Rating: 
Summary: Hubris is a terrible thing
Review: I enjoyed Le Divorce very much, but Le Mariage reads like an unedited first work by a very bad writer. I kept reading along, hoping it would get better, but it just got worse. I had the distinct feeling that after the wild success of Le Divorce, the author got so proud that she told her editor "You can't possibly tell me to change this book - I'm a best-selling author!" Painful to read.
Rating: 
Summary: A Lot of Hype
Review: I found this book in the bookstore and thought it looked like a fun read. I have never read Le Divorce, but it's got to be better than this book, for this book to get so much hype. It took forever for me to really get interested; I kept reconsidering whether I really wanted to continue reading it. It did get better once I got the characters and situations straightened out. However, at the end, it looked like Ms. Johnson wanted to finish writing this book very badly, as the characters are just dropped, leaving you wondering about them. Very disappointing!!
Rating:
Summary: Contrived and boring
Review: I had really enjoyed Le Divorce and expected this book to hold my attention. But the plot was all over the place, and none of the many characters were central enough or felt real enough to care about. Perhaps if I had expected a superficial froth it might have worked for me.
Rating:
Summary: Boring and pretentious . . .
Review: I have forced myself to read over half of this novel and am going to have to give up. Diane Johnson's writing style tries too hard to be clever and ends up sounding silly and pretentious. Her characters are two-dimensional and dull and what little plot developed early on surrounding a mysterious murder just about disappeared halfway through the book. I have not read "Le Divorce," but based on other reviews here, I will give it a try. It can only be better than this mediocre novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I have read all of Diane Johnson's novels in print, and I found "Le Mariage" to be typically brilliant. The only novel I've read of hers that I didn't care for was "Burning," and that was a pretty early one. My favorites are "The Shadow Knows," "Persian Nights," and "Health and Happiness." A lot of the complaints about "Le Mariage" fault its plot; I would not recommend reading Johnson for plot; read her for her amazing wit, syntax, word choice, and keen powers of observation (she's a genius, in my view). The only novelists I've read recently who are as good as her are Carol Shields ("Larry's Party") and Jonathan Franzen ("The Corrections").
Rating:
Summary: Boring and pointless
Review: I liked Le Divorce (except for its absurd ending). But Le Mariage is a complete disappointment. Stolen manuscripts, millenium cults, surprise imprisonment -- huh? It comes off as unrealistic and silly, a waste of good writing talent. Not nearly as many funny lines or observations as in Le Divorce. Truly awful.
Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: I love the French culture and thought a book about Americans living in France would be amusing. I was wrong. This book is poorly written, and honestly is painful to read. I read it only because I bought it, and I feel compelled to read things I spend my money on. But yes, this one will be sold to the used book store with a good riddance. I didn't like any of the characters, the plot never really developed, and there was no resolution. Save your money for something better.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing after Le Divorce
Review: I loved Diane Johnson's previous book Le Divorce. Having just moved back to this country from Paris at the time of publication I really enjoyed its portrayal of Parisien culture. This book disappointed me. The portrayal of French life seemed less accurate and less deep. The plot seemed contrived and the characters comic cutouts. I wouldn't recommend this book. It wasn't bad but it sure seemed bland and pointless
Rating: 
Summary: Boring
Review: I only made it past the first five chapters before I abandoned the book. Too bad, because I liked Le Divorce, but I just couldn't find the spark in Le Mariage.
Rating: 
Summary: mixed bag, but still enjoyable
Review: I think Diane Johnson is a first class writer, but this book is ironically lacking a lot of the joy and fun of her last book, Le Divorce, and presents a somewhat pessimistic vision of marriage. While some would say that's an accurate view, I disagree. But, then again, who said fiction had to be accurate on all counts? Le Mariage does have a lot of tidbits to interest Francophiles and amusing observations about America, seen through the eyes of a Frenchwoman on a brief visit to Oregon. The plot is a little contrived, since Ms. Johnson seems to believe that she needs stolen manuscripts and murders to keep the reader's attention, but she doesn't. The perceptive characterizations are enough to keep a reader absorbed without the distracting plot maneuvers. On the other hand, the incidents do add a frothy bit of scandal and a lot of moral complexity, as the reader reacts to the unfairness of one of the characters going to jail in France on a trumped up charge. The main characters consist of two couples. In some ways, each couple is a foil for the other and Ms. Johnson uses this setup to contrast their relationships (the members of one couple remain faithful to each other, whereas a character in the other couple commits adultery with interesting consequences).
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