All the Living: A Novel Audiobook

" Written in a different form from most books with vivid descriptions of time and place, dialogue, and the voice of a true Kentucky mountain individual. The story of an orphan girl who meets a young man and later moves in with him at the family homestead after his parents are killed in a car accident. Her one love in life is playing the piano and she volunteers at the local church so this fills her empty days while the young man farms the land from sunup to sundown. An interesting book, a good book, and a fast read that is well worth your time. "

" The literary equivalent of a Grant Wood portrait with its haunting realism. I agree with many book reviewers that this novel is destined to become a classic. It was an honestly plotted story centering on a young woman who years to follow her dream of studying the piano at a college, but is instead lured by an attractive young farmer. She follows him to his farm where he battles drought. She is not a farm girl, but was raised in a charity school and has no skills. She finds a dusty old cookbook and learns how to prepare meals. She becomes drawn to a preacher who allows her the use of a piano in his church. "

" The writing is quiet and beautiful. The characters are terminally damaged and they don't so much grow and change as stay in place and suffer. This sounds awful, but it is actually really engrossing. "

" I think this writer has wonderful potential, but it didn't show in this novel. "

" Just absolutely terrible. The style apes McCarthy, but misses all the gravity. Idle showboating without the boat, or the show for that matter. "

" Aloma leaves her piano to join Orren on his tobacco farm. "

" This book was a struggle to read, but a good book with a good story just the same. I wanted to many things for Aloma and Orren and found myself rooting for them the whole time. It was an interesting concept for a book and although it was extremely slow at times, I found it to be a good read. "

" A little slow paced... loved the ending. "

" Slow & subtle, but beautifully written. "

" Fits in the "quiet" novel category and does a good job of sucking the reader into the tension and desolation of Aloma and Orren's lives. I wanted to like it more, but maybe I've read too many novels of this ilk that were written slightly better (e.g. Robinson). "

" Plods along but has real integrity and beauty and certainly depicts the raw layers of Appalachian struggle. "

" One of the worst books I've ever read. "

" If you like Marilynne Robinson, you will like this book. Beautiful writing. Lush. "

" Some very nice turns of phrase but ultimately there is not enough happening to keep my interest. Reminds me strongly of Robinson's GILEAD. "

" I think this is my favorite book of the past several years. "

" A wonderfully terse book about men and women and life and love - beautiful language and dialect that doesn't get in the way of the story "

" This is why I read. What a privilege to read such pitch perfect dialogue and beautiful prose. This book will resonate with me for a long time. I strongly visualized the farm and characters, maybe a movie some day? "

" Tenderness appears in small moments and the edges of the rough quality of our connections with one another scrape the calves and ankles and although just barely break the skin are felt constantly. "

" Sparsely written complex story of loss,love and life. "

" This book was interesting -- but I felt like it lacked in a lot of places. It was a quick read and enjoyed it, but was left wanting more. "

" really good stuff with characters you can care and relate to. I found myself sympathizing with Aloma and her situation. Worth reading, blew through it in a week. "

" dry grass & shadows "

" Beautiful, almost Biblical prose. Deceptively simple. Amazing sense of place, and characters with so much just under the surface that the whole book just kind of...trembles. Loved it. Loved the music. "

" Deceptively simple. One of the best books I've read. "

" Such a fulfilling read and so beautifully written. "

" Read it for book club. It was medium interesting. I could understand her, maybe not him. Women have beenput down for eons. Sad.p. 134: "Morning light is good for the soul. I believe that." "

" a slow start but then becomes spare, quick novel about young couple in rural KY in or around 1970; she was orphaned at 3; he was orphaned at 22; will they stay together? loved the voice on the "playaway" tape. "

" This is a quiet and subtle novel with absolutely exquisite prose. Not a page-turner with any real sense of urgency or the unexpected, but still a beautiful, engaging story. "

" Beautiful, almost Biblical prose. Deceptively simple. Amazing sense of place, and characters with so much just under the surface that the whole book just kind of...trembles. Loved it. Loved the music. "

" Forget about it. Time and place are never really established. Characters are sketchy and some plot points are unbelievable. This may be the worst book I've read in its entirety in years! "

" This is a beautiful, quiet book that slowly reveals its beauty. A careful look at the compromises necessary to make a relationship work. Gorgeous writing, particularly about landscape and character details. "

" I loved this book. It is a simple story beautifully written. You can feel the southern heat, smell the tobacco in the fields, feel the tension, the hopes, the fears and the love as this young couple searches for who they will become. This book should become a classic. "

" i liked this book! it had a lot of feeling and i liked how there were no quotations. however the book moved too fast and there was no story to the characters. i liked it but i probaky wouldn't recommendd it. "

" I didn't have the will to go and finish this bleak tale. "

" Aloma leaves her piano to join Orren on his tobacco farm. "

" It was okay. The storyline is a bit trite but rather well written. "

" Beautifully written and tender. I wondered if a self-taught Eastern Kentucky boy could really end up theologically where Bell did; I doubt it. But I liked the gracious way Morgan presented each character. Look forward to her next book. "