karieh13's review against another edition
2.0
It took me almost six weeks to read this book…and in the meantime, I read several glowing reviews of “The Lonely Polygamist”. It is being called the “next great American novel”…but not for me.
I just didn’t connected with any of the characters, didn’t find either empathy or sympathy for them..and found myself skimming the pages. For me, the main character, Golden Richards, set the tone for the book. He’s basically dropped out of his own life, out of the lives of his four wives and twenty eight children – has lost all interest. Which as a reader, doesn’t make me very interested in reading about him.
“In his job, he almost always took the most convenient route, the option that offered the least complication, resistance and stress (a practice that had cost him vast amounts of money and time over the years) and in his family life, his wives, like corporate handlers or political advisors, jockeyed for position and battled it out among themselves, and when the time came he would be presented with a few limited options in a way that made it clear which option he was to choose.”
Speaking of wives, only two of the four had strong enough voices to differentiate them from the crowded noise of background people. I kept forgetting about the other two, and only a couple of the children got much of a part in the story at all.
There is a moment towards the end of the book where I thought Golden would finally engage with his life – and I could engage in the story…
“He began to stumble over the names, mixing up the order and backtracking to get it right, straining to reach the list’s end, to do this one thing right, at least, this one simple, last thing…FigNewtonDarlingJame-o…and now he was no longer speaking the names so much as inhaling them, swallowing them into his lungs and holding them there, his tongue thickening in his mouth, his rib cage creaking as it swelled, unable to withstand the mounting pressures of anxiety and sorrow and regret…”
But in the end, he still didn’t care enough about the live had had, the lives he touched. It was too little, too late. At least for me.
I just didn’t connected with any of the characters, didn’t find either empathy or sympathy for them..and found myself skimming the pages. For me, the main character, Golden Richards, set the tone for the book. He’s basically dropped out of his own life, out of the lives of his four wives and twenty eight children – has lost all interest. Which as a reader, doesn’t make me very interested in reading about him.
“In his job, he almost always took the most convenient route, the option that offered the least complication, resistance and stress (a practice that had cost him vast amounts of money and time over the years) and in his family life, his wives, like corporate handlers or political advisors, jockeyed for position and battled it out among themselves, and when the time came he would be presented with a few limited options in a way that made it clear which option he was to choose.”
Speaking of wives, only two of the four had strong enough voices to differentiate them from the crowded noise of background people. I kept forgetting about the other two, and only a couple of the children got much of a part in the story at all.
There is a moment towards the end of the book where I thought Golden would finally engage with his life – and I could engage in the story…
“He began to stumble over the names, mixing up the order and backtracking to get it right, straining to reach the list’s end, to do this one thing right, at least, this one simple, last thing…FigNewtonDarlingJame-o…and now he was no longer speaking the names so much as inhaling them, swallowing them into his lungs and holding them there, his tongue thickening in his mouth, his rib cage creaking as it swelled, unable to withstand the mounting pressures of anxiety and sorrow and regret…”
But in the end, he still didn’t care enough about the live had had, the lives he touched. It was too little, too late. At least for me.
whitmc's review against another edition
5.0
Drawn to like a magnet by the title, bought upon fierce recommendation from my local bookstore owner, and immersed from the first sentence to the last. For 599 pages. It's a rare book that has that kind of power and I will recommend it over and over.
ferris_mx's review against another edition
4.0
A bit derivative of Big Love, superficially at least. But an enjoyable read. Kind of like Lord of the Flies, but at home. I laughed several times, cried several times, but ultimately I don't understand these peoples' thought process at all, any better than I ever did. The ending seemed contrived as well, with nobody following their emotions.
mka0204's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't finish this book. To spend my time on 600+ pages, I needed more. More action, more interesting characters, more plot development.... Out of 29 possible main characters, there are plenty of possibilities for character development, but after 100 or so pages, it was clear that we'd be focusing on just 3 of the family members. After 150 pages, I felt I'd already figured out how these three people had gotten to their individual crises; all that was left was to see how they were resolved. Really? 450+ pages to resolve three crises? These people were not that interesting, nor their situations that engaging that I felt compelled to invest more time to see their resolutions.
deservingporcupine's review against another edition
4.0
One of the best stories I've read in a long time. Heartwarming, funny, and at times highly depressing. I cared about the characters and loved the perspective of 12-year-old Rusty especially. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because it was a little longer than it needed to be and I never forgot the author was a man, even in Trish's sections.
itsjinah's review against another edition
4.0
I'm SO SO into Big Love and interested in the culture of plural marriage. While I felt that some details were a bit of a stretch, the characters were extremely loveable and real.
johannabananaz's review against another edition
3.0
a fun read (perfect for a vacation), but ultimately not all that memorable.
melissakuzma's review against another edition
4.0
There were a lot of great things about this book, and a few so-so things. It's pretty long, and I felt that the story didn't move along very quickly, but it had its memorable moments: the description of a parent's love and grief that may be the best I've ever read, the depiction of the fallout from a nuclear bomb that I won't don't think I'll ever forget, and many scenes and turns of phrase that made me laugh out loud. There are also characters that will stay with you a long time, most importantly Rusty, the 11-year old sad sack nicknamed "Repulsivo" by his numerous siblings, who will do just about anything to get his family to pay attention to him. I just wish the story itself had been a bit more compelling.
kbrown5455's review against another edition
5.0
This had me laughing out loud at times, and wound up being lovely and poignant, too
randybo5's review against another edition
3.0
I alternated between laughing outloud and cursing the main character, Golden Richards, the polygamist of the title. Engaged throughout the book, I couldn't have been more disappointed in the ending.