A compelling premise undermined by a lack of imaginative language, by structural shortcomings, and by unfulfilled expectations. The gothic ideas put forth are exciting, and the author does not shrink from depictions of the grotesque, but I was hoping for more precise and lyrical language. There are outbursts of the kind of writing I expected from the novel, but their presence only highlights the absence of consistently good writing.Much of the best writing comes about 100 pages into the novel, i...

A book that sits ambiguously between epic, lyric, and science fiction. Though it's light on the science, often invoking magic as a deus ex machina, it is actually quite heavy on the medicine practices and beliefs of the era.Grief is the theme that binds all the major characters of this story, tho each one's grief is different and taken on different effects. Interestingly enough, Chris Adrian wrote this out of his own grief for his brother's death. For all its history, its fantasy, and its pathos...

They see (and hear) dead people. Several characters in Chris Adrian's debut novel (2000) are in contact with the dead. Gob Woodhull is not, exactly, but it is Gob's guilt, grief and obsessions with his twin's death — and his desire to bring him back from the dead — that are the fulcrum on which this strong and odd tale turns.In 1863, Gob's brother, Tomo, runs away from home to join the American Civil War (bugler); Gob chickens out and runs home, and his guilt is all-consuming after Tomo is kille...

One of those books where I have to remind myself that life it too short to force myself to finish. I'll give it two stars because although I couldn't finish it, the writing was lovely and I did feel for the characters, just not enough to continue.

Not nearly as wonderful as Children's Hospital, but still quite good. For awhile I thought this was going to be a five star book, but the bottom sort of dropped out of it towards the end, but not in too major of a way. This book really needs to have a new blurb written on it, and maybe the cover changed (especially on the paperback), since making this book seem like a Civil War novel is like saying that Gravity's Rainbow is about World War 2. Actually the Pynchon book is so much more about a war...

Well, I feel bad because this book has gotten really high marks and excellent reviews on this site. But after reading half of it, I just didnt find it all that interesting. The writing isn't lacking, the characters aren't ill conceived nor poorly developed. Just didn't seem like much...happened. And maybe the second half is a barn burner, but working at a library, I'm tempted by books at every turn and sometimes my will is weak. I'll try and stay true next time Gob, if you'll have me back.

This was an accidental and unlikely read, a random grab at the library, that turned out to be a complete joy. It's sold as a historical novel, set in the aftermath of the American Civil War, and so it is, to the same extent that Moby Dick is about catching whales. Gob's twin brother Tomo runs off to join the fight one fateful night in 1863, aged 11, and is ingloriously killed like so many others a few weeks later. Gob is prostrated with grief and guilt and devotes his life thereafter to cheating...

The first 20 pages or so blew me away, but after that I don't remember what happened. I read it a long time ago.There was a rash of stories at that time of young, much sought after writers writing novels where the same story is told several times from different perspectives. This is one of those. Alongside The God of Small Things, which I also had no use for - so take that into consideration. I tested my assessment by making my mother try to read it and she still talks about it as one of my most...

Weird, historically playful, and very, very beautiful.

The concept/plot is very interesting. And at first, I found the execution interesting. Rather than telling the whole story through Gob’s point of view, Adrien tells it though the POV of several central characters. But this style eventually wore on me. We kept circling around the same events from new viewpoints, and I just wanted to get on with the plot.

I really liked this book. It was written by an old friend of mine from the University of Florida (we haven't talked in 25 years, so our ancient friendship did not influence this review.) It's not a book I would normally have read based on the setting and back cover blurb, but it drew me in from the start with the lyrical writing and the way it made me feel like I was part of every scene going on. The author put a twist on historical events, introducing characters like Abraham Lincoln and Walt Wh...

I gave one star because, as a piece of literature, it was well written. I liked that the point of view changed for each section. I gave it another star because it was full of awesome vocabulary. I love learning new vocabulary.I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It was a dark novel. Granted, my opinions are what most would call conservative, but I didn't find anything wholesome or valuable in the story. I did find: obsessive relationships; a depressing, hopeless view of death; child masturbation;

A very strange & probably very good book whose strangeness did not particularly appeal to me. Three different characters who have lost brothers in the American Civil War get caught up in Gob's (a fictional son of Victoria Woodhull who also lost a [twin:] brother in the war) effort to build a machine to destroy death & bring the dead back to life. Because of the Woodhull connection, there's lots about postwar social movements such as spiritualism, woman suffrage & women's rights, the Beecher/Tilt...

The novel has a little unnecessary repetition, because of the way the author follows multiple narrative threads through the same chunk of time. But despite this minor flaw, it is some of the most deeply moving prose I've ever read. In part I think that stems from the startling amount of historical and psychological accuracy Chris Adrian achieves. He gets you into the mind of Walt Whitman, takes you convincingly through the building of an elaborate "grieving machine" that will bring back the Civi...

I really wanted to like this book. There were parts I loved, but over-all it was not an enjoyable read. It was simply hard for me to stay focused. I wonder if I tried reading it a second time I would appreciate it more.

Although I loved Loved LOVED Chris Adrain's later work, I couldn't finish this one. The characters just slipped out of my grasp. I couldn't remember them from page to page.

I don't know what to think so far. I both like and do not like this book. I cannot be more specific at this time.

DNF. When I first began this book and then over a fourth of the way through, I was entranced. Then as it got grislier and weirder, I decided to stop. I read over 200 pages, but I decided when you're trying to read a story that you dread returning to, and makes you feel absolutely quesy, you should stop. From reading other reviews, however, I'd definitely like to read Children's Hospital. He is a beautiful writer.

The book gets off to a promising start when Gob and his brother Tomo set out to join the Union army. Then the story switches to Walt Whitman helping injured soldiers in a New York hospital. Then it switches again, to Gob's efforts to build a machine that will bring back the dead. There are dead brothers and angels, two of Adrian's recurring themes. His imagination is unmatched, but a byproduct of this might be the book's eventual lack of focus. The transition of Gob's family, the Woodhulls, from...

Well .... it was a struggle to read and finish. I didn't enjoy it, and thought for the first time in maybe 40 years of stopping reading a novel in mid-book. But, out of sheer stubbornness I soldiered on. Yes, I can see how it is considered very imaginative and the characters are pretty interesting, and it was on occasion potentially thought-provoking, but for the most part it was just strange and sometimes hard to follow. I'd have awarded one star except that there were some very clever concepts...