Rating: 
Summary: Ordinary People
Review: In "Ordinary People" the book starts off with the Jarrett family of now three, Calvin; the father, Beth; the mother, and Conrad; the son. The family is copping with the death of the former son/brother Buck. Calvin, Conrad and Buck were all on a boating trip and the weather got nasty. Due to the unsteady weather Buck drown and Calvin and Conrad were left with the devastating memory in their mind. The book starts off and focuses on the communication and the grieving of the family. Each member of the family is affected and it shows how they are dealing with the loss in different ways. As a result the family structure and communication has fallen apart. Conrad is really disturbed and throughout the book it shows exactly how he feels. Not only is his relationship with his family effected but his personal school and social life is effected and his own friendships as well. But Conrad has support from his father who is concerned about his behavior and actions as well as supportive friends and his psychiatrist. On the other hand Calvin spends a lot of his time worried about his son and his wife's behavior too. Beth deals with the grieving in an opposite way of her husband and son. She is not supportive at all and doesn't think that living in the now and supporting each other is the way to go about it. She wants to ignore that tragedy and try to move on without giving herself time to grieve and slowly get over it. In the story she is proved wrong and in the end Calvin and Conrad still have the support of each others feelings and emotions, which brings them closer. I thought this was a very touching and unfortunate thing that happened to Jarrett family. The overall plot of the book was focusing on each member and how they dealt with the loss. I would recommend this novel to a reader who needs support or an idea of how someone may cope with a loss similar to this one. I would also recommend it to someone who likes read books with constant action and who can deal with frustration. The book defiantly frustrated me because I really got in touch through description and through the actions of the story how each member's actions were effected as a result. The story ended happy as the family eventually moved on and started a new way of life.
Rating: 
Summary: the shock of recognition
Review: Ms Guest tells the story, which the movie faithfully followed, of an upper middle class family in suburban Chicago. Calvin Jarrett is a successful tax attorney and his wife Beth is the queen of the country club crowd, but their son Conrad has just returned home from a sanitarium after slashing his wrists following the death of his beloved older brother. As Conrad tries to readjust to school, friends, a new psychiatrist and most of all his parents, he plumbs deeper into the depths of his own soul and comes to some startling realizations about himself and his family. At the same time, his father begins to realize that there are terrifying depths lurking beneath the seemingly successful surface of his marriage. The book continually prompts the shock of recognition as we discern character traits and even scenes out of our own lives and we come to see that the Jarretts are truly "Ordinary People". The extraordinary tragedy in their lives has merely revealed fault lines that lie beneath many of our own lives. GRADE: A+
Rating:
Summary: A must read for anyone going through a difficult time.
Review: I read this book my senior year of high school. The year after my own sister died in a boating accident. The story parallels so much of what I felt and what happened to my family after the incident that it seems almost prophetic. Even if you haven't lost anyone, but you have experienced or are experiencing severe depression, this book is a definite comfort. It helps you to realize that there is no such thing as being ordinary, everyone has problems and that even when things seem their darkest, there is still hope.
Rating:
Summary: Not an ordinary book at all.
Review: This book was by far the best book I have read in a long time. It's short in pages, but very long in thoughtful wisdom. The story is about a boy who's lost his brother in a boating accident, of which he was part of. When he tries to commit suicide, feeling guilty about his brother's death, this story takes a twist you could not have expected. His parents, himself, his grandparents turn into anything but Ordinary People, and I think the title is a play on words, almost sarcastic, because of all the things this family is, ordinary was NEVER one of them. The father is a caring, almost over-doting but well loved by the reader, the mother an absolute villain, and the boy, who can be nothing but himself, does not know that that is precisely who he is. A very strange but loveable psychiatrist helps to do the trick, but the inner strength of the boy is what shines through every page, the paradox being he is certain he has no inner strength. Infinitely treasurable, the story becomes as real to you as yourself. If only all books and stories could be written like this one, with page turning drama and straight from the heart, there would never be another book review. 10 stars to the author on this one, plus a Grammy and an Emmy and an all around standing ovation.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible
Review: Some readers found this to be a difficult read. I cannot say the same. I ran across this book as I was working in my school's library. I came back latter to check it out. I was immediately compelled by the storyline. In the begining,there is a certain amount of confusion because Judith Guest uses a very unique way of capturing internal dialogue.However this quickly wares off as the reader is engrossed into the plot of the novel. At its core,Ordinary People is simply a book about a young man's journey to healing from a nervous breakdown after the tragic death of his older brother. Upon closer examination,Ordinary people is a novel about the way ordinary people in current society deal with pain and loss in their own private way. It's a story about lonliness and the implications and consequences of being lonely. It is a great read. I just finished the novel and plan on reading it again and savoring it a little more this time.I stayed up all night reading it.I'm tired but it was worth every moment.
Rating:
Summary: A must READ!
Review: The book Ordinary People is one of the best books I've ever read. The author Judith Guest does a great job of getting you hook to the characters and making them seem like its you and your family.The book is about a boy, Conrad Jarrett, who has just spent eight months in a mental institution for attempted suicide, after the loss of his brother. When he gets home he finds that his brothers death and he have hurt the whole family. I can't say enough how much I enjoyed this book; it made me feel beater about my self and who I am. I give this book a 10 out of 10.
Rating:
Summary: healing with counseling
Review: I first saw the movie & then read Judith Guest's book. Both made a deep impression on me. The movie is passionately & beautifully made & all the acting superb. What most impressed me, however, was that it addresses a vital process -- the psychology of dysfunctional families & of getting counseling through recovery from trauma. Almost everyone, in the books I review, could do with a dose of counseling, although it is the rare author who takes this process seriously or considers it worth writing about, & I know from personal experience: counseling does heal, if you use it with that intention. A Rebeccasreads First Rate Recommendation, certainly a book which will get you talking afterwards.
Rating:
Summary: An Ending of Hope
Review: Judith Guest's work is an amazing story of a typical American family struggling with death. Her extremely unique blend of profound characters makes every moment of this novel more interesting. It is a book that focuses on the hard hitting issues that would disrupt any normal healthy family.
With the death of the eldest son in the Jarret family each member faces his passing in a different way, much like any other family would. The remaining son, Conrad, must deal with gilt of his brother's passing, after first attempting to commit suicide. The book follows Conrad's life in his path to self recovery. It also shares the story of the mother and father of this family and how they deal with the loss of their son. Calvin, the father, trys to face the problems while his wife simply ignores them. This leads to more complication in the family, but it also leads to an inspiring ending. An ending that induces hope and strength in community.
Rating:
Summary: It's all there, all the suburban angst of the 70s
Review: Really difficult book, very sad, and very, very good. The family has already come unglued by the opening of the book, with eldest son Buck drowned in a boating accident and Conrad, the younger son, trying to reenter life after a suicide attempt. But it is quickly clear that the family will not easily once again become just ordinary people in their future. The mother is cold and self-absorbed; the father is like a puppy, trying to please everyone; the doting grandparents are clueless; Conrad is just trying to survive.
The best parts of the book, I believe, are those involving Conrad's relationship with Dr. Berger, his shrink, a very extraordinary psychiatrist - and trust me, I've known more than a few.
Excellent rating.
Rating:
Summary: wonderfully refreshing
Review: I've owned this book for quite awhile without reading it, and when I finally did I never expected what I found: a compelling look into the grief and mental illness under the facade of a "normal" wealthy suburban family. Focusing mainly on the son (Conrad) and the father (Calvin), the book explores the difficulty of recovering and communicating after the death of a loved one. Each family member handles the situation differently: for example, Conrad has recently been released from an eight month stay in a mental hospital for trying to commit suicide. This book is a very quick read and written in such a way that I was able to relate just as well to father and son, and I felt as though I was going through the healing process with them. Although written in the 70's the book will never lose its relevance.
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