragedy after having two stillborn sons. True, it is an emotional story and, yes, I do get weepy as I read it to my son.
I also bought copies for several of my friends (along with the accompanying cd)and they all loved it as well.
I was sort of surprised to see so many negative reviews. I just don't get why some people think it's creepy. I didn't get any creepy feelings about the story and didn't think the mother was too clingy. I think some people just read WAY too much into things. Some reviewers even questioned where the son's father is throughout the story...ummm, I thought this was a children's story - not reality television. And aren't most children's books based in fantasy and metaphor?
Anyway, there was one reviewer I do agree with who noted that people either seem to love this story or hate it. If you think you won't be able to get past the details to enjoy the story's message then maybe this isn't the book for you. My recommendation is to read the story before buying it or especially before giving it as a gift.

Rating:
Summary: I also found this story strange. . .
Review: I read this book at a bookstore and decided not to purchase it. While I appreciate the unconditional love the mother has for her son, I found it disturbing that she would drive across town and crawl into his window to rock him while he slept, etc. I also found those illustrations bizarre. I don't think it's suitable for a child - what four year old wants to hear about his sick mother? It's more suited to touch the emotions of the reader than the listener. Perhaps an older child (teenager) would appreciate it.

Rating:
Summary: College student
Review: This story was about a mother that rocks and sings to her son during his life span. The mom would sing, "I'll love you forever/ I'll like you for always/ As long as I'm living/ my baby you'll be." The mom would crawl across the floor and look at her son at night. If she found him asleep, she would rock him and sing to him. She grew old. In the end, the son held the mom to sing and rock her.

I found this story strange and yet emotional. I felt it was strange for a mom to pick up a grown man while sleeping. It is humanly impossible. I also thought it was strange for a mom to take a ladder to her son's house to crawl through a window to rock and sing to him. I felt emotional when the son held his old mom and sang to her.



Rating:
Summary: Like you for Always...
Review: I have to admit, when mom snuck into her grown up son's house I was abit skeptical...but in the end with a tear in my eye my overall thought of the book was "Wow!". It's got a great focus on never-ending tradition and Love that simply tugs at your heart.

Rating:
Summary: We did not like this book, disappointed!
Review: I get what the author is trying to show in this book (unconditional love that you have for your child is endless and no matter how old they are) but I did find it a bit odd that when the child is around nine and then a teenager and then he is a man and moves out and the mom still goes to his house, physically picks him up when he is sleeping and sings that lullaby. Then when she is too old the man holds the mom and sings the lullaby. In my own opinion, I believe that the author went to an extreme to show a mom's love for her child. I have to say I feel it was a little creepy too. My children ages 4 and 2 don't really seem impressed with the book at all. They do not request it at bedtime or any other time for that matter. I wouldn't recommend this book.