Book Review

After more than a month of reading, and over 900 pages, I can say that Wally Lamb certainly took me on a ride through a gamut of emotions....frustration, hope, anger, despair, redemption.  There were times I felt sorry for Dominick and other times I wanted to grab him and shake some sense into him.  He was a multi-faceted character and I enjoyed experiencing his growth, even if it was a little predictable at times.

The book was really three stories in one.  There is the 'book within the book' that Dominick reads, and then the present story is told with many revealing flashbacks.  Lamb is an amazing storyteller and I really loved this story for making me think and feel and believe. 

There were parts that were really difficult to read and I wondered about people who have had to deal with tragedies like the ones portrayed in this book.  The political and religious references were a great backdrop for historical relevance--and I found so many similarities between now and the first Iraq war.

My only complaint is the ending.  I invested a lot to this story and to these characters and after 900 pages and all that these people went through, it didn't seem right to tie a nice neat bow around everything in 6 short pages and be done with it.  But, even with that, this was a book that I will remember for a long time.  And that is what I love about a book.