- Paperback: 792 pages
- Publisher: Random House Large Print; Lrg edition (Oct 1994)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0679756914
- ISBN-13: 978-0679756910
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15.5 x 5.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,861,900 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
The challenges and rewards faced by older adults and their families is the subject at the heart of this provocative new novel. Set in a Florida retirement center called the Palms, the book follows a group of unforgettable residents over the course of a year as their humorous, triumphant narratives unfold.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
A superb read. Almost nothing happens in the story but it is just totally gripping and all of the characters and totally engaging.Recessional
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
20 reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Michener's Retirement Book
1 Jan 2004
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
James A. Michener must be anticipating his own retirement in this book as he writes a compelling and interesting novel about a retirement facility in Florida. What to most might be a very boring subject, Michener once again enlivens his characters and makes them so interesting that the book is a real page-turner. In our contemporary society, the aged are packed away into retirement homes and forgotten. In Michener's view, the elderly live interesting lives, have meaning and purpose, and are thinking, feeling people. Particularly facinating is the attempt of four of the elderly men who attempt to build and fly an experimental aircraft!
Michener invites the reader to ponder the intricate problem of medical science extending human life, and when life ceases to be meaningful. In 2003, the media was buzzing with the attempt by a husband to end the life of his brain damaged wife in a nursing home. Michener has stong opinions on this subject and appears to be a prophet in dealing with a topic that only recently came to the american public's attention.
This is perhaps Michener's last great novel. I believe the reader will find it engaging and worthwhile. Although it is not as superb as "Texas", "Centennial", or "The Source", Michener will not disappoint you in "Recessional".
Jim Koenig
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
this book touched me
15 Feb 2000
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
While I have read a great number of his other books and enjoyed most of them thoroughly, this book touched me like no others. I have two grandmothers living in similar retirement communities to that in the story and this gave me some great insight and understanding to their lives in there. It felt like a true story based on their lives and those of their friends. I highly recogmend the book although it is certainly not like his other epics.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
A true Michener again
30 Dec 2003
Format:Mass Market Paperback
If you enjoy Michener's style at all, you'll find this a good read too. It is true, as others have noticed, that the author may be getting old. Where before, when my first impulse was "nobody talks that way" I could remind myself that English is not my native language and America not my home, in this book many dialogs are clearly contrived. Nevertheless, the thing that matters is how much Michener managed to put into them, and believe me, he still does.
A point noone else commented on: The whole book, from beginning to end, is a royal slagging off of the one profession I despise most. So if you happen to be a lawyer, it may be you will not enjoy the book as much as I did - but especially then I recommend you to read it and try to take it to heart.
A point noone else commented on: The whole book, from beginning to end, is a royal slagging off of the one profession I despise most. So if you happen to be a lawyer, it may be you will not enjoy the book as much as I did - but especially then I recommend you to read it and try to take it to heart.
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