Ordinary People (1976)

This book is about a family's reaction to a younger son's attempted suicide after his older brother's drowning death. It's a book about the family coming to terms with the sadness and grief in their lives. I enjoyed this book very much and give it an A+! ( )

Setting: This novel about healing and self-help is set in Chicago during the 1970s.

Plot: The Jarrett family struggles to overcome their grief at the loss of one of the boys.

Characters: Conrad (protagonist) attempted suicide, trying to return to normal; Cal- Conrad's father, overprotective; Beth (antagonist) unable to forgive, perfectionist; Berger- psychiatrist

Symbols: not symbolic

Characteristics: Written as how people think, switches point of view between father and son.

My reaction: The book was fascinating because of the unique point of view; but I disliked it for its excessive profanity and the fornication. It was hopeful book, however. ( )

Highly acclaimed novel about family dealing with the sudden accidental drowning of one son and the attempted suicide of the another. The novel shows us how each family member copes differently with the tragedy and the disruption and the guilt which is inevitable. ( )

It took me a couple weeks to read this 260+ pg. book only because with my short term memory loss sometimes when I have to stop reading suddenly ( like waiting at the dr.'s office and they call your name), I totally have to backtrack read so I never got far. It was so intense and well written I didn't want to forget a single detail of the story. So, today I took the day off and read the whole book.

It was a book I acquired from one of my children's former schools when at the end of the school year they still can't find it in their room or their car and I ended up paying for it so I thought I would read it. I found it while moving recently. I had no idea it was about a post suicidal teenager who's brother died in an accident a year or two before and I would say that would be my only complaint about the book. The author really took her time in telling what tragedies had befallen the Jarret Family and mixed that information with the current ongoings of the family and sometimes I would find myself confused as to what time and event I was reading about. I can't really put my finger on it, but it is another of the reasons I needed to read it nearly straight through. I would have liked to been able to savor it more, but because of all the innertwining of the stories I felt rushed to get to the next bit of information about the next event. I rushed through it so I could remember all the details and because I couldn't wait to see what lie on the next page, yet because I couldn't savor it I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked. Don't let me deter anyone from reading it for just that reason. It was a fabulous book to read. I'm kind of glad I paid for it. ( )

I had to read this book in my lit class in 10th grade. I didn't particulairly like the story, but it was well written. ( )