Before You Know Kindness
by Chris Bohjalian
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Read in January, 2008
I didn't really care for this book very much. I didn't mind the slow pace that much. What bothered me most was that the author failed to establish a separate and believable voice for each of his characters. Even when the reader was privy to a character's thoughts, there was no intimacy in the way the character thought of or referred to a loved one, no language/vocabulary appropriate to the character's age or personality. Perhaps the author inserted his own voice too much into each character. Any...more
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Meh. I liked "Midwives" enough to give this one a try (but mainly because I'm out of books to read, too poor to shop, and too lazy at the moment to go to the library, and this book was crammed in my nightstand from some long-ago time when someone loaned it to me). I guess what I didn't like about it is the fact that at the end of the book I sort of shrugged and said "so?"
You meet a circle of people and a tragedy occurs and then the circle of people go through the various...more
You meet a circle of people and a tragedy occurs and then the circle of people go through the various...more
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Read in May, 2005
I LOVED this book. I don't know why people are saying it was slow moving. I loved the pace. It's a character piece, and the suspense is in the slow and detailed unfolding of their lives and secret thoughts. To me, this book is a lot about what people think every day, but never reveal to each other, and how that affects what they can and can't say (or do) later. And, I liked that the author took a hard stance against animal activists -- not because I have anything against them. Like most of us, I...more
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Read in September, 2007
I'm on the fence on this book. The topic of gun control, animal rights, and veganism was definitely interesting, but I struggled a bit with the author's portrayal of the animal rights issue. I was struck by how a few of the characters were so one-dimensional -- practically a stereotype -- and these were, with the exception of Spencer, all people on the side of animal rights. His other characters are so well developed with both positive and negative characteristics (everyone is humanely flawed) t...more
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I wanted to like this book, but I just found it too slow to really get into. The author beats you over the head with some points. For example, I get that Spencer is vegan - you don't need to mention "soygarine" by name a half dozen times!! The book reads like the author did a lot of research about fanatical animal rights groups, hunting, etc, and then he wanted to pack it all into the book. Almost like a 9th grader writing a term paper and wanting to show you that s/he really did th...more
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Read in March, 2008
I was listening to this book on audiobook and was excited about it because I loved The Double Bind so much. However, this book I didn't connect with at all. Bohjalian seemed to try to hard on the complex sentences - William Faulkner he is not. And the plot was just so convoluted. By the fifth disk I felt that I had heard the same parts of the plot at least five times, and I KNEW I couldn't have cared less about the vegetable garden. So, on the sixth disk when the disk seemed to be da...more
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Read in February, 2006
I read it some time ago, but it was a stand out-- wonderful all too human characters, persuasive portrait of an extended family and the inevitable conflicts, jealousies, betrayals, obsessions, etc. We follow them through time and an incident that changes everything. I loved the way the author showed us how people change, and how their worlds can really change in dramatic ways. A lovely book. The title comes from a great quote, that begins the book, too, something to the effect that the experienc...more
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A thoughtful, complex book dealing with the complications of family relationships. Like many of his earlier books, this book has at its core an ethical dilemma. Bohjalian is great at writing about what happens to essentially decent people under great stress. The specifics of what he deals with here are gun violence and vegetarianism, as well as the fragility of adolescence, but really what is at issue are issues themselves, and the consequences of prioritizing principles over people.
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Read in August, 2007
Bohjalian knows his characterization: I got into all of the characters heads and empathized with them, even if I didn't agree with all of their actions. This novel centers around mistakes, family, vegetarianism, extremism; a budding teenager accidentally shoots her father in the arm and the results this has on the family. It reminded me of the detrimental effects of self righteousness and judgmental behavior but that even when big mistakes are made people can learn from them and change.
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Read in March, 2008
This book teaches the lessons surrounding family vs litigation. It's also about telling the truth. There is not enough kindness in the world today, so this book is a welcome affirmation that the rewards are great when kindness is extended. My only criticism is that the characters are perhaps a bit too pure. While Bohjalian describes their life-altering mistakes, their inner-selves are just a bit too perfect. But it's a very good read.
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Read in January, 2006
I found this book to be very slow in alot of places - there could've been an inference to many of the legal proceedings in some chapters and that made it really hard to read. The connections between the characters were what really stood out and made me finish it. I wound up liking it very much when I was through, more for the human spirit it revealed when the truth finally did come out.
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
Caryn & Liz
I've read this author before and enjoyed his other books as well. This wasn't a fast-paced book but it definitely kept me engaged and wanting keep picking it up. Two of the characters are young teens and part of the plot involves their actions - fitting for a junior high/high school setting. That plus the reading group guide at the end make me suggest this to Caryn and Liz.
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Read in September, 2005
recommends it for:
not sure!
I'd heard great things about this author (Midwives) but I wasn't too impressed with this. It's a complex and tragic story about family, loss, and healing. The story was interesting, but a bit slow. There were a couple of really great characters, and then others that were hard for me to relate to or care about. I read it a few years ago, and not much stands out about it.
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Read in October, 2007
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. The book had a slow start & I stuck with it thinking that it would get better, but it dragged on & on. The problem with the book is that you already knew what was going to happen & you think that there will be a climax but it maintains the same pace throughout. When I finished this book I was just happy it was over.
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Read in January, 2007
How do you accidentally shoot your father? How difficult can life become? Each family in this narrative faces its own challenges - but these pale in contrast to the shooting. Bohjalian crafts a tale that begins and ends with the Seton family and their New Hampshire summer home. Bohjalian is an amazing storyteller.
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This was a slow starting book, and I had a hard time getting into it. It took me awhile to finish it, but it got more fast paced throughout the middle to the end, so it made the trip worth it. It was interesting to read about the extremist vegan lifestyle as well, having dabbled in vegetarianism this past summer.
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Read in September, 2007
Not quite as good as Midwives, but still a good read. I really liked how he showed all the various interactions among a family and how different and yet similar a family can be. I didn't realize how extreme Animal Rights people can be. Chris made the characters very real. Clean read as much as I can remember.
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Read in January, 2008
I read "Midwives" when I was in medschool - great story! I just started listening to this one on tape.
This book was hard to stop listening to. I'd often sit in my car after I got home or to work and listen for a few more minutes. I thought the characters were well developed and the plot was interesting.
This book was hard to stop listening to. I'd often sit in my car after I got home or to work and listen for a few more minutes. I thought the characters were well developed and the plot was interesting.
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Read in April, 2007
Read this on vacation. The premise is a strict vegan gets shot by his daughter and loses the use of his arm. Lots of psycho babble and theories about was it an accident or not, etc. Didn't make me like animal activists too much. (The man works for an organization modeled after PETA). You could skip this one.
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Read in April, 2008
Although full of societal issues I have absolutely no interest in; on the contrary that annoy me to no end, this was a book worth overlooking the underlying topic. This was a book that was more than anything about life and forgiveness and the absolute truth that without family, what, in fact, is the point?
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