Here on Earth (Oprah's Book Club) by Alice Hoffman Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Here on Earth (Oprah's Book Club)
Book Review: Mas o menos
Summary: 2 Stars
I really thought this book was going to go somewhere and as I got closer to the end, I was waiting for a great climax to the story. I was definitely disappointed in the end. Everything just kind of peters out and falls flat. I won't sum up the story .. that has been done before. However, I will say that I thought the book had some promise but after closing the cover I realized it was just an exercise in futility for me. All in all ... kinda blah.Book Review: A modern-day Wuthering Heights
Summary: 5 Stars
Did you shiver reading Wuthering Heights? Did you weep for the power of the ugly-toilsome and all-comsuming love of Catherine and Heathcliff? With a similar storyline--"similar" is kind-- whereas "ideantical" might be a little unfair--Hoffman gives us the modern-day equalivalent of the age-old drama. There's a mystery here that is the heart of all revenge. The wise reader, the honest reader will see him/herself in both roles as victim and perpetrator. Everyone is twisted by the passions they have felt. Some just more than others. This is a book for a cold autumn night when you are willing to let in the ghosts of lost loves and to cry for their loss. Get ready to hear Catherine clawing at the window and get ready to let her in again to your heart. Get ready to re-experience the obsession of first love and its devastation.Book Review: Loved the prose- -hated the plot!
Summary: 4 Stars
Alice Hoffman has the ability to enchant and totally enthrall her readers with her brilliant use of the language. "Practical Magic" is one of my favorite books. In "Here on Earth," however, Hoffman misses the mark. Her story of obsessive love immediately brings to mind the classic "Wuthering Heights." Someone should have told Hoffman that once was enough. The tragedy of Cathy and Heathcliff worked for Victorian readers, but I have my doubts about how it will play today. I had several problems with the story. 1. March Murray is not a stupid woman. She's bright, talented and has lived a full life. She's not your typical moon-faced teenager waiting for her love to return. Yet, the moment she sees Hollis for the first time, she loses any modicum of sanity and drifts aimlessly into netherland. 2. March's daughter, Gwen, isn't dumb, either, but she cannot resist a relationship with her 1st cousin. This relationship never rang true for me. It's hard to believe that someone as street smart as Gwen could turn to mush over a teen-age boy, even if he is the only really believable character in the book. 3. March's husband, Richard, would have come after her once he realized she was being isolated from the world by Hollis. He adored her and would have never let the situation drag on, especially since his daughter was also living in Hollis' house. 4. March's best friend, Susanna Justice, is not the type of woman that would let March waste away in the clutches of an evil man like Hollis. Susanna, if you believe Hoffman's description, is a force to behold. She would never sit still for March's destruction.
I love Hoffman's description of the bleak New England fall and winter. I was cold in the middle of a Texas heat wave just reading about the grey skies and the white snow. I'm just a little disappointed that all this beautiful prose is wasted on such a useless plot.
The Cathy/Heathcliff story worked in "Wuthering Heights". It doesn't seem to work here in the 1990's.
Book Review: Mystical journey into the dark side of love long lost
Summary: 4 Stars
Alice Hoffman's whimsical and mystical stories usually leave you with an upbeat feeling. This book is definitely about the dark side of love and the upbeat feeling isn't there. Some of the language and sexual scenes make you wonder if this was really necessary to tell this story.The magical,whimsical quality of her writing seems to take a hit with this approach.