The writing is good

But it did drag in a few spots that were kind of tedious.It's small town scandalous with the Fermoyle family in the middle of it all. Divorced Marie and Sam were married too young and have 3 children- Alice, Norm,and Benjy. Exhausted and bitter, Marie has a volatile temper, screaming at her children and driving away just about everyone. She works in an office full time and rides roughshod over her children at home. They scrape by with a broken down house, battered junk car, and no extras, no support from Sam. Sam has only worked at being the town drunk, for years. His once moneyed family is barely managing now, with his grim and hateful sister caring for their dying mother in their decaying family home. Their money now comes from the slums they rent out to desperately poor people. Omar comes into Marie's life...Sam is sent to dry out... You 'd think things would look up for each of them....
It really is a depressing story, this small town,but it's well told, the characters fleshed out so the reader knows them. They were pretty typical for the time period, but with a tawdry twist. I grew up in a smallish town around that time and could put some faces on a few of the town folk. I just wanted to slap Marie because she was so nasty mouthed and cold to her kids, yet so gullible because she was so desperate. Her pride about killed her, and what people were saying, what they were thinking , never left her mind. So yes, dark and depressing, yet skillfully told, hence the 4 stars. The ending isn't for happily ever after readers, but it worked for me, implying there is always hope and kindness in the unlikliest of places.

3.5/5

loved the character development, but it was pretty slow going

This is about the time I quit reading Oprah's bookclub books. I want to slash my own wrists after reading most of them. I mean a steady diet of tragedy is just too much.

This books reminds me of why I stopped reading Oprah's book club selections. Thank goodness I don't live in Arlington, VT, where this book is set (nominally, via references to ski boots and neighboring NY and Quebec). The town is composed of the entire class list from "ACME book of Dopes and Losers." They are all here: the Con Man, the Drunk, the Bitter Divorcee, the Pervert, the Conflicted Priest, the Seemingly Normal Person with Hidden Secrets..not a likable character in the bunch. If I weren't in desperate need of something to kill the time during midnight feedings, I'd really resent the time I spent plowing through these 800 pages. Even worse - I think I may have read it before (or is it just that it's full of cliches? I'll never know).

I often like Oprah's Book Club picks. They tend to be about the ordinary lives of interestingly flawed characters, often in the south. THIS book, however, is complicated with an overabundance of characters leading miserable lives I can't make myself care about. At page 117 out of 740 suffocating pages, I've already encountered around 34 characters I have to remember, and the story barely hits on what the back of the book (the blurb that made me want to read the book in the first place) said it was about. I'm disappointed and I'm tired of waiting for it to get better, so I quit.

AWFUL. I seriously can't believe I read all 700 pages of this book; I need to learn how to give up without reaching the end.

I really enjoyed this book. Morris crafted the book in such a way as to not only write about the family at the center of the book, the Femoyles, but so artfully included so many other characters who inhabit the small town in 1960's Vermont. I was so pleased that as I started reading the book that Morris' web pulled me into the fictional universe of Songs in Ordinary Time. Some books I read have a character or two, if I am lucky, which is not only captivating but with each word I feel I am even more emotionally invested in that character in that fictional universe. Alice, Blue, Joe and Renie, to name a few--- character's created by Morris, somehow infused with such vivid fictional life, it was hard to put down. I would recommend it to anyone who hungers for a good book, but has ample time to allow yourself to read with empathy, compassion and who demands a book which will find a place upon which to stand and challenge your perspective... leaving you lost in quiet contemplation for a minute or two when you put it down, gentle thoughts of reflection while the book sits closed in your hand.

Good grief. Felt like it took me eons to read this book, and even after finishing I felt very little relief. I don't think it was particularly bad, it just wasn't for me. (Apparently this is one of Morris's novelties, long tragic stories with tragic or just generally unsatisfactory endings. I can appreciate the idea, but it is not my cup of tea.) I wish I could give it something like a 2.5.

The first half and the establishment of the main conflict had me interested, but then the conflict just grew and grew and grew and grew. At some point it just became exhausting to read. The characters were honestly all very interesting, but every character makes the worst possible decisions at any given time. Maybe that's realistic, but it is so frustrating and tiring to read.
I wasn't looking for a "And they all lived happily ever after" ending, but after 700+ pages of agonizing tragedy after tragedy, I needed a little more of a satisfying resolution. Again, what I got might be realistic, but not particularly enjoyable to read.

If you're looking for a book that will make you feel something, I'd say go for it. If you're looking for that feeling to be anything other than frustration and pity, look elsewhere. Stubbornness was basically the only thing that got me to the end.

Really well written but super depressing. Took me a long time to finish but it was like watching a train wreck and I couldn't stop.

I usually like the oprah club books. This one, hmmm. I wanted to have every character in a line before me to deliver to them a whack on the head and a wtf

This is another of my all-time favorite books. I've recommended this one to friends over the years--so heartbreakingly beautiful and well written. Leaves a memory on the heart that isn't easily forgotten.

I can't seem to finish this because I've not enjoyed reading it. It has to be one of the most depressing books ever. I will not seek to read anything else by this author. If I want to be depressed I can listen to the news and get my fill.