The Book of Ruth

by Jane Hamilton

Book Overview

Winner of the 1989 PEN/Hemingway Foundation Award for best first novel, this exquisite book confronts real-life issues of alienation and violence from which the author creates a stunning testament to the human capacity for mercy, compassion and love.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0899197442
• ISBN13: 9780899197449
• Release Date: January 1988
• Publisher: Ticknor & Fields
• Length: 328 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The Absolute Perfect Novel

Reading Jane Hamilton's "Book of Ruth" is like diving into a sea of outrageous dysfunction. It is like drowning. It is like observing from below the surface and unable to do a damn thing about the events happening before your eyes. If one is a writer, The Book of Ruth is the absolute perfect novel to study--because it is structurally superb, beautiful, full of foreshadowing (burnt black birds hanging upside down the telephone line), flowing with imagery, honesty,and more importantly, the characters are likable, hatable, and exquisitely designed. Jane Hamilton has taken a dysfunctional, uneducated family--and through her characteration and mastery, made us care about what happens to them; made us part of the family, even when we didn't care to be there. Hamilton takes a character like mean old May, and causes us to feel empathy for her, even though May is unbearably vicious. "The Book of Ruth" is about families we all know--but do not invite into our lives because they smell, use the wrong vocabulary, forget to brush their teeth, and make their careers at the dry-cleaners. These people are undesirable,invisible, and sit in the back of the bus. But Hamilton makes us live with them, get to know them, understand them, hate them, and in the end, love them. ***I was surprised by the other reviews--as I thought The Book of Ruth was deliciously stunning and overflowing with insight.

The Strong Always Survive

Ruth is a strong woman living what some may take as a weak exterior. Her character is deeper than words could ever express and on many occasions brought me to tears. This book is an exceptional depiction of the effects our environment, our families have on us.

One of the most moving books I've ever read.

I'm from a very small town, and when I was in high school, I actually had a boyfriend like Ruby - thank God I ran screaming for 1,000 miles before I stopped! This book spoke directly to me and mesmerized me from start to finish. Ruth was not retarded or pathetic - she was living the only life she knew with the only people available to her. I can only imagine how many other lonely & intelligent young women are living in her shoes - wasted, hopeless, potential completely unrealized, put down by everybody they know. I've recommended this book to every serious reader I know.