The Burgess Boys: A Novel

With apologies to Shakespeare, "some men are born sad and some men have sadness thrust upon them." Bob Burgess is one of the latter. Years ago, a freak car accident with toddler Bob in the front seat claimed the life of Bob's father. Modern psychology sometimes distinguishes guilt from shame this way: Guilt says, "What I did was bad " and Shame says "Who I am is bad." Bob could be the poster child for what happens when blame hardens into shame which results in a life that never really gets off the ground. Nevertheless, it is Bob who is the heart and soul of "The Burgess Boys." He lives his blighted life with humility, intelligence, and humor while struggling to keep his old personal demons from affecting his current relationships. Big brother Jim is a successful go getter who works hard, plays hard, and when he wants your opinion, he'll give it to you. Jim Burgess has achieved worldly success but is not the guy you trust to have your back. Just when you mentally roll your eyes convinced the author's description of Jim is veering into an obnoxious caricature, the origins of his larger-than-life personality begin to emerge. Jim begins to make sense, and this adds to our understanding of his siblings as well. Layers are peeled away as each character responds to unexpected events, and each other.

I found this book captivating and extremely well written. The story describes what happens to the Burgess family when an impulsive, foolish act becomes a catalyst for life changes and truth telling. The characters are fantastic - very human in the best sense of the word: life bats them about, but they find enough courage and tenacity to rise above worn grooves of resignation. Even if the players in the story aren't the most likable at times, they each are worth getting to know. Strout's plot is compelling and raises complex moral questions that have no easy answers. I'm still pondering some points a day after finishing the book. Finally, narrator Cassandra Campbell is perfection. She narrates "The Burgess Boys" with warmth, intelligence and a wicked Maine accent. Ayuh.

It is hard to limit my answer. There are questions about personality, ethical issues, legal problems, political perspectives, etc; lots of great stuff in this book! Perhaps what made it most enjoyable is that there were surprizing twists in the story could take as the focus went from one character to another. I would think I knew what the book was about and then it would swing to another angle.

It seemed very plausible to me. No one was completely admirable or dispicable. No one was fully predictable or fully understood. The characters are real in that we don't always know what someone else will do. Even though we learn more and more about these characters' lives, they can still surprise us.

I loved her Maine accents.

The Burgess Family. It bothered me that the sister was not included in the title.

There's a lot going on all the time in this book. For every emotional point being currently discussed, there are three more egos and two more open story lines hanging in the air. The relationship and family events, though enjoyable and interesting, were not the highlight of this book. I found the Somali migration to Maine the riveting part of this book. How easy it was to see both sides of that emotional hot house.


I found the two brothers in this story to be ever so annoying. Actually, so was their sister. Didn't make me want to read about them less. One of the previous reviewers wrote to save your money - I think exactly the opposite. There is a whole lot of listening in this book.

I bet that most people that read this will love it or hate it. I'm glad I read it. I found it entertaining to the very end.

Cassandra Campbell - she has read a great many of my previous audible purchases. I have always enjoyed her performances. This one - not so much. That first part is especially bad. I wish I could put my finger on why it was so bad. If a reader is having a hard time getting through that first gossipy part, move ahead to the first chapter. I had to go back later and listen to it over. I still see no reason for it.

Elizabeth Strout gives up, ever so slowly, the secrets of the Burgess boys. While doing so, she also tells the tale of a small New England town that is experiencing an influx of imigrants from Africa. A hapless boy makes a terrible mistake, his uncles make more mistakes as they attempt to recuse him. The narration is gentle and perfect. An all together perfect read.

Elizabeth Strout has a unqiue ability to capture people as they are and as they interrelate. With the exception of Tyler's wife, who is a bit of a caricature, the characters are allowed to unfold, or devolve, in a way that feels real and whole. This book is troubling at times but is ultimately a book about how to love, understand, forgive and embrace yourself and others.

This is a book that is about two brothers, Jim and Bob, and a lifetime of agony each has suffered in his own way as a result of a childhood incident. Each has lived with unspeakable memories about a day where a terrible tragedy occurs. However, though this event brings tremendous hurt to an entire family, nobody speaks about it. One brother is sent to a therapist, but for the most part, the family pushes their pain away to get on with life.

This story begins with their nephew Zach committing a hate crime--does he do it from intent or ignorance of what he is doing? This is the central question that underlies the entire first part of the book, and forces the brothers to face what they have run from looking at all this time.

On another level this is such a book for our time! It addresses the question of differentness, of otherness--whether at the level of family who don't know really know each other, or cultural groups who have uneasy relationships as immigration shifts the balance of community and townspeople must come to grips with the presence of people they cannot understand.

This portion of the book explores the way people respond to outsiders, to those who are not like themselves. The author includes the reality that the Somali immigrants who have located in a Maine town are equally suspicious and wary of the Mainers, with whom they now live, after fleeing political horrors and wars in Somalia. The book seems to point out that none of us, at base, even those comfortable with engaging with those different from themselves, are spared the conflict stirred by the challenge of some who find the presence of otherness threatening. Stepping outside the comfort zone of the known and familiar can be so terrifying that people will do all sorts of things to avoid having to adapt to new people and knowledge, even about those they thought they know the best.

This book explores how family must come to terms with the differences, secrets, conflicted emotions and strangeness of their own members, much as the townspeople must find ways to adapt to the changes of having the Somalis enter with their different language, religion and habits.

The author does a masterful job of depicting the intricate tapestry of love, hate, fear, emotions and reactions to having to come to terms with those they find they do not understand. This is a powerfully written book that will stir the reader with emotion as the story unfolds. There were often times when I found myself wondering, "what would I have felt or done in similar circumstances." That is the genius of this book--it engages the reader deeply, and forces us all to examine our own assumptions and beliefs, as well as telling a deeply moving story. I cannot recommend reading it highly enough. I only wish I could give it 6 stars!

I liked the moments when the author created magic with sentences and a plot turning from fiction to an almost suspense pain. I do not enjoy abridged books, but it was too much time and not even Yates could have made this sometimes painfully slow story into a five-star experience.

I`d turn the three divided books into one then made it 150 pages shorter. More magic!

Pam.

kirby Heyborne as Zack, Peter Krause as Bob, Matt Dillon as Bill and Lauren Graham as the sad Susan.

could be perfect.

It was slow and the characters were dry. It was a struggle to get through

I would never listen to anything by Elizabeth Strout again

no

no redeeming qualities

dont read it

The reason I have enjoyed all Elizabeth's Straut's books are because she is amazing at character analysis. I wonder if she has a degree in psychology? She expertly crafts a story and while she does you slowly come to understand what makes each person who they are and why they do what they do. In this book a dysfunctional family is dissected, most of the characters are quite unlikeable but we grow to understand them. You so often wonder how certain roles are "assigned" in families during childhood and continue on throughout the lives of the siblings. The Burgess boys have these assigned roles and only through a major crisis do they finally learn some difficult truths, change their assumptions about themselves and their siblings, grow emotionally and move forward. I think the narrator was excellent, she totally kept my interest. I highly recommend this book.

I really tried to like this book. It is well written and the narrator was fine, so I had trouble assigning star ratings. But, if I had met these characters in life I would try to avoid them, so I certainly didn't want to spend any time reading about them. I had great hopes for liking Bob, but he couldn't save this depressing, miserable story. I will be exchanging this one.