This novel follows the lives of 5 Harvard graduates, beginning with their enrollment until their 25th graduation anniversary:

* Ted, a classicist, Greek, an outsider because he doesn't live on campus - always struggling to make his mark

* Jason, a sports star, jewish only on the paper - until the loss of the love of his life leads him to Israel

* Danny, a piano prodigy, always looking for public applause and sometimes overreaching

* Andy whose family funded one of the houses within campus. He never extinguishes himself professionally but in the end has an impact on all of them

* George, a Hungarian refugee, obsessed with politics and making his life worth the sacrifices he made.

This is an interesting novel but again for the most part it failed to actually engage me on a more emotional level. All of the protagonists are driven by professional ambition (nurtured by their families and the alma mater), disregarding their private lives, maybe except for Jason who actually follows his heart's desire and leaves the US and Harvard behind. But the others have to learn their lessons after affairs and putting public adulation before love and dedication - and some never learn.

Still in the final analysis, again, this novel left open much of the interior workings. Romances don't get infused with emotions, they're told pretty much straight-forward, like reciting facts... and given some characters' attitudes it's pretty difficult to see how anyone could fall for them and/or agree to marry them. So, it's the heart of the story essentially that's missing (for the most part). And adding that heart would have lifted this novel from average to good in no time. But it was not to be.

Sheila and Bob lead the perfect life, successful in their jobs, 2 daughters, an epitome of a marriage - but Bob has kept a secret for 10 years, a secret that comes back to haunt him when he takes a call from France.

Years ago, I read Segal's "Doctors" 3 times, I read Acts of Faith, Love Story, Oliver's Story and Prizes and I remember them all, especially Doctors, very fondly. Maybe that's why this book ultimately disappointed me. First of all, the prose seemed incredibly simple and dispassionate at times.

And secondly and more importantly, how can a matter so complex as having a child from an affair a decade ago turn up, be handled properly in just over 200 pages? 50 of which deal with flashbacks to the beginnings of Sheila and Bob's relationship and to his affair? The focus is with the family the boy comes into, but the boy himself who after all just lost practically his whole world, is more a footnote. Where's just one thought about what's best for this child? Instead we read about 2 spoiled girls, Sheila who's tempted to sort of return the affair-favour, and Bob who just feels guilty. But the premise would have deserved much more...

That the book still gets an average rating is due to the fact that in the end, I got sucked into the story. But the disappointment remains.

Back from my visit home now. I did end up finishing it before departing, but couldn't take the time to update.

I kinda liked it, and I understand why it did so much noise back in the day. It's simple, it's sweet, and even while you are reading a formula (some type of mash-up between Cinderella and Romeo and Juliet)  it has this air of fresh honesty that charms. Dialogue sounds true too (like your mouth wasn't a sewer thorough uni).

There are bits where "society marches on" is a thing (like the doc telling the diagnosis to the husband first), and the end, that if you aren't expecting, you must live in a closed jar, but for the most it's a cute read to fill a couple of hours and a pop-culture gap.

My Free Friday Read.

It was part of a summer haul I still hadn't gotten around (southern hemisphere, it's winter here), and since I'm clearing my shelves in preparation for a quick trip to my hometown, I hope to dock it today and leave at moms'.

Love the movie, have wanted to read the book for years. Don't know what took so long -- 93 pages long. Ryan O'Neal and Ali McGraw were the perfect choices for Oliver and Jenny. Everyone tells me what a mushy story it is, but I never thought that about the movie, and I enjoyed the book, and especially the truth in it that there are no atheists in a fox hole.