Tell a friend about this book...
Friend's Email:
Subject: I have found a book that I think you would enjoy
Member $avings: $16,108,995.44
|
Books Available: 4,140,076
|
Members Online: 1,455
Your source for swapping books online - Read...Swap...Save!
How To Swap Books?
Sign Up
Search 
Kiosk
All Books
Book Browser
Advanced Search
Books Posted Today
Member Book Reviews
NYT Best Seller List
Newbery Medal Winners
Pulitzer Prize Winners
Most Traveled Copies
Club Wish List
Login
Community
Member Directory
Discussion Forums
Blog
Donations
Live Chat
Box-O-Books
Book Journal
Maps
The Eclectic Pen
Fun Stuff
Top 50s
Pulse of PBS
Spread The Word
Photo Gallery
Recipes
Club Tag Cloud
Member Testimonials
Help Center
Kiosk
Need Help?
Search - The Ha-Ha
|
The Ha-Ha Author: |
|
|||
Book Information
|
|||||
Other Versions of this Book: Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio Cassette (Abridged), Audio CD (Abridged), Hardcover
Book Description:
An unforgettable first novel about silence, family, and the imperative of love.
Howard Kapostash has not spoken in thirty years. Ever since a severe blow to the head during his days in the Army, words unravel in his mouth and letters on the page make no sense at all. Because of his extremely limited communication abilities—a small repertory of gestures and simple sounds—most people think he is disturbed. No one understands that Howard is still the same man he was before enlisting, still awed by the beauty of a landscape, still pining for his high school sweetheart, Sylvia.
Now Sylvia is a single mom with troubles of her own, and she needs Howard's help. She is being hauled into a drug rehab program and she asks Howard to care for her nine-year-old son, Ryan. The presence of this nervous, resourceful boy in Howard's life transforms him utterly. With a child's happiness at stake, communication takes on a fresh urgency, and the routine that Howard has evolved over the years—designed specifically to minimize the agony of human contact—suddenly feels restrictive and even dangerous. Forced out of his groove, Howard finds unexpected delights (in baseball, in work, in meals with his housemates). His home comes alive with the joys, sorrows, and love of a real family. But these changes also open Howard to the risks of loss and to the rage he has spent a lifetime suppressing.
Written with a luminous simplicity and grace, The Ha-Ha follows Howard down his difficult path to a new life. It is a deeply moving and unforgettable story about the cost of war and the infinite worth of human connection
Howard Kapostash has not spoken in thirty years. Ever since a severe blow to the head during his days in the Army, words unravel in his mouth and letters on the page make no sense at all. Because of his extremely limited communication abilities—a small repertory of gestures and simple sounds—most people think he is disturbed. No one understands that Howard is still the same man he was before enlisting, still awed by the beauty of a landscape, still pining for his high school sweetheart, Sylvia.
Now Sylvia is a single mom with troubles of her own, and she needs Howard's help. She is being hauled into a drug rehab program and she asks Howard to care for her nine-year-old son, Ryan. The presence of this nervous, resourceful boy in Howard's life transforms him utterly. With a child's happiness at stake, communication takes on a fresh urgency, and the routine that Howard has evolved over the years—designed specifically to minimize the agony of human contact—suddenly feels restrictive and even dangerous. Forced out of his groove, Howard finds unexpected delights (in baseball, in work, in meals with his housemates). His home comes alive with the joys, sorrows, and love of a real family. But these changes also open Howard to the risks of loss and to the rage he has spent a lifetime suppressing.
Written with a luminous simplicity and grace, The Ha-Ha follows Howard down his difficult path to a new life. It is a deeply moving and unforgettable story about the cost of war and the infinite worth of human connection
Members who requested this book also requested:
Similar books to this author and title:
 |  |  |  |
Genres:
Top Member Book Reviews
Anita E. (
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
This was a wonderful book, recommended by a librarian friend. Howard, due to a war injury can not speak, however there is nothing wrong with his intelligence. He is put in the position of caring for a former girlfriend's child and during the process, he finds love, friendship, disappointment and dispair. Very interesting idea of having one's brain function, but be unable to communicate.
Tish O. (
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
i tried very hard to enjoy this book.but in the end i DNF. the premise is a vet who has communications deficits after the war. this story is that his old girlfriend's child is staying in his custody till she gets out of rehab. the book took a left turn around page 200 and i could not finish .
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
This is one of my all-time favorite books. It is a unique story that will pull your heart-strings! Well written and meaningful.
Whitney B. (
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
I loved about 90% of this book...
Then the language got worse, the story lost its intelligence and integrity and the ending got phoned-in. As much as the first and middle kept me completely entranced, the ending made me completely angered and disappointed.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
This is the story about Howie, a Viet Nam vet who comes home with an injury that renders him speechless. Instead of perhaps learning to sign, or another form of communication he remains isolated with just mere gestures. He leads a very lonenly existence until they day Ryan is put into his care. Ryan opens the door to possibility for Howie. There's a world waiting out there for him if he can just reach out.
Beverly M. (
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
A very good read,imagine not being able to talk,read or write for 30 years.Sad.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
From Literary Guild website:
Meet Howard Kapostash, a mute army vet who cuts the grass at a convent. He carries a torch for his high school sweetheart, and when she checks herself into rehab he inherits her rambunctious nine-year old son, Ryan. While Howard’s war injuries have left him unable to speak, he’s a totally engaging narrator. His thoughts illuminate his past, his present and the future that could possibly still be. As he cares for Ryan, Howard gets a glimpse of life outside his shell—with all its exuberant joys and crushing sorrows.
An ambitious & largely successful first novel. You really get behind this protoganist, even though he (like this book), is not without his flaws. Also, best written 9 year old I've encountered. Highly recommended.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Very moving. I truly enjoyed this book. The relationship between the man and boy is awesome. Highly recommended.
Read All Book Reviews of "The HaHa"
Please Rate these Book Reviews
Loved this book. Story is about Howie, a Vietnam Vet who comes home unable to communicate with the world. Thru an old girlfriend, Howie takes care of her young son and the relationship between them grows and changes Howie's life in ways he'd never expected. A different look at the Vietnam Vet thru this book.
A mute war veteran takes in his friend's teenage son, and they have important impacts on each other's live.
From the back cover: "Howard Kapostash has not spoken in thirty years. The small repertory of gestures and simple sounds that he uses to communicate leads most people to assume that he is disturbed, and no one understands that Howard is still the same man he was before a wartime injury. But when he agrees to help an old girlfriend by opening his home to her 9 year-old son, the presence of this nervous, resourceful boy in his life transforms Howard utterly. He is afforded a rare glimpse of life outside his shell - with all it's exuberant joys and crushing sorrows."
I absolutely LOVED this book! It was so well written, the characters so sympathetic, that I didn't want the story to end.
Wonderful book! Characters could've been developed a bit more, but a great first novel!
Read All Book Reviews of "The HaHa"
Book Wiki
Common Title
Series
Original Publication Date (YYYY-MM-DD)
People/Characters
Real Places
Fictional Places
Important Events
Awards and Honors