panderkins's Reviews (279)

Murray embedded himself in every level of Israel and the conflict to write this. It's brilliant.

Loved this story, I liked Cyrus a lot and related to his recovery journey which was portrayed so well. Intriguing plot twist. Wish it ended with Cyrus and Zee in the park and not the coda. The coda completely took me out of the glow the ending gave me. I see why people love this book but I was bored in spots....overall lovely novel.

Lovely hopeful book about dying which made me tear up several times. I am grateful for the chance to find out that most dying people have visitations from loved ones who have passed. I didn't give it five stars because although I can say it deserves that, I felt bad most of the time reading it because, being unmarried, I don't see how I can sustain myself up to death in my own home even with hospice, and the descriptions in this book would confirm that fear. But you can never tell what will happen. A difficult, worthwhile read told by a very likable narrator.

This is the novel that changed my life when I was 18. I cried forever when I finished it then and tonight when I finished it again. It's beautiful. The best translation is Maude; Tolstoy himself thought so. Bad translations will leave you wondering what was so great, but this one is stunning.

I liked the subject matter but at times the writing was tedious. I thought Sylvia was an unrealistic character. She was so weak that I really didn't like her. Weird how often rain is mentioned. I loved Ivan. Overall very enjoyable and I will read more by this author.