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Peace Like a River
by Leif Enger
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About This Book
ISBN13: 9780802139252 |
Awards
2002 LA Times Book Of The Year
Powells.com Staff Pick
"A lean and lovingly told story, drawn from Midwestern life, sparked with moments of the miraculous."
Recommended by Mark Ingraham
Peace Like a River is a beautiful, uplifting tale told from the perspective of a boy growing up in the Midwest. Sweet, harsh, moving, and true, it includes faith, family, and miracles all wrapped up in adventure.
Recommended by Linda, Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
From Powells.com:
Leif Enger's debut novel is a case study in intangibles. Each year, dozens
of novels are published that have all their ducks in a row: in richly
imagined worlds, their well-drawn characters struggle through compelling
conflicts toward revealing conclusions. But very few contain that imperceptible
extra that allows a story to speak directly to the reader's own longings,
to infiltrate their consciousness and alter their perception of the world.
In telling the story of his saintly father, fugitive brother, and precocious
sister, Enger's narrator, an eleven-year-old asthmatic named Reuben Land,
reveals a world in which the tragic is tempered by the miraculous, and
faith leads inexorably to sacrifice — and redemption. When it was
first published in 2001, Peace Like a River was immediately championed
by readers across the country and became a surprise bestseller. In 2002,
it was chosen by independent booksellers as the Book Sense Book of the
Year, and remains, today, one of the most popular book club selections
in the country. Martin, Powells.com
Publisher Comments:
Leif Enger's rhapsodic novel about a father raising his three children in 1960s Minnesota is a breathtaking celebration of family, faith, and America's pioneering spirit. Through the voice of eleven-year-old Reuben, an asthmatic boy obsessed with cowboy stories, Peace Like a River tells of the Land family's cross-country search for Reuben's outlaw older brother, who has been controversially charged with murder. Sprinkled with playful and warmhearted nods to biblical tales, classic American novels such as Huckleberry Finn, the adventure stories of Robert Louis Stevenson, and the Westerns of Zane Grey, Peace Like a River brilliantly incorporates the best elements of all these genres and ultimately earns its own prominent and enduring place on the shelf among them.
Reuben Land was born with no air in his lungs, and it was only when his father, Jeremiah, picked him up and commanded him to breathe that his lungs filled. Reuben struggles with debilitating asthma thenceforth, but he is a boy who knows firsthand that life is a gift, and also one who suspects that his father can overturn the laws of nature. When Reuben's older brother, Davy, kills two marauders who have come to harm the family, the town is divided between those who see him as a hero and those who see him as a cold-blooded murderer. On the morning of the trial, Davy escapes from his cell, and when his family finds out they decide to go forth into the unknown in search of him. With Jeremiah — whose faith is the stuff of legend — at the helm, the family covers territory far more glorious than even the Badlands, where they search for Davy from their Airstream trailer. By the time the journey is over, they will have traversed boundaries of a different nature entirely. Marked by a soul-expanding sense of place and a love of storytelling, Peace Like a River is at once a heroic quest, a tragedy, a romance, and a heartfelt meditation on the possibility of magic in the everyday world.
Review:
"You don't see novels like this one very often. Peace Like a River reminds a reader of Kent Haruf's Plainsong or even Norman MacLean's A River Runs Through It. It's got that pure American loss of innocence theme, that belief in and fascination with miracles, that insistence on the goodness of men outside of the law." Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times Book Review
Review:
"[W]hat allows Peace Like a River to transcend any limitations of belief and genre is its broad, sagacious humanity. Within the context of an adventure-filled tall tale, oddly enough, the book stretches out to gently explore the ancient mysteries of family. Independence and possession, loyalty and treachery, love and loathing — they're all here, even if it's not always clear which is which....There is magic here, none more potent than Leif Enger's prose." Dan Cryer, Newsday
Review:
"Enger has written one of the year's best novels....Once in a great while, a book comes along that has such wonderful characters and marvelous prose that you read it as much for the pure joy it offers on virtually every page as to find out how it ends....You'll be sorry if you miss it....Go out and get a copy; savor it. This one is special." Tom Walker, The Denver Post
Review:
"It's dangerous work, writing about faith....To get it right as Leif Enger does in his novel is nothing short of miraculous....What could be unbelievable becomes extraordinary in Enger's hands....If words can bolster lapsed faith, if a story can sturdy a shaky foundation, then the flow of Enger's amazing new novel may bring more than a few of us to his promised peace." Connie Ogle, The Miami Herald
Review:
"If ever there was a time for a novel of faith and redemption — a quiet book of old-fashioned verities — this is it. Written in lyrical, openhearted prose, Peace Like a River even has a comforting, remarkable glimpse into the afterlife." Michael Giltz, New York Post
Review:
"It's the impassioned honesty of his quiet, measured narrative voice that gives weight and truth to the fantastic elements of this engrossing tale....This is a stunning debut novel, one that sneaks up on you like a whisper and warms you like a quilt in a North Dakota winter, a novel about faith, miracles and family that is, ultimately, miraculous." Publishers Weekly
Review:
"What readers will appreciate first in Enger's marvelous novel is the language. His limpid sentences are composed with the clarity and richness for which poets strive....Enger's profound understanding of human nature stands behind his compelling prose." Booklist (starred review)
Review:
"Once you begin Leif Enger's Peace Like A River, you are carried away by the elemental surge of its story, the sheer eagerness to see what happens to the engrossing characters who exist far from the intrusions of the media in the timeless arena of family love and anguish over a lost member. It is Enger's gift that he has made their extraordinary world credible." Jim Harrison, author of Legends of the Fall and Dalva
Review:
"I'm urging this book on you because it is written in prose tart and crisp as a Minnesota Autumn. Peace Like a River is seductive and chatty and deliciously American and there are passages so wondrous and wise you'll want to claw yourself with pleasure." Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes and 'Tis
Synopsis:
Hailed as one of the year's top five novels by "Time, " and selected as one of the best books of the year by nearly all major newspapers, national bestseller "Peace Like a River" is now available in paperback. In "lyrical, openhearted prose" (Michael Glitz, "The New York Post"), Enger tells the story of 11-year-old Reuben Land, an asthmatic boy who has reason to believe in miracles.
Synopsis:
Hailed as one of the year's top five novels by Time, and selected as one of the best books of the year by nearly all major newspapers, national bestseller Peace Like a River captured the hearts of a nation in need of comfort. "A rich mixture of adventure, tragedy, and healing," Peace Like a River is "a collage of legends from sources sacred and profane — from the Old Testament to the Old West, from the Gospels to police dramas" (Ron Charles, The Christian Science Monitor). In "lyrical, openhearted prose" (Michael Glitz, The New York Post), Enger tells the story of eleven-year-old Reuben Land, an asthmatic boy who has reason to believe in miracles. Along with his sister and father, Reuben finds himself on a cross-country search for his outlaw older brother who has been controversially charged with murder. Their journey is touched by serendipity and the kindness of strangers, and its remarkable conclusion shows how family, love, and faith can stand up to the most terrifying of enemies, the most tragic of fates. Leif Enger's "miraculous" (Valerie Ryan, The Seattle Times) novel is a "perfect book for an anxious time ... of great literary merit that nonetheless restores readers' faith in the kindness of stories" (Marta Salij, Detroit Free Press).
What Our Readers Are Saying
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Average customer rating based on 3 comments:
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neutl, January 20, 2007 (view all comments by neutl)
I have yet to read the book.
The title drew my attention. It brings up a sense of tranquility, calmness. I read the reviews here and I now look forward to buying the book and reading it.
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CopyCat, January 10, 2007 (view all comments by CopyCat)
This is an unusual book that defies definition. Faith is a definite plus for understanding the story. but it's not really necessary. This is the story of a young man who impetuously takes justice into his own hands and then attempts to evade the consequences of his actions by running away. The rest of his family embarks on an adventure to try to find him and, in the process, finds more than they bargain for.
I think that on a deeper level, this is a coming of age story about a young man defining his own faith.
This is a fantastic read for anyone who prefers a complex tale.
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david smith, September 30, 2006 (view all comments by david smith)
This magical tale drew me in, into a world where hobbits didn't pop out of holes--but I almost expected them! Good and evil face off, and the little sister is a precocious poet who provides antic comic relief.
There is deep faith and love, providing Peace that runs like a river through this story. I hoped against hope for Davy's redemption, and I yet hope to see it.
There's a message in this story, where deep calls to deep, inviting me to ask ever deeper questions. Read this one slowly, chew on it, chat over it, and let it prayerfully sink into your soul.
View all 3 comments
Product Details
- ISBN:
- 9780802139252
- Author:
- Publisher:
- Grove/Atlantic
- Location:
- New York
- Subject:
- General
- Subject:
- Boys
- Subject:
- Minnesota
- Subject:
- Sagas
- Subject:
- Family saga
- Subject:
- Fathers and sons
- Subject:
- Brothers
- Subject:
- Outlaws
- Subject:
- Domestic fiction
- Subject:
- Bildungsromans
- Subject:
- Motherless families
- Subject:
- FICTION / Family Saga
- Copyright:
- 2002
- Series Volume:
- 180
- Publication Date:
- August 2002
- Binding:
- Paperback
- Language:
- English
- Pages:
- 320
- Dimensions:
- 8.32x5.50x.82 in. .80 lbs.
