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

Chaos Theory in Practice

I love Wally Lamb. I love how layered and convoluted his stories are, how damaged his characters. With George Guidall’s outstanding performance, I held my breath through each convolution, bifurcation, and twist in the maze. This book is life-changing.

One suggestion: tighter editing of the Lizzie Poplar story. Long and not always relevant.

He takes WAAAAAY to long to get there

I have worked with Columbine survivors and was interested to see what one of Oprah's stars had to say about that tragic time. It's great for the first half but he just gives us too much tragedy after tragedy and then it just gets tedious.I found 2/3 of the way through I was really itching for it to be over. It is very heavy handed. Better editing would have made this a much better book. Get the abridged version and it will probably be better.

A soul searching experieance.

Would you listen to The Hour I First Believed again? Why?

I will listen to The Hour I First Believed again because I was left with to many unanswered question for myself.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Caelum was my favorite character. He gets angry enough to question and analyzed what was happening and trying to find his fault (if any) in the outcome.

What about George Guidall’s performance did you like?

George Guidall is an A+ narrator. He makes you feel that you are as much a part of the story as the characters.

If you could rename The Hour I First Believed, what would you call it?

When Fear Takes Over.

Any additional comments?

The book for me was an emotional and spiritual therapist. I find at times I am Maureen cowering in the corner cabinet and then I transform to Caelum - and scream my way through the next few statements. When I am alone and in a quite room do I finally begin to "Why did I do that?"

tries to cover a huge scope...does a marvelous job

The story covered so much material, but woven into an exquisite tapestry. it was Masterfully done. You sense the emotions are real, the outcomes inevitable.

Mr. Lamb is an excellent story teller.

Wonderful!!!

Loved every second of this book! I wanted to stay in my car and keep listening! The narrator is FANTASTIC!

Sure wish Wally Lamb wrote more novels...!

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

So thought provoking...

What did you like best about this story?

Not what I expected. We all know the story it is based on....but that was just a side story to this amazing novel.

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

He is one of my two top male narrators...he and Frank Muller. So easy to listen to, he has a way of putting you in the novel. More George...please!

Who was the most memorable character of The Hour I First Believed and why?

The women! All so strong in their very different ways...

Any additional comments?

Read this...and then read 'I Know This Much is True' (read it since it is only available as an abridged version on audible) and then...'She's Come Undone" .Wally Lamb does not disappoint....except that we NEED more novels from him!

A triumph in every respect!

I laughed. I cried. I gasped in shock. I mulled and mused. I reflected. I hung onto every word. I could not stop listening. Beautifully written. Lyrically narrated. I did not want it to end. Among the best Audible books I have ever experienced. Will return to this one over and over.

human side of Columbine and more

What made the experience of listening to The Hour I First Believed the most enjoyable?

The narrator is perfect for this story. I was reluctant, as Columbine has been talked about so much. But this story truly showed the human side of Columbine and how such a tragedy can affect lives. I loved the story, the relationships, the writing. Wally Lamb is a great story teller and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

timely

in the continuing wave of mass gun violence, this story brings life & light to the tragedies we have come to know.

Poor choice of narrator!

I found it very distracting that the narrator was an older man and yet the main character was at least 30 years younger. That also effected his 'other voices'.