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The Hour I First Believed

Wally Lamb

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By Book Riot · 1 post · 5295 views

last updated Dec 16, 2014 09:22AM

Free copy of Proximity Factor this July, no reviews required. Just enjoy.
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last updated Jul 18, 2024 06:08AM

What Members Thought

Dec 29, 2012 Karen rated it it was ok

I wanted to like this book, really I did... But more than liking it I wanted to throw it across the room. Oh, it's got everything -- Columbine, murder, drug abuse, adultery, molestation, alcoholism, prison, family death, suicide, closet homosexuality, anger management, mummies, Hurricane Katrina, 911, Iraq, Picasso, DINNER WITH MARK TWAIN... Sigh. It was relentless. But the main problem? The cadence of language? And the main character? I didn't like either of those much.

I hate giving bad reviews ...more

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Nov 29, 2008 Shannon rated it it was ok

I read this book for a book club and I'm not sure I would have finished it had I not been reading it to discuss. I wouldn't have stopped reading it because it was hard to read, but I might have stopped reading it because it was a depressing read. I read lots of books that contain difficult scenes or have characters in harrowing or sad situations. But I think this book was depressing because the main character and first person narrator is an alcoholic, so the reader see everything through his len I read this book for a book club and I'm not sure I would have finished it had I not been reading it to discuss. I wouldn't have stopped reading it because it was hard to read, but I might have stopped reading it because it was a depressing read. I read lots of books that contain difficult scenes or have characters in harrowing or sad situations. But I think this book was depressing because the main character and first person narrator is an alcoholic, so the reader see everything through his lens of cynicism and selfishness.

Aside from the way read this book effected my own mood, I thought the scope of the book was too sweeping. When the focus of the book shifted mid-way through to the main characters ancestors, I was frustrated. I wanted to stay tuned in to modern day happenings, not plumb the depths of 19th century Connecticut history. I wish Lamb's editors had said, "You really have two books here, not one." I would have enjoyed the historical elements more if they had been in a separate book, not tenuously linked to the contemporary characters I had already been reading about for several hundred pages.

I'll end this review with two things that I liked about the book. The first is that it was, in spite of all of the faults I've listed above, a very readable book. Though it ran more than 700 pages long, I was able to read it fairly quickly. Lamb is not an author that thinks he needs to make things more complicated than they are. He built characters and carried the plot well without feeling the need to throw in every vocabulary word he ever learned.

I also really enjoyed the portion of the book that took place in Colorado and intersected with events at Columbine. Lamb's treatment of that tragedy was well-done and left me contemplating the breadth of victims left behind by two young gunmen. I think I would have preferred this book if Lamb had focused solely on this plot line because I wanted to see more than just one character's post-Columbine experiences. I wanted to better understand how one person and an entire community recover from an event like this one. ...more

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Dec 04, 2008 Rebecca rated it it was ok

Shelves: bookclub-read

I am in between 2 and 3 stars for this book, but since I can’t really say I liked it, I will have to stick with 2. There were two things that brought the rating down significantly: the length and the continual sequence of depressing events. As to the length, I must echo earlier reviewers by saying, Where were the editors? I felt like the book should have been two different novels, one about Columbine and the other about Caelum’s family history. Also the book was filled with so many depressing ev I am in between 2 and 3 stars for this book, but since I can’t really say I liked it, I will have to stick with 2. There were two things that brought the rating down significantly: the length and the continual sequence of depressing events. As to the length, I must echo earlier reviewers by saying, Where were the editors? I felt like the book should have been two different novels, one about Columbine and the other about Caelum’s family history. Also the book was filled with so many depressing events one right after the other, it bordered on comedic. After reading the final plot twist at the end regarding Maureen, I basically threw down the book and said out loud, “Really—that many bad things can happen to one person? Come on!”

However, I was interested to learn about the Columbine events. I was living abroad when the shootings took place and have never known very much about what actually happened. I lived in Colorado a couple of years ago and saw firsthand how this event still affects the community there years later. This aspect attracted me to the novel in the first place. Lamb treats these events with unflinching honesty yet gentleness. But Lamb left the Columbine story and moved to other plot lines and left me wanting to know more. I wish he had probed deeper questions about how the living victims learned to survive day by day after such desperate events.

I also appreciated the parallel between Caelum’s personal odyssey through the troubled years after Columbine and his lectures to his community college class entitled The Quest in Literature. Columbine, 9/11, and Katrina were difficult years for our country, and after the book I feel more empathy for people who have struggled with depression and addiction during those years. While these two aspects made the book bearable, I don’t think I would have finished it if we weren’t discussing at our bookclub meeting. Though I have not read either of his first two novels, several of my friends have, and I might suggest trying one of those instead of this book if you are interested in Lamb’s writing.
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Apr 10, 2009 Mara rated it really liked it

Shelves: family, fiction, prison, alcoholism

Caelum Quirk is not a very sympathetic character. He drinks too much and is generally not very nice to his wife. That's all before his wife survives the Columbine shootings. Unfortunately, his attitude doesn't improve a whole lot afterward. Without giving away too many of the details, it's not until she winds up in jail and he's in the midst of learning about 5 generations worth of family secrets that he starts to act in a more sympathetic manner. It was a bit too late for me, though.

Despite my ...more

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Jan 04, 2010 Joanne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: generalfiction

The size was a little daunting, and the subject matter is not easy, but it's quite a treat to read a book that has so many layers and by the end you've felt like you were in the book or watching a movie. ...more

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Nov 16, 2008 Janel rated it really liked it

Wally Lamb's book "I Know This Much to Be True" is one of my all time favorites as is "She's Come Undone". I've been waiting to read "The Hour I First Believed". It is a long book--800 pages. The books covers many recent historical events including Columbine, Hurricane Katrina, and the Iraq War. The main protagonist Caelem is coping with his wife's stress from enduring the school shooting and the after effects. The book also includes a story within the book that deals with his family's history. ...more

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Mar 28, 2009 Lisa rated it it was amazing

This was a rather ambitious book and a less gifted writer could never have made it work. Mixing such disparate elements as Columbine, the war in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, mental illness, the reform of women's prisons, and infidelity, this novel somehow manages by its end to seamlessly blend them into an amazing story that I won't soon forget. It's one of those novels that don't come along often: full of drama and tension and good storytelling. When I finish a book like this, it's often difficult ...more

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Oct 03, 2009 Erin rated it really liked it

Really enjoyed his first, didn't like his second...so this will be the tie-breaker!

But for the Forrest Gump-ish tie-in to major events of the time period, I really enjoyed this book. The characters were all flawed, but I appreciated each one, and Lamb relied well on his prison experiences to make Quirk Prison come to life. But poor, poor Maureen and her life of Job. ...more

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