The Book of Ruth by jane hamilton

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

I love books with an "innocent eye" as the narrator. Hamilton explores universal truths. Ruth was such a likable character, stuck in poor, hopeless surroundings. The book shows that people's moral compass can point to truth no matter their surroundings. I'd like to think that's true in real life.

Favorite quote: “We're only passers-by, and all you can do is love what you have in your life. A person has to fight the meanness that sometimes comes with you when you're born, sometimes grows if you aren't in lucky surroundings. It's our challenge to fend it off, leave it behind us choking and gasping for breath in the mud. It's our task to seek out something with truth for us, no matter if there is a hundred-mile obstacle course in the way, or a ramshackle old farmhouse that binds and binds.”
― Jane Hamilton, The Book of Ruth

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baby_pewe

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

The Book of Ruth, by Jane Hamilton, is the story of a girl growing up on the Illinois-Wisconsin border, born into a world that simply doesn’t love her. It is a study on the culture of the American boonies, on the failed education system, and of a flawed family, as Ruth struggles for hope. It raises the question- how does one prevail over ignorance, when ignorance is the only world to know, when it is an essential part of one’s identity?

In the beginning of the book, when Ruth is a young girl, we see a flame, a fire, as her thirst for knowledge and passion for life cause rebellion against her mother, May, who stands over her children, determined to keep them on a leash in the dark. The reader is not given many gifts in this dark, disturbing book, nothing much to cling on to as Ruth’s life turns from childhood passion to a numbness as a teenager, and then utter blindness and pain as an adult, but there are two significant characters that the author inserted into the book, to indicate that there is a lucid message behind all of the chaos and confusion that Ruth undertakes. These characters are her Aunt Sid- a choir director living in a university town in southern Illinois- and Ruth’s brother, Matthew, who somehow makes it out of the small, suffocating town, to become a successful scientist at an ivy league school, estranging himself from his family- “‘It is always strange, going home, facing people and a place with which I have nothing in common. I won’t bore you with the difficulties of my childhood, but to be honest my main preoccupation was trying to figure out who was worse, my mother or my sister’” (318).

In this book, it is so easy to get swept up into the world of Ruth, her violent marriage, her failed goals and dreams, her depression and repression, and not see anything else outside of it. That is where the true meaning of this book comes in. Despite its unusual format- it is not often that I read books where the situation gets continually worse for the main character, never better- I felt I learned a tremendous amount from this book, about the way that ignorance is bred, and the way that some people hurt themselves for their entire lives. The two self-aware characters in this book, Matthew and Aunt Sid, act as a reminder to the reader- be thankful for your life. These are small characters, remember, compared to the vast struggle of Ruth and her mother, but are the sliver of light. The fact that it is only a sliver is another tool the author uses here to create palpable emotion and draw the reader head-first into a world many wouldn’t dare choose to travel to, to make the reader crave for that light, and become aware of their own craving.

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Flaxman

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

I had to read this book in college (for a sociology class), and we had to write a paper where we personally identified with one of the characters in the book. I remember sitting with two of my friends, laughing hysterically, while we tried to figure out how to identify with these characters- they are either horribly evil or tragically victimized (there was no in-between). In the end, we all made up stories about abusive mothers or repressed memories. I would love to find that paper and read it now.

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neromxxn

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

This is the story of a white trash girl named Ruth, her white trash mother and her white trash boyfriend/husband with bad teeth. It was very difficult to make it through this book because I didn't like any of the characters--they were stagnant and annoying throughout. Ruth had great potential but never realized any of it. A bad story was made even worse when about 4/5 of the way through, there was suddenly a horrific and bloody scene that took about 4 pages of graphic descriptions. I was caught completely off-guard because the rest of the book had been so boring. I guess I had kept reading thinking that something had to happen eventually to make the book worthwhile, but what finally did happen was awful. I would have been OK with it all if Ruth had changed for the better or pulled herself together because of the event, but she chose to stay ignorant. I know this is a popular author and book, but I really did not enjoy it at all.

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Wicowan

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

Social status, financial class and intelligence have nothing to do with the ability for someone to choose evil and cruelty just as kindness and compassion are not traits only for those who are lucky.

Ruth was not lucky and she believed all of the negative things that others, including her mother and brother. She managed to find love in Ruby and was able to see his qualities. He brought her joy in her otherwise dismal life. He gave her a child who brought the family together for a short time. There were times where she had sympathy for her mother and a yearning to connect with her. Her aunt, Miss Finch, Daisy and Justy were beams of light that gave her the drive and motivation to carry on. Her moving forward wasn’t efficient or to the standards that many of the readers who have given less than positive reviews, but it was what she believed she was capable of. It wasn’t until Ruby nearly killed her that she became free to live. Free of him, her mother and the toxic life that they were leading and that she likely would never have escaped.

This was not the most uplifting read and not one that I would highly recommend to everyone. It is slow moving and depressing with slight glimmers of hope that life would improve for Ruth and her family. It was not until the very last three pages that this story came full circle for me that I truly understood Ruth and had a deep appreciation for this story and its characters.

“We’re only passers-by, and all that you can do is love what is in your life. A person has to fight the meanness that sometimes comes with you when you’re born, sometimes grows if you aren’t in lucky surroundings. Its our challenge to fend it off, leave it behind us choking and gasping for breath in the mud. Its our task to seek out something with truth for us, no matter if there is a hundred-mile obstacle course in the way, or a ramshackle old farmhouse that binds and binds. The Bible is right on one’s score: it doesn’t do one bit to render evil for evil.”

What I appreciate most about this story is to have compassion for others, no matter how hardened they may be, how out of the ordinary in intelligence or social standing they may be. It is not our place to judge anyone, but it is our own personal duty to take responsibility for our destiny in life. Life aint always prudy, but you have to make the best of it.

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711nono

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

A perfect example of the importance of titles. I've read much of Hamilton's work, but always avoided this one, because I thought it was going to be Biblical. A desperate rainy day stop at the little free library had me grab this, and I'm glad I did. An interesting look into a convoluted family.

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NotImpressed

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

Očekuješ sve vreme neku tragediju, ali ne očekuješ zaista da se desi to što se desilo na kraju. Takođe, kotrljam očima na lažni moral i 'white trash' negativne komentare, jer zamislite, beli ljudi više ne smeju da imaju težak život i probleme, a ne smeju ni da budu loše osobe kada ih snađe nešto loše. Sve u svemu, jedna veoma iskrena, emotivna i lepo napisana knjiga.

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rc10234

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

Eh. I just read another depressing book that seemed to torture its protagonist for the sake of the plot and I guess I wasn't in the mood. But then again, less than 10 pages into the book, there's our narrator saying she's sorry for Hitler because he must have had something compelling him to be an evil monster who committed genocide on a horrific scale I suppose.* I guess I should have realized then that this book would be a wasted effort - I wasn't going to like this book, nor would I sympathize with Ruby because the poor man had something compelling him into being a monster. Like May, his tormentor - the book up until then was mostly Ruth blaming her mother, setting her up to be the cause for Ruby's mental break.

Actually I care nothing for Ruby, because beyond broad swatches it seemed like I didn't know him at all. Just before he gets into an accident she says that she knows he's into drugs and that's probably why he stops to gaze at the texture of asphalt in the middle of a busy road? Like what the fuck Ruth? Maybe that was relevant earlier when May was having palpitations at the thought of leaving her grandchild with this man? But no, Ruth was lying to herself about him and while that is relevant for what happens, it also means that as a reader I have no idea about the guy.

* His crimes are not mentioned, because then Ruth will look wrong and she wouldn't have cause to sound snippy that the teacher didn't find her thoughts valid.

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The Book of Ruth

jane hamilton

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