Throughout the three weeks I spent with David James Duncan's Chase family, I found myself emailing quotes from The Brothers K and recommending this book to friends and business colleagues alike. Though written in 1992, it feels so like today in its approach to religious fanaticism, war, and politics. It's time for this book to enjoy a much deserved revival. By turns hilarious and heart-wrenching, often philosphical and meandering to distraction, one finds at conclusion that it was all there for a reason. The paths that wind through baseball, religion, politics, and family relationships all converge into a most satisying whole. Truly one of the most thoroughly enjoyable reads of my life. ( )

The pace was slower than what I needed right now. The major themes were religion, baseball and the blending of the two. Love, forgiveness and justification for bizarre behavior were also present and never cease to confound me. Overt selfishness gets old fast, but what about the argument that we are all essentially selfish and the act of being selfless makes us feel good so is, therefore, selfish. That argument leaves me with no response but a dull sadness. No enlightenment there. No possibility for change.

This story was about a family of 8 living in the Pacific NW - not far from where I live. Comfort and security for the mother is found in her Adventist faith. Comfort and security for the father is found in baseball - specifically pitching. This is where the book gets it's title - K is the symbol for "strike out swinging". Optimism in failure - hmmm? Each of the 4 boys had a theme that slowly worked itself out in a beautifully written way.

For Kincade, the story had to do with his mother and their relationship. When you don't understand what drives a certain kind of devotion, it can install a wedge between people and keep them separate - infuriatingly visible, but not reachable. There is a place where Kincade describes a kind of giving up feeling that I really identified with. "I felt at times that she loved me. I also felt, almost constantly, that she disliked me. And I was satisfied to reciprocate. It damaged us. But that's the way it was."

The family struggled to stay close - to find the common ground that they could share together. The person who was best at this was Irwin. He could pass easily, without harming anyone, between the areas of faith and sports. He had a great love of life and everything in it. His ability to love was huge and infectious and very likable. This created a kind of doom around him because anyone who is witnessing a story understands that bad things happen to the kind, happy, innocent guy. Vietnam happened to Irwin and it was pretty bad. The family rallied around him in a rescue mission that was heartening.

Everett, the oldest boy, waged a battle for individual authenticity. He developed a hunger and need for a crowd of people who would feed his image as a wise, witty truth teller. It was mostly bullshit - the stuff of bumper stickers. I see these people in very liberal Portland, OR and having already been acquainted with this smug crowd pleaser, I was happy to see him come to his senses and finally become his real self.

Peter was the second to the oldest and just as obsessed with spirituality as his mother, but not the Adventist kind. This was a deal breaker for them that was almost permanent. As soon as he was able, he left home for school working his brain as hard as he could, seeking enlightenment. His struggle was hard to define, but it was finally put this way, "Some long-lived insidious problems simply slip us off to one side of ourselves. Some gently rob us of just enough energy or faith so that days which once took place on a horizontal plane become an endless series of uphill slogs." I get that. Hard.

I enjoyed this book - I will probably reflect back on images of hope, love, maturation and that terrible sense of unhinged freedom that settles after a screaming family freakout. ( )

A truly delightful read. I literally laughed out loud and cried throughout the book. It's a very interesting examination of what is important to people (baseball, religion, family), and how that can divide or unite a family. ( )

This novel slowly reels you in to the Chance family -- struggling minor league pitching father; devout Christian, rules the roost mother; four very different sons, and two twin young girls. We hear about their lives, personalities, the different paths they take as they come into their own during the 60's and the Vietnam Era --- mostly narrated by the youngest son Kade, though occasionally we read school papers and letters of the children and adults they become. It is a fascinating tapestry that is painstakingly created, and one that draws the reader in so completely -- the end of the novel is devastating.

Having just read 'The Brothers Karamazov' I see the parallels, in particular grappling with the the question of God and religion's role in one's life -- how this affects how you see yourself, the world, adversity, destiny. Although this is heavy stuff, Duncan's prose and storytelling are wonderfully engaging; for me there really wasn't a dull moment in the novel. (Although, if you are not a baseball fan, there may be one or two slow spots)

There were parts that bordered on the unbelievable certainly - Peter's adventures in India, the road trip with the Adventists to free Irwin, and I do wish we had gotten to actually know Kincaid, our narrator, a bit better. So, I was all set to rate this novel a 4 or 4 1/2 star deal -- but then I was blown away by the ending. I certainly will not spoil anything for anybody - those of you who read the novel I suspect know what I mean. I can only think of a couple of other books that caused me to tear up in my entire reading career. However, I sobbed through many of the penultimate chapters. Sobbed; I don't know, maybe Duncan caught me at a weak moment, but I really did sob. Provoking that kind of reaction is worth at least one extra star!

Overall, a wonderful, accessible, well-written saga that certainly can compete on a list of great American modern novels, and thankfully, it is not post-modernist. ( )

loving it! ( )