⇒ Libro Gratis The Son Pulitzer Prize in Letters Fiction Finalists Philipp Meyer 9780062120397 Books

The Son Pulitzer Prize in Letters Fiction Finalists Philipp Meyer 9780062120397 Books

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The Son Pulitzer Prize in Letters Fiction Finalists Philipp Meyer 9780062120397 Books

The range of reviews of "The Son" is somewhat staggering; some people think it's the great American novel and others seem to think it's trash. I fall into the former camp. It's got some flaws, some of which have been referred to in other reviews - for example, some of the dialogue among the native Americans seems too modern. There were also occasional passages (particularly in the sections on Jeannie McCullough) where Meyer lost me. However, at most those and a few other quibbles would reduce this from five stars to maybe 4.75.

However, from my perspective, the other criticisms are invalid. Yes, the book jumps back and forth in time, and I found myself checking the genealogy chart at the front of the book many times. But while that has irritated me in other books, it didn't have that effect here. In fact, I found it engrossing to see how Eli's sins (and virtues) were visited upon his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And yes, the book is dark and paints a less than rosy picture of one part of Texas history (and perhaps Texas currently as well), but when I want a rosy picture of the Southwest I can watch the DVD of "Oklahoma" or something. I don't know if the picture it paints is accurate or not, but I didn't really care; it's a riveting read, and if it was a bit more challenging to read than some other works, I think it paid off big time (and I should point out that I read for pleasure, not for a workout - so while I sympathize with those who found it too challenging, I think they're wrong in this case).

The characters are real, flawed human beings; the dialogue (except as noted above) seems true; and the story is terrific. So I think this is a major achievement and I intend to keep it on the shelf to re-read at some point, as I'm sure I'll get just as much if not more out of it on a second read.


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The Son Pulitzer Prize in Letters Fiction Finalists Philipp Meyer 9780062120397 Books Reviews

I enjoyed this book. The reason for four stars is that the last 20 to 25% of the book went to "telling" instead of "showing" and that ticked me off. The man has an excellent command of the language and can draw great portraits of people for the reader to engage with. But telling the reader for 100 pages leaves me cool to cold. I have no doubt this was the editing job, but not sure. It whirlwinded to the end and I felt cheated as I had to do it with the narrator instead of the characters. An up and coming author for sure.
Okay, I admit it, first off; I do love reading Westerns. When I saw AMC had created the show I wanted to know more about the book. So I bought the book. I read about one book a week so I can judge whether or not a book is an easy read. First what made this book and easy read for me was knowing how the show had been produced. With switching back and forth between time periods. So...the book was the same format, so no mystery there. Telling the story from the different character standpoints, I liked. and because I already knew of the time switching it wasn't confusing. HOWEVER, I do understand where the criticism comes from on the previous reviews, that if you did not know how the show was produced with the time period flash backs, reading the book would be a challenge, so actually that mystery was not part of the read.

As far as content and likability of the characters and stories; I like gritty westerns, not bonanza family entertainment westerns, I like knowing that life was hard, tough and unpleasant in order to make the story come alive. I read till the end and realized that the story ended up going full circle in the end and you became aware of why and how the main character turned out like he did.

My suggestion is if you want to read this book, understand it goes back and forth between time periods so it builds the case and builds your understanding why the characters are who they are and how they became what they are.... AND
***SPOILER***
that's about it.....you will either enjoy or like the characters or dislike some of them, which is the point of a good read. Also if you are reading this after you started the AMC show, understand liberties were taken and generations of the characters have been changed, i.e. the Granddaughter in the Show is actually the Great Grand Daughter in the book and the Garcia ranch is destroyed and they are all killed in the beginning..in the show, nope, they are pretty much made out to be just neighbors with periodic conflicts. I know that this leaves room in the show for multiple seasons so the story doesn't just wrap up in one season. So there ya go!
I have watched the 2nd installment of the TV show The Son. I think the show is great and as I watched the credits, I saw it was based on a book. So, I bought it last night for my Paper White. Wow! I have been reading almost all night and most of today! This is a fascinating book. The TV show showed the savagery of the killing of his family and kid napping. It was nothing compared to the book! I always read reviews. I saw a few that were "confused" that there are different people ,with their own chapters, that tell the reader 1st hand their thoughts. All you have to do is read the name and the time period at the head of each chapter! Also, someone stated that people in the Old West would never swear like what is in the book. Read some of Shakespeare's plays. He swore like a drunken sailor! I'm pretty sure people have cussed since the Beginning of time. I am planning on reading it tonight till I collapse. If you like Westerns, Indian Tales, Texas, and stories about families that will fascinate you, buy this book! This will be a book I read more then once....I bet most will agree with me.
The range of reviews of "The Son" is somewhat staggering; some people think it's the great American novel and others seem to think it's trash. I fall into the former camp. It's got some flaws, some of which have been referred to in other reviews - for example, some of the dialogue among the native Americans seems too modern. There were also occasional passages (particularly in the sections on Jeannie McCullough) where Meyer lost me. However, at most those and a few other quibbles would reduce this from five stars to maybe 4.75.

However, from my perspective, the other criticisms are invalid. Yes, the book jumps back and forth in time, and I found myself checking the genealogy chart at the front of the book many times. But while that has irritated me in other books, it didn't have that effect here. In fact, I found it engrossing to see how Eli's sins (and virtues) were visited upon his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And yes, the book is dark and paints a less than rosy picture of one part of Texas history (and perhaps Texas currently as well), but when I want a rosy picture of the Southwest I can watch the DVD of "Oklahoma" or something. I don't know if the picture it paints is accurate or not, but I didn't really care; it's a riveting read, and if it was a bit more challenging to read than some other works, I think it paid off big time (and I should point out that I read for pleasure, not for a workout - so while I sympathize with those who found it too challenging, I think they're wrong in this case).

The characters are real, flawed human beings; the dialogue (except as noted above) seems true; and the story is terrific. So I think this is a major achievement and I intend to keep it on the shelf to re-read at some point, as I'm sure I'll get just as much if not more out of it on a second read.