Rating: 
Summary: stones from the river
Review: I read this book on Oprah's recommendation. It was hard to get started but once I started reading it the body of the story was great. I was, however, VERY dissappointed at the ending. It totally ruined what could've been a great novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Stones from the River
Review: I believe this book is excellent. I did not choose to read this book, Rinaldi made me read it. It is pretty good, whoever is reading this has nothing better to do.
Rating:
Summary: Stones from the River
Review: I found Stones from the River one of the best novels I have read in ten years. Not only is the writing beautiful, powerful, elegant and evocative, but the author presents an extremely insightful, cogent view of a panorama of time in Germany. The blend of historical, psychological and spiritual information is seamless and entertaining.
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Summary: Eloquent and engaging, full of pathos
Review: I picked up this book expecting a thick read. I was well rewarded. The story of Trudi is a two-pronged look at human growth from multiple perspectives, and every reader will find something here to relate to. Hegi is also a fine writer. Her facility with language inspires one to visualize all of these events, and it swept me away emotionally, without the drippy sentimentality one finds in such books as The Bridges of Madison County or The Horse Whisperer. I actually read Stones while vacationing in Italy - needing a daily rest because of illness - and after I got back to Ohio, I remembered not only my travels to Florence and Rome, but also my adventures with the zwerg and her village. Defintely a thumbs up!
Rating: 
Summary: very enjoyable
Review: I really enjoyed the original, fresh approach of this novel and the perspective from which it is written. a very intriguing and enjoyable book, you really feel as though you know Trudi and where she is coming from. fantastic.
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Summary: Wonderful characters
Review: There are many wonderful things about this book, the story is fascinating and the characters are realistic, unstereotyped, and easy to identify with. The main character, Trudi Montag, is a dwarf who collects and shares stories and secrets about a small town in Germany before and during the second World War. She is a very sympathetic character whose life unfolds in the pages of this very well written book. This is my favourite kind of novel, fictional but set against a real and horrifying part of our history. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful perspective
Review: I am an avid reader, an English major and I have to say that this was quite possibly the most intriguing book I have ever read. The perspective shines a new and interesting light on a horrible event. I gained great insight about the Nazi's from a German outlook. BUY IT!
Rating:
Summary: A very good novel
Review: A haunting tale, Stones From the River has the relentless psychological power of The Triumph and the Glory, the plot twists of Grisham at his best, and the vivid imagery of Cold Mountain. It took awhile for me to really get involved in the story but once I did I was rewarded with one of the best reading experiences I have enjoyed in a long, long time.
Rating:
Summary: Tell yourself you can finish this book!
Review: Be cautioned. This story moves very slowly. There is a good tale behind the prose but it takes reading half the book to get the momentum going. It's a large tale because it encompasses many lives which intersect over many generations. Some things I like a lot: the words in German and Leo Montag, the wonderful father figure so often lacking in modern fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Could've been worse
Review: This book has it's moments, but on the whole it is slow, predictable, and boring. Hegi spends too much time on things of little consequence, and the last five pages are so overwritten and self-indulgent I finished the novel feeling nauseated.The story tends to wander, and it's obvious Hegi wasn't exactly sure what she wanted to do with it. Threads start, then fade without resolution. Whatever strong characters or plot-lines are here get bogged down in masses of hollow banter. There are better things to read.
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