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

Abridged version

The first half of the book was great. It kept me interested and wanting more. Then came the second half. It was almost like trying to put two books into one. I finished listening to it only because I already devoted so much time.

I agree with the review that said if there is an abridged version try that.

Too wonderful for words

I am, once again, in awe of Mr. Lamb's skillful storytelling. How he manages to weave details together to masterfully tell a well-paced and intriguing story is unrivaled.

Very nicely performed as well. The narrator's voice felt genuine - like I was really listening to Caelum tell me about his life and history.

Love the book, not the narrator

What did you love best about The Hour I First Believed?

I absolutely adore anything by Wally Lamb. His books are so real and moving.

Did George Guidall do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

He did, but perhaps to a fault. He would do what I guess he considered a feminine voice for women which was really off-putting. There were times when it was almost insulting.

Great Lamb!

This is a really sad yet amazing book. I really enjoyed it but did want it to rush in the story a bit.

powerful, intelligent novel about coming to terms

If you like your novels uplifting and concisely-plotted, The Hour I First Believed might not be the book for you. This is a big, ambitious work, seeking to tie together many aspects of the American experience of grief, from historic tragedies, to family dysfunction, to high-profile media tragedies and the individual stories lost in the noise, to the political marginalization of the imprisoned, to the quiet breakdowns that happen over years in the privacy of our own homes. From a less able writer, this would simply be too much stuff to cram into one story without a loss of effectiveness, but Lamb is an author capable of making you believe that, to the contrary, all these things can and do come together in the lives of normal people.

Full of heartache and meandering trips into the past (a la Richard Russo), Lamb's work is about a complex, flawed everyman simply trying not to drown in his own shattered life, reaching out to any floating object that comes near, from therapists to alcohol to sex to his own family history to, finally, expressing himself directly to the reader. At times gut-wrenching (especially the depictions of the Columbine shootings) and at times heartfelt and beautiful, Lamb's writing is very honest. Having lost my brother to a drawn-out battle with cancer and witnessed the different responses of the remaining members of my family to the experience, I can say that the author understands the two-steps-forward-one-step-back process of moving through anger and grief. Like a man who buys a new car, then sees that model of car everywhere he drives, Lamb's protagonist, Caelum Quirk, begins to realize the extent to which everyone around him (or in his past) is living their own story of loss and survival. Through those connections, the story expresses a quiet, moving sense of hope.

Readers of this book seem divided on Lamb's decision to cram so much tragedy into one book, to the point where it starts to seem arbitrary on the part of the author, like God raining down misfortune on Job in the Old Testament. However, I thought this was an intentional decision, meant to challenge the reader and perhaps the author, and I think it mostly worked. It's arguable that the book meanders a little too much, yet I found each sub-story compelling in its own right. I felt that they all fit together on a thematic level, providing an honest emotional history not just of Caelum, but of the ways we Americans face pain, when it strikes us and not just some anonymous stranger on the news.

a keeper

I will listen to this book many times, life lessons at every chapter. while following and moving along many characters. terrific narration also.

A kick in the gut, much like life.

I think everyone under the age of 30 should read this account of lives change forever bye the Columbine massacre.

Wally does it again!

Ever since I read “I know this much is true” I’ve been hooked on Wally Lamb. He does not disappoint!

Not My Favorite Lamb Book, But Still Quite Good

Wally Lamb is an excellent writer. The first half of the book had me interested and anticipating every minute. Caelum and Maureen Quirk are intriguing and real and Lamb did an excellent job of character building. The way he developed how the tragedy of Columbine affected every part of their lives from how dysfunctional his wife became to how understanding and patient he became, which was not his nature. You feel the emotion this couple have had to deal with and how that day changed everything forever.

After the shootings, they fled from Colorado to Connecticut to live in Caelum's family farm and to bury Caelum's aunt whom he loved. There they would attempt to rebuild some sort of a normal life again, however more tragedy ensues and their lives take another tragic turn.

This is where I find the book gets into a hodgepodge of stories. As Caelum is sorting through his aunt's effects, he comes across old diaries, clippings and documents, which reveal all sorts of family history and secrets that help Caelum, come to terms with who he is. It is through the reading of many of these historic papers that I found my mind wandering. I was able to concentrate on the important parts, but they were buried in a mountain of unnecessary information that could have easily been edited out without doing any harm to this novel.

As for the narrator, George Guidall, I thought he was excellent. He has that "tired" and raspy tone to his voice. Perfect for someone like Caelum. He really added personality to the main character.

Although this book is definitely worth listening to, I can't say I'm not just a little disappointed. If I could, I would have rated it 3 1/2 stars.

Clever knitting together of fact and fiction

There were several things I really liked about this book, and top amongst them was the clever way that the lives of these fictional characters were interwoven with the actual happenings and events, I felt it was done very skillfully. I also felt that there was a very intesting exploration in the story of the concept of "victims". Who are the 'victims' of a tragedy, and how the 'victims' of such an event can 'ripple out' way beyond those directly involved. The story also makes one consider how people can simultaneously be both victims and perpatrators. It also made me consider that however much we feel we are in charge of our own destiny sometimes, 'chance', 'fate' and plain bad luck, can knock you off course in small or major ways. This was a very intersting story, and I had a lot of sympathy for the characters. That said I felt it could have been edited to produce a somewhat tighter narrative, and some of the 'historical' passages were a little over detailed to know real point. Not this authors best book in my opionion, if you want to read Lamb at his best go for an unabridged version of 'I know this much is true'. That said this was still an excellent story and well worth a listen.