Rating: 
Summary: Even better the second time.
Review: I first read this book as a 15 year old young woman who, like Marjorie, wanted to be anything except what her mother was. I was saddend by the the ending and vowed that it would never happen to me. I read it again recently as a mother of my own teenage daughter, and now see the ending as a victory. Mr. Wouk understands a young girl's dreams and an adult's reality. This is, without question, the best novel I have ever read, which is why I have read all 600 pages at least 6 times over the last 20 years.
Rating:
Summary: One of my all-time favorites ...
Review: I have loved this book for years. I find it amazing that a man wrote it since it so perfectly gets into a woman's heart. I've read this book about 6 times since I was a teen, and it never fails to captivate me. It reminds me a bit of Gone With the Wind. I loved the ending!
Rating:
Summary: A "True" Work.
Review: I have read most of Wouk's books, and this ranks among my favorites. I, in turns, could identify with Marjorie (as "la Morningstar")--the aspirer; her mother-- the commonsensensical one; her paramour (Noel)--the dreamer, and Marjorie S_______--the realist... making them very alive in my mind.The title character starts off this book at age 17 with the dream of being an actress, much to the dismay of her "orthodox" Jewish parents...who would prefer to see her settle down with a nice Jewish boy and...well, there you go! We see throughout how Marjorie steps outside of the family conventions, simultaneously agonizing and rationalizing along the way. The ending is not entirely romantic in an escapist sense, but "true". It's true of the social mores of the time period in which this is set, and it's true of the characters themselves. As stated by many other reviewers, it could end no other way. This book--and any novel--is not and SHOULD NOT BE a lesson in Political Correctness re: women and careers vs. having a family!! Books should be true to the character development, and that's what we see here. If Marjorie Morgenstern had turned out the way she wanted to at 17, that would've been a real tragedy. Read and see!
Rating: 
Summary: Mister Misogynist
Review: I read it twenty years ago, in high school, recently bought it off Alibris and reread it. While I found it charming, albeit a bit of a soap-opera, in high school, I now think that Wouk is some kind of sadistic misogynist. Why does Wally get to have a cool career--and Mike Eden, and Noah, who achieves a little fame--and Marjorie gets to have white hair and a very quiet life by the end of the book? It seems to me Wouk punishes his main character far more than she deserves, or what is literarily necessary. So Marge's dreams are "silly girl on stage" dreams, yet Wally's sophomoric jokes for his college revue are the genesis for his later playwriting? I guess girls aren't allowed to dream. I do NOT recommend this book for young females, unless you can convince the girl that there's more to life than waltzing down the aisle. Where I come from, that's still the major goal of far too many of 'em.
Rating:
Summary: Classic Book for People of All Ages ...
Review: I read Marjorie Morningstar in 6th grade. It is 762 pages long -I was a good reader then, but still ... it kept me captivated! I reread it again, about 12 years later, and I spent the entire weekend in my pajamas reading it ... The best part about this book is that La Morningstar will become a friend to you. She is sweet, naive, annoying, frustrating, funny and a little bit like all of us - always searching and striving for that star within herself. I got so mad and annoyed with her for whining over her man, I felt like I was screaming at my best friend for complaining about an emotionally unavailable boyfriend. Well written, funny, touching, enjoyable ... it is wholly satisfying and complete. The book just sucks you into Marjorie's world. But be careful, when you come out, the world's a whole lot harsher without her light!
Rating: 
Summary: Very absorbing, not quite satisfying.
Review: I spent two long days with this book in my hand, with my usual fervor an excitement for the intrigue of Wouk's characters, which are, most certainly, colorful and believable and very real. I left with a slightly sour taste in my mouth, however, as I am a dreaming seventeen-year-old, and the contented and quiet end of the heroine is totally devoid of the idealism which she once felt, and the glamor of which she once dreamed. Life does not turn out as any of the characters originally expected or wanted(I assume this is the general theme) and I guess I'm just a bit too young to be confronted with such a reality.
Rating:
Summary: Superb!
Review: I'm not the typical reader for this kind of book. As a 22-year-old male who picked up this book because free copies of it were avaiable at my Hillel, I expected this book to be at best an acceptable, mindless read for dentists' visits, at worst dated drivel. But MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR changed a lot of the way I viewed the world. Many reviewers have commented on how MORNINGSTAR shows how different social mores were back in the "dark days" of the 1930s. But a closer examination of this book shows that the book is really a defense, and a fairly eloquent one, of those mores. As a young girl, Marjorie tries to reject the values of her Jewish upbringing, including its emphasis on modesty, because "after all, this is 1935". But by the end of the book, Marjorie learns that the sophisticated, "modern" people she has tried to emulate are, in their own way, just as hypocritical, unforgiving, and superstitious as the religious world of her parents. In the end, Marjorie returns to her tradition--at least, this is my take on this--because that tradition at least tries to make her into something good, instead of just into someone who sneers at the "unsophisticated". Feminists probably hate this book; indeed, there's a Jewish organization called the Morning Star Commission that fights media stereotypes of Jewish women, and takes its name from Marjorie Morningstar. But in reality, Marjorie is not a stereotype. She is a vibrant, vivacious, ambitious person who finally learns that the desire for goodness and decency is not a superstition. If anything, Noel Airman, the boyfriend who quotes Freud at every opportunity, who is a true stereotype. In addition to being (finally!) a book that allows religion and tradition to win out in their alleged war with modernity, MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR is just a damned good read. Wouk's style and precision are evident on every page.
Rating:
Summary: Superb!
Review: I'm not the typical reader for this kind of book. As a 22-year-old male who picked up this book because free copies of it were avaiable at my Hillel, I expected this book to be at best an acceptable, mindless read for dentists' visits, at worst dated drivel. But MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR changed a lot of the way I viewed the world. Many reviewers have commented on how MORNINGSTAR shows how different social mores were back in the "dark days" of the 1930s. But a closer examination of this book shows that the book is really a defense, and a fairly eloquent one, of those mores. As a young girl, Marjorie tries to reject the values of her Jewish upbringing, including its emphasis on modesty, because "after all, this is 1935". But by the end of the book, Marjorie learns that the sophisticated, "modern" people she has tried to emulate are, in their own way, just as hypocritical, unforgiving, and superstitious as the religious world of her parents. In the end, Marjorie returns to her tradition--at least, this is my take on this--because that tradition at least tries to make her into something good, instead of just into someone who sneers at the "unsophisticated". Feminists probably hate this book; indeed, there's a Jewish organization called the Morning Star Commission that fights media stereotypes of Jewish women, and takes its name from Marjorie Morningstar. But in reality, Marjorie is not a stereotype. She is a vibrant, vivacious, ambitious person who finally learns that the desire for goodness and decency is not a superstition. If anything, Noel Airman, the boyfriend who quotes Freud at every opportunity, who is a true stereotype. In addition to being (finally!) a book that allows religion and tradition to win out in their alleged war with modernity, MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR is just a damned good read. Wouk's style and precision are evident on every page.
Rating:
Summary: Wow!!!
Review: Let me just say that I cannot believe a man wrote this book! this is such a brilliant story full of....everything. It's actually indescribable. But the depiction of Marjore Morgenstern is so amazing that for a man to have written it is....uncanny. This is my all-time favorite book, along with "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn".... I recommend Marjorie to EVERYONE....it's a story that will change your life!!!!<...READ THIS!!!
Rating:
Summary: My favourite book.
Review: Like many a teenager before me, when I read this book at 15, I was filled with disappointment at the way that Marjorie's life turned out. That would never happen to me! The magical thing about the book is that, reading it many years later, I see the ending so differently. And whereas Marjorie was the interesting character to me at 15, now I find the other characters: her suitors, her mother, her great love Noel, her uncle, etc much more interesting. Every young person should read this book ... then read it again when they are not so young.
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