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Jun 26, 2011

Jeanette rated it:

I did a quick re-read of this book in anticipation of the sequel, Northwest Corner. My memory of my overall impressions of the story holds up in the second reading. Some great strengths and a couple of weaker aspects that do diminish the power of the book as a whole. If I focus on the things Schwartz got right, it's a four-star book. If I focus on the things he did wrong, it's three stars. I'm going with the higher rating because I do think the book is worth reading, especially if you're interes More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 13, 2008

Melissa rated it:

I read some of the reviews of this book and was a little surprised by a few. I think this content is for people who have actually expereinced loss. I don't mean a grandparent who has lived out their days, but someone in their immediate family. Otherwise I think it would be hard to understand the characters reactions. If you have watched and experienced what death does to a family you can relate to this novel.

I am about half way through and I can not put it down. This is an excellent More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 01, 2009

Shirley rated it:

The story's theme is about grief and guilt. One night after coming back from a picnic, a happy family stop at a gas station. The mother takes her 8 year old daughter to the toilet and the father goes into the station to buy window wiper fluid after warning his son to stay away from the road. Of course, the boy gets hit by a car racing around the curve on Reservation Road. The driver is a messed up lawyer who was late returning his son to his ex-wife. He doesn't stop and the boy dies instantly. More...

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Oct 17, 2011

Mmtimes4 rated it:

A cycle of violence and retribution is set in motion as two haunted men are engulfed by the emotions surrounding an unexpected and horrendous death.
Ethan, a respected professor at a small New England college, is wracked by an obsession for revenge that threatens to tear his family apart. Dwight, fleeing his crime yet hoping to get caught, wrestles with overwhelming guilt and his sense of obligation to his son. As these two men's lives unravel, Reservation Road moves to its startling conclu More...

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Sep 07, 2011

Diane rated it:

Reservation Road is a tragic novel about the death of a ten-year old child. As the story begins The Learner family is returning home from a concert, driving along a darkened road, Reservation Road, in North Canaan, Connecticut when the youngest child, Emma needs announces her need to use a restroom. The father finds a dimly lit gas station/auto body shop along the road and pulls into the parking lot. While the mother Grace, and daughter head for the restroom, the father, Ethan, runs inside to More...

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Apr 16, 2011

Rebekkila rated it:

This is the third book I have read about greiving in the past 6 months, oddly enough I have enjoyed them all. A boy is killed in a hit and run accident in front of his father's eyes. The story is told from the points of view of the parents of the child and the dirver of the car.
The parents try to keep life normal for their eight year old daughter but are slowly being drivewn apart. The father is in such a rage that he alienates the police officer working on the case. The mother is practic More...

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Mar 04, 2010

marg rated it:

While this was readable enough, what I found it to be most primarily was a novel that tried to be two things - murder mystery and thoughtful, poignant story - and ended up being neither.
In a most depressing premise, a father driving with his ten year old son hits another man's ten year old son, then is scared and zooms off. At this point, as anyone could predict, the dead son's mother loses it, their marriage suffers, all predictably packaged in short snippets that were like movie scenes t More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 08, 2011

Jodie rated it:

I find it hard to put into words how I feel about this book. It is without a doubt one of the most moving portrayals of grief and love that I have ever read.

Imagine seeing your precious, irreplacable young son mowed down in front of you. Now imagine being the driver that did it. In our wildest musings we could not even come close to the guilt and sorrow this would throw down on our lives and everyone we meet from that second forward. This novel, written in the narratives of Ethan an More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 30, 2011

Judy rated it:

Stylish, emotionally intense book. Easy to read and captivating, I found myself drawn to the tragic “villain” Dwight. It's always a sign of excellent characterisation when one finds oneself empathising against one's better judgment with the "bad guy". All characters – even the dog Sallie – were well drawn. I cared about, or at least recognised, every character.

Lyrical language such as “the sky was faltering” added to the atmosphere of a gathering storm. There was not a was More...

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Sep 11, 2011

Snotchocheez rated it:

Sometimes I feel a masochistic urge to wrap myself up in a totally depressing book. When these moods come on, give me Russell Banks' supremely morose "Affliction" or "The Sweet Hereafter" and let me wallow in the protagonists' misery, if you please. When I read about the subject matter (which see in the semi-spoiler below) of John Burnham Schwartz' "Reservation Road" I figured it would fill the depressing bill nicely.

Well, it's got the depressing theme More...

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Jan 17, 2010

Khaya rated it:

At the beginning of this book, ten-year-old Josh is killed in a hit-and-run accident. The subsequent events are narrated by three characters -- Josh's two parents (Ethan and Grace) and the hit-and-run driver, Dwight.

Grace sinks into a deep depression that distances her from her husband and surviving daughter; Ethan copes with his loss by nurturing a thirst for revenge on the anonymous driver and being belligerent to the police officers who simply aren't doing enough to find this d More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Dec 12, 2011

Karen rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Aug 22, 2011

Michelle rated it:

Holy crap this book was good: haunting, tragic, and gorgeously written. This was written about a dozen years ago and I only heard about it recently because the author has a follow up out (Northwest Corner: dying to read it). I can’t believe I never ran into Reservation Road before. It was a bestseller and a movie and so amazing it’s hard to fathom this is the first I’ve heard of it. It focuses on a tragedy (hit and run) and is told through multiple viewpoints. Sometimes shifting narration works More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 07, 2009

Mickey rated it:

Wow, I listening to this book on tape, and I finished it in about 3 days. Tragedy, loss, quilt, redemption, and despair are all major themes in this novel. Right from the start, it was a tragic book. Although I have never really felt the loss that some of the characters from the book have felt, I seemed to understand how empty the hearts of these people were. I would definitely recommend this book, although it is not a light read; it is pretty heavy in some parts (especially the end) and is very More...

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May 15, 2011

Elizabeth rated it:

Another cringer. Reservation Road tells the story of unraveling. The story centers around a horrible accident occurring and the two men directly involved and subsequently their families. How do people emotionally handle tragedy and what happens if they don't? That's the most interesting part of this book, the surprising ways the characters move about and don't do the right thing. It's their tragedy is it not?

I enjoyed this book up until the end. I found the ending a huge let down More...

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Mar 22, 2009

Claire marked it as to-read

Some reviewers say what would also seem obvious, that this book will be most impactful for those who have experienced loss. Which I have, thankfully not of my own child (who I'll hopefully precede in death by about 5 decades, despite living until 114 myself) but of others. Including surviving a young-person's suicide, 25 years ago, anniversary of which is in a few weeks.
And I think I have more grief to release yet about that one and others, none of them have anything to do with revenge; b More...

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Sep 23, 2010

Ella rated it:

Story line was interesting from the start. The whole book is written in the first person and deals primarily with what each of the characters is feeling about the hit and run accident which killed Ethan and Grace's 10 year old son Josh. You get a bit of what Josh's sister is feeling as well. The other side of the coin is the guy who hit Josh with his car. All the emotions and guilt that he is going through.
There were 3 different narrators for each of the main characters, so you always kno More...

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Oct 10, 2011

Will rated it:

Parallels abound. Ethan is the bereft father, Josh, his lost son. Dwight is the damaged driver, Sam his child, damaged by dad in a different way. How each copes with the aftermath is the core of the tale here. Dwight runs over a young boy, then flees the scene, fearful of the impact the accident might have on his already tentative custody of his son. The wives are also portrayed, measured one against the other. The overall effect is of extreme sadness. It is a remarkably fast-reading book. I fel More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 27, 2009

Jessica rated it:

If ever there were two people in the world who needed either counseling or a good chest-beating, accusation-laden, finger-wagging, knock-down, curse-ridden fight, it's Ethan and Grace. I get that what they went through was the worst thing you can experience as a parent, but they were so content to let that consume them, and that made this story hard to read.

Beyond that, Dwight is just an ass. There is no black or white here. He's self-absorbed, angry, obnoxious and violent, and he's More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 11, 2011

Mary Beth rated it:

Two men, two points of view. After a tragic accident where ten-year-old Josh Learner is killed by a speeding car, the driver, Dwight, zooms off in an effort to protect his fragile visitation rights with his son. Josh's father, Ethan, chases the car down the street, distraught. The book alternates between these two men as they struggle with the aftermath of Josh's death. My fascination with this book is with John Burnham Schwartz's skillful ability to make both men sympathetic. There are no white More...

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Mar 29, 2010

Joan rated it:

A rather over-written, but widely praised novel about a hit and run death of a young boy, told via the voices of the parents, the sister and the culprit, who has secret of his own, a failing divorced lawyer whose life is in disarray and who is consumed by guilt but won't come forward as he fears losing visitation rights with his own partially disabled son. The story is predicdtable, but there's too much philosophizing by the narrators, too much internal sturm and drang, and too much focus by the More...

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Oct 27, 2011

Susan rated it:

This is probably a 3.5 stars as I was found this to be a very well written book, but it was very painful to read as each of the characters told their story of the accident and the effect that it had on their lives. I was very disappointed that Dwight, as an attorney, did not immediately face up to the fact that he had killed a child and turn himself in to the authorities. I wanted to make sure that I read this book as I am going to hear the author speak and will be getting a copy of his new bo More...

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Sep 17, 2011

Tracy rated it:

I read this book before obtaining the sequel he wrote. Ethan and Grace's son (age 10) is killed in a hit and run accident. Dwight, a father of a similarly aged son who was in the car at the time of the accident, was driving. The novel follows the following few months with alternating narratives among these characters. Sparse prose, short chapters and an engaging story. I thought the male characters were more well developed than Grace. Nevertheless, I look forward to reading the sequel, whi More...

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Feb 11, 2012

Lois rated it:

03 March 2011: I’ve seen the film, but haven’t yet read the book… I’m only a few pages in, but so far, it’s very good!

06 March 2011: I’m really enjoying it so far. I saw the film a while back and thought it was fantastic, so wanted to read the book that it was based on. John Burnham Schwartz is a fantastic writer - I love his style. He’s very good at creating atmosphere and painting a scene with little details you can really relate to.

07 March 2011: I finished reading More...

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Jan 04, 2009

Lindsey rated it:

Reservation Road- Soon to be a motion picture, not to be confused with Revolutionary Road, which I thought I was reading….also soon to be a motion picture.

Let’s be honest I was 3/4 through the book when I realized I was reading the wrong book for book club. Awe nuts. My picture thumbs up my thoughts. It was depressing and yet I am not sure what to make about it. I think I still feel guilty for not liking it more.

The back of the book says

A tragic accident sets in m More...

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Jan 28, 2008

Samantha rated it:

Let's start this book review/summary with honesty: I read this book because it was going to be a Joaquin Phoenix movie. I have never heard of this book or it's author before four weeks ago, when looking at Kitten's IMDB page. That being said, let's get on with it.

Reservation Road is the story of two families whose lives become entangled when the father of one family accidentally kills the son of the other family in a hit-and-run. You can argue that a hit-and-run is not 'accidental', bu More...

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Dec 20, 2007

Jason rated it:

So yes, the entire reason this eight-year-old novel came to my attention recently is because of the high-profile movie adaptation that just came out, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Connelly; and yes, the reason I decided to read it after having it brought to my attention is because it's apparently a complex tale concerning the futility of revenge, and I like complex tales concerning the futility of revenge. More specifically, it's the story of mousy New England dad Ethan, More...

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Jan 14, 2008

Evan rated it:

This book is one that you must read to the end. It tends to hook you towards the beginning of the book and you want to see what happnes, so you must read the whole thing. This book is about a kid who was killed in a hit and run accident, and the driver just kept on going; he never stopped. The whole book is about people who were close to the boy, Josh, and the character who killed the boy. The book goes into great detail about how these characters cope witht the death of this boy, and how they a More...

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Oct 27, 2007

Caroline rated it:

Three characters, their lives intertwined by tragedy, seek to heal. All three are parents, two of a boy who is killed in a hit and run, the third of a boy of the same age as the victim but whose life has been filled with violence and despair. There are no heroes in this book, and the tone is dark and melancholy. I dare anyone to read without shedding a tear, or at the very least feeling a constriction in their chest as the pain these people go through.

The novel is told through three More...

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Apr 17, 2007

JT rated it:

An emotionally complicated and touching story. This book is no longer in print so if you can find it GET IT!

I was given this book to read by a good friend who had just had a son. It came with the warning of "Dude this will bust you up inside." Okay maybe I'm paraphrasing but that is the gist of it. The book is the story of two dads who have to handle the death of a young boy. One man is the father of a son who was killed in a car accident, while the other man is a father w More...

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