Book Reviews of Peace Like a River

I have both the print and the audio versions of this book, and cannot believe that it took me until now to read either copy of this wonderful book that was published back in 2001! How to describe it? Adventure? Mystery? Fantasy? It is all of those, but mostly, a quest.
Set in the Midwest in the 1960's, this tale is told by 11 year old, asthmatic Reuben, starting with his own stillbirth, and miraculous resurrection by his father. An ordinary man, a school janitor, divorced and doing a fine job of raising his 3 children, who just happens to walk on air when he prays. The story moves to the Badlands when the father takes Reuben and his 9 year old sister Swede out of school to search for their 16 year old brother who has broken out of jail after being convicted of murdering the young men who were harassing the family. Here, moving from Jetstream & the FBI, to horseback and posse, it appears we are reliving a western, and indeed, in comes a relative of Butch Cassidy, and we learn what really happened to him and The Kid.
All the characters are entertaining, but none as much as Swede, who even at that young age is destined to be a marvelous writer, whose epic, rhyming poem of the Old West's Good Guys vs. Bad Guys is interspersed throughout the script. A delight, indeed.
A tragedy for sure, this is still a story of hope, love, and a belief in magic and family. A real page-turner.

I heard rave reviews about this book. Overall, I was pleased after reading it. I thought it was very good. But it was one of those books that started out great, slowed and dragged in the middle and ended great. It wasn't a waste of time, that's for sure, but it wasn't one of the best books I've ever read, like I heard it would be.

I almost hate to post this because I love it so much...but my innate desire to share great books overrides my selfishness. about family, love, fate, and miracles. real miracles.

I know the book got rave reviews, but I didn't think it was so great. Parts of it were tiresome.

The narrative voice of the boy in this novel is stunning! Well written, compulsive-to-read...a friend recommended this to me to read right away, ahead of all my other books, and I do not regret it. Great fiction!

Very lyrical...nice phrasing...good story and characters.

I couldn't get into this book and am reposting it without finishing it.

I keep at least two copies of this book on hand...one so that I'll always have one and one to give away. I won't be posting this one on paperbackswap.com, but just want to encourage people out there to get this-it's first-class writing. Ivan Doig's This House of Sky" is another to savor and think about long after you've turned a page or closed the book.

I LOVE this authors writing style. My book club read this one and we had great discussions about it's moral questions.

Surprise ending. Not sure if I liked it or not.

This was a beautifully written book about family, storytelling, miracles and the importance of the journey.

Don't know how to describe this book. It was just a really enjoyable book to read. I recommend it. A story about a family, father, 2 sons and 1 daughter with a fantastic imagination and some of their trials and tribulations and adventures.

A good read. Unpredictable, an interesting story about a family's love for one another.

Very unique book! Highly recommended!

A well written story of a family struggling to make sense of the world.

Great reading

Father, asthmatic son and daughter travel cross-country trying to find oldest son who is running away from a murder charge. An interesting and touching story of their love and faith in each other.

Absolutely beautifully written - a wonderful read

A heroic quest, a tragedy, and a love story.

good for book club discussion. A family bonds over a tragedy.

This is a great book! I didn't want it to end.

Fabulous. Even my hubby loved it!

I found this book to be a bit slow and wordy for me. Had to force myself to finish it.

To the list of great American child narrators that includes Huck Finn and Scout Finch, let us now add Reuben "Rube" Land, the asthmatic 11-year-old boy at the center of Leif Enger's remarkable first novel, Peace Like a River. Rube recalls the events of his childhood, in small-town Minnesota circa 1962, in a voice that perfectly captures the poetic, verbal stoicism of the northern Great Plains. "Here's what I saw," Rube warns his readers. "Here's how it went. Make of it what you will." And Rube sees plenty.
In the winter of his 11th year, two schoolyard bullies break into the Lands' house, and Rube's big brother Davy guns them down with a Winchester. Shortly after his arrest, Davy breaks out of jail and goes on the lam. Swede is Rube's younger sister, a precocious writer who crafts rhymed epics of romantic Western outlawry. Shortly after Davy's escape, Rube, Swede, and their father, a widowed school custodian, hit the road too, swerving this way and that across Minnesota and North Dakota, determined to find their lost outlaw Davy. In the end it's not Rube who haunts the reader's imagination, it's his father, torn between love for his outlaw son and the duty to do the right, honest thing. Enger finds something quietly heroic in the bred-in-the-bone Minnesota decency of America's heartland. Peace Like a River opens up a new chapter in Midwestern literature

One of the best books I have ever read! A beautifully written story...

Very good story, took me longer to read than usual but well worth the time.

Thisis a book that serves to remind us why we read fiction tobigin with;to commune with a vividly,loving rendered world,tolose ourself in story and lanuage and beauty, to savor what we don't want to end yet know must.Story written in eyes of 12 year old.

Poetically beautiful. This novel has a strong plot, likable characters, and fast action, but it is the magical prose that will ensnare you. Don't start reading it unless you have lots of time, because you won't want to put it down!

Back of book:

Leif Enger's best-selling debut is at once a heroic quest, a tragedy, and a love story, in which "what could be undelievable becomes extraordinary", Enger brings us eleven year old Reuben Land, an asthmatic boy in the Midwest who has reason to believe in miracles. Along with his sister and father, Reuben finds himself on across-country search for his outlaw older brother who has been controversially charged with murder. Their journey unfolds like a revelation, and its conclusion shows how family, love, and faith can stand up to the most terrifying of enemies, the most tragic of fates.

This is a wonderful story, full of love and devotion and family strength, with great characters.
Leah G.

Eleven-year old Reuben Land, along with his sister and father, are on a cross-country search for his outlaw brother who has been controversially charged with murder. Their journey unfolds like a revelation, and its conclusion shows how family, love, and faith can stand up to the most terrifying of enemies, the most tragic of fates.

A deeply moving book about the incredible strength people possess when they love one another unselfishly and enduringly. The book is beautifully written and a real joy to read. The characters are unforgettable and bring to mind the people in To Kill A Mockingbird although the story is set in the midwest and deals with a closeknit family of three siblings who are being raised by their father. When the oldest boy kills two thugs who have been threatening and bullying the family, he disappears and remains a fugitive for most of the book while the rest of the family searches relentlessly for him. This book made it to my "best of the best" list of really good reads!

This book was excellent! An interesting story told in lyrical words. I would recommend it highly!

I loved the writer's style of bringing out each character and weaving a mesmerizing story.

This is a book my mother recommended and I must say that it is quite beautifully written. It really does come off as a modern classic, in that it invites discussion. It has a fair amount of magic in it - well, miracles, more like. And it never once strays from its young narrator. I certainly enjoyed it and the ending was surprisingly satisfactory.

Fabulous story! One of those books you want to read fast but don't want to end.

Three stars

This is a wonderful book about togetherness, love and family bonds! A truly wonderful read!

Reuben Land, an asthmatic eleven year old boy, finds himself on a cross-country search for his outlaw older brother. Davy, his brother, has been controversially charged with murder. A story of family, love and faith.

One of the best stories I have ever read. I always have a copy on hand for a re-read. I have been waiting and looking for his next book.

I loved this book. The writing is imaginative and puts the reader into the story.

This touching book is so mesmerizing I couldn't put it down for 3 days!! I would (and do) recommend this book to everyone I know!

This book is excellent. Clearly Enger wrote directly from his heart. It is beautifully and simply written, and captivating from the first to the last page.

One of the best books I've read this year!

Debut novel set in the Midwest US, in which the main character (an 11-year-old boy) sets out on a cross-country journey to find his older brother who has been charged with murder.

Great beach book but better.

I read this book last summer and could hardly put it down!

National Bestseller

Good writing, nice narrative voice, interesting characters.

A fantastic novel. Very moving and thought provoking.

A rich mixture of adventure, tragedy and healing. I have two copies of this book and have not finished it. But so far I think it is a good read.

LA Times Best Book of the Year!

Intriguing characters and a wonderful snapshot of a place in time... The conflict encompasses a fascinating moral dilemma--can you love the sinner but hate the sin? The ending feels contrived, and the sticky question feels unresolved.

Evangelicals, outlaws, and poets. Wonderful read, despite a somewhat weak ending.

I enjoyed this book, it was the authors first novel

National Bestseller. One of Time Magazine's Top Five Books of the Year. A Christian Scinec MOnitor, Denver Post and LA Times Best Book of the Year.

Beautiful prose; wonderful story. That says it all. I highly recommend this wonderful story about a family's search, both literal and figuative.

A terrific read! Loved it!

I had heard a lot about this book, but as I began it, I didn't think I would enjoy it. However after about 30 pages, I got hooked and really got swept up in the story. The portrayal of family relationships was really beautiful.

One of the best books I have read in a long time.

Great book about a midwestern family that discovers the power of miracles. Reminds the reader of To Kill A Mocking bird a little.

great book. The writing reminds me or All the Pretty Horses, which I loved.

This is a book of family love and magic. You will not want it to end.

"If ever there was a time for a novel of faith and redemption--a quiet book of old-fashined verities--this is it. Written in lyrical, open-hearted prose, PEACE LIKE A RIVER even has a comforting, remarkable glimpse into the afterlife."--Michael Giltz, New York Post

"Leif Enger has written a great Midwestern, a debut novel that explores the limits of filial loyalty and inscribes the northern Great Plains on the reader's bones...Enger's people are tender-hearted stoics, played not for humor but for something more raw--Garrison Keillor's characters in the hands of Russell Banks."--Bruce Barcott, Outside

"PEACE LIKE A RIVER serves as a reminder of why we read fiction to begin with."--Andrew Roe, San Francisco Chronicle

I thought this was an excellent book. I listened to it on audio, and sort of followed along in the "hand held" version. The narrator has a real 'voice' and it is easy to read and follow. It is a rich mixture of adventure, tragedy and healing.

Born with no air in his lungs, it was only when Reuben Land's father, Jeremiah, picked him up and commanded him to breathe that Reuben's lungs filled. Reuben struggles with debilitating asthma from then on, making him a boy who knows firsthand that life is a gift, and also one who suspects that his father is touched by God and can overturn the laws of nature.The quiet 1960's midwestern life of the Lands is upended when Reuben's brother Davy kills to marauders who have come to harm the family. The morning of his sentencing, Davy ? a hero to some, a cold-blooded murderer to others ? escapes from his cell, and the Lands set out in search of him. Their journey is touched by serendipity and the kindness of strangers, and they cover territory far more extraordinary than even the Badlands where they search for Davy from their Airstream trailer. Sprinkled with playful nods to Biblical tales, beloved classics such as Huckleberry Finn, the adventure stories of Robert Louis Stevenson, and the westerns of Zane Grey, Peace Like A River is at once a heroic quest, a tragedy, a love story, and a haunting meditation on the possibility of magic in the everyday world.

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