The Hour I First Believed: A Novel

I have enjoyed reading Wally Lamb's other books, but this one was a slow read for me. A very long book with excerpts about the main character's ancestors, which did not hold my interest. I do enjoy the author's writing style, so I kept reading. I finished it, but it took nearly 2 months to get the job done. Unusual for an avid reader like me.

I enjoyed it. I do understand why people say that it rambled at points . But, I'll still think that that kind of had to do with the narrators rambling thoughts. And it helps you lose yourself in the spiral of what was happening. If there's one thing that Wally Lamb does well, it is the way he transforms you into what is happening. When I'm reading his stories, I always forget what's going on in the outside world.

I really enjoyed reading this book, as I have all of Lamb's books that I've read. Toward the end I began to lose some of the threads of the story, but they all came together very soon afterwards. The themes of the book are timely and most interesting on several levels. I recommend this book heartily.

I was just really disappointed in this classic writer's book. It went into too much detail when it didn't need to. Too many characters and too many stories in a book that started out strong but just ended slowly!

Wally Lamb is my favorite author! I was disappointed in this book, however. He tried to weave in several stories into this novel and it did not work well. I am eager for his next book to come out! I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE is his best book.

Author did well incorporating real life events and fictional characters, and the beginning grabbed my attention. However, it lost some of its intrigue somewhere around the middle of the story thru to the end. It was one of those novels that I was anxious to finished with so I could move on to something else.

Really good writing--I love Wally Lamb's "voice". Well worth reading for its hopeful tone in spite of so many real life/time disasters. Not a 5 star book because there are too many characters and a needlessly detailed subplot that really muddled the themes.

I was surprised to look on Goodreads, and see that Wally Lamb's first novel, She's Come Undone, actually has quite a few negative reviews. (On the store they are much more favorable.) I personally fell in love with that novel, and what made me love it even more was the fact that I didn't think I would. I gravitated toward Lamb's prose and stunning characterization, and was shocked to discover that many others didn't feel the same way. One review stood out to me, where it was essentially said that "one woman couldn't go throught THIS many hardships." In this book, The Hour I First Believed, I really felt that critique.
The book's setup can stand on it's own: The Columbine tragedy. And while the book begins with the troubled couple of Caelum Quirk and his wife Maureen, the book ultimately strays away from that and begins to divulge into other topics, such as alchohol, abuse, prison life, family history, among other things, when it simply didn't need to be. The book is far too long and strays away from it's hook, (Columbine.) and though Lamb makes it clear that the whole reason these things are happening is because of the tragedy, he added far too many plot details and tragedies to the characters, that eventually I ended up skipping to the end. Many passages of this book were wonderful, but I felt like an editor should have trimmed this book down.

I still have a soft spot for Wally Lamb, as does Oprah Winfrey, and I plan on reading I know this much is true, eventually. (I haven't read it yet, and chose this one first because I find Columbine fascinating.) This book actually has cameos from that novel. Also a spoiler, so I recommend reading I know this much is true first.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover 2 more Wally Lamb novels while searching my Kindle. They differ from each other, but they both hold the reader's attention . As his first two books, the reader is eager to follow the main character's journey of life., and I hated to end the books.

This book made the incident real; it put faces, and personalities on the individuals involved. It gave great insight into the whole incident, that the news and TV coverage was unable to do. As a retired teacher, I appreciated the perspective. It is a quick read and well worth the time.

Great book by one of my favorite authors. I have come to believe that Wally Lamb doesn't write bad books. His work is often sad, but is always worth staying with because of the beauty of his characters, in all their flawed glory, his language and the resolution.

I love Wally Lamb, and although I have not finished this one yet, I have a hard time putting it down whenever I am reading it. He is a master at taking bizarre situations and putting a realistic spin on them, and this book might be my favorite of all.

This was such a disappointing book - the style of writing was annoying, I disliked most of the characters, really didn't like the "historic" parts and couldn't wait to finish this book to get it over and done with. I absolutely adored this Author's previous books namely "This much I know is true" which must be one of my all-time favourite books and "She's come undone". It will be a while before I choose another book written by Wally Lamb.

I'm nearly finished with this quagmire of a book (82% according to Kindle) -- too far along to quit, but simply worn out by the whining. I loved Wally Lamb's 2 previous novels, but am very disappointed by this book. The characters are (with the exception of Aunt Lolly) self-absorbed unlikeable people and Lamb spends most of the novel blaming their bad behavior on their unfortunate circumstances. Everyone is addicted to something, but the most prevalent addiction is to drama. The fact that Mr. Lamb has woven into the story every historical milestone in the history of the United States is bordering on comical. He starts with Columbine, weaves in a bit of Viet Nam, jumps backward to Slavery and The Civil War, then back to the future with Hurricane Katrina, returns to The Civil War, The Suffragist Movement, all leading up to Women's Issues and all the hot-button syndromes of the 21st century -- Sexual Abuse, PTSD, anger management (or lack thereof). The female characters can be selfish and bitchy simply because they're women and women have been downtrodden for centuries. The men can be drunken abusers because of War and, I suspect, because their women are bitchy. No one takes any responsibility for their own actions. Mr. Lamb, you're a wonderful writer, drop the "agenda" and tell us another story wit

Typically great Wally Lamb book that does not disappoint with interesting characters, plots, and twists. Enjoyed by those who like stories about people, relationships, and social situations. Arrived in excellent condition.

A spellbinding account of the Columbine massacre with a fictional dimension to drive home the impact of the numerous repercussions that played out for so many. Unfortunately, the second half of the book is disjointed and bogged down with what appear to be a series of ancillary events and characters which do nothing to make this a five-star read.

Wally Lamb was one of my best discoveries last year.
I became interested in this book because it was built around the Columbine massacre. As I read, I found it was indeed about Columbine, but that it was much, much more. This was the book that made me fall in love with Wally Lamb. I immediately bought and read the rest of his books, one after another, and - something that can be said about few authors - I was knocked off my feet with every single one.

Willy Lamb mixes true stories with fiction and makes me cry. The Quirks survive the carnage at Columbine, or do they? They move back to the Quirk Farm but carry the trauma with them. Will psychologist help? Will their marriage survive?

This book is about events following from the mass shootings at a Colorado high school that took place a decade ago. It focusses on a teacher at the school and one of her students. It's a sensative fictionl biography based on fact.

This book is enveloping as only a Wally Lamb novel can be. I have long been a fan of Lamb's writing and this addition to his, albeit small, but brilliant portfolio of fiction works is absolutely breathtaking! I am left awestruck by this work and love the reference to the lead characters from 'I Know This Much Is True'. Read this, please!

As with his other two great novels, Wally Lamb has written another. The story grabs you right from the beginning. His use of fiction/non-fiction is so wonderfully interwoven you would swear all of his characters really exist. Also like his other two novels this one made me re-examine my own life. I highly recommend this book.

Somewhat disappointing and not one of Lamb's best works. The book is a good filler fluff read that doesn't require a lot od thought or gray matter investment. Summary, it's not a good or bad read, it's just a read.

I enjoy Mrl Lamb's writing, his characters and plots, but the old history of his family got in the way. It was too long. Whilte interesting, maybe in another book, I thought it clogged the flow. Good ending.

This book was torture to get through. I thought that maybe it would get better, or make sense, or get to the point. But, no. Last night my husband asked what I was reading and I began a long rambling discussion explaining the many stories involved in this book. As I listened to myself, I realized that this book was just keeping me up at night, and my page-turning was only hoping to get to the "good part". I am done now.

I bought this book in hardcover because I read it from the library, and wanted to own it. Sometimes I had to put it down for awhile because the subject matter (the Colombine shootings) was so upsetting. I also was a little put off by the sheer size of the book, but loved the way all the story lines wrapped together at the end.

At first I was disappointed this very long book wasn't available for my kindle (it is now). But after finishing it, I'm happy, because I'll want to keep the hardcover edition for a very long time. As usual, Mr. Lamb's writing is thought-provoking, multi-layered, engrossing. You care about each and every character as the story unwinds and their lives intertwine. I couldn't wait to see what happened, and I didn't want it to end.

Has it been nine years since his last novel? Well worth the wait.