The Brothers K by David James Duncan Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $8.98 You Save: $8.02 (47%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.40 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of The Brothers K
Book Review: Amazing
Summary: 5 Stars
Duncan's novel "The Brothers K" is a masterpiece that takes the reader into a family's trip in time. The authors come alive to the point that you miss them when finished reading. A wonderfully written novel and very thought provoking. Duncan is a genius.Book Review: Amazing!
Summary: 5 Stars
A friend recommended the book to me earlier this year and it has since become one of my favorite books and one I plan to read again sometime in the near future. Duncan's creativity and writing ability makes him one of the great authors of the past few years. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading and a great story.Book Review: Ambiguities of Family, Religion, and War
Summary: 5 Stars
The struggles the Chance brothers face and the life choices each makes mirror those of the nation's youth during the Vietnam era. Each of the brothers' choices in light of the Vietnam War; Everett to flee to Canada, Peter to seek student deferment, Irwin to claim conscientious objector status but serve his country when his status was denied, and Kincaid's medical deferment represent paths taken by young men at the time. The divergent paths of each brother divided the family, just as the choices of American youth divided the nation. In the reuniting and healing of the Chance family, Duncan implies that the nation can also mend the wounds caused by this turbulent era.
Irwin's remarkable triumph conveys Duncan's message of hope for apparently dismal futures. Duncan's The Brothers K rightfully received the Pacific Northwest Bookseller Award and the American Library Association Notable Book of the Year Award. These well-deserved awards honor Duncan's artfully delicate explanation of the ambiguities of family, religion, and war for timeless generations.
Book Review: An Epic Novel
Summary: 5 Stars
The K in David James Duncan's The Brothers K is as much a nod to the scorer's notation in baseball for a strikeout as it is an homage to Dostoyeski's The Brothers Karamazov. The novel begins in 1956 in Camus, Washington, where Hugh Chance, a minor league baseball pitcher and family patriarch, loses his thumb and atheltic career in an accident working at the local paper mill. The story of the Chance family, Hugh and Laura Chance, their six children (four sons followed by twin daughters), is told by their youngest son Kincaid, with the help of letters, poems, and old school reports written by various family members.
The Brothers K is an original, sprawling, always charming marathon of a novel. Duncan's is a unique voice, stretching out in only his second novel -- a great effort, bursting with warmth and talent.
Book Review: An Exciting, Moving, Captivating Story
Summary: 5 Stars
This was perhaps the best and most powerful novel I've ever read. It seems a little long at first glance, but after the first 200 pages, the reader is so caught-up in the lives of the characters that the remaining 400 pages seem to fly past. On one level, it's the story of a family trying to survive through difficulties. On another level, it's a stark examination of personal values and inner convictions, in which the author voices questions few people would dare ask. It's been two years since I read it, and I still haven't fully recovered.