She's Come Undone

Rating:
Summary: Incredibly Moving
Review: The novel, She's Come Undone, tells the touching story of Dolores Price, who faces the kind of wrenching childhood that many of us could only have nightmares about. However, Wally Lamb is able to capture her entire experience and make the reader feel as though they suffered Dolores' every thought and emotion along with her. I was apprehensive because of all the hype about Mr. Lamb's writing, but I wasn't disappointed in the quality or content of this book. The book follows Dolores from one of her first memories of getting a television set to her admission to a mental institution. The events of her life are dramatic and she loses many people that are close to her. Dolores' father left her mother for another woman when she was eleven and Dolores and her mother moved in with her prudish grandmother. She doesn't talk to her father again for a long time. Before Dolores started high school, at age thirteen, a neighbor that she had adored and trusted raped her and this caused Dolores to become deeply depressed. She rapidly gained weight, lost hope for herself, and with the combined misfortune of her mother's death in a car accident, she eventually ended up in a mental institution. Being institutionalized helped Dolores to get her life back, but soon after she was released, she became involved with, married, and finally divorced an abusive man when she realized how badly he treated her. Right before the divorce, Dolores' grandmother dies, and a little later, her father dies. Despite all of the tragic incidents, this book has a happy ending when Dolores falls in love with a lonely writer in her community college English class and walks off into the sunset. Although I admit this book was written with a wry sense of humor, I had heard it described as hysterically funny, which I couldn't understand. It was moving, beautiful and poignant, but never hilarious. The book was incredible, but I found it broke my heart to keep reading because of the consistently depressing tone. The characters were portrayed with great detail, and I felt that after reading this book, Dolores could have been my best friend. The author did a wonderful job with her character, and I think this was the best part of the book. Even though Dolores' circumstances were extreme, every woman can relate to her struggles with her family, her love life, and her emotions. Throughout the book, I felt that the author was being hard on the characters, allowing every possible misfortune to occur. I had a hard time with this, and this could be one of the most depressing books I've ever read. Dolores lost almost everyone who ever came into her life that she cared about, and it affected her deeply; "When I called to ask the former owner if he meant to give me the tapes, too, all I got was that recorded operator- the one who tells you in her chilly voice that the person you wanted has disconnected and gotten away." (page 419). To me, this quote shows Dolores' attitude and the reality of all the people whom she'd lost. As a woman, I would hope that my life is the opposite of Dolores', even though she came out on top in the end. I kept wishing as I read that somehow her life would change, that nothing else sad would happen, but I had to wait until the last few pages. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I couldn't put it down once I started to read. Dolores' life fascinated and repelled me at the same time. I loved her character because even though I could see some of myself in her, I knew that she was much worse off than I'll ever be (I hope). The detail amazed me, as depicted in the following quote at the very end of the novel where Dolores has a rejuvenating experience as she sights a whale, "Nose first, her grooved body heads straight for the sky. Her muscular tail clears the water; her fins are black wings. The fall back is slower- grace instead of power. She cracks the ocean and, in a white explosion of foam, reenters." (page 465). Wally Lamb is a phenomenal writer, and he did incredibly well writing as a female. I would recommend his work in She's Come Undone to any woman because he did a fantastic job and it's a powerful, compelling book.

Rating:
Summary: WOW - What a GREAT BOOK!
Review: One of the best books I have ever laid my eyes on! I was sorry it ended! For a man to write and portray the feelings of a 13 year old girl growing up in Catholic family during the 1950"s to the 1980"s was marvelous! You feel for Dolores in her troubling life and hope she pulls through in the end! I had to get Mr Lamb"s other book after reading She"s Come Undone and if it is half as good as this one, I would be satisfied. BRAVO, MR LAMB!

Rating:
Summary: She's Come undone...
Review: "She's come undone" was a very good book. It was recommended to me from a friend who thought it was the greatest book so i'll admit, my expectations were probably set higher than normal. I found this book to be extremly truthful but would probably be alittle harsh for younger teenagers. "She's come undone" was an excellent portration of an obese girl. I was shocked when I turned over the book and discovered that the author was a man. The way he described the details of a girls life as she transfers into a women was remarkable. The tortured life of Doloris Price is one that I don't think i'll ever forget. She went through just about every aspect of life that any women could face. Between rape, bi-sexual intercourse, marriage, divorce, love, and what some people think is love, she went through it all and i can't believe how well Wally Lamb described it. I highly recommend this book to anyone going through troubled times, and to those who aren't.

Rating:
Summary: Another great book by Wally Lamb
Review: This story is about a young troubled girl who had many problems. She had a mentally disturbed mother who was sent to live in a home. She was very close to her father who decided to leave her mother and go on with his life leaving Dolores alone with her grandmother who she did not like at all.The book takes you through her life and how she mangaed to change it completely.I don't want to give anything away but she had many challenging events happen to her throughout growing up. You won't want to miss this book. I am looking forward to reading more by Wally Lamb. His other book I know this much is true was absolutely excellent as well.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Believe the Hype
Review: I have to confess: I REALLY wanted to like this novel. I tried very hard to like this novel. Yet ultimately, I was let down. Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad novel. Certain parts of it are very good; but unfortunately the sum of those parts do not add up to a great novel. In his quest to describe a "typical" (read dysfunctional) American family Lamb present with characters that are so clinched that it's not even funny. There's Tony, the womanizing, abusive father who abandones the family when Dolores is 13; Bernice the emotionally fragile mother who tries to love her daughther as best she can but ultimately fails her; Thelma, the emotionally repressed grandmother; and of course there's Dolores herself who has fallen vicitm to every sort of abuse and trouble imaginable. All in all, this won't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that this novel is so predictable. For instance, we all know that Dolores's situation is going to get worse before she gets better. We all know that her relationship with Dante is going to end very badly. (One thing about Lamb is that his use of symbolism is far from subtle. For instance, he informs the reader that the name Dolores is Latin for sorrow; He gives Tony and Dante Italian forenames to emphasis their similarities. This must be "Symbolism for Dummies.")But what really ruined this for me was the sickly sweet ending that seemed tacked on at the end. If this novel really is about Dolores finding herself why does she need Thayer to come along and rescue her? Why could she not have gone to college, started a sucessful career and lived happily on her own? And what is up with her sudden epithany at the Burger King? Are to believe that this woman, who doesn't even know the meaning of the word hermaphrodite and can't even realise that she's being used by her dead-beat husband, all the sudden becomes this great enlightened being? Gimme a break....

Rating:
Summary: What a surprise!
Review: I resisted reading this book precisely because of the Oprah's Book Club recommendation, and I'm glad that I finally decided to give it a shot. Imagine, a guy who looks like Leonard Maltin doing a GREAT job with the character of a 15-year-old girl.

Rating:
Summary: Colorado reader
Review: I have to say that although I had mixed feelings about the character, Dolores Price, I couldn't stop reading the book. I had a hard time believing the author was a man too!

Rating:
Summary: A Look into the reality of others...
Review: It is scary when an author describes your life as accurately asWally Lamb manages to give life to Dolores Price. My life has notbeen exactly as the character, but close enough. After reading it, Ihad an epifany. Dolores helped me to see where I could change my lifefor the better. It is an inspirational book and I can see why Oprahwould choose a wonderful book as this. I just finished it; it was myfirst "Oprah Cook Club" read. It was perfect. I loved mostevery page. I could have done without most of the vulgarity oflanguage, but it adds to the richness of the hard life Doloressuffers. I wouldn't change a thing! The book was wonderful and Icould identify richly with this character.

Rating:
Summary: A BIG LET DOWN!
Review: I had high hopes for this book. I was told by many people how wonderful Wally Lamb is, but I could not find anything great about this novel. The characters are lacking the realness that would make the story believable. I could care less what happened to these people and I was more intrested in getting to the last page.

Rating:
Summary: She's Come Undone
Review: This is without a doubt one of the best books that I have read in a very long time. I laughed, I cried, but most of all I related to this tale of self-awaking and struggle. What I like most about the heroine, Dolores, is that she is a real person with real flaws-she lies, she steals letters, and gets into a relationship with a man who is bad for her- but I still want to love her and cheer her on. However, don't take my word for this-read the book!