Run: A Novel

This is what I meant - excellent book!!

I really enjoyed this book! It was so well written and I liked the characters.

So far, so good...really enjoying it.

Kind of a disappointment. Reading the writer's interview afterward, I don't think this novel is the brilliant social piece she thinks it is. And the timeline and the character relationships do not match up. Its not a shallow topic but it was shallow writing. Her idea was better than her development.

Beautifully written and now my favorite Ann Patchett novel. This is, in my opinion, her best fiction. The story touched my heart, and i loved the characters, especially Tennessee. Not only does Patchett illuminate many of the common issues we all must tackle (religion, politics, race, poverty, family, and gender), she shows how one can love selflessly - how one can lay down her life so that...more

Beautifully written and now my favorite Ann Patchett novel. This is, in my opinion, her best fiction. The story touched my heart, and i loved the characters, especially Tennessee. Not only does Patchett illuminate many of the common issues we all must tackle (religion, politics, race, poverty, family, and gender), she shows how one can love selflessly - how one can lay down her life so that others may live. What a rich, captivating, deeply moving, and ultimately joyful novel.   hide

Thought it was pretty good. The book focuses a lot on morality and politics (giving the title "Run" a different significance), used in a way to protect their children from racism and powerlessness. They invest considerable passion in politics which has the ability to corrupt as well as to inspire. But the author also seems to be saying that rational attempts to control your...more

Thought it was pretty good. The book focuses a lot on morality and politics (giving the title "Run" a different significance), used in a way to protect their children from racism and powerlessness. They invest considerable passion in politics which has the ability to corrupt as well as to inspire. But the author also seems to be saying that rational attempts to control your destiny will take you only so far. The book touches a lot on fate/karma in that accidents turns into intention and bad luck into blessings of sort. Good read.   hide

Patchett is a great writer. Run wasn't as good as Bel Canto, but that is a hard standard to live up to. The characters are richly developed and they stay with after the book is over. Kenya takes over the book in the second half. She is an interesting character, but I felt that Sullivan and Doyle could have been explored more deeply. It is interesting to ask other people what they think...more

Patchett is a great writer. Run wasn't as good as Bel Canto, but that is a hard standard to live up to. The characters are richly developed and they stay with after the book is over. Kenya takes over the book in the second half. She is an interesting character, but I felt that Sullivan and Doyle could have been explored more deeply. It is interesting to ask other people what they think of Dayle as a father. I heard that she was going to call the book Nature. That would have been a better title, I think. All in all, very much worth the read.   hide

My dirty little secret, which I'm sure I share with a lot of people, is that I'm madly in love with Ann Patchett. Her writing captivates me - she offers unexpected turns that are somehow inevitable and flashing glimpses of character that are as surprising as they are filled with understanding. That's why it's so difficult for me to give less than a stellar review to any of her...more

My dirty little secret, which I'm sure I share with a lot of people, is that I'm madly in love with Ann Patchett. Her writing captivates me - she offers unexpected turns that are somehow inevitable and flashing glimpses of character that are as surprising as they are filled with understanding. That's why it's so difficult for me to give less than a stellar review to any of her works - yet, with Run, I must. Loose ends that frustrate, an ongoing series of deus ex machina, and a plotline that's made only barely believable by Patchett's always-luminous prose. Does not compare to Taft or The Patron Saint of Liars, or even the critically and popularly-acclaimed Bel Canto (which I felt was not as rich or full as Taft or the PSofL). Sigh - it's OK, I still adore her prose and will read anything she writes.   hide

An interesting examination of what a family is. The premise is kind of farfetched, but otherwise an enjoyable read.