This book took me FOR-EV-ER to read. I thought that because I loved the Left Behind series, I couldn't go wrong with another book by Jerry B. Jenkins, but dude, seriously 544 pages?? I honestly could have done without the first 350-400 pages and still have gotten the same message without ALL THE DETAIL. Brady Wayne Darby's life was described in detail from the time he was 14 through 33 years of age! For reals! Less is more my friend, less is more.The other thing that was very difficult for me was the character descriptions. I just felt like they were inaccurate to what someone of that age would be like or how they would think. At one point he described a young girl in a scene and I could have sworn she was like 5, but then I find out she's like 12 - what??! It was hard to follow and even after 500 some pages and all the drama, I didn't feel much for the characters. And seriously, I should have been bawling by the time this sucker was over. It really did have a great message, but the delivery really lacked for me. Sorry folks, I was just overall disappointed with this one.
Description: When a condemned man with nothing to lose meets one with nothing to gain, everyone washed by the endless ripples of that encounter will forever recall the day a little bit of heaven invaded a whole lot of hell. Brady Wayne Darby and Thomas Carey could hardly have been more disparate individuals. Yet when Darby, a no-account loser raised in a dingy suburban trailer park, encounters Carey, a weary man of God, an entire--state indeed, a nation--is affected. Embark on a wondrous journey where death, guilt, and despair are unfathomably trumped by rebirth, forgiveness, and hope.
Author Jerry Jenkins says: “This is the novel I have always wanted to write. I determine whether a fiction idea has merit by how long it stays with me. Does it rattle in my brain, and do I find myself telling it to my wife and other confidants? Is it the type of a tale that will draw me back to the keyboard every day? Two-thirds of my published books have been novels, and only three have had that effect on me. I give my all to every one, but special joy and anticipation attend those that genuinely feel like the best ideas. Riven is my fourth such labor of love. The two main characters have remained in my memory since high school 40 years ago. The story idea is perhaps 20 years old. And those mystical, interweaving elements I hope make it all work have been tugging at me for more than a decade. If a novelist has a life’s work, this is mine. I hope in the end you agree and that Riven stays with you long after the final page.”
Rating: **
Recommend: Not really.
4 comments:
I enjoyed the Left Behind series too even though it was not something I ever would have picked up on my own.
It's too bad this one didn't work for you.
We win some and we lose some. It's a shame, the description of the book sounded pretty good. Good marketing, huh?
I must disagree with you on this one. I felt this was a beautiful portrait of God's grace told in His own words. I was brought to tears several times while reading this story.
I read the book in a day and half. I could not put it down. I cried the last few chapters. I knew from the first that Brady and the preacher would somehow be brought together. I am sorry you couldn't get into the book. It wasn't marketing that made me read it, I had never heard of it til my daughter said , 'you must read this book', so i did and I am glad I did.
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