Rating: 
Summary: Irritating narrator!
Review: I'm currently listening to the unabridged audio version of this book and I find the narrator's quirks of pronunciation irritating. I have to remind myself to concentrate on the substance of what's said and not to allow these pronunciation oddities to color my impression of the character. Why does he have to over-emphasize every consonant? Every "t" in the words "often," "sweater," or "water," for example. I know the teacher is a pedantic boor (at least so far), but this narrator makes him seem even worse than intended.
Rating: 
Summary: A powerful tale of hope and redemption.
Review: The reason I picked up this book was because it was an OPRAH pick. I held off reading it until I saw the movie version on HBO. The characters of Jefferson and Grant were almost mirror images of each other. Where one was ignorant, the other was smart. Where one was brave, the one was weak. They needed each other. The Lesson Before Dying could apply to the 2 of them. Each had a lesson to learn and it had to happen before the execution. Mr.Gaines' use of dialect and characterization added alot to the overall novel. The ladies in the novel were strong and helped their men grow as well. An excellent novel with powerful themes of hope and redemption.
Rating: 
Summary: This was chosen as Chaffey College book of the year in 1999!
Review: Ernest J. Gaines definitely captures the heat of the south in his story of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He has brought us all back to a place where society lived in fear and scapegoats were needed to hide their own. Too bad that's the way it was and could be again if we forget where we came from. Thanks to Ernest J. Gaines we are reminded once again!
Rating: 
Summary: Not in my interest
Review: This book was not the kind of reading I like to do for relaxing or for entertainment. It was very repetitive and boring. I did not like the main character doing the same thing every day, they could have added more interesting activities. This is the only book from Oprah's Book Club that I read and it turned me off to read any more of them.
Rating:
Summary: Gaines at his best
Review: This is the story of a lost young kid wrongfully put to death in a small Louisiana town in the late 1940s. Grant is forced into visits with Jefferson by his aunt so that Jefferson can die a man, but it turns out doing both of the men good as they learn an important lesson about life - the hope in Jesus. A memorable analogy that Grant describes to Jefferson involves that of an old piece of wood turned into a slingshot by a whittler; Jefferson needs to be that old piece of wood and become something new. Of course, sometimes we are all that piece of wood and in order to become the slingshot, we have to decide on our own to do it.
Rating:
Summary: I think I missed the point.
Review: A Lesson Before Dying seemed to lack passion. I read the autobiography of Miss Jane Pitman about four years ago, and that novel really struck me. After reading this book by Gaines I feel the same emotions I felt at the beginning of the book. I know about the conflicts between the two races during the pre-civil rights era in the south, and this book seemed to follow a history textbook. I feel as though Gaines skimmed over the characters and the story. For example, the story should start point "A" which is the setting up of the characters and the history of the characters, then move onto "B" which is everything that leads up to the climax, then head over to the climax and the lesson learned in point "C". Well i feel like Gaines went from A to C. The story is about Jefferson, a black male living in LA. He is wrongfully accused of murder. When two people he was at a convience store shot the store clerk; and him, but not before the clerk killed the two boys jefferson was with. Jefferson is put on trial, and is sentenced to death by the electric chair. His lawyer argues to the jury that he is unintelligent, and a hog and therefore can not be sent to jail. How could he have planned such a crime, when he can't even count. Jefferson's godmother does not want to see him die thinking he is a hog, and makes a plead to Grant (an educated school teacher) to teach Jefferson that he is a man. Throughout this novel we have the common racial tensions, and injustices black america faced before the civil rights period in this novel, but it seemed boring and did not move me in the least. It seems as though a novel with a plot as strong as this should be able to move me out of my seat and make me feel the injustices that black america faced, but this was not the case. I was left with no lesson out of this book. The one point that I did feel from this novel is simply this: The mere fact that an individual has a college education does not make them smart. It is not a ticket for them to think they know everything about life, family or any circumstance. I think Gaines could have done more with this novel then he did. I think Grant and his girlfriend Vivian's relationship could have been written more into the book, as well as Jefferson's thoughts about people trying to help him. Overall: I would skip this one and look to Gaines' other novels. He had more than enough to work with here, but the reader is left feeling like they were not a part of the book and barely knew the characters.
Rating:
Summary: His best
Review: This is a great book, filled with compassion. I think it should be mandatory reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Slow, dull, unintersting, and characterless
Review: This book never grabs your interest. The plot is a great (yet tired) idea, with limitless potential, but the author falls so short of either making the plot go anywhere, or developing any characters, that you turn page after page waiting and hoping that something will grab your interest or pull an emotional string, and all you are left with is disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: A Lesson Before Dying
Review: A Lesson Before Dying, written by Ernest J. Gaines, is a good book, that is very touching. The character, Grant Wiggins, who is the local schoolteacher, struggles with the concept of helping the man, Jefferson, who is convicted of a murder he did not commit. Jefferson's godmother wants Grant to help Jefferson become a man before he dies, but Jefferson is not very willing to listen to Grant. Grant is also not very eager to help. It is a very emotional story of the end of a life, before it is taken by the electric chair. The beginning chapters were a very good lead into the rest of the book. It was easy to understand the plot. The author easily conveyed the importance of the man, Jefferson, learning a lesson before he dies. Unlike other books, which have a slow pace to them and fail to keep the interest of most, A Lesson Before Dying is very fast paced. It makes the reader want to read it from the beginning to the end without stopping. The chapters are short, so if the reader does needs to put it down here are frequent stopping places. The length of the chapters makes the book more enjoyable. It does not seem like it takes so long to get to the end of the chapter. It also does not keep dragging on about the same thing over and over. It introduces new characters to liven up the story when the old characters seem to be getting boring. The best chapter, and the one that most touches the heart, is the chapter from Jefferson's diary. It really gives insight into how Jefferson is feeling. The diary completes the story line of the book. It was very wise of the author to include this chapter. Without it he would not have evoked the same feelings from the reader at the end. Anyone who enjoys reading sentimental books, but does not enjoy the mushy, romantic kind, would really love this book.
Rating:
Summary: A great story that was also a great read
Review: I thought ths book was one of the best ever writen about an execution. It really touched me. Because of the issued talked inside this book , it will be read for many years to some in our schools and in our homes. It should be read because it touches on racism , religon , and our love for one another. This book should be read by every one.
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