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Title: The Law of Similars by Christopher A. Bohjalian, Chris A. Bohjalian ISBN: 0517705869 Publisher: Harmony Books Pub. Date: January, 1999 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.44
Rating: 5
Summary: vivid vermont and characters with realistic moral struggles
Comment: Once again Bohjalian has captured life in small town Vermont, with vivid settings and believeable characters. As in Midwives, the story involves generally upstanding people in unexpected predicaments of moral ambiguity. This time it's a lawyer, a grieving young widower who has his first romance since his wife's death. But his infatuation with the woman leads him to do something illegal on her behalf. Then his guilt haunts him like a poison -- a situation made more complicated by the fact that he is deliberately injesting tiny doses of arsenic in order to cure a relentless cold. And a coldness in his heart. He succeeds, but not without pain, and self-discovery that includes taking himself off the workaholic pedastal he and everyone around him has built. As in Midwives, there is a sad kind of truth to the characters' growth. But this book is a more compelling read, because in Midwives a jury decides the outcome, and in The Law of Similars no one can save the central character but himself.
Rating: 4
Summary: A flawed and imperfect human being
Comment: The state of Vermont. Non-traditional medicine. A tragic death. Moral and legal ambiguities. A deeply engrossing story. Great characterization.
Sound familiar?
Yes. This is familiar territory for Chris Bohjalian, author of the best-selling "Midwives". And again, he does a great job.
I love the way he structures his books. The reader generally knows what is going to happen, but just doesn't know exactly how. And that is what the fascination is. That is what kept me reading, following the protagonist's thoughts and actions and totally getting into his skin.
The story is told in the first person by Leland Fowler, an 35-year old attorney in the Vermont State prosecutor's office. Just two years before, his wife died in a tragic car accident, leaving him to raise his young daughter, now aged 4. He's grieved for his wife for a long time, and his life lacks much pleasure.
When he develops a sore throat and cold that just doesn't go away he visits the local homeopath, Carissa Lake. There is an immediate attraction. His cold gets cured and a romance develops.
However, when one of Carissa's clients falls into a coma, there are legal and moral issues that come into play. The situation becomes more and more complex as Leland makes some ethnical choices that force him into a trap of his own making.
The title, "The Law of Similars" refers to a basic tenet of homeopathy whereby the patient is treated with an extremely diluted dose of something that has caused his problem, forcing the body to cure itself. For example, a person with poison ivy might take a weakened solution of an herb that is similar to poison ivy.
It is all fascinating reading -- the homeopathy, the legalities, and the ethical questions. But most of all, it is the characterization of Leland Fowler that is most outstanding. Basically, he is a flawed and imperfect human being who sometimes makes poor choices. This is something that we all can relate to.
The other characters are never quite as fully developed, but it doesn't matter. This is Leland Fowler's story all the way.
The success of "Midwives" makes this book a rough act to follow, and at first I was disappointed because the author used the same landscape. It is also only 320 pages long and I missed the length and complexities that a few more characters might have brought. But I just couldn't stop reading.
I recommend this book even though it misses getting my highest rating. There is no doubt in my mind though, that I will be on the lookout for Mr. Bohjalian's next book.
Rating: 2
Summary: Law of Similars: a disappointment
Comment: Unlike Bohjalian's first two novels (Midwives and Water Witches) The Law of Similars is a disappointment. The Law of Similars is an apt title, however, as it is similar to the storyline of Midwives. Both are about women practicing alternatives to traditional medicine who find themselves implicated in the death of a patient. And, both are good in explaining two popular types of alternative medicine. But that is where the similarities end. The Law of Similars falls very short of the well-developed and gripping tale of Midwives. There is no law that says a similar story will yeild similar proclaim. The characters in Similars are undeveloped. Leland Fowler is transformed from a somewhat sympathetic widowed lawyer and father of a young daughter, who is doing his best to carry on with his personal and professional life after the untimely death of his wife, to the less sympathetic, inept and bumbling rescuer of Carissa Lake, his new love interest, and the homeopath accused of prescribing an ultimately fatal remedy. The plot was weak, too predictable, and falls short of being convincing. Was Bohjalian making an attempt at formula writing? Or, was he thinking more of a movie script? Either way, this was a disappointing read.
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Title: Trans-Sister Radio: A Novel by Chris A. Bohjalian ISBN: 0375705171 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 14 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: WATER WITCHES by Chris Bohjalian ISBN: 0684826127 Publisher: Scribner Paperback Fiction Pub. Date: May, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Buffalo Soldier: A Novel by Chris A. Bohjalian ISBN: 0609608339 Publisher: Crown Pub Pub. Date: 05 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Midwives: A Novel by Chris Bohjalian ISBN: 0375706771 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: 28 October, 1998 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Sister by A. Manette Ansay ISBN: 0380729768 Publisher: Avon Books (Pap Trd) Pub. Date: June, 1997 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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