The Pilot's Wife (Oprah's Book Club)
by Anita Shreve
|
|
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of The Pilot's Wife.
discuss this book
| topics | replies | views | last activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ending | 1 | 17 | 25 days ago, 09:23PM |
| Molly Vs. Samantha | 3 | 27 | 9 days ago, 07:39PM |
groups with this book
friend reviews (0)
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
lists with this book
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 9752)
Read in January, 2005
This is the second Anita Shreve book I've read. I like how the author writes and describes the scenes and emotions. The flaskbacks of her early family life were partically good. Her tone impresses me, although Sea Glass seemed to flow a little better. I was hooked in the beginning and I felt Kathryn's pain. That half of the book I felt was written well but when Shreve attempts the different plot twists during the second half of the book, I lost interest. Which is sad, because those plot twists a...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in July, 2005
This is my third Anita Shreve book and I am not sure if I am going to read any more of them. For the most part I enjoy her writing and her stories, but the endings are sometimes unbearable. Anyway, this book was another Oprah book. It was pretty short and I got through it very quickly. Plot summary: The wife of a pilot learns that her husband's plane has gone down and that he is dead. While dealing with all the initial shock as well as dealing with the grief of their 15 year old daughter, she le...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in December, 2007
This could be a quick read but is sometimes painful & I would have to put it down until I could read and savor a passage or two at a better time. I often read during lunch break at work & some books simply aren't meant to be read in an office setting - this is one of them. Kathryn, the pilot's wife, is so well written - you not only feel what she feels, you eventually know what she will feel before it is written for you. No doubt this is because I could be the pilot's wife; I could li...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in September, 2007
I read this book for a long-distance book club. It took me less than a day to read, in part because the writing is simple and straightforward, and in part because the story was so horrifyingly compelling that I had to finish as soon as possible. The plot is simple at the outset - an airline pilot's wife is awoken in the middle of the night to the news of her husband's death, and the book closely follows her as she deals. There are some unexpected twists, however, as she develops feelings for ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
This was chick-lit in disguise. I feel dirty and tricked.
Although I probably am being harsh by giving it two stars, I don't really see too many good things about this book. The bits where Kathryn are at her house are far too dragged out. Shreve relies only on the 'feel' sensory to explain what her character is going through, rather than the 'show'. The important parts where things could have been really interesting--such as the funeral or the first Christmas without Jack--are glossed over an...more
Although I probably am being harsh by giving it two stars, I don't really see too many good things about this book. The bits where Kathryn are at her house are far too dragged out. Shreve relies only on the 'feel' sensory to explain what her character is going through, rather than the 'show'. The important parts where things could have been really interesting--such as the funeral or the first Christmas without Jack--are glossed over an...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in July, 2008
Shreve did a good job capturing the main character's grief and confusion, but the book just didn't hold my interest. It was kind of boring in the first two thirds, and then when the main character travelled to England and discovered the "twists," it just seemed kind of silly.
I was also annoyed by the main character falling in love with the union rep. I get that people bond under intense circumstances, but I hate that falling in love seems to be the go to literary reaction. There...more
I was also annoyed by the main character falling in love with the union rep. I get that people bond under intense circumstances, but I hate that falling in love seems to be the go to literary reaction. There...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in September, 2007
Until now, Kathryn Lyons's life has been peaceful if unextraordinary: a satisfying job teaching high school in the New England mill town of her childhood; a picture-perfect home by the ocean; a precocious, independent-minded fifteen-year-old daughter; and a happy marriage whose occasional dull passages she attributes to the unavoidable deadening of time. As a pilot's wife, Kathryn has learned to expect both intense exhilaration and long periods alone — but nothing has prepared her for the late...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in July, 2008
Upon finishing this book, I think it should actually be rated 2 1/2 stars from me, because I'm running hot/cold in my reflections.
On the one hand, I found Shreve's writing style to be highly descriptive, in an almost tactile way that really drew me into the emotional termoil of the storyline, and I couldn't stop reading.
On the other hand....well, I found Shreves writing to be HIGHLY descriptive, which really drew me into the EMOTIONAL termoil of the storyline. I found myself getting mor...more
On the one hand, I found Shreve's writing style to be highly descriptive, in an almost tactile way that really drew me into the emotional termoil of the storyline, and I couldn't stop reading.
On the other hand....well, I found Shreves writing to be HIGHLY descriptive, which really drew me into the EMOTIONAL termoil of the storyline. I found myself getting mor...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in September, 2007
The Pilot's Wife in a nutshell: Jack Lyons, a commercial pilot, is flying a plane when it explodes. The book follows the grieving process of his widow, as she tries to figure out what happened in that plane. The overriding question in the book is "How well can we ever really know someone else?"
There wasn't anything really wrong with the book, it was just overly gray for my taste. I don't think the sun shines in the entire book. It was solidly written though, and it did ...more
There wasn't anything really wrong with the book, it was just overly gray for my taste. I don't think the sun shines in the entire book. It was solidly written though, and it did ...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
No one!!!
I have no idea how I ended up owning this book, but I decided it would be a quick read on the plane. It was quick... but every second of the three hours was painful. The book suffered from multiple personalities. The first half was all grieving (fitting for a self help book), the second half attempted to bring in some more mystery and intrigue. Unfortunately the mystery involved was the "pilot" having an affair,,, which comes as no surprise to anyone who has worked in the airline indus...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in August, 2007
I bought this book in an airport about to board a flight from Texas home to DC...maybe not the best place to start reading a book that begins with a horrific plane crash.
But all the same, my heart went out to this woman for a million reasons. I think we all question who well we know someone since there are so many sides to ourselves and we don't share them all, even with those closest to us. We keep that bit for ourselves...only I know this about me, keeping a little mystery, etc..
Great ...more
But all the same, my heart went out to this woman for a million reasons. I think we all question who well we know someone since there are so many sides to ourselves and we don't share them all, even with those closest to us. We keep that bit for ourselves...only I know this about me, keeping a little mystery, etc..
Great ...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
Anyone who has ever lost a spouse, either physically or emotionally
This is a book that brought back memories of a book I read late last year, "The Year of Magical Thinking" by Joan Didion. "The Pilot's Wife" spent many pages exploring the intense feelings of the main character, a woman widowed in the plane crash of her pilot husband. However, the plot events were so intriguing you wondered why the author breezed right over them. Also, it would have been interesting to have understood the story from the point of view of the other character...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in April, 2008
I knew too much about the story because it was discussed on Oprah. This is another book written in modern shorthand - mostly dialogue from the heroine's point of view, with high levels of feelings and thought.
I am annoyed with stories about infidelity kept secret for the sake of a wife and child. The understandable disillusionment and destruction of the character, integrity, honesty, etc. of a father when he dies is immeasurable. The pain and agony of coming to terms with that level of de...more
I am annoyed with stories about infidelity kept secret for the sake of a wife and child. The understandable disillusionment and destruction of the character, integrity, honesty, etc. of a father when he dies is immeasurable. The pain and agony of coming to terms with that level of de...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2008
An airliner explodes over the Atlantic, and at home the wife of the pilot is left to pick up her own life, as well as deal with the implications that her husband may have caused the disaster. This book didn't grab me on many levels, and by the end, I felt a bit hostile towards it. The big revelations that are unearthed seem a bit preposterous and convenient, and the fact that her husband has personal secrets from his wife... well, you could have seen that coming. I didn't feel emotionally involv...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in February, 2008
I don't understand what all the hype was about with this book. I think Shreve's writing is pretty good - no complaints there - but the pace of this book is all over the place. It's very slow to start, to the point where I wanted to just give up on it, and then the last 2-3 chapters rush to wrap eeverything up into a neat package. The plot was pretty good, a bit "Lifetime movie" for my tastes, but decent enough. If the pace had been a bit more consistent, I probably would have given thi...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in July, 2008
I've owned this book for a long time - over a year - before I actually picked it up to read, having bought it for $1 at a stoop sale at some point. One of those spells where I was just looking for something fun to read.
This was one of those books that you pick up and immediately get sucked in! A page turner. I was riveted, and couldn't wait to see what would happen next. The nice thing about it, though, is that it's still pretty subtle. Just full of all the things about a "normal"...more
This was one of those books that you pick up and immediately get sucked in! A page turner. I was riveted, and couldn't wait to see what would happen next. The nice thing about it, though, is that it's still pretty subtle. Just full of all the things about a "normal"...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in February, 2008
"She took her wedding ring from her finger and dropped it into the ocean...
To be relieved of love, she thought, was to give up a terrible burden"
This book portrays a woman whose husband dies in a plain crush; what follows is a series of mind-altering revelations about who the man was and was not. The author's trenchant description of 'seasonality' of love, is the book's recurring element, and my favorite.
Is that love then, or is it just the assumption of love we make and live...more
To be relieved of love, she thought, was to give up a terrible burden"
This book portrays a woman whose husband dies in a plain crush; what follows is a series of mind-altering revelations about who the man was and was not. The author's trenchant description of 'seasonality' of love, is the book's recurring element, and my favorite.
Is that love then, or is it just the assumption of love we make and live...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2006
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in November, 2007
ok, i'm clearly reading sort of "easy" fiction right now.
emotional over intellectual is what i need right now...so don't knock it. i started this book today and expect to be done tomorrow--it grabbed me from the beginning and i'm hooked. we'll see what i think at the end...
****************
alright, so i'm finished. it kept me interested, but i somehow feel let down.
i really loved _the weight of water_, so that's my comparison. this one...what to say? the little plot twist at ...more
emotional over intellectual is what i need right now...so don't knock it. i started this book today and expect to be done tomorrow--it grabbed me from the beginning and i'm hooked. we'll see what i think at the end...
****************
alright, so i'm finished. it kept me interested, but i somehow feel let down.
i really loved _the weight of water_, so that's my comparison. this one...what to say? the little plot twist at ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
wives, women
I loved this book. It took me a little while to commit. I'd pick it up and read two or three pages and then put it down, then read the same two pages when I picked it back up. Then one afternoon while the house was quiet, I tried again and I couldn't put it down. It was a great book.
What I took away from this book is that you never really know a person inside their soul, even when you sleep with them, live with them, raise children with them and dedicate yourself to them. Second, life is...more
What I took away from this book is that you never really know a person inside their soul, even when you sleep with them, live with them, raise children with them and dedicate yourself to them. Second, life is...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
