Oct 22, 2008
Peace Like a River: A book to make you sore and soar
I asked Molly how to commend Peace Like a River with suitable verve.
She said to just write “Read it!” eleven times.
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Reader Recommendations
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Theme based on Derek Punsalan's Grid Focus.
It’s one of my favorite books. And I’d say that eleven times, though that would put me over the 22 word limit too…
Yes! Read this a few years ago, and then re-read it more recently. I put it up there with To Kill a Mockingbird as one of the best things I’ve ever read.
How’s that for commendation?
Make of it what you will.
It’s terrific!
It’s terrific!
It’s terrific!
It’s terrific!
It’s terrific!
It’s terrific!
It’s terrific!
It’s terrific!
It’s terrific!
It’s terrific!
It’s terrific!
I couldn’t agree more. What an amazing novel!
One of the most beautiful books I have ever read.
I hear the sequel is also very good.
I loved that book. Beautifully written, with an amazing story.
His next book isn’t really a sequel – just another story.
It’s really good as well but not nearly as sweet as the first. God is there, but maybe a bit more subtly.
Great book, indeed!
This is an amazing book, and his second, “So Brave, So Young and Handsome” is as well. Also check out “Gilead” and “Home” by M. Robinson
One of the best books I’ve read . . . ever.
Can’t recommend it enough!
The prose, the plot, all of it . . . just so wonderful!
I read it, but I didn’t love it. I didn’t hate it either.
Leslie
Thanks for the recommendation. Always looking for good fiction. I added it to my list.
I thought it was a spectacular book. As a parent with asthma, and with a child who has asthma, his descriptions of an attack were amazing. I’ve read it twice now, and make a point to recommend it whenever I can. Haven’t read his new one though, but I’d like to.
Yep — great book. Small world story: Leif Enger’s father was my parents’ wedding photographer. He was actually a nature photographer, but my mom had found out only days before the wedding (in the obituaries!) that her original photographer had passed away. Mr. Enger ended up being available. My mom says, “We all look a little like posed trophy bucks in the pictures, but he was very nice.”
Great book! Surprised this is a post topic in 2008 as the book has been out for a long time.
SUCH a good book, yes. one of the few that i reread over and over.
Gorgeous!
Lovely!
Heart-wrenching!
Unusual!
Vivid!
Crystalline!
Unforgettable!
Redemptive!
Brave!
Cherished!
Time to read it again!
I’ll admit that I haven’t yet finished it, but for anyone out there—simply read the first chapter, and you’ll be hooked.
“From my first breath in this world, all I wanted was a good set of lungs and the air to fill them with-given circumstances, you might presume, for an American baby of the twentieth century. Think about your own first gasp: a shocking wind roweling so easily down your throat, and you still slipping around in the doctor’s hands. How you yowled! Not a thing on your mind but breakfast, and that was on the way….”
My husband and I listened to it on CD on a long car drive. It was a bonding experience for us listening to it together and discussing it. It moved both of us deeply.
I was JUST discussing this book with a friend the other day — told her it reminds me of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD in its tone and plot. I haven’t read since it first came — it’s definitely going onto my reading pile.
I just got it free on paperbackswap.com! Woohoo!
My favorite passage so far (see AP I listen to your advice):
“A nine -year-old shouldn’t be dragged from her house by someone who hates her…And now, because a story is told for all, an admonition to the mindsick: Be careful whom you choose to hate. The small and the vulnerable own a protection great enough, if you could but see it, to melt you into jelly. Beware those who reside beneath the shadow of the Wings.”
I read the book a few weeks back on the recommendation from a friend:
love this quote:
“When Dad stepped inside, still wearing that weightless expression, Roxanna reached and took his hand. I didn’t hear what she said but can see their hands touching—not a passionate clasp but an easy transaction as old as Scripture.” –Leif Enger, Peace Like a River pg 243
Thanks for the recommendation. I promptly picked it up at the library and am enjoying it immensely…maybe too much as I’m a bit sleep deprived for the sake of devouring it.
Wow. Thanks so much for the recommendation. I just finished listening to the audio book. It was simply an amazing and wonderful book. I couldn’t wait for my commute each day so that I could here more of the story. The version that I listened to was read by Edward Holland. He did a perfect job of simply being a conduit for the characters and the story. Thanks again.
Thanks for recommending this book. I finally got it from the library and just finished it today.Similar to reading a Cormac McCarthy book: every sentence grips you, but instead of making you cringe, it fills you with hope.
[...] after Abraham’s glowing review, both online and in person, I was intrigued. Then, his dad posted a review that increased my excitement, so I [...]
Just finished it… After swipping it from the last commenter, who is still on pg49 (hey, I left it on the night-stand to share).
I felt a lot of things in the book. Ruben’s way of describing his mistakes, regrets, made those feelings rise up in me. And the miracle when his dad was fired… Wow, I felt indignation. And I had to do a self-analysis: how often do I fail to pour out the Mercy & Grace freely given to me, because the person won’t (by my assessment) be changed by it?
Still kinda confused how Jeremiah Land and God decided he should drive around with Andreeson… I think I was relating to closely to Ruben to see it through their eyes.
Favorite character: Roxanne
Thanks, Abraham.
Lift up my hubby, will ya? He had a heart attack on Tuesday morning and had a stent put in his heart to open a 90% blockage. He is healing well, but it’s still a time for much prayer and healing.
[...] Author: Leif Enger By Jake I learned about Leif Enger through Abraham and John Piper’s recommendations of his first novel, Peace Like a River. It didn’t [...]