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.

A Journey

This isn't a book. Like Wally Lamb's others, it was a journey. When you finish, your brain is tired. But it's very well-written and interesting. It wasn't one of my favorite books but I'm glad I listened to it. I also love George Guidall, the narrator. Don't expect this to be a book about Columbine - it's not. What happened at Columbine is the event that sets the book in motion and weaves it's way throughout the story of Calum Quirk. Enjoy!

overwhelming

I often wonder what type of life Wally Lamb has lived. His books are full of mental illness and incredible adversity. Sad lives across generations. Strength in loss. sometimes it was just too sad to read and too real. Well written and engaging.

Another Great Adventure from WL

At first, I thought this book is not as good as "She Come Undone" and " I Know This Much is True" but I could not put it down and I could not wait to start reading it again. It grabbed my full attention gradually. I was not disappointed and liked this book in a different way than the others.
Don't expect the same approach the other books had.
It was a pleasure to read.

Wonderful

This is the best book I've listened to this year, Wally Lamb at his best, its just a shame we have had to wait so long.
This book captured me from the beginning and then got better and better, George Guidall did an excellent job bringing all the characters to life.

Plots .. so many

Good read but you need to make sure you are ready to keep track of all the plots within the plots.

Not as good as his other books

I was disappointed by this book. It certainly did not live up to his previous books. The main characters were not very interesting and although they went through some harrowing experiences it seemed distant and not very emotionally involving.

The story within the story was very interesting though and I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the history of that period and especially women's roles in the early 20th century.

I didn't particularly care for the narrator. He seemed old and it didn't fit with the character he was narrating.

It still was a riveting listen that kept me interested through many long hours of cooking and housework!

I felt the horror of Columbine

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend it for the mature reader who is looking for more than just a good story.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Alphonse: honest and real ...also though a limited appearance Aunt Lollie for the same reason

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Velvet calling Mo "Mom"

Any additional comments?

Although at times the horror of Columbine made me wonder why I kept listening to the story I was drawn to finish it due to the excellent character development and narration.

This book makes one look at like just a little differently.

Great story telling. Wally Lamb can span the generations and still keep the reader on the edge of the seat. Whether listening to moments of The Columbine story or hearing of the horrors of the hospitals during the Civil War, this book kept up a fast pace from beginning till the end. I felt that this book even may have changed me a little. I highly recommend this book. Makes you stop and think about a lot of things.

A Gem of a Book!

I hestitated to buy this book when it first came out because of the Columbine shooting subject matter and because it sounded kind of depressing. And really, it kind of was depressing and dark starting out, but the great writing and character development were so exceptional that I kept listening. I don't want to go into too much detail so as not to spoil the story, but I will just say that it was a wonderful story of personal growth and redemption that has really stayed with me since I've listened to it. I think that John Irving fans would enjoy this one.