Moving and Insdpiring read
926494
Eye opening and alarming. This book hopefully will remind many of the need for us to pray for one another and our missionaries.
3331007
I love books that transport me to a different place as this one does. Vivid visual, tactile and scent related images kept me moving along inside the story. The characters emotional lives caught and engaged me; I cared about them and miss them now that the last page has been turned. Loved this book and the experience of reading it. @mjrose
2112257
So moving, really makes you think about the process of dying
3077981
This story carries so many and varied situations that require the reader to think ahead as it is read. Great
2846183
A wonderful, quick read.  A Based on truth, this book is very well written and moving.  I couln't put it down
27153
It is even better than The Kite Runner. Such a moving story. The author writes from his heart.
1255397
This is a touching, moving story, with characters you'll come to love and care about. I read it slowly - it's one of those books you get involved in, and hate to come to the end of. McCartney's Iboga visions give the author, Jim MacGregor, a vehicle which allows him to interweave an intriguing historical narrative with his main story line. I had an opportunity to interview Jim about the book, and can add some details that aren't in Tom Cahill's excellent review, above.

There's a mystical thread to the story that I found quite exciting. Tom's visions are more than hallucinations. He sees details in the visions that he could not have known about, but which are corroborated by his friends who can recall the details. This makes the historical accounts much more real to the reader, which is well justified by Jim's extensive research into the period. Not only did he research the war and its causes, but the Glasgow characters are based on Jim's genealogical research into his own forbears. There's a very strong sense of reality in every part of the book, almost as if it were a documentary. Jim even spent much of his childhood on the very spot where most of the action of the story occurs. His descriptions are full of life and color, and his craftsmanship makes it hard to believe this is a first novel.

For me, the most moving part of the book are the descriptions of the lives of the families in Glasgow, struggling to survive in wartime conditions while their men are off dying on the fields of Flanders. The tenements, the poverty, the exploitation by landlords, the play of the children, the hard life of the women, and the indifference of the government to their plight - all of these things come to life as if you were there yourself on the freezing streets of Glasgow. This is an important part of the reality of 'war to end all wars' that is seldom portrayed.

The descriptions of trench warfare are also very well done, and the idiocy of the British officers, ordering their men to certain death in the face of German machine guns. Jim succeeds in bringing this to life with words, in a way that I've only previously experienced in films, such as Gallipoli and Jules and Jim. Another thing Jim describes - and which is always left out of the many British war-glorifying documentaries - is the asymmetry of the trench warfare. While the British soldiers were in muddy trenches, with no protection from the shells, the Germans were in hardened bunkers, with showers, beds, electrical power, doctors, and the whole nine yards of comfort and protection. (This reminds me of the fact that the German pilots were supplied with parachutes, while the British pilots weren't. The inhuman British government was afraid the pilots might bail out prematurely, when the planes - more valued than the pilots - might have been saved.)

And then there's the main story line, about how Tom, a strong believer in patriotism and soldier's duty, gradually wakes up to the reality of the warmongering leaders who start wars for profit, with no concern for cost in millions of lives.

A good read, and educational, for these cold winter days.

- Richard Moore
- Author of&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Escaping-the-Matrix-How-We-the-People-can-change-the-world/dp/0977098303/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Escaping the Matrix: How We the People can change the world</a>
2772425
This book is awesome. It gets readers thinking and exploring their own personal views while reading a moving story about family, love, and women in the early-mid twentieth century. As an avid reader of these kinds of tales I would have to say this nearly tops the list. I would recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone who enjoys well-written and thought provoking literature.
982464
Evocative reading filled with exquisite, almost painterly descriptions, it transports the reader into the immigrant world at the turn of the last century while remaining personal and intimate in its telling.  The sensitive child, David, is at once the narrator and the protagonist of the story, allowing the reader the sense of living first hand his experiences and emotions during events as they unfold.  His is the journey of maturation into an artist under difficult circumstances.
2432561
This is an awesome book from page one to the end. I was thoroughly absorbed by this beautifully written, poignient story. the authors portrayal of the historical period and its prejudices were extremely well done. This book will make you travel through a gamut of emotions and at times it will anger you at how unjust society can be. It truly is a moving story which has been crafted so well.
4141909
Excellent.  A very moving story.  I couldn't stop reading.
3898887
Susan Nunn's deeply moving and beautifully written book surrounding the very human stories of immigration could not be more timely. With great detail and emotional pitch, this book serves to instill passion about this important topic. The characters and story keep you turning the pages, while the luscious sense of place transports the reader to the border where these life and death dramas occur.
240391
First of all, realize that the translator is crucial - and she does a stellar job.  Having read various resources as "color" for genealogy, I was deeply moved by Fogelstrm's characters, his depth of understanding of human nature, and the natural way in which he presents events that are almost beyond our understanding in the 21st century.  His protagonist is a good man, yet one that many can empathize with; this is true of many characters, giving us a multi-faceted portrait of ourselves given the same conditions.  Moving to the city, finding work, living one among 6 in a room, sleeping on the floor, the simple joys of a picnic by the river - the reader will find himself immersed in the life of the time to the extent that you can actually picture it.  For once, I cannot imagine an improvement - except, perhaps, to get the rest of the series translated!
3263567
a moving story. very educational. plenty of twists in the last few chpters. such a powerful read
3465567
Through excellent use of words, the story was easy to visualize, like a movie going through my mind.  The hardships were "felt" and the journey to overcoming poverty was realistic, not easy or candy-coated.  The healing process from "losing" a child, especially to a disgruntled parent, the drawing close of the family to find the daughter speaks clearly, especially in a culture that has valued girl less.  Poverty is no excuse for not living a life full of love in the midst of sorrow and hardship. The heart is  (can be) greater than the sadness that surrounds it. Very moving.
4259267
I don't often feel moved by a story. I generally close a book and move on to the next one. Not so with Light.
The characters are believable, the setting of time and place evocative, and the language is full and rich.  It moved me,  haunted me.  I need to meet these characters and hold them.
I regret having purchased it on my Kindle.  I have half a dozen friends who need to read this book.  I will buy a hard copy.
3630969
In this riveting, moving book set in an affluent suburb, Angela has vanished into a self that barely feels, who goes through the motions in a stultifying marriage.  She is a product of parents who want her to be secure and practical; all her choices have led to a life of limited experience and dull, routine, almost meaningless pastimes and obligations. When she improbably--inexplicably, really--lets Daniel, a rootless young drifter, into that life, his ability to break through her boundaries and awaken her sensuality allow her to feel "seen" for perhaps the very first time.  Events conspire to show us Angela transcending how she is perceived even by Daniel; she begins to see herself, and a path is opened away from all she had clung to with neither real love or hope, toward a difficult but authentic future.  She changes; the people around her change; possibilities that could not exist at the outset seem within reach by the end.

Though often dark, and tinged with the gray tones of depression and quiet despair, there is a deeply touching core to this story that grabbed me and held, and kept me reading.  We recognize Angela; or if not, we recognize her struggle to be seen and to ultimately see herself.