Rating: 
Summary: Felt No Emotion Regarding These Characters
Review: I read this book for a book club that I just joined, and although some in the club really liked it, and used words like "loved" and "hated" to describe their emotions regarding Goodman's characters, I just never felt much toward them. Like others reviewing here, I kept waiting for the big drama to explode -- it never did. I found the book slow and tedious, but perhaps that is how Goodman wanted us to perceive life in this strict Orthodox Jewish community -- plodding and predictable. I finished it, but was a chore.
Rating: 
Summary: packed with illuminating incidents
Review: I'm an avid quality fiction reader, delighted to discover Goodman with this novel. She has a rare gift for what E. Wharton called the "illuminating incident." Every page is packed with elucidating moments, insights, discoveries, delights for the reader. I've given two copies as gifts already.
Rating:
Summary: Give us some passion next time, Allegra!
Review: I picked up this book because I am interested in Jewish American literature and I liked the premise of the book -- the life inside a small, somwhat cloistered community. What I found though to be the overarching problem with this book is that Goodman looks at this world from such a distance that the story is ultimately unengaging. Other readers have complained that it's boring or that there's no plot -- I know what they're referring to, but I think it's not so much the lack of plot that makes it a boring read as it is the fact that there's so little passion here. Even the writing is so unwaveringly precise that instead of being a virtue of the book, it becomes a flaw, rendering the book dainty instead of daring. I came away from this book wishing that something, anything, might shake Goodman up a bit, that next time we might see some flash of real emotion, some hint of unrestrained raw energy.
Rating: 
Summary: GIVE ME A BREAK
Review: I HEARD SO MUCH ABOUT THIS I THOUGHT IT WOULD HAVE TO BE GOOD. BUT HYPE RULES THE DAY WITH NO REGARD TO TRUE QUALITY. ONE PERSON SAYS ITS GOOD SO EVERYONE DOES. KAATERSKILL FALLS IS NOT TERRIBLE, THAT'S TRUE, BUT IT'S BORING AND IT SEEMS LIKE GOODMAN IS CONSTANTLY SCREAMING OUT LOOK AT ME, LOOK HOW I CAN WRITE: I CAN BE FUNNY. AND I CAN BE SMART. THE NARRATIVE LINES DONT HOLD TOGETHER AND ONE OF THEM, ABOUT THE REAL ESTATE OF THE AREA, SHOULD HAVE BEEN EDITED OUT ON AN EARLY DRAFT.
Rating:
Summary: A big disappointment
Review: The reviews and praise for this book have been misleading. After having read several books by Chaim Potok, Naomi Ragen, and Nathan Englander, I was very disappointed by Allegra Goodman's novel. Potok, Ragen, and Englander actually have lived in and know the Orthodox communities. On the other hand, I don't think Goodman really knows what she is describing. Not only does Goodman portray the Orthodox community inaccurately, but I did not feel any empathy for her characters. I suspect that the Orthodox community she is describing would not have eaten Barton's chocolates or Hebrew National meat. Nor would I have expected a woman to be left alone with a man in a room. Similarly to other reviewers here, I kept hoping that I would like the book and that something would happen in the narrative that would make me enthusiastically recommend it to others. Oh well, there will be other books...
Rating: 
Summary: Endearing story with warm, thoughtful characters
Review: Congratulations or more aptly "Yashe Koach" (a popular Jewish term for "A job well done.") on Kaaterskill Falls. At first, I was drawn to the novel because it centers around a distinctive Ultra Orthodox Jewish community (i.e., the Washington Heights Kirshners.) Ironically, however, I ended the book deeply touched by the universal themes it so poignantly dramatized: e.g., those of father and son, as in the case of the Rav and Jeremy; those of brother to brother, as in the case of Jeremy and Isaiah; and, those of generation to generation, as in the case of Andras and his young wife, Nina. All three of the main characters are richly layered and likeable people. I was particularly taken by Elizabeth, a homemaker longing to create something of her own outside of the home. I applauded her spunkiness and was saddened by her feelings of entrapment. We see the world through the unique eyes of the three main characters: Elizabeth, Andras and the Rav. We are privy to their internal tug of wars. And while their struggles touch on universal themes, the individuals themselves are not stereotypes. In fact, they often take us by surprise; for example, the dogmatic Rav reminisces about German secular culture. At its core, Kaaterskill Falls is about character development. If you're looking for fast action and complex plot lines, look somewhere else.
Rating: 
Summary: NOT BAD, NOT GREAT, NOT TOTALLY ACCURATE
Review: Like many of your reviewers I kept waiting for something cataclysmic to happen. It didn't - not in the main character's life or in any of the other lives. That said, the characters were well drawn, were suffused with a life and had distinct personalities. Unfortunately, the book is contrived. Utra-Orthodox and even modern-Orthodox don't eat in homes outside their kehillas. It just doesn't happen. Most of the situations in the book wouldn't happen. The main character's longing is what is real - the wish for movement in the outside world - the wish for a fairer rational for certain ultra-restrictive practices. I don't know the author's background, but my own background allows me to comment on her pretensions.
Rating:
Summary: I Kept Waiting and Waiting for Something to Happen
Review: I enjoyed getting to know the characters of this book and felt the author developed them well, but once they were created in my mind I felt like they just stood there and didn't take any action. After the first hundred pages or so, I knew everything I needed to know about Goodman's community and kept expecting something interesting to happen. I keep hearing this book compared to a newer one, The Ladies Auxiliary by Tova Mirvis, and, like the previous reviewer, I feel The Ladies Auxiliary is a much better story with more lyrical and beautiful writing. It is exciting to see the blossoming of so much literary fiction about Orthodox Jews.
Rating:
Summary: An Interesting Book
Review: I liked this book, I guess, but couldn't get too excited about it. There are some nice parts to it, but I have to say, it did get a little boring. I recently read two other books about Jewish life - The Ladies Auxiliary by Tova Mirvis and For the Relief of Unbearable urges by Nathan Englander and thought these were far more fun and enjoyable!
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating slice of life about an Orthodox Jewish community
Review: I found this book beautifully, almost poetically written. It brought to mind the style of Jane Urquehart ("Away"). It evoked the peace and beauty of an Orthodox Jewish lifestyle...the feeling of family, spirituality and sense of purpose. At the same time, the story pitted this image against a more contemporary lifestyle, leading the reader to ponder the merits of each. At one point, a woman member of the community experiences an awakening of her own needs and these needs conflict with the wishes of the presiding Rabbi. The way she deals with this conflict, which affects her family and friends, and changes her view of herself in the community, is most informative and thought provoking. I am recommending this book for my Book Club.
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