July, July Audiobook (Unabridged)

" A thirty fifth reunion for the college class of 1969 at a small Minnesota college brings together group of former peace activists and 60s hopefuls who are now old and disillusioned and unhappy with their lives. Fast read and predictable. Sort of gloomy "

" Good--30 year college reunion. unhappy people, flashing back to 1969. "

" Follows several college friends at their reunion (they are in their 50s) and their back stories. Again, in O'Briend style, each story is a perfectly contained whole, yet work within the frame of all. Skimpy dialogue. "

" This was about the 30th reunion of a college class of 1969, and focused on a group of about 12 friends, and how their lives had gone over the intervening years. Because of the time frame, Viet Nam, peace protests, politics and the changes over the 30 years are a part of the story. I have read O'Brien's book The Things They Carried, and like the way he writes. He has the ability to really get inside the characters' minds and bring them to life. "

" Reminiscent of "The Big Chill". College friends reminisce about their times during the 1960s at a class reunion 30 years later. I wanted to love this book, I hoped to love this book, but it left me disappointed. It's engaging, and the characters were certainly interesting, but I had higher expectations for it. "

" Many damaged characters at work here "

" There was nothing positive shown in the lives of the characters. They felt no hope. It was difficult to read because it was so dark. "

" Not up to par with O'Brien's usual works. Most of the characters are really disgusting people, though that may be the point. This book just never really grabbed me like his other works. "

" Like "The Big Chill," except without the music. "

" Like I said, depressing. However, good characters. The Vietnam War recollection is my favorite part. "

" This one bored me. A middle-aged high school reunion with Vietnam undertones, like his Nam stuff much better. "

" Some parts of this book I enjoyed quite a lot (like the detail that they missed the actual 30th anniversary of their college reunion and were technically gathered on the 31st), but all the POV became tiring and jarring. "

" Is life really going to turn out like this? It seems that the characters' plights revolved around infidelity. It was like reading the same chapter over and over, about 100 pages too long. "

" Tim O'Brien hhas such a gift for detailing the emotions that we are never able to surrender. In this book he focuses on regret, self-loathing and an inability to change the damage that the characters have each incurred. "

" I'm a big fan of Tim O'Brien, and July, July is a good one of his to start with. "

" Something about this author's style speaks to me. The story line didn't! "

" Wonderfully written class of 1969 stories. "

" goes into detail about several different peoples lives...interesting "

" Love this author's writing style. He specializes in Vietnam-era work, but this takes it and puts a Dynasty-style spin on it. A group of college grads come back for a reunion. Lost of hookin' up, affairs, dealing with past demons, etc.... you will get sucked into this one... "

" The characters were so full of themselves, but still an interesting story I suppose. "

" This was the first O'Brien book I read after re-reading The Things They Carried, so obviously, I wasn't as impressed with it as I otherwise might have been. "

" Not my favorite O'Brien, but still amazing. "

" Any thing Tim Obrien writes is good, but I wish he would get back to Vietnam novels. "

" I'm a big fan of Tim O'Brien, and July, July is a good one of his to start with. "

" Unlike "The Things They Carried" I gained next to nothing from reading this book. I like the way he writes but found the collection of characters uninteresting. "

" I love the way the story was told by skipping back and forth from 1969 to the present day. Although not as thought provoking as his other works, this one still manage to create empathy for the character whose lives were all impacted by the Vietnam war. "

" Not bad. Not my favorite of O'Brien's, though, but not terrible. Unsurprisingly, the character who is a Vietnam veteran has the most interesting story. "

" Not my favorite Tim O'Brien book, but I still liked it a lot. I'm on my way to reading his whole catalogue. "

" Many damaged characters at work here "

" It's amazing what can happen to a writer when he leaves his comfort zone. Sometimes, it's great. Others, it's this. "

" Something about this author's style speaks to me. The story line didn't! "

" Tim O'Brien hhas such a gift for detailing the emotions that we are never able to surrender. In this book he focuses on regret, self-loathing and an inability to change the damage that the characters have each incurred. "

" so terribly depressing. is everyone in their 50's this unhappy? "

" people looking for love, sad "