Our Lady of the Forest Audiobook

" This is a great read, like SFon Cedars deals with similar events filtering through diverse perspectives. Great setting-Washington forests with a mushroom-picking protagonist. Plot focuses on a somewhat dubious Mary sighting-the mushrooms an immediate suspect, but moves out to meditate on religious belief. "

" Read Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars years ago and really enjoyed it. This is not Cedars. Do not reccomend. "

" Holy Visitations: are they really from God or are they drug or psychosis induced halluciantions? In telling the story of modern day catholc magic, our author asks the questions and then answers with does it matter if it brings peace, holy or sacred to the daily lives of hundreds if not thousands of souls on the path to redemption? i guess that was the point. "

" Difficult to read because there is a lot of dialogue and either the writer or editor doesn't believe in quotation marks. None of the characters were sympathetic or likeable. Relationship between characters was not developed. "

" Mushroom pickers and Marian encounters. "

" Well written but ultimately a bit disappointing after his last book. No one in this story is truly completely likable. "

" This book was a bit of a slog. For one thing, the author didn't use quotation marks on the dialogue - not sure why he made this choice, or what effect he was hoping to achieve, but I find that convention doesn't sit well with me and detracts from the reading experience. I also just couldn't really get engaged with any of the characters - they seemed lifeless and unmotivated to me. Nevertheless, I was interested in the story and wanted to see it through. In the end I felt like the story didn't really go anywhere and the characters didn't really go through any changes or developments. A strange book. "

" I found it in my bag of books to take to the used book store and couldn't remember much about it. I skimmed it trying to find something to write here, and apparently I must have given up on it and never finished it. It didn't look appealing to me now either. "

" Mother Mary, some mushrooms, some people, and a whole hell of a lot of description. Sadly, Gutterson's style remained more memorable than the story he was telling. "

" A good fictional exploration of the nature of religous experience. Also very evocative (for better or for worse) of the grim rainy NW. "

" Odd. But a very interesting look at what happens when people want things to be true more than they want the truth. "

" Don't waste your time. Vulgar and boring. Couldn't get past the second chapter. "

" I enjoy Guterson's writing; good character development and beautiful descriptions of the Pacific Northwest, "

" You would love this book based on what you've said about your interests... "

" It was hard to get into, especially since there are no quotation marks. But has a surprising ending that came so quick I had to read it twice. A good read if you like religion and the supernatural.. "

" I wouldn't finish reading this one. "

" A very dark story about Catholicism & miracles. "

" I had a hard time putting this down. He did a great job of showing everyone's different motivations. Great, great book. "

" I'd like to give this a 3.5 rating. It kept me reading, but sometimes I found the characters almost too irritating to go on. "

" Interesting novel by the author of "Snow Falling on Cedars." There's a mystical quality to the story. "

" This is a fascinating tale of a Virgin Mary sighting by a homeless, ill, teenage runaway girl. THis would probably make a great book club discussion although my club has not covered it. "

" Interesting. Agree with others who said they did not like the omission of quotation marks. The ending seemed rather 'unresolved', but that's true to life, isn't it? "

" witty thoughtful entertaining liked it "

" While I was reading it, I didn't think it was very good, but then I couldn't put it down, so I'm not sure what to think. "

" Written by someone with an axe to grind. Ugh. Deliberately offensive. "

" It's been a while since I read this book, and I think I might like to reread it.... "

" Powerful, if at points as unlikeable as all of its very human characters. "

" About a teenager who see's the Virgin Mary in the forest and all the hoopla that goes along with a siting. "

" I loved the book Snow Falling on Cedars, so when I saw these cassettes by the same author at the library, I picked it up. Mr. Guterson sets his stories in Washington State. A book about religious Catholics who sin, what seems like a lot to me. Different, but okay, 3 stars. "

" Nicely written. It really gives you the damp, wet feeling of being in the pacific northwest. "

" If this story had not taken place in the rainy shadow of the Pacific NW, then I might not have enjoyed it as much as I did. Guterson is one of my favorite story tellers and a nice man to boot. "

" Set in the Pacific Northwest, author David Guterson's outstanding use of language allows the reader not just to picture the rain soaked forests but to feel the damp chill our bones. However, I struggled with the story, high pitched catholic fervor (too much theological mumbo-jumbo). "

" No stars was not an option. One of those books where I should have decided to stop 10 pages in. "

" I enjoy Guterson's writing; good character development and beautiful descriptions of the Pacific Northwest, "

" This story brings out the absurdities of “mary worship”. It is set in the pacific northwest and so had a lot of appeal to me because of the setting. "

" Didn't pull me in like his other novels. Storyline didn't pique my interest and the characters were kind of annoying. "