- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Harper; 1 edition (Sep 13 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0061340634
- ISBN-13: 978-0061340635
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16.3 x 2.7 cm
- Shipping Weight: 703 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #146,270 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
SignatureReviewed by Andrew O'HaganNovelists can no longer take it as an insult when people say their novels are like good television, because the finest American television is better written than most novels. Ann Patchett's new one has the texture, the pace and the fairy tale elegance of a half dozen novels she might have read and loved growing up, but the magic and the finesse of Run is really much closer to that of Six Feet Under or ER or The Sopranos, and that is good news for everybody, not least her readers.Bernadette and Bernard Doyle were a Boston couple who wanted to have a big lively family. They had one boy, Sullivan, and then adopted two black kids, Teddy and Tip. Mr. Doyle is a former mayor of Boston and he continues his interest in politics, hoping his boys will shape up one day for elected office, though none of them seems especially keen. Bernadette dies when the adopted kids are just four, and much of the book offers a placid requiem to her memory in particular and to the force of motherhood in lives generally. An old statue from Bernadette's side of the family seems to convey miracles, and there will be more than one before this gracious book is done. One night, during a heavy snowfall, Teddy and Tip accompany their father to a lecture given by Jessie Jackson at the Kennedy Centre. Tip is preoccupied with studying fish, so he feels more than a little coerced by his father. After the lecture they get into an argument and Tip walks backwards in the road. A car appears out of nowhere and so does a woman called Tennessee, who pushes Tip out of the car's path and is herself struck. Thus, a woman is taken to hospital and her daughter, Kenya, is left in the company of the Doyles. Relationships begin both to emerge and unravel, disclosing secrets, hopes, fears. Run is a novel with timeless concerns at its heart—class and belonging, parenthood and love—and if it wears that heart on its sleeve, then it does so with confidence. And so it should: the book is lovely to read and is satisfyingly bold in its attempt to say something patient and true about family. Patchett knows how to wear big human concerns very lightly, and that is a continuing bonus for those who found a great deal to admire in her previous work, especially the ultra-lauded Bel Canto. Yet one should not mistake that lightness for anything cosmetic: Run is a book that sets out inventively to contend with the temper of our times, and by the end we feel we really know the Doyle family in all its intensity and with all its surprises.Andrew O'Hagan's novel Be Near Me has just been published by Harcourt.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* The question of what makes a family is central to this luminous novel, Patchett's first since her award-winning Bel Canto (2001). Boston lawyer and ex-politician Bernard Doyle has nurtured his three sons—Sullivan, 33, and African American Tip, 21, and Teddy, 20, brothers adopted 20 years earlier—since the death of his beloved wife, Bernadette, some 15 years ago. Then, one snowy evening, Tip, inattentive and annoyed at his father, is pushed out of the way of an oncoming vehicle by a woman, herself hit and badly injured, who turns out to be the boys' birth mother and who's been watching the boys for years, along with her 11-year-old daughter, Kenya. The drama of a single day is given an unreal quality by the snow that curtails normal activity, as these vividly portrayed characters struggle with their circumstances: Sullivan, the prodigal whose mistake his father lied about; smart Tip; sweet Teddy; speedy runner Kenya; and her mother, Tennessee, whose dreamlike sequence in her hospital room reveals another twist in the family muddle. In extraordinarily fluid prose, Patchett unfolds this story to its epiloguelike final chapter as she illuminates issues of race, religion, duty, and desire. Leber, Michele
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Most helpful customer reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Alright, not fantastic though,
By
This review is from: Run: A Novel (Paperback)
I felt this to be a long read, and about 3/4 of the way through, I found myself looking forward to it being over, so I could move on to something more captivating.It is a nice story, but Patchett never really develops any one single character more than the others, and so I did not grow attached to any of them. I felt like I was reading a long recap of a series of too-coincidental events, without really feeling that I could live the story and feel the emotions.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Ok,
By
This review is from: Run: A Novel (Paperback)
I thought the character development was quite good and that this was a nice enough story. I loved the old priest, especially his loss of faith in the ever after and awakening to the beauty that God gives us here and now. There were some tempting starts to a deeper storyline or theme (the statue, the theme of running, the family), but these never seemed to be developed into anything. I kept waiting for the punch line. The political theme that the author mentions in the Q&A completely passed me by. Ok for a light read but didn't really give me the hit I was expecting.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Run where the heart takes you...,
By
This review is from: Run: A Novel (Paperback)
A tender, lovely book, about Bernard & Bernardette Doyle who, after the birth of their son Sullivan are unable to have more children and decide to adopt. Teddy, an African-American infant is therefore welcomed into their family with open arms and soon after his older brother Tip joins the family too, much to their delight. Everything seems to be perfect until Bernardette dies prematurely.Bernard finds himself to raise the three boys alone. He is very protective and has plans for them, however between his politically-oriented job and raising the family by himself, as the kids grow up some strain starts to develop between them. Sullivan, much older than Tip & Teddy, moves out very quickly and resurfaces only every now & then. One snowy night, a stranger passing by with her daughter saves Tip from an accident, but she ends up badly injured. The Doyle's lives shall change forever after the accident. My first book by Ann Patchett but I shall read more. The prose flows beautifully, despite the intricate backs & forths from past to present, from character to character. This shifting however is uncomplicated and it adds an interesting touch to the narrative style. I gave it 4 stars (instead of 5) only because, despite my liking it a lot, I found some situations a bit far-fetched, and some of the characters with a goody-goody quality that I found a bit unreal given the circumstances. All in all however, I would say that this book is quite a page-turner and I would certainly recommend it.
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