List Books In Favor Of Ordinary People
| Original Title: | Ordinary People |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | Lake Forest, Illinois(United States) |
| Literary Awards: | Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize (1976) |
Judith Guest
Paperback | Pages: 263 pages Rating: 3.91 | 18032 Users | 975 Reviews
Commentary Conducive To Books Ordinary People
Once, when my middle child was 7 or 8 years old, I was listening to the usual rhythm of her saying her evening prayer, when she surprised me by adding, “And Lord, please remember, when I die, I want to come back as a horse. Amen.” I laughed out loud at her prayer, but then I immediately realized my mistake, when I saw her face. She wasn't joking. I switched gears quickly, got serious, and said, “Honey. I don't get it. Why are you asking God to bring you back as a horse?” She answered very matter-of-factly, “Being a person is too hard. I don't want to come back as one, next time. Horses know exactly what to do and they have more fun.” Well, how can anyone argue with THAT? She's right. A horse eats, it drinks, it sleeps, it plays, it procreates, it eliminates, it dies. The horse's trajectory is ruled by nature. It does what a horse does. The end. But, humans. Sigh. Humans. Humans have strayed so far from the caves, our code for being human has become lost to us. Gone are the days of “Ugga, Ugga, Ugga” and all of our problems were solved. Gone are the days of the finger point to the vagina, the penis, the fire, the meat, the water, the baby, the sky, the ground. Our fingers used to do the talking, and I bet we were a HELL of a lot happier, too. (I've pointed my finger at Viggo Mortensen's penis in an earlier review, and nothing happened. It's like all the magic's gone.) But, I digress. Now, depending on culture, religion, geography, and social and economic status, the code can be completely different for each person, and chances are, the human code for YOU is close to impossible anyway, and you feel as though you're failing every day. Nobody's role is simple, these days. Not even a kid's. It used to mean minding your manners, respecting those who were bigger than you, treating each day as a surprise package, waiting to be opened. . . this is the age of perfection, kid. Everybody try their emotional and physical damndest. Strive, strive. Correct all defects. Correct all defects. Don't show weakness. The code for humans is so complicated now, it seems based on a pursuit of perfection we sought for ourselves, but had no realistic basis. We have holy texts that guide us to be good, but none that I'm aware of that ask us to be God. But we ain't Divine, people. And most of us are doing a lousy job of being perfect, but an excellent job of being miserable. And no make-up or yoga pants or juice cleanse or private college or grad school or Paleo diet or test scores or attractive spouse or clever children or 2-car garage or 4,000 square foot home or Mercedes Benz or colored hair or bank account or successful career or skinny ass or perpetual smile is ever going to make us PERFECT. Because we're ORDINARY, people. And as far as I'm concerned. . . the sooner we head back to the caves, the better. I'm headed to mine right now. (I'm trading in my overpriced yoga pants for leopard skins, and Viggo M's ass better be waiting for me). My daughter says she'll carry me on her back.
Identify Regarding Books Ordinary People
| Title | : | Ordinary People |
| Author | : | Judith Guest |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 263 pages |
| Published | : | October 28th 1982 by Penguin Books (first published 1976) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Classics. Contemporary. Psychology. Young Adult |
Rating Regarding Books Ordinary People
Ratings: 3.91 From 18032 Users | 975 ReviewsRate Regarding Books Ordinary People
Last night, I watched the movie based on Ordinary People and it's one of those situations where it's leaps and bounds above its source material. It highlights all the good parts, while cutting out the bits and that are contrived and silly. Redford deserved his Oscar for best director for pulling a great movie out of an alright book. Was nobody else bothered by the parents in this book? Cal is perfect, the great orphan who pulled himself up from the muck to achieve greatness. He still has depth,
Conrad is grief-struck after his brother is killed in a boating accident, and tries to commit suicide. After finally getting out of the hospital where he was subjected to shock therapy and drugs, he wants to talk about his brother, but while his father agrees that he still needs to talk about Buck, his mother won't hear of it, and would rather pretend that everything is normal than speak to her son about his grief.This book is really great, even better than the 1980 film. It was sad though, the
I found it hard to get into the book, I think this was because of the switching perspective, sometimes it took me some time to figure out which of the two you read along with. I expected the parents would part their ways earlier in the story. For myself I didn't like the garne of the book, for the story it was. You got the change to feel with the characters. For a shorter story like this I feel like something has to happen earlier in the book, it took a long time before something actually
I really connected with this book. It was emotional on many levels, and brings a very realistic perspective to love, loss, and anxiety. Despite these heavy themes, it also manages to uplift, and feels like a cozy blanket to me. I knew the book would be better than the movie, so wanted to start here first.
I thought this book was going to bring back that anxious feeling just below my sternum that I hate, but it had just the opposite effect. It calmed me down and taught me a few things: how I should be more open, how I should just try and accept people for how they are and not try to make them into how I want them to be but probably most importantly that you can still be lost in this world and hang in there because you're not alone; when something happens we internalize and live with the pain but
It wasnt until I was mostly finished with Ordinary People that I realized it was Judith Guests first novel. She depicts dysfunctional family dynamics and mental illness with such clarity and compassion. Her character development is stunning for this short of a book and her writing was descriptive and poignant, without being flowery. With a few exceptions of music and car models, this book is as timely now as it was in 1976. Guest writes about grief like someone having gone through the grieving
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