A Land Remembered

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Summary: Don't pick this up if you ever want to put it down
Review: No high school student in Florida should be allowed to graduate without reading this. I hate books I love so much I dread reaching the end. But with ALR, there is no end ... like all great family stories, ALR is a story you will never tire of hearing and rehearing. The end...? where you start again... I have given several copies -- and some crackers will join me on the next cracker cattle drive reenactment...I've known the McIvy's all my life...though too much has been away from my Florida home. Thank you Patrick Smith -- no wonder the late Florida Governor Lawton Chiles kept this book on his night stand. You can't do better.

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Summary: EXCELLENT BOOK!
Review: The book was excellent. Unlike the comments from the previous reader I found the pace of the book to be perfect. The characters in the story were FULLY developed. How else could I have felt saddness for their passing? The books pace closely paralelled the movement of life in general. The speed picks up towards the end as did the actual pace of life in the story. Patrick Smith does it again.

Rating:
Summary: A Land Remembered
Review: I am a fourth generation Floridan so naturally this book appealed to me, but I had no idea just how captivating it was. The MacIvey family will make you laugh, they will make you cry, and they will make you sit up, take a deep breath, and swell with feeling. You will FEEL this book and that's as good as it gets.

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Summary: I will never forget this book
Review: I am a transplanted northerner who could see no beauty in Florida, it looked like a bunch of bugs and muck to me. That it, until I read this book. What a wonderful way to learn about the old Florida and realize why so many things in Florida are the way they are now. The characters were as developed as they needed to be. I read the book as a history class assignment and now my entire family has had the opportunity to also read the book. It is a fast paced, easy read book that my 12 year old was as impressed with as I. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the west, Florida is forgotten as a part of the "pioneer" spirit but this book reminds one and all that Florida played a very special part in creating a nation.

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Summary: The Best Florida Book Ever
Review: When my Aunt Nila first sent me a copy of ALR I was not impressed with a "trashy" romance triangle cover. However, on a beach weekend, I grabbed the copy and when I had read the first few pages on Jupiter Beach, I was immediately transported into Patrick Smith's endearing tale of three generations of the MacIvey family and their struggle for survival in early Florida. I would say that 85% of all the honor students I have taught at Coral Gables High in Miami rank this as one of their all-time favorite books. Many have reread it a second time. Smith depicts pioneer life graphically. He is stronger on plot and setting than character and helps teach us a strong respect for the land and a preservation of our past and heritage. This is a great book to teach for environmental concepts and for a love of a sense of place.

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Summary: Criticism of A Land Remembered
Review: The author did not fully develop the characters and it seemed like he killed them all off at once. He took like 40 chapters to go through two generations and then killed them all of in like two chapters.

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Summary: Enthralling
Review: I read previous reviews and was a mite skeptical...no reason to be. A wonderful story that kept me away from the computer:)) I am hopeful they make this into a movie..it would be terrific!

Rating:
Summary: "A Land Remembered"
Review: Patrick Smith gives the reader an opportunity to glimpse at Florida from 1848 to 1970 through the eyes of the MacIvey family members over three generations. It is an enthralling book, if you're interested in the state of Florida from before Civil War times through present day era. I have read this book four times and am very much a fan of this author. In fact, I have met this studious writer of history, twice. Step back in time and read about Florida in its days of infancy. Enjoy reading about a family that survived in spite of rough times, the elements, outlaws, and animal predators. I have read this to my class and they beg you to keep going! They enjoyed it tremendously! If you do read it, I'm sure you will be captivated by its great story and the personnae of its characters.

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Summary: One of the best books I have ever read. . .
Review: I dreaded being assigned this book in a college class on Southern History, but once I started reading the book, I couldn't put it down. The characters are so realistic, and the book is fairly accurate historically, as well. I recommend it to history buffs and romantics alike.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: I must say, that when I was first recommended this book by stepmom, I thought that there was no way in a hundred years I would like it. After the first five pages, I was hooked. There are such vivid descriptions you almost think you are there, living what these characters went through.