A story that should not be lost
938674
Everyone should read more books like this to realize how much better America is today than it was 80 to 100 years ago.  Inspirational!
2989813
This is a very engaging story of family, love, happiness, the different ways these are experienced, and the choices, small and large, that ultimately define them in our lives.  Yes, there is the usual complement of too-good kids, too-competent adults, and too easily resolved dilemmas, but each of these really does bring something important to the story.  Author Catherine Ryan Hyde has a deft touch, and she avoids devolving into sappiness or requiring too much suspension of disbelief.  She also manages to present some very sensitive subjects in ways that make the book appropriate for anyone with the right level of reading ability; there is nothing here that will make you embarrassed to recommend it to anyone, from your middle schooler to your grandma.  I have to be at work at 6 a.m., and it was a rough one this morning, because "The Language of Hoofbeats" kept me happily reading until well past midnight.
2772688
You'll read too many reviews here that go over the  plot and describe the characters. Don't be put off by them. This is a disturbing, memorable story well crafted and worth reading and re-reading. It will stay with you. Yes,  there are weaknesses. But this is a story about us and the cultural clashes  in our country, and the people you pass each day on the Freeway. Read it.  Andre Dubus is first rate, and this is a book that teaches the way the  great storytellers teach.
3563230
While blessings abound throughout the unfolding of the plot, I was consistently reminded of blessings beyond the story itself.  First is simply that while the story derives much of its page turning intrigue from the horrible times that characterized World War II and the Nazi scourge that threatened the Western World at the time, we in this country (and by implication the author) are currently blessed to live in a time and society that not only permits, but encourages worthwhile investigation of those darker times.
Secondly, the author is blessed in that the birth story his perseverance uncovered is one uniquely worth telling.  While some of the earlier parts of the story had to be surmised to promote overall cohesiveness, the core of the story is in itself so fascinating that no embellishment is required.
Finally,  Mr. Bundy is blessed with a writing style that communicates  not only a necessary attention to periodic detail but also brings life to the various personalities as the story unfolds.  This is a book that successfully sets an historical stage and then holds the reader throughout the telling of a fascinating search to uncover his biological roots.
WAR
3125169
While some modern readers may find the subject matter to be date, I think this story is nearly perfect in the way it tells a complete tale in as few words as necessary. It gives you a sense of each character in a sympathetic fashion. Well worth reading.
3491798
This book moved me in a way few books have. There were times when I had to stop reading as the topic was so close to home. What a beautiful story. One that won't be easily forgotten.
3848960
In the famous lectures that were collected in "Aspects of the Novel," EM Forster gave the famous explanation: "The king died and then the queen died" is a story. "The king died, and then queen died of grief" is a plot.  Borrowing this definition, too many fantasy novels these days are all story and no plot.  Alana Abbott has created a story where the plot is not just present, but it is realistic and important.

Growing up, I ingested a steady diet of fantasy.  As my tastes matured, I found more satisfaction in literary fiction, where the interaction of characters was more exciting than swordplay and dragons.  With _Into the Reach_ I have finally found a novel that can have both.  Simply put, the characters matter.  Rather than a novel where the characters could be swapped out for some other magic-slinging, sword-toting character, Abbott wraps the characters, plot, and story so tightly together that cutting any one loose would unravel the entirety.  This type of writing is a tricky end to achieve, and Abbott does so with care and delicacy.  Although the setting may be fantastical, the emotions and interactions of the characters are true and expertly rendered.  This is no cut-and-paste heroic journey.  This is writing that can make you think and feel, as well as cheer.
2370853
A great story.  You could not help but to identify with the characters who were not only believable and real, but each had a certain sense of familiarity.  The background and coloring is never windy, wordy or drab...rather, you can actually see the picture and the surroundings, which are believable and just as much a part of the story as the characters.
  The story is a look into what could be considered the darker side of the human condition, but does not dwell there.  The characters and plot keep things in perspective and leave the reader with a positive outlook.  I particularly enjoyed the "old school" novelization of the story and it's development.  A good read.  Well done.
4547051
Imagine you ask a friend you haven't seen for a long time how things have been... And your friend begins to tell you in too much detail about everyone and everything. Your friend is very delighted with everything and uses the words fabulous, magnificent and wonderful so often that that alone tires you. It doesn't help that the tale seems to never end. Although the events of your friend's life must have been exciting to experience you can't feel the excitement as there is no feeling in the tale and the relevant details are omitted.

This is how it feels to read this book. The story could have been romantic and thrilling but you never leave the surface to explore the depths, never rise higher than the average. This book did not touch me, although the storyline should and could have made me weep. I didn't feel the characters and I never forgot my surroundings as a good book makes me,do.
2661318
To enjoy this book as I did, it may help if a reader was coming of age in the 60's, or if one experienced the angst of the threat of serving in the Vietnam War.  But my conclusion is that this book tells a timeless story that will touch you whether you shared any of the experiences of the main characters or the author.

A good story where the author convinces the reader to care about the main characters is a good story no matter ones background or experiences. I suspect you will not want to set this book down until you complete the last chapter, and then you will reflect on the maturity of the main characters, the vivid description of a typical, imperfect American family and the need to think about your own youthful adventures. You then may want to share this book with your friends.

  -- Harry Hoffman
1638783
I'm not one to ruin a person's opportunity to enjoy such a great story so , I will not disclose the ending. However, I will say the story kept you interested in wanting to read more and not stop once started. The occurrences you will eventually encounter are absolutely not fair and I will be the first to admit that. There is so much pain and suffering involved yet happiness, love, and joy that it provides a positive outlook on how valuable and precious life is.
3746601
and you won't be able to put it down, but it becomes a story that we've heard many times before.
4072300
This is a narrative -alive and necessary- to understand in our current political climate. Millan's natural storytelling, eye for detail and empathetic & artistic impulses humanize the Lost Boy's story - unfolds it in a way that is understandable and relateable. Most importantly, she does not exploit his experience or romanticize it in the way many American authors have the tendency to do. Unlike any book I've read.
2170855
A story and writing that will not be soon forgotten.  The author took real historical persons and facts and wove them into a story so fascinating and wonderful that I felt sad when the book ended.  The characters are so alive, charming, and vibrant.  She uses prose to paint beauty, strength, morality, and human cruelty on its highest levels.
1102968
Some books can be so perfect as to leave you speechless. True simplicity may be so deep as not to be simple at all. You could sum up this little novella as little more than an old Irish priest fishing fruitlessly for salmon in a midge-infested drizzle, while meditating on the funeral he conducted the day before, and the unfinished deathbed confession completed by the dead man's wife, an 80-page story set in a 60-page frame. But that would not be the all of it at all. Reading this book involves a continual reassessment of what we expect from a story, and what constitutes the moral meaning of a life well-lived.

Kevin and Enda Dennehy have been living in their small coastal village in the West of Ireland for nearly half a century, the perfect picture of a married couple living a life of contented frugality. But Kevin tells Father Declan that he and Enda are not man and wife, then dies before he can explain the details. It is left to Enda to tell the priest "the all of it."

As she does, in a touching story of growing up in an isolated cottage with little education, abject poverty, and a drunken widowed father. The few surprises come early, though, and soon the tale is at an end: "That's the all of it, Father... The rest you know." But we are only on page 68 of a book more than twice that length. Father Declan urges Enda to go on and she does. It is a story of two people discovering a world beyond their narrow valley: "You know how mist shifts the land about, how what's there one minute isn't there the next and the way a valley'll be lost to you at the same time a mountain-top'll show itself and it not attached to the earth." A world in which a man can still make a living as a farrier and motor cars are a rarity. A world where the first view of the sea from a cliff-top is a revelation: "The homing seabirds letting out those cries that fill you so with the feel of your own privacy." But there are no more surprises. Instead, something happens in Father Declan, as he feels torn between his roles as a confessor and a friend. The story seems to have ended again. Enda gets up and lights the candles around the bed. "In the brighter light, Kevin's face shone whiter, moon-like, yondered truly."

Yondered. A perfect word, an Irish word. And Father Declan feels yondered too as he lays cast after cast upon the rainswept river. We begin to see that what had seemed just a convenient narrative frame may be more than that, and that the priest may be as deserving of our sympathy as the widow. And we give it, we give it. Poet Laureate Mark Strand called this "the only book I know in which innocence follows experience. A truly amazing thing." Indeed.
4130396
The characters are beautifully defined.  The story is historic.  It made me feel as though I was part of history...a part ofhistory which should never be forgotten.
1561862
A touching and chilling story that should be on everyone's list. Give it a read!