Stern Men

This book was in terrible condition. Half the pages were missing. Started at page 147. Seriously half the book was ripped out.

I love the character Ruth and the New England area setting.

A joyful romp of a novel that truly captures the Yankee spirit. Here is New England for you, on a platter. The characters are all too real and human and the laughs just keep bubbling up. I found myself totally engaged and had a hard time putting this book down. If you're from New England this will be like reading about the people you grew up with, even if you weren't on a small island off the coast of Maine. I sent a copies of this book to my moth-uh and sis-tuh as soon as I finished reading it. Brava! Looking forward to more from Ms. Gilbert. What fun!

Stern Men is just a great read, a highly enjoyable novel. Elizabeth Gilbert gives us a wonderful, well told story. She starts by describing the known history of two small islands off the coast of Maine: Courne Haven and Fort Niles. She quickly focuses in on the difficult birth of a baby girl, Ruth Thomas, in the late 1950s on Fort Niles. A few pages later, we meet her as an 18 year old returning home to Fort Niles after graduating from boarding school in Delaware. The story of Stern Men mainly concerns itself with what Ruth does that summer--she spends time with her idiosyncratic friends, is reuinted with her mother, who lives off the island, and finally, falls in love. While this is not a fast paced novel, I still felt compelled to read it because the story is so engaging. Ruth and her friends were in my thoughts when I was not reading the book and I couldn't wait to return to Stern Men. The book is enjoyable, the story is funny and the characters are nutty, yet still believable. I highly recommend this book.

I bought this book because of the comparison to John Irving (whom I love). But when I started reading it, I sensed Alice Hoffman's style. But either way, Elizabeth Gilbert has a distinct and clever voice. I highly recommend this book to anyone who just wants to feel good and be completely satisfied once the book ends. The story is clear and flows remarkably well, given the unusual subject matter. I can't wait to read more from Elizabeth Gilbert. I loved her creative style and character development. Don't miss this one! She'll be back again!

As I read the first 50 pages of this book, I kept dozing off, and then around page 90 was shocked by a very big secret that kept me reading until another secret was revealed, and then another, and then I was caught like a lobster in a pot and read the whole book in two sittings. The plot line of this book is very unpredictable--an original drama to say the least."Stern Men" will be compared to "The Shipping News" but I didn't laugh as hard, though Gilbert's writing is clever and her observations wry. The protagonist is a female who pretty much stays where she was born, not a male who leaves home. Also, the disappearing culture of lobster men and their families is different from the tourist town culture depicted in "News." Where Annie Proulx introduced each chapter of her book with a little epigram on knot tying, Gilbert introduces each chapter in her book with a relevant blurb on lobsters that seems somehow to mirror Ruth's life. The book will also be compared to "Snow Falling on Cedars" because the characters live in an island community where everyone knows everyone and there are ethnic overtones (Swedes on Courne Haven Island and Italians and Scots Irish on Ft. Niles). All the locals rely on fishing for a living, and like the seamen in "Snow" there are petty rivalries that result in death."When I was a child I spoke as a child." In the beginning of the book, Ruth sees the world as a child would, and tries to make sense of it from a child's perspective. The text and dialogue reflect her childish thoughts in short direct sentences. She learns to hide under the kitchen table and become invisible. As Ruth matures, her thoughts and the book become more complex. On occasion Ruth still hides. Stern Men are the men who go out to sea with the lobster fishermen. They are the second fiddles who supply the physical strength to haul the lobster pots up and down. They are essential, they do the grunt work, but they are not the masters of their own fates. Many of the stern men eventually become the masters of their own ships. Stern men is an analagy for Ruth's maternal lineage. In the beginning they are pretty much taking orders and doing the grunt work. By the end, Ruth is the master of her own destiny.

Oh...a wonderful book. Great characters, and a slow, meandering and completely engaging storyline. I also really enjoyed the quiet, understanted Maine comedy. As a frequent and lifelong visitor to Maine, I can definitely vouch for the fact that Gilbert has *nailed* the pace and dialogue of the people she portrays. Such good work. Buy it, take it to Maine and enjoy.