Snore. Painfully annoying to read. DNF.

An Oprah book! A depressing dysfunctional 700+ pages. I have finally arrived at the point that I can say this has nothing to give me that will improve me and walk away.

Oh, my. I absolutely detested this book; I finished merely because I HAD to get finished with it so that I could put it away. Morris has created a world in which no one is free of some warping or embittering experience except the family next door to the protagonists, and they are presented in such cliched, matchstick form as to be beyond credibility--they exist merely as a balance to the pitiful main family and the characters who attach to them in an ever-widening series of cracks in the society of the small town in which they live. If her point is that we all have weaknesses, in the vein of "there but for the grace of God...," I get it--but I entirely reject the apparent observation that everyone (with the exception of the unrealistically portrayed next-door neighbor) is twisted--not just flawed, but twisted. I do get the idea that Morris apparently thinks she is making, that Marie Fermoyle (the central character) is actually strong, pulling something from nothing, from the disaster that her life has been--but the novel is distasteful to me almost from the start. There were times while I was reading it that I wanted to get up and wash my hands.
So--Oprah recommendation or no, I thoroughly dislike this book and recommend it to NO ONE--unless you just want to see for yourself, and that's exactly what I would do after I read such a repudiation.

Mary McGarry Morris is either one great con artist herself, or she has spent some in-depth time around one. This story is a big bite to take on (740 pages) but, oh, so worth it. Dense lyrical prose, heartwarming scenes of a fractured family, and a woman so longing for love she is willing to look for it in all the terribly wrong places. I was especially intrigued with the character of one Omar Duvall, who has helped me come to grips with the complications and motivations of con artists I have known and, sadly, loved in my own life. Absolutely astounding, the amoral approach to life, the devastation it causes. Morris's powers of observation creates a world teeming with incident and alive with character. Do yourself a favor and burrow yourself into this one.

I usually don't count DNFs toward my goal, but I slogged through three hundred some pages waiting for it to get better and I feel I deserve it. It's odd in a way. The writing is fantastic, beautiful to read, and exactly my jam. This kind of prose will go far with me. The characters were well fleshed out and believable. There was a solid foundation for the ensemble slice of life that it was.

It just I hated everyone. It's just it's unrelenting misery where no one is happy and everyone hates everyone else because of various reasons. It's petty and irritating and there is no light at the end of the tunnel because even trains don't bother to come around. It's not that I'm against downer endings or books. There's a place even for misery. But when everyone is a shit heel or a doormat (or both) it's just too much-- and 700 pages of too much.

I'd recommend it only to see how you'd like it. In this instance the DNF was just a sort of purely personal thing. It's just not worth my time and attention. (Especially these days)

Well that was depressing.

I kept slogging through this hoping for a beacon of hope or a bright spot but.....

********Spoiler alert.......



It never comes.

The writing is decent. I cared enough about the characters. Not cry for them, care about them, but enough, but man they all could use a break.

My favorite character was a bit player, Blue Mooney. Perpetually on the sidelines, kicked out of the military, a little teenage angst, trying to find himself, but he was the one character that I not just cared about but actually liked.

I'm a little surprised this was an Oprah's Book Club Book. I don't know that I've read enough of them to make an informed decision on if this what they are usually like but if so, I'll probably pass or wait until I need motivation to sink into depression to read another.

This book is intense!

The story covers a very brief period of time (one summer or the "ordinary time"), in spite of being a very long book--hence the reviews are correct when they call it "highly detailed." Luckily, not detailed in the way a Michener story is detailed. Rather, this novel is rich with dialogue and action, though 3/4 of the way through the internal monologues and the dialogue have become a bit repetitive. The characters are real; I sometimes hated them, sometimes understood them, never loved them. Not one of them! They were all extremely pathetic individuals (the exception might be the pig man).

While reading this book, I described it as very, very grim. Reminded me of Peyton Place. Although this book was a "page turner," i.e., I wanted to (and did) keep reading (even when others tasks should have been done), I can only say, it was "okay." Just too gloomy and dismal, without the hope all the characters yearn for.

If, as the title suggests, the stories are songs, they must be either country western or the blues. For my taste, the stories are more depressing that any song will ever by.

What a waste of 740 pages... I now remember how depressing Oprah's book club books are. I kept reading and reading - sure that something redeeming would happen. Nothing. The story ends abruptly and nothing. What a waste of time.

I constantly considered quitting reading this book. The negative reviews I've read are right on. There is nothing of value unless you just enjoy other people's misery. Most of the books that I read and rate as five stars are depressing but what is learned during the experience makes the reading of it worth it. Not so here.

There is nothing likeable about this book. I barely got past page 100 then skimmed the rest to see if there was anything worth reading. Nope. Moving on!

Many people and many stories that fit together to create a great tale. This could be a cautionary tale for desperate women and con men, putting men over your children and not paying attention to what they see. Such flawed characters but that was refreshing. We can all be naive, cruel, manipulative, everything that embarasses us in life is what makes us human. Lovely story and I'm glad I stuch through this thick sucker!

“Songs in Ordinary Time” was an Oprah Book Club pick in June 1997. Some might call it a 740-page tome. I loved every word.

In hundreds of mini-chapters, Morris takes readers to the summer of 1960 in small-town Atkinson, Vermont, where readers meet Marie Fermoyle, a divorced mother of three, along with her neighbors, her ex-in-laws, her boss, a variety of other townpeople – and, most significantly, Omar Duvall, a man without a shred of honesty.

Marie’s oldest child, daughter Alice, graduates from high school and Marie is determined she will enter the University of Vermont in the fall. But this is a family unsure where the next dime is coming from…much less college tuition. Sam Fermoyle, Marie’s alcoholic ex-husband and father of her children, is often a sympathetic character, despite his shortcomings.

Oprah.com says, “Songs in Ordinary Time is a masterful epic of the everyday, illuminating the kaleidoscope of lives that tell the compelling story of this unforgettable family.”

I absolutely agree and found myself musing that, except for an accident of birth, any of us might find ourselves victims of alcoholic, vulnerable, struggling parents who never seem to catch a break. So much of who we turn out to be in life depends on our families, our friends, our towns, how we grew up. I found myself hoping against hope that this family and these children would turn out okay in the end even though they seem doomed from the beginning.

Enter Dr. Phil…perhaps in 2011…

Oprah.com still has lots of resources for the original Oprah Book Club books, including book club discussion questions for “Songs…” along with other info.

I highly recommend “Songs…” for anyone with the time to devote to this compelling family story. It’s important to realize the short chapters facilitate reading in brief chunks and it’s an especially great read for anyone who can identify with being a teen in the 1960s.