Overall, what did you think of The Ninth Hour? (no spoilers in this thread, please)

Overall, what did you think of The Ninth Hour? (no spoilers in this thread, please)

Overall, I liked the book. It was slow at the beginning and not a quick read. Once I got into the book I really enjoyed it.

I loved the book & was grateful to experience a new author, to me. Her writing is beautiful & thought provoking.

I thought the writing and the imagery were marvelous. The switches in the points of view and time frames were a bit difficult to follow. A fascinating read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and it brought me to a new appreciation for McDermott, whose other works I have read but will now reread. This book has beautiful imagery and strong voice - gifts which are quietly revealed - as is the entire plot line - and one must be in a quiet space to find and appreciate them, I believe. In the fast-paced world we now live in, one filled with technological advances which create the need for quick expectation and response, this book requires a disciplined reader - one who can settle in and spend the time needed to fully experience and appreciate McDermott's vision, story, and message.

I liked it a lot and now want to read Alice McDermott, an author I have never read before this book.

Loved it. I have been an Alice McDermott fan for years and always enjoy her books. The characters and story line are interesting and believable.

The Ninth Hour is a very beautifully told complex story of love, forgiveness and relationships. The Catholicism that is paramount in the book is shown with all its strengths and flaws.

This is a wonderful book; one of the best I've read over the past year. The writing is exquisite and while I found the changes in point of view puzzling at first, they quickly added depth and richness to the story. The first person narrators give an historical context to this story of endurance. For example, the first chapter describes the tragedy of Jim's suicide, but by the end of the chapter, we have him described as "our young grandfather". We know immediately that life will continue. Alice McDermott is a master storyteller and this novel is one of her best.

I’ve been a fan of Alice McDermott for years. I thought the theme of the book was original. A new type of read. Character development was deep and I enjoyed watching them grow. It had a nice plot and wanted to keep reading.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was educated by the good nuns and I know they can be loving sometimes, tough sometimes, heartless sometimes. I felt that some of my teacher-nuns were personified as Sr. Illuminata, Sr. Jeanne, and Sr. Lucy.

I felt like this book was choppy. I wasn't able to follow all the chapters - some of them seemed as though they didn't fit and I wasn't quite sure what the point was. The chapters that focused on Annie and Sally were the most interesting to me and flowed the most.

Very much enjoyed reading "the Ninth Hour". The characters were well developed and authentic. The format took a little getting used to but flowed well for the most part. I like that the warts as well as the beauty were portrayed for most of the main characters. Such a different time from the one we live in now.

I liked the book the more I read. I had a hard time in the beginning, but eventually got into it.

I didn't like it as much as After This (the only other McDermott book I've read) - as someone else mentioned, I found it choppy. It wasn't a quick read and while I didn't love it, I do think McDermott is a beautiful writer. I mostly stuck with the book for some of the beautiful descriptions throughout. The story itself didn't grab me as much as I expected it to, and I was ambivalent on some of the characters as well. Overall, it was a mixed bag for me.

I found The Ninth Hour to be a somber read. Being Catholic, I could relate to the nuns and their service. The characters were full and the writing was beautiful. A thought provoking book to be sure.

A very thought provoking book. The characters (nuns) were strong and wise women with ideas of their own, which I appreciated. The book took some getting used to, the format was very choppy, but once you got into it, it moved along and the necessity for the format became apparent. It was very well written and I have to say gave me a new perspective of these women.

I loved this book. It is slow starting, but her writing is descriptive and poetic.

I did not love this book overall, but loved many parts of it. I thought it was written with depth and character development unusual in today’s novels. The actions of the characters rang true and I could identify with many of the people passing through the book.

This book was so thought provoking that I’m making friend read it so we can discuss it! I felt the characters were developed. I always know I've read a great book when I’m still thinking about it weeks later.

I enjoyed it very much.

I read this book for my bookclub. It opened up some good thought provoking questions sbout religion and decisions we make The character development made me feel I knew them. I like strong women characters and this book had it

To me The Ninth Hour is a book of historical fiction, during the earlier part of the twentieth century the little nuns took care of most of the poor, old, sick people. Ms Mc Dermott shows us the sad truth of the poor and the selflessness of the nuns. This was at times a very sad book full of love, forgiveness and relationships, a beautiful book which I really enjoyed.

The writing is really so beautiful.

I had a hard time with this book because I thought the writing was choppy and the story didn't flow for me. However, I think that the author got her point across about the humanity of men/women in the story, the decisions and actions that we take based on our best choices, and the stresses that we have because of the obligations and responsibilities in our lives, and our human needs. I think that she is an excellent author, and have enjoyed Charming Billy and After This much more