STONES FROM THE RIVER

Rating:
Summary: Slow start -- good middle -- lousy ending
Review: This book was a major disappointment. The author seems todrone on and on about ordinary happenings without providing any pointor revelance to the overall story line. I plodded through the last 100 or so pages hoping for an ending that would tie everything together or at least be a happy one for Trudi. Instead, the book just sort of petered out. I was very disappointed and felt like reading this book was a huge waste of my time. I guess I just didn't get it.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: This is the first book I've read by Ursula Hegi and I thought it was great. Just like the main character Trudi, I think she has wonderful storytelling skills. I was initially put off by the fact that it is an Oprah Book Club selection, but I'm glad that didn't stop me.

Rating:
Summary: It's too bad the author did the audio version.
Review: Of the 4 cassettes in the audio version, I listened to one. The author's voice never varies and is a distraction to the story. I would like to finish the book. The story is sad yet captivating. I left Trudi between the wars and look forward to more of the story.

Rating:
Summary: disappointed
Review: I really don't understand the high rating for this book. I found it a hard read and just when I would get interested in part of the story it was on to something else. I made myself finish it, hoping the ending would be better than the first 1/2. It wasn't.

Rating:
Summary: You have to read this!
Review: I couldn't put this one down. Tudi's story isn't necessarily depressing just very real and touching. WWII Germany is brought to life with color and feeling through the eyes of this dwarf woman. I felt like I was living it. A great story about being different and self acceptance in a dangerous world. I didn't want this story to end.

Rating:
Summary: Intriguing
Review: This was one of the most haunting and satisfying stories I have read in a long time. Normally, I speed through novels, but this one I took a long time to read so I could savour the story. I found it so interesting, humourous and haunting all at the same time. It was recommended to me by a friend who said, "It's a little slow-going at first, but stick with it and you'll be richly rewarded." I can't put it any better than that.

Rating:
Summary: Captivating reading.
Review: Stones from the River deserves all of the acclaim it has received. I hadn't read a good book since I finished The Triumph and the Glory several weeks ago, the last three I bought were disappointing, so I was elated to discover this novel, it is brilliant.

Rating:
Summary: Moving and poignant. A true testament to the human spirit.
Review: One of the best books I've ever read. A little difficult to get through at first but WORTH IT. Hegi truly illustrates the beauty of life -- even through heartbreak, loneliness and devastation.

Rating:
Summary: This is book is the tenderest I've ever read.
Review: Ms. Hegi has captured my heart by the way she explored the tender relationship that exists between fathers and daughters. It almost made me jealous that my father and I aren't that close. Her use of a dwarf as the main character was most interestingto me because I only know of one such person and couldn't dream of asking her what her life must be like. I found this to be a valuable illumination. I also appreciated the narrator's expression of her feelings of barreness by not having a child of her own. I read this book in 1997 and I still haven't been able to forget it.

Rating:
Summary: The caracters are all too human...
Review: Very good read. We usually see WWII from outside Germany's point of view. The effects on the German people from the allied bombing of German cities to the crimes against humanity trials has not been seen too much. This book touches the heart just knowing little people like Trudi cared and tried their best to help from inside. Very well written, I recommend it.