81st out of 114 books
—
7 voters
The Law of Similars
by
Chris Bohjalian (Goodreads Author)
" The Law of Similars is fast-paced and absorbing. Few writers can manipulate a plot with Bohjalian's grace and power."-The New York Times Book Review
From the number one bestselling author of Midwives comes this riveting medical thriller about a lawyer, a homeopath, and a tragic death.When one of homeopath Carissa Lake's patients falls into an allergy-induced coma, possibl...more
From the number one bestselling author of Midwives comes this riveting medical thriller about a lawyer, a homeopath, and a tragic death.When one of homeopath Carissa Lake's patients falls into an allergy-induced coma, possibl...more
Paperback, 336 pages
Published
March 14th 2000
by Vintage
(first published December 29th 1998)
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Chris Bohjalian's great talent is to bring his readers into the lives of ordinary people at the moment that those lives begin to unravel. With great compassion and suspense, he demonstrates the struggles that ensue. You embrace every character in their very human nature.
In THE LAW OF SIMILARS he introduces you to yet another moral dilemma; alternative medicine, specifically, homeopathy. How much are we responsible for our own decisions for our health? When things go wrong how far will we go to...more
In THE LAW OF SIMILARS he introduces you to yet another moral dilemma; alternative medicine, specifically, homeopathy. How much are we responsible for our own decisions for our health? When things go wrong how far will we go to...more
For years, people I trust have been telling me to read Chris Bohjalian. Now that I've finally gotten around to it, I'm sorry I waited so long. This is the best kind of "gripping tale" that book jacket copy is always promising us. It's a thriller, but not a sensational one. These are ordinary people in ordinary circumstances -- no government conspiracies or serial killers to plump up the plot. It's just a convincingly complicated tale about bad decisions compounded by lust, loneliness and despera...more
This book is very similar to Midwives (written by the same author) and I enjoyed it about the same. Leland narrates as he shares the story of a month that changed his life. Leland’s wife died in a car accident and left him with a baby daughter. A few years after his wife’s death, Leland meets Carissa Lake, a homeopath. Leland falls head over heels in a very short period of time…but at the same moment Leland is feeling blissfully happy, horror is happening within another family also involved with...more
Set in Vermont, this story has homeopathy as a main subject. Leland Fowler is a state prosecutor for Vermont and a single father. Two years ago, his wife Elizabeth was killed in a car accident and he is very close to his 4-year-old daughter Abby. For the last several months Leland has been fighting a cold that never seems to let go. He has tried any number of remedies and seen his doctor, but nothing works. In the local health food store, a clerk recommends her aunt, a homeopath. Leland Fowler g...more
I really enjoyed this book. I started hearing lots of great things about this author and so I picked up every one of his books that the library had. First of all, his writing is right up my alley: rich and memorable, without being pretentious or overly flowery. The story itself was pretty magnificent too. A widowed attorney (state prosecutor) with a young daughter finds himself newly enamored with both the idea of homeopathy and the local homeopath. They have a brief romantic relationship and th...more
I was introduced to Chris Bohjalian’s writing through my mom, who read his book, Midwives, when it was hot on Oprah’s Book Club list and who later recommended that I read it (but not until after I’d already delivered my first child). Several years later I read another of his books and enjoyed it as much as the first, but it’s taken me another year to read another. This third book piqued my interest because it deals with the science of homeopathy, a healing art that I briefly researched in colleg...more
"The Law of Similars" is an astonishing novel about the hardships Leland Fowler faces when he loses his wife in a car crash, leaving him with grief and his young daughter.
The most pleasurable aspect of this book is definitely the character development of Leland. Chris Bohjalian develops Leland's character very uniquely by using Leland himself; everything he does and thinks constantly revealing more to Leland's character throughout the entire book. "I raise my daughter. I go to work. And thoug...more
The most pleasurable aspect of this book is definitely the character development of Leland. Chris Bohjalian develops Leland's character very uniquely by using Leland himself; everything he does and thinks constantly revealing more to Leland's character throughout the entire book. "I raise my daughter. I go to work. And thoug...more
Most books have a main character who is good and who does good things throughout the book. Bohjalian's book, "The Law of Similars" is a bit like watching a train wreck as the reader morbidly watches a very sympathetic main character risk disassembling his life and career before our eyes. Leland Fowler is an assistant state attorney whose wife was killed in a tragic car accident two years before. He bravely continues, working as a single father to raise his daughter, and to do good work in the st...more
I love Chris Bohjalian's books and have decided I'm going to read all his stuff (I love discovering authors like this!) and this one was quite good, although definitely not my favorite of his (it'll be tough to top "Midwives"). I just find his writing very compelling, gripping, and I generally like his topics (medical/legal mysteries, but very character-driven--and I love all the Vermont settings).
This one had all of that (compelling writing and interesting characters) but I found the ending kin...more
This one had all of that (compelling writing and interesting characters) but I found the ending kin...more
Probably I would not have picked up this book had my Book Group not been reading and discussing it later in the week. I looked at the 320 pages, and wondered if I could plod my way through it by Wednesday. But then I started reading, and literally could not put it down. Leyland and Carissa became real. Despite the fact that I got a bit irritated with them at times - after all, Leyland is a bit of a hypochondriac and Carissa can be a little intense. But I lived their tale and here in sunny Florid...more
Chris Bohjalian has become my favorite contemporary author and this book is an excellent example of his talent. I actually started this over a year ago and couldn't get into it. Thankfully, I kept it on my to-read shelf and gave it another chance. Whatever tripped me up the first read through was missing this time... I was immediately sucked in. I thought the character of Leland was brilliant, in all his flawed ways. This is a character being allowed to show off all sides of his personality, and...more
I don't recommend this to anyone. This book reminded me of reading the train wreck that was The House of Sand and Fog. Lots of people making a lot of stupid decisions. People being entirely selfish. Not a single character you can actually admire or respect. I don't think this book has a single redeeming feature. It is awfully similar to Midwives (in terms of general plot), and I wonder if the author was just trying to borrow from the successes of that book.
I enjoyed Midwives, and I'd feel okay...more
I enjoyed Midwives, and I'd feel okay...more
Aug 02, 2011
Marie Theron
added it
One cannot put this novel in the same class as the excellent Midwives by the same author. There is almost no tension and everything is predictable.
Homeopathic medicine is not sacrosanct, we use it all the time and can buy it readily, and I cannot imagine a homeopath hiding 'the cure' or withholding it. It is really sad that the Richard character was banned from having more of the so-called 'cure', and driven to his tragic self-experimenting. He was keen for a breakthrough and Carissa fobbed him...more
Homeopathic medicine is not sacrosanct, we use it all the time and can buy it readily, and I cannot imagine a homeopath hiding 'the cure' or withholding it. It is really sad that the Richard character was banned from having more of the so-called 'cure', and driven to his tragic self-experimenting. He was keen for a breakthrough and Carissa fobbed him...more
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For about the first 20-30 pages, I was not feeling this period story of a young Prussian girl, Anna Emmerich, and her family in the 1945, end-of-the-Reich world. However, the story blossomed through its multiple characters and storylines: it follows Callum, a Scottish POW who lives with the Emmerichs; Uri Singer, a Jew who escaped from a cattle car to impersonate members of the SS to survive; and Cecile, a French Jewish woman who endures concentration camps. Long ago, I thought I was done with m...more
I thought the premise and plot idea for this book was really intriguing and had a lot of promise. But in the end, it just didn't deliver for me. The introduction of Richard Emmons earlier in the story was choppy and not at all fluid. There was much jumping back and forth but the transitions weren't handled well.
The idea of a homeopath dating a state's attorney who then finds herself potentially libel for a patient's negative reaction and complicating her relationship with the attorney was very...more
The idea of a homeopath dating a state's attorney who then finds herself potentially libel for a patient's negative reaction and complicating her relationship with the attorney was very...more
I have been home not feeling well this week and enjoying lots of reading! This is another Chris Bohjalian (dos anyone know how to say that last name!) novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. It kept me reading with hints of things to come, so I finished it quickly.
This author has a definite way of bringing you into the characters and story right away. I had read Midwives recently and this one also set in Vermont with homeopathic medicine at the center in place of midwives. Very interesting. The main c...more
This author has a definite way of bringing you into the characters and story right away. I had read Midwives recently and this one also set in Vermont with homeopathic medicine at the center in place of midwives. Very interesting. The main c...more
I'm not an expert on homeopathy, but I suspect the author isn't either. This story is told in a disjointed way, with many details missing. The reader is required to believe that a good father, lawyer, prosecutor, and person would suddenly decide to go against all that he knows is right by destroying evidence and living a lie in all aspects of his life. I couldn't believe that Leland would do this, and couldn't understand his reasons for doing it. Carissa Lake was an irresponsible homeopath, but...more
I listened to this on tape on a couple of my drives to PA to pick up Faith. I found that the way I best connect with a book, though, is to actually read the words on the page. So I read most of it as well as listened to it. This book had shades of Bohjalian's other book "Midwives" in that it involved a medical situation. I found the main character less than attractive,though; parts of him annoyed me. It might have had something to do with the reader on the tape, but I felt him to be on the wimpy...more
Chris Bohjalian...I am Leland, I hear, feel, taste & understand his dreams & wants! You so have a special GIFT with words my Friend!
I've always been interested in homeopathic medicine, your story helped me understand the Law of Similars. Let likes be treated by likes.
The curative virtue of medicines thus depends on their sysmptoms being similar to those of the disease, but the stronger.
It follows that...disease can be destroyed and removed most surely, throughly, swiftly and permanently...more
I've always been interested in homeopathic medicine, your story helped me understand the Law of Similars. Let likes be treated by likes.
The curative virtue of medicines thus depends on their sysmptoms being similar to those of the disease, but the stronger.
It follows that...disease can be destroyed and removed most surely, throughly, swiftly and permanently...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Jan 12, 2010
Sheela
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
yes
Recommended to Sheela by:
Carolyn Vallieres
Normally I do not read books like this but I needed a book and this one just stood out. As I was reading this I kept thinking that this would make a great movie - or an episode of Law & Order if they wanted to make it more about the courtroom drama end of it (although they never quite made it to the courtroom).
You really felt for the main character and wanted him to meet someone after his wife died and when he did...you were saddened by how it ended up.
If you are looking for a quick read bec...more
You really felt for the main character and wanted him to meet someone after his wife died and when he did...you were saddened by how it ended up.
If you are looking for a quick read bec...more
This book is well written, but I'm giving only 3 stars because it took a bit longer than I'd like to build to the "good stuff." My personal taste in books is to get a really good taste of the impending climax before I'm in the final one-fifth of the book. Until very close to the end, there was a lot more focus on the love story aspect (which is quite good actually) than on the huge conflict that tugged on my heart strings and left me aching to read the next paragraph.
I'd certainly read a Chris...more
I'd certainly read a Chris...more
Chris Bohjalian's books take two or three issues that people tend to have strong opinions about, and somehow make them all come together into one cohesive novel where the issues are not the stars of the story and no bias on the author's part is revealed. The reader is not asked to form a decisive stance on the issues, and the book does not lay the controversies of the issues to rest. The issues are there without being introduced, and the story line does not focus on them, but rather weaves throu...more
The first Chris Bohjelian book I ever read was Midwives, in 1997. It's the story of a well-trained modern midwife who performs and emergency cesarean section on a woman she believes has died of a stroke during childbirth. But what if the woman she thought was dead wasn't, and she herself caused the fatal injury? The novel examines the debate over alternative medicine through a gripping personal account of tragedy. I devoured this book, and developed an instant love for the author. I would have r...more
Feb 01, 2008
Betelle
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Book clubs
Recommended to Betelle by:
Bohjalian fan
Here is another of Bohjalians' page turners. Again the setting is New England(Vermont) ...a close community. It is the story of the downfall of widowed Leland, a state prosecuter, and his four year old daughter who after developing a relationship with Carissa, the town homeopath, become involved in a malpractice struggle between Carissa and a deceased patient. The plot captured me and as I neared the end of the book, I ran over in my mind all the possible endings...none which brought me satisfac...more
I enjoy Chris Bohjalian's books. He really captures the typical flawed human being. I will say that I wanted to yell at the characters a couple of times. Holy Moly do they make some stupid decisions! Leland is raising his daughter after the death of his wife. A couple of years later, while looking for a cure for what ailed him, he gets caught up with a homeopath. She soon gets involved in some legal trouble and Leland, an attorney, is stuck in the middle. I will say that I was somewhat pleased w...more
This was okay. Not much compared to Midwives, which was fantastic. I kept thinking what a dumb schmuck this guy was-- I couldn't help it. And I didn't particularly care for or sympathize with the psychologist/homeopath either. Perhaps that is what Bohjalian wants from us-- our own irritation with the characters for engaging in a relationship that shouldn't have started in the first place. It was hard to get on anyone's side whose judgment I questioned from the get-go.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romance, Historic...: In a reading funk (Courtney,etc.) | 2 | 49 | Oct 23, 2011 08:38pm |
Chris Bohjalian is the author of sixteen books, including The Light in the Ruins, arriving July 9, 2013 from Doubleday. Set in Florence and rural Tuscany between 1943 and 1955, it began as a re-imaginging of "Romeo and Juliet."
His other books include the New York Times bestsellers, The Sandcastle Girls, The Night Strangers, Secrets of Eden, Skeletons at the Feast, The Double Bind, Before Your Know...more
More about Chris Bohjalian...
His other books include the New York Times bestsellers, The Sandcastle Girls, The Night Strangers, Secrets of Eden, Skeletons at the Feast, The Double Bind, Before Your Know...more
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