I always resist rating something lower than the average but I just didn't care about most of the characters in this book. Considering it is a character-driven novel and a long one at that, it felt like a failing. I did enjoy all of the WWII passages though. ( )

A good read to understand the generation who went to war when they were far too young and how it affected their entire beings. Myrer did a great job of conveying emotions and feelings of war and the aftermath. ( )

I tried, this time, to read this book analytically- to figure out why it means so much to me, why it looms so large in my head. I don't know that I have a rational answer- the protagonist is a Puritan, bound by duty and hampered by unnecessary suffering. His wife is presented as completely unlikeable, a martinet and a shrew. Really, there aren't a lot of characters here with whom I can identify even a little bit- but it doesn't matter. Somehow, for me, this novel exemplifies a generation. It explains things to me about World War Two, about the people who were caught up in it and changed by it, and how the sixties were born. It's a huge, sweeping portrait of a time that seems golden in retrospect. I adore it still. ( )

i could not relate to any of the characters even though I've lived through many of these eras. The men as well as the woman were not easy to care about in any significant way except in the most tragic part of the book, the polio scare times.
( )

I never understood my dad until I read this book. This book so completely makes you feel a part of the whole pre-WWII generation and the music that kept them going despite the great depression.HIGHLY recommended! ( )