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The Horse Whisperer
by: Nicholas Evans |
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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54 EAN: 9780440222651 ISBN: 0440222656 Label: Dell Manufacturer: Dell Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 480 Publication Date: October 01, 1996 Publisher: Dell Studio: Dell
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| Customer Reviews | ||
  - a solid example of popular fiction novelWhen thirteen-year-old Grace decides to go for an early winter morning horse ride with her friend Judith in upstate New York, she expects it to be a refreshing way to start the day. Instead, they are victims of a horrible accident, when they lose control and their horses slide down an ice-covered slope just under the truck, whose brakes also give way in the slippery snow. Judith and her horse are killed. Grace and her horse, Pilgrim, save their lives, but Grace loses her leg, and Pilgrim loses his sanity. Grace's mother, Annie, an editor of the prestigious magazine, is in her Manhattan office, when she gets a call from her husband Robert with the horrible news. Annie, who is completely absorbed in her work, ambitious, selfish and distanced from family life, seeing her daughter in the stupor and her gentle husband being helpless, experiences guilt, grief and desire to help her daughter. She realizes she can help Grace only by helping Pilgrim - and she sets out to do so. After library research she decides to employ a horse whisperer - and the one whose reputation catches her attention is Tom Booker. After lots of persuasion and effort on Annie's side, Tom finally agrees to work with Pilgrim and the long period of changes for the whole family begins... Indeed, "The Horse Whisperer" is not an example of great literature. It does not aspire to be. This novel is a fine specimen of the popular fiction genre -there is a good story, uncomplicated plot with a moral message, describing and evoking powerful emotions in unsophisticated style. How to cope with grief and child's tragedy, how to reinvent yourself and get connected with the people close to you, how to feel more than the power of money and career and how to get out of the vicious circle of modern life guided by commercials - this is what this book was about for me. Very basic, perhaps banal, but true and honest. I read it with interest, very fast and thought about it for a while. There are some artificial situations, the best example being Tom changing his mind about treating Pilgrim. The ending is definitely the weakest point of this novel, it is improbable, unbelievable and looks like the author has run of ideas. I think that Evans could not get out of the tangle he created with Annie, Tom, Grace and Robert and because of this he decided to end the book in this fashion, but it is weak. Anyway, it is a better ending than the alternative offered by the movie, which is horrendous. The movie, although it made the book famous, is much worse, mainly because of Robert Redford, who should not have cast himself as Tom (Scarlett Johansson as Grace is very good and Kristin Scott Thomas as Annie - passable, but Tom is a disaster). If you wonder what to choose, read the book. It is a good pastime. Rating:  - horse whispererI thought that the book was very good. I really liked it because i train horses too. I think that you all should read it if you haven't already it really inspires you. Rating: - Book in Excellent ConditionThis book was received and is in excellent condition. It is a paperback which actually looks like it was never opened. I was totally delighted with my purchase from the seller. Rating:  - '0' stars - Waste of Time & MindI can honestly say, this is the worst book I have ever read. Not only is the writing flowery and annoying, the "put all genres into the story" reads more like a spoof Saturday Night Live piece, except this story isn't humorous, only laughable (if Evans was writing it today, he would have added some CSI blood and forensics to boot). Whoops, I am sorry, I don't recall any shooting guns; only the colors of Annie's various dresses (that list comes after her self-gratification, but basically around the time of her selfless act on her husband). I stuck it out till the end, which made me equally upset at myself as I was at Evans and everyone under the influence who rated this higher than a ONE. I can't summarize it any better than another reviewer, who states "The fact that this many people actually liked it says something about our morality as well as our literary sense." Rating: - Horse Whisperer ReviewVery touching book. Tom Booker is a healer, whether animals (especially horses) or people. The tome gets down to the "nitty-gritty" of relationships. A must read. |
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