Peace Like a River (2001)

This book is told from the perspective of an eleven year old boy and the trials that they family faces after their older brother is convicted of murder. The murder was likely justified, however the family and community have serious doubts about what really unfolded. The boys younger sister is a writing protege who shares parts of her story about Sunny Sundown, a character straight out of the Western Genre, throughout the book. Her dialogue provides the comic relief to the story, and she seems much older than she actually is. The story ultimately is about sacrifice, love, and faith, and forces the reader to consider what they would be willing to do for a loved one. This book won the ALA Alex Award for best adult novel for teens. ( )

2nd read: Often a book is not as good the second time around. However, [b:Peace Like a River|227571|Peace Like a River|Leif Enger|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172877982s/227571.jpg|3332231] is not one of those. I appreciated the craft of this novel and admired the writing even more so this time around. It is an excellent story and an excellent novel. Highly recommended.

Along the lines of To Kill a Mockingbird in that it's an adult retelling a significant time in his youth based on what he learned/observed from his father. But this one takes place in 1960s in North Dakota and has a cowboy subtext. Great symbolism, motifs, themes, and a writing style that is stunning. Leif Enger can convey more in a short sentence than most people can in an essay. ( )

I'll grant you that I was predisposed not to love this novel. I had been told by my boss that it was the best thing he had read in years, better than Plainsong (one of my favorite books in recent years.) So let me proceed to say that the book was "okay." The eleven-year-old boy's tone of voice got on my nerves, especially knowing that the character was telling it from years later, adulthood. Also I wasn't caught up in the theme of miracles and the extreme faith of the father. It might be a good for younger readers, but cynical me just wasn't buying it. I still maintain that Plainsong is a better written book that gives reality a certain poeticism. ( )

This is one of my favorite books ever, in large part because Leif Enger's writing is so beautiful. I fell in love with the characters and something in the story really spoke to me. I highly recommend it. ( )

i really, really enjoyed this. the story is captivating enough but it's the writing that keeps you so completely engaged. beautiful all around. i wish the narrator and his younger sister were slightly older because it's a little hard to believe they'd speak and behave as they do for their ages, but other than that it's virtually flawless.

this jew learned only about halfway through that the title of the story is from a christian hymn which, when i looked up the text, is prophetic in how the story unfolds. even with all the foreshadowing in the book and in the hymn, it's still not the ending you entirely expect (although with a closer reading of the hymn maybe i should have) but even if it was it's still such a satisfying read. and i normally get turned off by stories that feature g-d or faith, but not this one.

so many lines like this one: "Well, we all hold history differently inside us." but most of it isn't a line or two that you can pull out as lovely, it's just so beautiful as a whole. excellent read. ( )