Reading this book left me with lots of ideas churning in my mind. I will definitely be reading it again.

I must begin by agreeing with Sarah Canary that the characters are wonderfully drawn. (For myself, I came to think of the sister as a young Dorothy Johnston.) If you read it, you'll recognize several archetypes, but they are archetypes fleshed out and made into real people. Even minor characters -- the school superintendent for one -- are vivid and distinct. The plot is compelling. The reader quickly comes to care deeply what happens to these people. I should mention that there is an element that could be described as magical realism in this book, and magical realism simply makes me itchy with discomfort. However this book was the exception; here it worked.

What really sets this book apart is that it constantly asks difficult questions through its flawed but remarkable young narrator. He struggles and evades, as we would ouselves, but in the end, he faces the answers unflinchingly and with grace.

I agree about the magical realism. I often find that it jars me out of the story. Not so with "Peace"; it just seemed like a natural part of the story/character.

Thanks for telling me more about it. I will definitely read this before giving it away as a gift....

I started reading this, felt it was going to be too "spiritual"l, but DD had given it to me with much praise for it, so I finished it and loved it. One of those books you will remember.

I have just finished this book and am full of ideas. For some reason, my local library shelves Peace Like A River in Young Adult Fiction. Not that young adults should not read it, but I am mystified by the classification, especially since the other libraries in our system place it in the regular fiction stacks.

I loved the book. It is so beautifully written and tells such an interesting and compelling story that I am in awe of the writer's talent. How does anyone write so well? The characters are terrific, the plot is compelling - he manages to combine magical realism, spirituality and stunning prose into a real page turner.

That said, I hated the ending, but that is undoubtedly idiosyncratic on my part, as I am much too analytical for my own good. I don't want to discuss it too much for fear of spoiling it for others.

It is a book that indeed has spiritual elements and magical realism but is still eminently readable by the mainstream. I am planning on recommending it to my book club.

I should warn you that my book club, which met earlier this week, had a mixed reation to it. Two of us loved the book outright, several liked some aspects but not others, and two disliked it intensely ("boring" was the word used, to my astonishment. Well, tastes differ!)

I missed the meeting where my book club discussed this book, unfortunately. But from what I recall, most everybody liked it. I can't imagine anyone finding it "boring!" But you are right, Rosefolly, tastes definitely differ.

I tried to find my copy of the book to review it, but I must have donated it to the library book sale. I was trying to remember the ending, Siobhan, to figure out what you didn't like about it. Can you put in a message with a Spoilers notice and give me a clue about what you didn't like? What ending would you have preferred?

I found the spiritual aspects of the book very interesting. Although they were obviously Christian, they were really about one man's connection to his God. They weren't about making everyone share the same beliefs. If I'm recalling it correctly, they were also about someone's sense of right and wrong.

This book just gave me so much to think about.

I just finished this remarkable novel and want to thank everyone here who encouraged me to read it. It's a keeper, IMO and I would welcome a discussion. I agree with all the comments of posters above. Normally sprituality and/or magical realism in any work would make me uncomfortable, but this is exceptionally well-written. The author's style is seamless and poetic and held my focus throughout . (I think I am a picky reader, who will easily lose focus.)

I loved the references to other classics, the Greeks and Tom Sawyer, Butch Cassidy,et al. And the book itself was indeed quite reminiscent of "To Kill a Mockingbird". I, too, came to think of the sister as a sort of "Scout." The entire family will stay with me for a long,long time.

Most of all, I loved the evocation of the West! (As an easterner, the West has often seemed like a foreign country to me.) The landscapes were wonderfully drawn, the descriptions of the cabin architecture, etc. BTW, what were those "hot" strips of lignite anyway? (where Roxanna took the family on the picnic). Does anyone know more about this quirk in the landscape? I would google this but don't know what term to look up.

For anyone else reading this thread, if you liked the K. Haruf books, you will probably love this one. Ditto Wallace Stegner and Willa Cather. Finally, I suspect this is the sort of novel Waller was intending to write, but could not....

Anyone for a discussion?

For the poster who wondered why this book was found in the YA section, I can only guess because it is a coming of age novel of sorts. But it is certainly far, far more than that...

I read Peace Like a River a couple of weeks ago, but I forgot to comment about it here, until now.

Any book that is compared to To Kill a Mockingbird makes me chary (especially since I was burnt by The Secret Life of Bees that was also said to be TKAM-comparable -- not even!); but I thought what the heck, its setting is in my old stomping grounds so I'll give Enger a chance to hang himself. Well, he was a mite slow sowing the seeds and establishing the characters and I was rolling my eyes the third or fourth time he said, "Make of it what you will." But I think it was somewhere about the time Mr. Lurvy showed up to eat more than his share of the fish stew that I settled in for the ride, and I'm glad I did.

As I've said before, probably too many times, magical realism and I don't mix well; however, unlike so many examples of that subgenre, Enger gives it a context that actually makes sense to me. I'm not big on miracles myself, but I find people who are quite interesting folk -- and Jeremiah Land is the quiet-type of miraclemaker that, in fact, could just happen to be genuine. I'd like to think so, anyway.

Now, I am having a bit of trouble with this To Kill a Mockingbird comparison, though. Okay, there are siblings, older brother and younger sister, in each; both are coming-of-age stories; both are about communities that harbor citizens who are probably only dimly aware they're alive unless they're making trouble or vacillating on which side of the wagon to jump on. So far, so good. But can Jeremiah Land and Atticus Finch be equated? Are the precocious Swede and the canny but not so precocious Scout cut from the same cloth? I've read such likenings in various reviews, but I don't see it. Of course, I've got forty-five years of TKAM under by hat and only two weeks-worth of Peace Like a River so I might be a tad blinkered. Harper Lee's work is inimitable, in my opinion. Enger's book, though quite good, could even be called derivative -- my opinion, of course, but I think I could make a good case for it. I won't, though.

Actually, what tickles me most about the Land family is that I can relate to them in many ways: I'm the youngest child of three and only daughter; my firstborn brother is several years older than my other brother and me, which made him removed enough from us that he seemed like he knew everything and how to do it. Brother #2 and I, less than two years apart in age, fought constantly but loved each other just as Reuben and Swede did. The timeframe of the story, too, is the years of childhood that my sibs and I share with the Land siblings. My family even had an Airstream. This kind of "relating to the characters" is probably the boringest kind of assessment of a novel, but, as I suspect we all know, it sure means a lot to a reader. :-)

Frieda, thanks for the information on lignite. I was not aware of this phenomenen.

As for the comparison with Harper Lee's work, perhaps I should rescind what I wrote. Lee's book is indeed inimitable and against the backdrop of the American southern cultures has its own unique resonances and pathos. All of which is lacking in Enger's work.

As I read "Peace", such a feeling of the wildness and enormity of the American West swept over me, so much so that the landscape became a character in the novel. That's powerful writing, when this happens, IMO. It captured for me the same feeling of mystery, also, than I experienced in the old film "Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid". I think the older brother was a faint echo of Cassidy's story and the parallels worked for me.

On second thought, I think the comparison of Scout to Swede is facile....Anyway, I loved this novel and am surprised there was so little "buzz" about it. Its reputation seemed to be one of those "word of mouth" events, in my neck of the woods.

I have just ordered this from the library, so may be reading it by Christmas. I don't even know if it is available in the UK.

The comparison to To Kill A Mockingbird reminded me that I often thought of Pat Conroy's Prince of Tides while reading this. The older brother, mature beyond his years - the younger sister, so talented in writing. Of course, the stories are completely different, but the 'types' are a bit similar. When one is writing about family, it is hard to come up with anything truly original.

Mary,

Funnily enough, I thought of Plainsong too, when I read this book. I was going to post it, but couldn't come up with a concrete reason to explain my feeling.

Siobhan,
I, too, am curious. What was it about the ending that put you off? I read this a few weeks ago so my recollections of the story are a bit faded.

rouan

Siobhan, if you feel like sharing it with us, I'd also like to know what you found unsatisfying re the ending.

Vee, if you can't find this in the UK, I could mail you the paperback. Let me know.

Mary

Many thanks for the kind offer Mary. I have checked on A****n uk and it available over here and received some positive reviews, so the library should beable to come up with it.

The only Conroy book I've read is The Great Santini, so I asked my South Carolinian sister-in-law about comparing Peace Like a River to The Prince of Tides. Siobhan, she says you've got something there: the family configuration in Peace also reminded her of Prince.

I've started Plainsong a couple of times, but couldn't get very far into it. I think I lack patience because I'm hypercritical of any story set in the Great Plains, unless it's by Willa Cather or A.B. Guthrie.

I'd like to hear, too, what put off Siobhan about the ending. It could be the same thing that disappointed me.

Better post ----------SPOILER, SPOILER ALERT----------here.

I suppose I wanted a happier ending. Jeremiah's demise so soon after he and Roxanna married dismayed me. And Davy's situation still seemed up in the air, to me. Sure, I was pleased that the kids had Roxanna to raise them and Reuben's lungs were healed and Swede grew up to publish her stories, but it was still a deflating ending.

Question about the children's mother: She apparently abandoned the family and wasn't dead; but somehow I missed why she disappeared. I tried to find that part without rereading the whole darn book, but all I could find was that she left.

Was anyone else expecting to find out that Waltzer was The Devil? I'm still not sure if he was or wasn't.

About Putrid Fed Andreeson: What was Jeremiah trying to work out with him, re Davy? And Putrid's demise...well, that was melodramatic, if what Reuben thought happened to him actually did. He didn't seem to deserve that! I'll have to grant Enger this: he sure took his story on turns that I never anticipated.

I suppose my reasons for disliking the ending are quite personal: my own beloved father died when I was twelve, and I have a horror of books or stories or films that involve deaths of fathers. I particularly disliked the whole idea that his death helped them all. I know parents are willing to die for their children; in fact they seem to speak of it almost wistfully, as though they would like to have the actual opportunity. But I can't help but think the resulting events were overly pat and certainly way too idealistic. How did Roxanna support the family? And really - would Sarah be able to shrug off her horrible upbringing and grow into a normal young lady? I hate to sound so cynical, but it's not likely, not without LOTS of therapy. And I can't help but feel badly for Roxanna. She certainly loved the children, but to be widowed after three months, and to have given up all chance of having children of her own? I thought it was horrible. And Davy, still doomed to live wild. Yes, I know he said at the beginning of the book that he could live out there, but really, I think a year or so of it would be enough. He certainly took up with the crazy guy quickly enough.

I suppose I shouldn't mention this, but, um, what Davy did was wrong. I think I wanted to see it resolved in a more mainstream manner (maybe a few years for manslaughter or something like that). And his actions, and the narrator's, led to the death of the federal agent and Ford's terrible accident.

There are a couple of other things that bothered me too, but I guess I've gone on enough.

I guess I am way too analytical and practical to like such an ending, even without Jeremiah's death.

This book also reminded me of Plainsong and Eventide, not at all in the style, but because it was written about the same type of people.

I'm another person who was reminded of Plainsong while reading Peace-I loved both books. I have Evensong but have not read it yet. I don't see much that reminds me of Prince or Mockingbird which have to be 2 of my top 100 reads.

I finished this the other day and, although I found it an interesting read I did have problems with some of it.

I found the character of Swede who is only 8 at the start of the story to be about 10 years ahead of herself. Not only does she turn out reams of prose and poetry, but is able to cook for and nurse the family, all the while spouting general knowledge.
Davy also seemed mature beyond his years.
Reuben seems the most 'normal' of the children and I could certainly sympathise with his asthma, having been a wheezy child myself.

I did wonder at the mother having upped and left her sainted husband with no reason given and no ill-effects on the children.

Surprisingly I didn't find any difficulty accepting the 'miracles' performed by the father, what I had more trouble with was the casual brutality (perhaps too strong a word) of people's relationships with each other, something that I found similar in Plain Song/Eventide.
Both deal with school bullies, something that can happen world-wide, but it is the follow-up of summary justice by the father which in Peace... leads to the really cold-bloodied murders.
I feel a worrying underlying sense of hardness as though I am looking on at life in a frontier town where justice, if there is any, is of the rough and ready sort.
"String him up Boys" a slap on the horse's rump and a pair of ankles are dangling centre screen.
I could understand this attitude in inner-city slums but can someone tell me, is life really like this in small Mid-Western towns?
I had the same feeling with the dreadful Waltzer and Sarah who had obviously been abused for years.

I felt the book's ending was a bit casually 'tidied up'.
I was surprised that Roxanna and the father could get together legally so quickly. Her husband had only run out on her on Nov 25th and they were married the following March. But at least she came over as a sympathetic character.
Surely in 'real-life' both Davy and especially Waltzer would have been caught and brought to justice?
All this must make it seem that I didn't enjoy the book, which I did well enough. It is just that I have a far too practical mind and wonder if I am really getting a true picture of mid-Western life from it . . .miracles etc apart.

Coming up, as this is mentioned on another thread.

'I did wonder at the mother having upped and left her sainted husband with no reason given and no ill-effects on the children.'

Veer - I am curious about this. What makes you say there were no ill-effects on the children?

thyrkas it is over 18 months since I read this book, and it was only by reading my own input to this thread that any detail came back to me . . . the old brain isn't what it was and I can't remember why I felt that about the Mother leaving.
As popular US books usually don't arrive in the UK for some months after publication I often tend to join in with these discussions late and often find questions I ask are left 'dangling' or occasionally perhaps through some culture clash what I ask is considered by RP'ers to be unsuitable for them to write a public reply and an answer is sent via email . . . as Frieda mentioned elsewhere.
I am gradually learning that what is considered as an OK opinion/idea in England cannot be voiced 'out loud' in the US!
BTW I enjoyed what you wrote about PLAR on the other thread.

veer - no problem. Just wanted to learn what perspective you may have had that brought you to your conclusion about the children. There was mention of how they were rather unusual kids, and I agree, it's just that I thought they probably were 'too soon adults' because their mother was absent from the family. Possible?
I loved the places in the book where Reuben and Swede got to be typical kids - eg: They were so cold in the motor home that they were snuggling together with blankets trying to warm up, when suddenly they got a case of the giggles, and to their surprise, Reuben and Swede laughed themselves warm!