Gaines created some great characters and the scene description really paints vivid imagery, but the story doesn't end with the climax that you'd expect from this type of story. Gaines methodically leads the reader and plants the idea of a big show down only to give away the ending in such a way that the last few chapters of the book sort of fizzle. However, due to the smooth story telling style that you'd expect from Gaines, you stay till the finish just enjoying the rythm and end up realizing that there will be no big climax long before the pages end.

Gaines enjoys toying with race and the American class system while subtly preaching to the reader. Not his best Novel, but a good Saturday afternoon read.

Everyone should read this eye catching and exiting book. Once you start to read you will not put back down.

Gaines has done it again. He has once again captured the spiritof the Southern Black Male. He like Alice Walker (who captures theSouthern woman) captures his characters spirit and their soul. He is an excellent writer. This book is great, it is easy reading and it addresses the hypocrisy of social and class standings like no other writer I have ever read. I have read four of Gaines' novels and all of them leave me breatless. I always want more even when the book is over. I am now about to read Bloodline and I can't wait. Mr. Gaines if you are reading this, PLEASE KEEP WRITING YOU ARE THE GREATEST!!!!!!!

If you have ever watched The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman or A Lesson Before Dying then the name of Ernest J. Gaines is familiar to you. Our author has been selected for inclusion in the series called Critical Companions to Popular Comtemporary Writers. The board composed of high school english teachers and librarians have selected contemporary authors for critical analysis of their works that have become a part of the secondary schools' english curriculums. As with all criticisms the authors' works are examined thematically, analysis of character/plot is given, a point of view and the development of the work's structure. A unique feature to this series is that it gives an alternate reading to the text by using the tools of feminism, historicism, Marxism and psychology.

All of Gaines' works are subject to the above scrutiny but we find some interesting challenges in examining Gaines. First, he defies cateogorization. He refuses to pigeon hole himself as a Black author, or southern author, etc. for he moves beyond the stereotypes placed on genres. Second, although Gaines' works show the Black male perspective there is a strong female presence that runs throughout his books. Third, Gaines appears to fall in the tradition of a literary realist. He depicts things as they are rather than what the reader wants them to be. Such a work is helpful in understanding the works of Gaines. The only problem I saw was the use of eurocentric literary tools in analyzing his work. Otherwise this book serves as a good resource on Gaines.

This is a bad book. The plot is melodramatic and implausible. The characters are one-dimensional and implausible -- in fact, down right unbelievable. The dialogue is stiff, moralistic, hyperbolic and implausible.

It reminds me of the picaresque novels of Spain -- without the humor . The main character rushes from conversation to conversation -- many without forwarding the story one whit. There is no reason for the conversations except to fill paper.

To be honest, I cannot think of one redeeming feature of this book.

I have always found Earnest Gaines to be an author who creates characters with very real issues who are also very intense and often times, too complicated. In this novel, the main character, Reverend Martin has to struggle with the sins of his past and try to resolve those in light of who he has become in the present.

However, I found that the author, in the form of the main character asked to many questions yet never resolved the issues posed by those questions. The story centers around the relationship, or lack thereof, between a father and a son. Although the main character tries to figure out how he can repair his relationship with his son, he ponders too many issues without resolving the main issue.

At times I felt that the dialogue and story line were somewhat incomplete and/or vague. The incompleteness of the story often led to rereading certain portions of the novel to make sure I had not missed the next step. In essence, the thought process as outlined in the novel was somewhat scattered and at times, it was difficult to get a handle on exactly what was happening with the various characters. At times, it was a mental struggle to figure out the meaning of some of the actions and words of the characters.

If you are looking for a novel that is somewhat easy to read and understand on an intellectual level then this is perhaps not the novel to read.

A good read. Gaines has the ability to create very believable characters undergoing very real experiences. He is able to present the issues of his characters in prose that is clear and easily readable. So why didn't he get a higher rating from me . . . because I didn't feel changed in any way as a result of reading this novel. The story was actually quite predictable. He poses many questions in the novel but doesn't deliver on possible solutions to the challenges faced by the Reverend or his son. He leaves the reader with no better understanding of the complexities of the father/son bond than he may have had prior to reading the book. When I finished this book, I thought, "there must be more", but then I remembered reading A Lesson Before Dying and thinking the same of that book. I do believe that the novel can provide some validation to the experiences of many fathers and sons who share similar situations as the Reverend and Etienne. The book may also serve as a basis for discussion between fathers and sons in troubled relationships (depending on the nature of the "trouble"). For those two reasons alone I'd recommend this book.