Run

What a wonderful novel! It was hard to put it down. The story develops perfectly, the characters are well described, and it flows very easily. Patchett writes with great style and language, and her books are realistic and the right length. The addition of excerpts of speeches by notable people in this novel was an additional gift. Highly recommended.

I often admired Ann Patchett's ability to add detailed bits of internal dialogue and reactions that brought her character's personalities in high contrast to each other. These were delivered with such insightful creativity. I admit some disappointment that a huge plot point was left not only unresolved but ignored. Did Kenya know these were not her biological brothers? Did they live the rest of their lives not knowing? And why did the author use this plot twist when it subverted the emotional connections between Kenya and the two brothers? This diminished the impact of the story.

Very unique story that had me hooked from the start! Beautiful insights and so well written ! Highly recommend. Ann is so talented!

This book is absolutely amazing - complex story line that’s actually easy to follow, vulnerable, lovable characters (I identified with every single one), classic themes - family, grief, guilt, faith, that will resonate with everyone. I have not read a masterpiece like this in a long time. READ IT!!

As a writer I understand that having a major publication event in your life is only a set-up for high expectations and--in the eyes of readers--subsequent failure if those expectations aren't met. In this review, I'll try to see writing and publishing through the eyes of Ann Patchett, author of Bel Canto, winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and England's Orange Prize, among others. With that sort of street cred, you can sleep well at night, right? I doubt it, in Patchett's case, after reading her latest, Run. I had read Bel Canto, and enjoyed it immensely--a deceptively easy read considering its implications--and, having read a pan of Run in NEWSWEEK, I decided to pass. Then I reconsidered. It was a one-day novel, something every aspiring writer seems compelled to write these days. The NEWSWEEK review turned snide toward the end, snarking that one-day novels were best left to the likes of Ian McEwan. What had Patchett done to deserve such a caustic remark? In the end, and to put it simply, Patchett did know the ins and outs of the one-day form. She established her conflict quickly, leading seamlessly into her characters' pasts through inventive technique as she nudged the plot forward ever so slowly. What dismayed me wasn't this sort of agile strategizing. Instead, she failed Creative Writing 101. Her sentence structures are clunky, her dialogue trite, even abysmally so, as lightweight as listening to someone else's cell phone conversation on the bus home from work. Her character portrayals were inconsistent, empty, unreal, and she jumped from one character's point of view to another with vertiginous speed. All this leaving the story and characters sketchy and malformed, despite a plot that should've worked. Okay, a bit about the plot. WASPish former mayor of Boston, Bernard Doyle, has adopted two black boys, and raised them successfully. One, Tip, is an ichthyologist (see what I mean about stretching the bounds of credibility? Who wants to study fish, anyway? And who cares? Only Philip Roth could make that an interesting character turn.) And Dad is now trying to hustle the other son, Teddy, into politics. Tip is nearly run down and might have died, had not a middle-aged black woman (who, as it turns out, is his biological mother) pushed him to safety, at great peril to her own life. But the plot is quickly thickened (or so I hoped) by the presence of these two young men's biological sister, Kenya, who was with the mother and tries to tend to her after being injured. These family ties bared, Tip and Teddy try to figure out what to make of these newfound relationships. Unfortunately, the two brothers don't succeed, largely because Patchett doesn't seem to know what to make of the new relationship herself. The brother-sister meet-up is meant to portray glaring disparities between Boston's elite and its underclass, something Nick Flynn has done admirably, but it's clear that Patchett has no grip on either class. Which leaves me to wonder what happened to Patchett?. Was this a manuscript written early in her apprenticeship, before Bel Canto? Did she have editorial help with Bel Canto, help sorely missing here? Did she simply slap something together for Run, thinking she could coast on her reputation? Only she knows, I'm afraid. I wanted to like Run, and tried desperately to do so. And in the last fifty pages, the talent she displayed in Bel Canto began to surface, leaving hope that Patchett isn't a one-hit wonder. So Ann, if you're listening, I can only say I'm disappointed. I hope the pan reviews for Run serve as a trip to the woodshed, that you'll go back to your computer sufficiently chastened, determined to pound out another piece with the talent of Bel Canto. Posted by bobmust at 7:53 AM 0 comments

I found this new Patchett novel a great page turner but as each part of the plot was unveiled, I lost confidence in the premise. I found it hard to believe that this former Mayor could adopt two black boys and the family never experienced overt prejudice and distrust. It is a great story involvng a statue handed down to the lovely saintly Bernadette, who is married to Doyle the want-to-be famous politican. She dies too young but has three children, one natural and two black adopted brothers, adopting the youngest one first and the older at fourteen months. The latter fact is a clue into the mindset of the real mother. Bernadette is sorely missed by her sons and husband. The natural child, Sullivan, is an angry son and gives no joy to his family. His background is too vague and even though the reader does understand some of his anger, it doesn't make sense. When the main incident of the story occurs, a car accident which circumvents the death of Tag, one of the black sons, we discover the mother of the brothers and a sister, whom we later find out isn't really the sister. The reaction of the black brothers when discovering their natural mother is too passive. There is a priest Sullivan, also the uncle, who injects strong beliefs into this novel but his healing powers are under scrunity. All of these relationships fit too neatly into place. I did love the names of the characters: Sullivan, Tip, Kenya and Tennessee. No one is really what he/she seems, except for Kenya, making the novel more interesting but not necessarily realistic.

Part family story, part mystery, engrossing and acutely capturing the nuances of class, race, and the love that can be felt throughout.

I fall in love with Ann Patchett’s characters. This book tells quote a story! I only wish it would go on and on.

This is a spellbinding novel about family. The main characters in this book, are family, whether related or not. Doyle and his late wife, Bernadette had raised three boys, Sullivan their firstborn, and two adopted boys, named Teddy and Tip, who were biologically brothers, from a different mother. But Bernadette had always craved a daughter but her early death meant no further children for the family. On a winter's night, returning from a lecture Doyle had taken his sons to, a car veered towards the family, and a woman jumped into the scene pushing them away only to be struck herself causing her to be seriously injured. Her, eleven year old, daughter was nearby and saw the entire accident. The woman, named Tennessee Mosher was rushed to hospital clinging to life. Doyle's family takes in the young girl as she has no one to turn to while waiting to see if her mother will survive. This is the story of what a family truly is. Is it because you are living in the same house and related by blood? Are adopted children always truly accepted? What if one of them learned they had other siblings? What if your biological mother, had just saved your life at her own peril? What if your family had both black and white skinned members or different religions? What makes a family . . . a family? These are some of the many things you may find yourself thinking about as you read this book. I loved it. It's a beautiful novel.

Ann Patchett is a superb author whose story lines and characters are unique but believable. "Run" was beautifully written, it is an interesting read, but required patience to get through. An absorbing story of a family patched together by circumstances rather than blood, but a family nonetheless. Each members sorrows, weaknesses and needs contribute to the strength of the whole. "Run" is a story about love, raising kids correctly, kindness, and heart. "Run" is well worth reading. The characters stick with you long after the book is finished.

Maravillosa. Optimista. Me he quedado con las ganas de continuar en la vida de los Doyle y de los Moser

I must first declare an interest - I am a huge Ann Patchett fan. I love her slightly less than believable scenarios and this is in many ways another one but she makes them work with her hugely believable characters. This has got some really nice twists in it and the reader doesn't really find out why it is called Run until they are about half way through. It is starts with an accident and from that spins the story of a family and its relationships and relationships it had no idea it had. The great thing about Patchett is that you come to understand and feel some empathy for all the characters in her book - even the less sympathetic at first like the eldest son Sullivan who seems wayward and uncaring but even he has his reasons. The story unfolds beautifully page by page - you can live in it. That is the thing - Patchett has a magical way with words and never forgets that a book is always better for the small twists and interesting turns it takes - like exploring a house and finding secret rooms. Nothing is necearrily quite what it seems - from the 'lost' teenage girl Kenya to Doyle the widowed father of three grown up sons. Doyle seems the strongest, most dominant character, but as so often in life, outward appearances to some degree deceive. That is what makes this another winner from Patchett. Her very real, beautifully drawn characters and totally engaging plot.

Ann Patchett est un auteur que j'apprécie beaucoup. Run est l'un de ses meilleurs romans ! (mais ils sont tous bons, en fait)..