The Hour I First Believed

A Novel

By: Wally Lamb

Narrated by: George Guidall

Length: 25 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

When high-school teacher Caelum Quirk and his wife, Maureen, move to Littleton, Colorado, they both get jobs at Columbine High School. In April 1999, while Caelum is away, Maureen finds herself in the library at Columbine, cowering in a cabinet and expecting to be killed. Miraculously, she survives. But when Caelum and Maureen flee to an illusion of safety on the Quirk family's Connecticut farm, they discover that the effects of chaos are not easily put right.

While Maureen fights to regain her sanity, Caelum discovers five generations' worth of diaries, letters, and newspaper clippings in his family's house. As unimaginable secrets emerge, Caelum grapples with the past and struggles to fashion a future from the ashes of tragedy. His quest for meaning is at once mythic and contemporary, personal and quintessentially American.

©2008 Wally Lamb (P)2008 HarperCollins Publishers

George Guidall is an amazing Narrator

This was a very long winded book for me to listen to. I found the main character to be whiney and martyr like. I think it was the point of the book. By the end of the book, I found myself sobbing. It was a great way of depicting life as an individuals narrative. Something I came to enjoy, was how Wally weaved history into the fabric of the story. It appalled me to know that women of 19th century would be incarcerated for being raped and beaten if she was in any way drunk or around drunks. It made me think of how far we have come and maybe not come. While I doubt I would listen to this again, I would most graciously listen to anything narrated by George Guidall. His voice, inflections, changes in character for the story were the best I have heard.

excellent

I love Wally Lambs books. This one is my favorite. you could imagine that this was really 2 books. book 1 & 2. but when you bring it around full circle and really realize it's all about his life, through his eyes.... that's when you get it; and it becomes amazing!

Living on the fault line of chaos

Any additional comments?

A grim and sad story that wrenched at my heart. A study of how people inflict damage upon one another either directly or indirectly. How pain can ripple out and cause collateral damage. Wally Lamb touches on the topic of PTSD without dredging it through melodrama. What kept going through my mind during it was a quote from a John Irving novel…'tolerate those with intolerance.'

Not his best

What started as an interesting fictional story about the Columbine tragedy, started to meander and was complicated by a long & tedious family history of the main character. That family history was necessary to bring the story together at the end but could have been cut WAAAAY down. I found myself half listening to those parts. And the family history parts were made even more tedious, because they were written in the manner of long ago, with never-ending, overly polite descriptions of every detail. I was glad when I finished it.

I wasn't mad when it ended...

What did you like best about The Hour I First Believed? What did you like least?

I liked the storytelling style and the emotional ups and downs (mostly downs) but I didn't like the story overall so much. The wife annoyed me. A lot.

If you’ve listened to books by Wally Lamb before, how does this one compare?

I am a big Wally Lamb fan. I loved 'She's come undone' and 'I know this much is true.' This was my least favorite of Mr. Lamb's books.

What about George Guidall’s performance did you like?

Great range and the characters voices were distinctive and believable. Wonderful performance!

Did The Hour I First Believed inspire you to do anything?

No.

as good as expected

If you could sum up The Hour I First Believed in three words, what would they be?

like living history.

What did you like best about this story?

the struggle and awareness of psychological issues that have been brought upfront by the characters. the main character is so human , I felt I wanted to just hug and comfort him.

What does George Guidall bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

his ability to change roles according to what character he is reading for. he brings them all alive in a great way. It made we wonder how he actually recorded the book. it sometines sounds as if here are two people narrating.

Any additional comments?

can't wait for Wally Lamb's next book.

Such a great book

I will miss the characters
They come alive and become your friends
Wally Lamb is such a great writer
His love for his characters is evident
I soon will run out of his books
Hope you enjoy as much as I did

STUNNING

Wally Lamb has written a precious treasure and we are priviledged to listen to it.

Yeah, it's that good.

Cry every chapter. terribly graphic. Columbine Littleton Colorado massacre far reaching consequences. 19 90 s kid.

Great book. Great Author, Great Narrator.

This is the longest book I've ever listened to. I didn't think a book could hold my attention that long but, I was wrong. Wally Lamb is a great author and I love George Guidall as a narrator. There were several story lines in one story, all of it was interesting and enjoyable.