Helpful Score: 8
I resisted reading this for years. Years. I wrote it off as romance pap; nothing I'd be interested in.
Yet something made me pick it up, and I was amazed to find it is one of the best-written books I've ever encountered. Even now, all I need to do is think back and I can conjure up the mental images the book produced in me. And I've read probably two hundred books since then.
I say all this with one caveat: I never saw the movie. I strongly suspect I don't want to.
Yet something made me pick it up, and I was amazed to find it is one of the best-written books I've ever encountered. Even now, all I need to do is think back and I can conjure up the mental images the book produced in me. And I've read probably two hundred books since then.
I say all this with one caveat: I never saw the movie. I strongly suspect I don't want to.
Helpful Score: 4
The name is Tom Booker, his voice can calm wild horses, his touch can heal broken spirits. And Annie Graves has traveled across a continent to the Booker ranch in Montana, desperate to heal her injured daughter, the girl's savage house, and her own wonded heart. She comes for hope. She comes fo rher child. And beneath the wide Montana sky, she comes to him for what no one else can give her; a reason to believe....
This story was fasninating, moving, and a unexpected surpised ending. I gave this book a level 5+. Nicholas Evans is a great writer and will keep you wanting for more.
This story was fasninating, moving, and a unexpected surpised ending. I gave this book a level 5+. Nicholas Evans is a great writer and will keep you wanting for more.
Helpful Score: 3
This is one of the best books I have ever read. It is almost magical. This will draw you into the characters' lives and leave you wanting more.
Helpful Score: 3
By now, everyone has heard of this book. If you haven't read it, you should. If you are familiar with the "real" horse whisperer, then parts of this will not ring true, however, it is a great story that will definitely hold your interest. I think the book is much better than the movie. It is an original concept, a very moving story with a gripping, unexpected ending. I think this will become a classic horse story, a must read.
Helpful Score: 2
What can I say that hasn't already been said too many times? If you liked "The Bridges of Madison County" and you like horses, you'll love this one.
Helpful Score: 2
I enjoyed this book for the most part. The ending seemed really rushed to me, but others have argued against me on that, so I must not be among the majority. ;)
Helpful Score: 2
I read this when it came out and loved it.
Helpful Score: 2
I found this book interesting, but not as good as I had expected.
Helpful Score: 2
I was surprised that I didn't like this book as much as I thought I would. It's a good book, but I was a little disappointed. I don't want to disclose why I was disappointed because I don't want to spoil it for other readers.
-K.
-K.
Helpful Score: 2
One of my all time favs. I read it long ago and saw the movie years later. I must say the movie was okay, but the book was magical. Extremely good reading and very thought provoking.
Helpful Score: 1
I love this book. If you saw the movie, the book is even better. A girl has an accident on her horse and loses a leg. Her mother takes her and her horse to a cowboy who she hopes can help them both heal. Her mother and cowboy start a flirtatious kind of thing and it gets very interesting. Don't want to give too much away. Wonderful book.
Helpful Score: 1
I thought the author did an excellent job characterizing the relationship between Pilgrim, the horse, and Tom, the whisperer. The scenes where Tom is using Pilgrim's own curiousity and instincts to train him are very real.
Helpful Score: 1
Far better in the beginning; loses momentum and degenerates from a good story to a slightly better than mediocre romance.
Helpful Score: 1
An intelligent novel about the delicate relationship between horse and human.
Helpful Score: 1
the movie left so much out. my favorite part is when annie says 'i can't believe you're here', and tom replies 'i can't believe i left'. it makes my heart melt everytime i think about it.
Helpful Score: 1
There's a lot more in this book than the movie depicted. It was just okay for me.
Helpful Score: 1
Nicholas Evans is a wonderful story teller - get a hankie ready for this one!
Helpful Score: 1
I LOVED this very touching story of a wounded child and her horse. The movie couldn't come close. I reccommend it wholeheartedly!!
Helpful Score: 1
Much better than the movie. If you're an animal lover (and think they have a lot of intelligence) than you'll enjoy this book.
Helpful Score: 1
This is Nicholas Evans' debut novel, and also the one that the movie that Robert Redford directed and starred in. It is a very moving book -- describing a tender love story and the story of the healing process in a family, after great trauma.
Helpful Score: 1
Very, Very Good Book - Recommended to me by a friend and I have recommended it to many others - Worht the read - Much Better than the movie
Helpful Score: 1
A wonderful read, much better then the movie! The characters come alive for you and it has a good ending! Which is a big bonus for me!
Helpful Score: 1
This is a great book - much better than the movie. It shows just how much animals love and need their owners and vice versa. But it also shows how a man can read these animals and be able to help them in a time when everyone else thought the animal was too far gone to be saved.
Helpful Score: 1
good (much better than the movie. and based on something that has been said to be a true phenomena. I enjoyed this partly because I live in montana where this book takes place
Helpful Score: 1
One morning while teenage Grace Maclean is riding Pilgrim, her goofy, loveable pony, she has a horrendous glass-shattering, bone-splintering, ligament-lynching meeting with a megaton truck that leaves her and her four-legged friend damaged in mind, body, and spirit. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, her jaded, brilliant, bitchy mom, Annie Graves (Kristin Scott Thomas in the 1998 film) is working out a wrinkle in her self-absorbed existence when she gets a call at her plush, Manhattan office about Grace's accident. Racked with guilt, Graves makes it her calling to find the mythical horse whisperer, an equine Zen master who has the ability to heal horses (and broken souls) with soothing words and a gentle touch. Just when it seems he can't be found, what do you know, she finds him. He arrives in the form of Tom Booker-- a rugged, sensitive, dreamy cowboy who helps Pilgrim and Grace repair their fractured selves. To add more mesquite to fire, Booker has a way with not-so-injured, attractive, married women--like Annie. As the plot thickens, so does the familial strife, which threatens to undo Booker's healing work.
Helpful Score: 1
Wonderfully written, deep book.
Helpful Score: 1
An excellent book of hope and healing, later made into a major motion picture starring Robert Redford. A+++
Helpful Score: 1
A favorite! The story draws you in from the beginning, and the characters are likable.
Helpful Score: 1
this is one of my all time favorites. the characters are so deep and alive.
Helpful Score: 1
His name is Tom Booker. His voice can calm wild horses, his touch can heal borken spirits. And Annie Graves has traveled across a continent to the Booker Ranch in Montana, desperate to heal her injured daughter, the girl's savage horse, and her own wounded heart. She comes for hope. She comes for her child. And beneath the wide MOntana sky, she comes to him for what no one else can give her: a reason to believe...
I didn't read this one.
I didn't read this one.
Helpful Score: 1
I had not seen the movie and thought I knew what "The Horse Whisperer" was about. I was wrong. This is the first of Nicolas Evans' novels and is one of my favorites, even though I like all his work. The book is extremely well-written and there's something for absolutely everyone -- geography of Northern NY and Montana, lots of character study of mother-daughter relationships, suspense and romance. You will not be able to predict the ending. A wonderful book!
Helpful Score: 1
This book is SO much better than the movie!! It is one of the few books that genuinely surprised me - a very emotional story, I found myself really caring about the characters. Great book!!
Helpful Score: 1
Ending kinda dissapointing but I still love this writer and he's attention to detail.
Helpful Score: 1
Great story about the power of healing. Robert Redford wasn't bad either - can picture him as you read.
Helpful Score: 1
part love story,adventure, the book is above all a story of self-knowledge,healing and redemption.a real-page turner
Helpful Score: 1
A forty-ton truck hurtles out of control on a snowy country road, a teenage girl on horseback in its path. In a few terrible seconds the life of a family is shattered. And a mother's quest begins -- to save her maimed daughter and a horse driven mad by pain. It is an odyssey that will bring her to...
The Horse Whisperer
He is the stuff of legend. His voice can calm wild horses and his touch heal broken spirits. For secrets uttered softly into pricked and troubled ears, such men were once called Whisperers. Now Tom Booker, the inheritor of this ancient gift, is to meet his greatest challenge.
As an animal lover, I really enjoyed this story!
The Horse Whisperer
He is the stuff of legend. His voice can calm wild horses and his touch heal broken spirits. For secrets uttered softly into pricked and troubled ears, such men were once called Whisperers. Now Tom Booker, the inheritor of this ancient gift, is to meet his greatest challenge.
As an animal lover, I really enjoyed this story!
Helpful Score: 1
This is one of my top 5 books of all times. I read this book and then tried to watch the movie later but could not. I didn't want the characters or beauty of the story be tainted or any way different than how I saw them in my mind.
Helpful Score: 1
Book had much more of an impact on me than movie.
Helpful Score: 1
His voice can calm wild horses and his touch heal broken spirits. For secrets uttered softly into pricked and troubled ears, such men were once called Whisperers. Now Tom Booker, the inheritor of this ancient gift, is to meet his greatest challenge. Annie Graves has traveled across a continent with her daughter, Grace, and their wounded horse, Pilgrim, to the Booker ranch in Montana. Annie has risked everything - her career, her marriage, her comfortable life - in her desperate belief that the Whisperer can help them. The accident has turned Pilgrim savage. He is now so demented and dangerous that everyone says he should be destroyed. But Annie won't give up on him. For she feels his fate is inextricably entwined with that of her daughter, who has retreated into a heartrending, hostile silence. Annie knows that if the horse dies, something in Grace will die too. In the weeks to come, under the massive sky of the Rocky Mountain Front, all their lives - including Tom Booker's - will be transformed forever in a way none could have foretold.
Helpful Score: 1
A very good book...the ending was a real shocker!
Helpful Score: 1
i did not care for this book too much.
Helpful Score: 1
NY Times Bestseller. A child wounded in body and spirit; a horse driven mad by pain; and a woman fighting to save them both. One man is their only hope. Fascinating!!!!!!!
Helpful Score: 1
Grace MacLean used to love horses, until a horrible accident injures her as well as her horse. Her mother, is willing to do anthing to make Grace and Pilgrim well again. Thus, a cross country trip to Montana to Tom Booker, the horse whisperer. This book is much better than the movie!
Good read, once you get into it
Could not put this down, very gripping start!
Great story!
Great book. I really enjoyed reading it.
A most delightful book. Better, I thought, than the movie they made. This ending was alot more realistic
A child wounded in body and spirit. A horse driven mad by pain. A woman fighting to save them both and the man who is their only hope. An excellent book.
I read the book "The Horse Whisperer". I was given the audio and have not used it. The book was magnificent. A great read.
I enjoyed this book so much! The ending really surprised me and stayed with me long after I read it. Much better than the movie!!
I didn't want this book to end.
Forget about the movie...the book is more intense. I was constantly turning the pages, wondering what would happen next. Part romance, part redemption, part drama....this is one of his best books, in my opinion. The ending blew me away...WOW!
The stunning international bestseller that is at once an epic love story and a gripping adventure-a mesmerizing tale of healing and redemption that will hold you spellbound as it dares you to believe.....
this books is so much better than the movie for i cried at the end.
Nicholas Evans is one of the most intriguing writers I've ever come across. He has an ingenious writing style and his books are full of life. The Horse Whisperer is everything the reviews say and more. One review said, "One of the most thrilling, heart-stopping openings to a novel that I can remember..."-The Sunday Age (Melbourne). Man, you'll be on the edge of your seat! Incredible writer. This is not as much about horses as it is the people who love them.
The 43-year old British editor of a New York magazine, Annie Graves, is struck by tragedy; her daughter has been hit by a truck while riding her horse in a snowstorm in upstate New York. The teenaged girl loses a leg, and the horse is left too wild for anyone to control. Annie becomes determined to tame the horse as a way of demonstrating to her daughter that healing is possible. The quest to heal the horse leads the two women to a 'horse whisperer', a man in Montana whose voice can charm the horse
I read this for a TBR potluck challenge in my online book club, The Reading Cove. It started out engaging, but then took a wrong turn.
The opening scenes were gripping. Grace and her friend have a terrible horse riding accident, which also involves the driver of a big rig, named Wayne. He was featured as a focal character who would be a part of the entire book, but he abruptly disappears after the accident, leaving me to wonder why he was given so much page time to begin with...
Grace's mother Annie was a very unlikeable character. She was very emotionally self-centered and cold and unavailable to her husband and daughter. I disliked the way Grace's father, Robert, allowed her to railroad him much of the time. For an attorney in New York City, he was such a wimp in his marriage....
Which leads to Annie's affair with the title's namesake, the horse whisperer. Tom out in Montana. I won't go into too much here, but once Annie and Grace get to Montana (a move it seemed the Robert character would've pushed for more so than Annie's) the story descends into little more than a trite, contrived romance novel. I had zero interest in the development of Tom and Annie's affair...so the rest of the book fell very flat for me. And the ending was extremely rushed!
The healing of Grace and her horse, Pilgrim, was nice to see, but didn't get the page time the beginning of the novel had primed the reader for. So the story was off balance in that respect. I give it a C+.
The opening scenes were gripping. Grace and her friend have a terrible horse riding accident, which also involves the driver of a big rig, named Wayne. He was featured as a focal character who would be a part of the entire book, but he abruptly disappears after the accident, leaving me to wonder why he was given so much page time to begin with...
Grace's mother Annie was a very unlikeable character. She was very emotionally self-centered and cold and unavailable to her husband and daughter. I disliked the way Grace's father, Robert, allowed her to railroad him much of the time. For an attorney in New York City, he was such a wimp in his marriage....
Which leads to Annie's affair with the title's namesake, the horse whisperer. Tom out in Montana. I won't go into too much here, but once Annie and Grace get to Montana (a move it seemed the Robert character would've pushed for more so than Annie's) the story descends into little more than a trite, contrived romance novel. I had zero interest in the development of Tom and Annie's affair...so the rest of the book fell very flat for me. And the ending was extremely rushed!
The healing of Grace and her horse, Pilgrim, was nice to see, but didn't get the page time the beginning of the novel had primed the reader for. So the story was off balance in that respect. I give it a C+.
"The Horse Whisperer" is an amazing tale of life, love and tragedy. Its suspenseful, tear jerking and a book that is hard to put down. It is much better than the movie which is usually the case. I would advise anyone who has seen the movie to read the book.
A superb well-written story that will hold your attention completely. The expression, "I found it impossible to put this book down" fits this story perfectly. You may want to keep some tissues handy as Evan's book will touch your heart as well as your mind.
If you plan to rent the video, don't do it until you've read the book which is SO much better. This is a book you'll want to refer to and share with good friends.
If you plan to rent the video, don't do it until you've read the book which is SO much better. This is a book you'll want to refer to and share with good friends.
I thought this book was ok. I thought the book led us down an obvious path but I thought the ending was horrible. What a cop out!
This is one of my favorite books. Nicholas Evans has a way of keeping the pages turning with his character dialogue and intense descriptions about love. This was one that I pulled an all-nighter reading and one of the first books that made me cry.
A woman takes her injured daughter and her horse to a man who may be the only hope of saving them all.
Both books in this series were excellent!! Be sure to order them both. You'll want to read them both!!
a child wounded in body and spirit, a horse driven mad by pain,a woman fighting to save them both, and the one man who is their only hope.
Better than the movie!
Considering the subject, I expected to love this book. Instead, I couldn't even read it through.
Best book I've read in a long time. Started to read it again but resisted the urge.
One of the very rare time I thought the movie was better.
Great beach read.
I really liked this book more than the movie.
A beautiful story.
Amazon.com Review
The Horse Whisperer is a story made in Hollywood heaven. The novel was written by a first-time author, and the film option was snapped up by aging heartthrob Robert Redford for 3 million smackers. Why take such risks on a brand-spanking-new author? The answer becomes clear upon reading the touching tale.
One morning while teenage Grace Maclean is riding Pilgrim, her goofy, loveable pony, she has a horrendous glass-shattering, bone-splintering, ligament-lynching meeting with a megaton truck that leaves her and her four-legged friend damaged in mind, body, and spirit. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, her jaded, brilliant, bitchy mom, Annie Graves (Kristin Scott Thomas in the 1998 film) is working out a wrinkle in her self-absorbed existence when she gets a call at her plush, Manhattan office about Grace's accident. Racked with guilt, Graves makes it her calling to find the mythical horse whisperer, an equine Zen master who has the ability to heal horses (and broken souls) with soothing words and a gentle touch. Just when it seems he can't be found, what do you know, she finds him. He arrives in the form of Tom Booker-- a rugged, sensitive, dreamy cowboy who helps Pilgrim and Grace repair their fractured selves. To add more mesquite to fire, Booker has a way with not-so-injured, attractive, married women--like Annie. As the plot thickens, so does the familial strife, which threatens to undo Booker's healing work.
Like an expert cinematographer, Evans deftly crafts each scene with precision and clarity, sprinkling in ominous signs and foreboding images. For example, in the opening paragraphs, as Annie starts out on the tragic ride, she comes across a bloody bird wing that seems to have fallen out of nowhere. The weight of impending doom is further strengthened by the truck driver's bad luck--he has a run-in with the highway patrol just moments before his meeting with Grace and Pilgrim. These not-so-subtle subliminal messages are masterfully stitched in throughout the story and may compel readers to act as if they were watching a B-grade horror movie, shouting aloud, "Don't go there!" However sentimental, The Horse Whisperer is an engaging read, sort of like a finely tuned, well-edited film. --Rebekah Warren --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
After all the fuss about the multimillion-dollar book and movie deals for this first novel from a British screenwriter and producer, the book itself is a mild anticlimax. It will undoubtedly be a major seller, however, for it touches a number of hot-wire themes: worldly success versus the simple life, the redeeming power of love, the mystique of animals?all set against a wide-screen background of Montana. But the screenwriter's hand has not been displaced by the novelist's creative imagination, and at too many points the book feels manipulative and schematic, the characters under-realized, just waiting to be filled out by star performers. The narrative begins with a frightful accident: teenage Grace Maclean, daughter of nice-guy lawyer Robert and tough, English-born magazine editor Annie, is out riding near their country home in upstate New York on a snowy day, and she and her beautiful horse Pilgrim are hit by a skidding tractor-trailer. Grace is crippled, Pilgrim desperately injured and mentally shattered. Annie takes things firmly in hand, finds a cowboy, Tom Booker, who is a wizard with horses and, with Grace and Pilgrim in tow, heads out to Montana in search of healing for the horse and ultimate recovery for Grace. Not surprisingly, she and the firm but gentle Booker fall in love?and this is where the frequent comparisons by early readers to The Bridges of Madison County were made. This is a much more sophisticated book, however, even if it draws some of the same morals about big-city angst and rustic simplicity. By far the best things are the scenes of horse-healing, which are genuinely fresh, surprising and seemingly authoritative. It is perhaps a reflection on the rest that Pilgrim's recovery is more affecting than the conventionally melodramatic resolutions for the human principals. But it will sell and sell. 600,000 first printing; Literary Guild main selection; Reader's Digest Condensed Books selection; movie rights to Robert Redford; simultaneous BDD audio; author tour.
The Horse Whisperer is a story made in Hollywood heaven. The novel was written by a first-time author, and the film option was snapped up by aging heartthrob Robert Redford for 3 million smackers. Why take such risks on a brand-spanking-new author? The answer becomes clear upon reading the touching tale.
One morning while teenage Grace Maclean is riding Pilgrim, her goofy, loveable pony, she has a horrendous glass-shattering, bone-splintering, ligament-lynching meeting with a megaton truck that leaves her and her four-legged friend damaged in mind, body, and spirit. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, her jaded, brilliant, bitchy mom, Annie Graves (Kristin Scott Thomas in the 1998 film) is working out a wrinkle in her self-absorbed existence when she gets a call at her plush, Manhattan office about Grace's accident. Racked with guilt, Graves makes it her calling to find the mythical horse whisperer, an equine Zen master who has the ability to heal horses (and broken souls) with soothing words and a gentle touch. Just when it seems he can't be found, what do you know, she finds him. He arrives in the form of Tom Booker-- a rugged, sensitive, dreamy cowboy who helps Pilgrim and Grace repair their fractured selves. To add more mesquite to fire, Booker has a way with not-so-injured, attractive, married women--like Annie. As the plot thickens, so does the familial strife, which threatens to undo Booker's healing work.
Like an expert cinematographer, Evans deftly crafts each scene with precision and clarity, sprinkling in ominous signs and foreboding images. For example, in the opening paragraphs, as Annie starts out on the tragic ride, she comes across a bloody bird wing that seems to have fallen out of nowhere. The weight of impending doom is further strengthened by the truck driver's bad luck--he has a run-in with the highway patrol just moments before his meeting with Grace and Pilgrim. These not-so-subtle subliminal messages are masterfully stitched in throughout the story and may compel readers to act as if they were watching a B-grade horror movie, shouting aloud, "Don't go there!" However sentimental, The Horse Whisperer is an engaging read, sort of like a finely tuned, well-edited film. --Rebekah Warren --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
After all the fuss about the multimillion-dollar book and movie deals for this first novel from a British screenwriter and producer, the book itself is a mild anticlimax. It will undoubtedly be a major seller, however, for it touches a number of hot-wire themes: worldly success versus the simple life, the redeeming power of love, the mystique of animals?all set against a wide-screen background of Montana. But the screenwriter's hand has not been displaced by the novelist's creative imagination, and at too many points the book feels manipulative and schematic, the characters under-realized, just waiting to be filled out by star performers. The narrative begins with a frightful accident: teenage Grace Maclean, daughter of nice-guy lawyer Robert and tough, English-born magazine editor Annie, is out riding near their country home in upstate New York on a snowy day, and she and her beautiful horse Pilgrim are hit by a skidding tractor-trailer. Grace is crippled, Pilgrim desperately injured and mentally shattered. Annie takes things firmly in hand, finds a cowboy, Tom Booker, who is a wizard with horses and, with Grace and Pilgrim in tow, heads out to Montana in search of healing for the horse and ultimate recovery for Grace. Not surprisingly, she and the firm but gentle Booker fall in love?and this is where the frequent comparisons by early readers to The Bridges of Madison County were made. This is a much more sophisticated book, however, even if it draws some of the same morals about big-city angst and rustic simplicity. By far the best things are the scenes of horse-healing, which are genuinely fresh, surprising and seemingly authoritative. It is perhaps a reflection on the rest that Pilgrim's recovery is more affecting than the conventionally melodramatic resolutions for the human principals. But it will sell and sell. 600,000 first printing; Literary Guild main selection; Reader's Digest Condensed Books selection; movie rights to Robert Redford; simultaneous BDD audio; author tour.
TOTALLY GREAT READ !!!!!
Wonderful book, make you laugh and cry and fall in love with all the characters.
Good book.
A deeply moving book. Nicholas Evans is a wonderful author, able to pull emotion from every page.
Child wounded in body & spirit, horse driven mad by pain, woman fighting to save them both & the man who is their only hope...NY Times bestseller
Loved it.....
From the back of book: A child wounded in body and spirit. A horse driven mad by pain. A woman fighting to save them both. And the man who is their only hope
Great story!!
This was a really great book. Currently reading another book by this author, hoping it will be as good as this one.
Boy what a story.
Didn't read it - sorry
Tom Booker can calm wild horses with his voice and touch
Excellent read!
Tom Booker can calm wild horses, his touch can heal broken spirts. Annie Graves is desperate to heal her injured daughter, the girts savage horse and her own wounded heart. Beneath the Montana sky, Tom Booker attempts to do it all.
Pretty good book - a good summer/beach book :)
Good vacation read.
One of my all time favorites
A must read!
great book
A major motion pictureabout a child wounded in body and spirit, a horse driven mad by pain, a woman fighting to save them both and the man who is their only hope...
Labeled with book crossing information. In no way in perfect condition, so PLEASE only ask for this book if you want to read it and pass it along to someone else. If you want a really good copy to keep, this may not be the copy for you. It's kind of old. All in one piece, no pages falling out or anything, but kind of, well, not "NEW" looking.
From the back cover: "A child wounded in body and spirit; a horse driven mad by pain; a woman fighting to save them both, and the man who is their only hope . . ."
From the back cover: "A child wounded in body and spirit; a horse driven mad by pain; a woman fighting to save them both, and the man who is their only hope . . ."
Found this book (and a couple others) in the snow spring 2018 when I was walking my dog. Glad that I didn't pay for it. Author has some writing talent otherwise I would give it one star. I've owned and ridden horses for 45 years and the horse's behavior after the accident didn't ring true. The author at one point (don't recall where in the story) attributed the horse's violent behavior as the horse having let down its owner by not avoiding the accident (or some such nonsense). Based on my 45 years with horses, horses don't appear to have that level of complex thought. It would be understandable for the horse to be fearful of semis after the accident but lashing out at any and all humans is a stretch. But, of course, then there would be no need of making the trip out west to see the horse whisperer.
Once Annie, her daughter Grace, and the horse Pilgrim arrive out west, the focus of the story shifts to the relationship between Annie and Tom, the whisperer, while Grace and Pilgrim become a secondary story. Annie is portrayed as a driven, focused woman who typically gets her way in the family because it's just easier for Grace and her dad Robert to capitulate. Robert is portrayed as a decent, hard working, loyal father and spouse. Yet, once Annie arrives out west, she finds she's irresistibly drawn to Tom and vice versa.
SPOILER ALERTS: At one point, Annie is going to be the only one left at the ranch because Robert (who has come out to visit for a few days) and Grace go back east for a medical appointment, another family on the ranch takes a vacation, and Tom plans to be gone for a few days to train horses for someone else. Before Tom arrives at his destination, he suddenly turns around and returns to the ranch where he and Annie finally give in to their mutual attraction. The book would have been much more interesting had the two resisted temptation. The fact that both justified it as something that was inevitable so why fight it was pathetic. Tom was portrayed in the book as a great, rather noble guy but we learn that he has had frequent meaningless relationships with women, including those who were married. The fact that he had multiple dalliances with married women doesn't seem "noble," even if the women didn't care. Annie's husband Robert had come out to the ranch after Annie and Grace had been there a while. Robert spent several days there and we learn that Tom thought he was a nice guy. Yet, even that didn't stop Tom from acting on his attraction to Annie.
FURTHER SPOILERS: Once Grace realizes the truth about her mother, she takes off on Pilgrim. Tom and another guy (his brother, I think) went out to find Grace. Suddenly, they discover her in some kind of canyon in the midst of a wild herd of horses. Pilgrim is in a fierce fight with the herd's stallion. That also seemed unbelievable. Grace and Pilgrim had been out on their own and the next we know they are in the middle of these wild horses with no explanation. It seemed like the author didn't want to be bothered with details--he just wanted to finish the book. Then Tom suddenly offers himself as a "sacrifice" to the wild stallion. That really stretches the imagination. Then we are back in NY many months later. Annie has had a baby that looks remarkably like Tom--never mind the fact that she had a IUD device while she had her affair with Tom and IUDs have a high success rate in preventing pregnancy--we are supposed to believe that it conveniently failed. And, never mind the fact that Annie previously had multiple miscarriages before having Grace. We are also supposed to believe that Grace has made a remarkable emotional recovery not only from the accident but also from learning the truth about her mother and Tom and has turned into a well-adjusted young lady. The relationship between Annie and Robert isn't the same as it once was--Robert lives in the city with Grace during the week and weekends are at the country home where Annie lives full time with the baby.
Tom and Annie come across as completely self-absorbed individuals who think of no one but themselves. Neither was a very likable character. Really a disappointing book.
Once Annie, her daughter Grace, and the horse Pilgrim arrive out west, the focus of the story shifts to the relationship between Annie and Tom, the whisperer, while Grace and Pilgrim become a secondary story. Annie is portrayed as a driven, focused woman who typically gets her way in the family because it's just easier for Grace and her dad Robert to capitulate. Robert is portrayed as a decent, hard working, loyal father and spouse. Yet, once Annie arrives out west, she finds she's irresistibly drawn to Tom and vice versa.
SPOILER ALERTS: At one point, Annie is going to be the only one left at the ranch because Robert (who has come out to visit for a few days) and Grace go back east for a medical appointment, another family on the ranch takes a vacation, and Tom plans to be gone for a few days to train horses for someone else. Before Tom arrives at his destination, he suddenly turns around and returns to the ranch where he and Annie finally give in to their mutual attraction. The book would have been much more interesting had the two resisted temptation. The fact that both justified it as something that was inevitable so why fight it was pathetic. Tom was portrayed in the book as a great, rather noble guy but we learn that he has had frequent meaningless relationships with women, including those who were married. The fact that he had multiple dalliances with married women doesn't seem "noble," even if the women didn't care. Annie's husband Robert had come out to the ranch after Annie and Grace had been there a while. Robert spent several days there and we learn that Tom thought he was a nice guy. Yet, even that didn't stop Tom from acting on his attraction to Annie.
FURTHER SPOILERS: Once Grace realizes the truth about her mother, she takes off on Pilgrim. Tom and another guy (his brother, I think) went out to find Grace. Suddenly, they discover her in some kind of canyon in the midst of a wild herd of horses. Pilgrim is in a fierce fight with the herd's stallion. That also seemed unbelievable. Grace and Pilgrim had been out on their own and the next we know they are in the middle of these wild horses with no explanation. It seemed like the author didn't want to be bothered with details--he just wanted to finish the book. Then Tom suddenly offers himself as a "sacrifice" to the wild stallion. That really stretches the imagination. Then we are back in NY many months later. Annie has had a baby that looks remarkably like Tom--never mind the fact that she had a IUD device while she had her affair with Tom and IUDs have a high success rate in preventing pregnancy--we are supposed to believe that it conveniently failed. And, never mind the fact that Annie previously had multiple miscarriages before having Grace. We are also supposed to believe that Grace has made a remarkable emotional recovery not only from the accident but also from learning the truth about her mother and Tom and has turned into a well-adjusted young lady. The relationship between Annie and Robert isn't the same as it once was--Robert lives in the city with Grace during the week and weekends are at the country home where Annie lives full time with the baby.
Tom and Annie come across as completely self-absorbed individuals who think of no one but themselves. Neither was a very likable character. Really a disappointing book.
A very entertaining read.
"A child wounded in body and spirit, a horse driven mad by pain, a woman fighting to save them both, and the man who is their only hope. . ."
Great Story!
Wonderful story that will touch your heart
better than the movie
"...a child wounded in body and spirit, a horse driven mad by pain, a woman fighting to save them both, and the man who is their only hope..."
Very enjoyable reading.
Now read what the movie left out.
A child wounded in body and spirit, a horse driven mad by pain, a woman fighting to save them both and the man who is their only hope....The Horse Whisperer....
Excellant book and I have read many times. Much better then the movie.
Very good book! Liked it a lot!
(From the back cover)
A child wounded in body and spirit
A horse driven mad by pain
A woman fighting to save them both
And the man who is their only hope....
A child wounded in body and spirit
A horse driven mad by pain
A woman fighting to save them both
And the man who is their only hope....
Very good read.A must if you like horses.
Much better than the movie!
His name is Tom Booker. His voice can calm wild horses, his touch can heal broken sprits.
better than the movie
Who hasent heard of this book? its way better than the movie!!!
This is really a good book. If you saw the movie, you will enjoy this.
A child wounded in body & spirit, a horse driven mad with pain, and a woman trying to save them both. With the man who's their only hope.
A child wounded in body & spirit, a horse driven mad with pain, and a woman trying to save them both. With the man who's their only hope.
A book much better than the movie...
Another book that is better than the movie (my opinion anyway).
Very good romance--better than the movie.
awesome book
Was a great movie though
Good book!
A child wounded in body and spirit...
A horse driven made by pain...
A woman fighting to save them both...
and the Man who is their only hope...
A horse driven made by pain...
A woman fighting to save them both...
and the Man who is their only hope...
good book based on movie which was also good
Great book. The movie follows the book pretty good up until the end.
I loved both.
I loved both.
Great Read...........
The Horse Whisperer is a story made in Hollywood heaven. The novel was written by a first-time author, and the film option was snapped up by aging heartthrob Robert Redford for 3 million smackers. Why take such risks on a brand-spanking-new author? The answer becomes clear upon reading the touching tale.
One morning while teenage Grace Maclean is riding Pilgrim, her goofy, loveable pony, she has a horrendous glass-shattering, bone-splintering, ligament-lynching meeting with a megaton truck that leaves her and her four-legged friend damaged in mind, body, and spirit. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, her jaded, brilliant, bitchy mom, Annie Graves (Kristin Scott Thomas in the 1998 film) is working out a wrinkle in her self-absorbed existence when she gets a call at her plush, Manhattan office about Grace's accident. Racked with guilt, Graves makes it her calling to find the mythical horse whisperer, an equine Zen master who has the ability to heal horses (and broken souls) with soothing words and a gentle touch. Just when it seems he can't be found, what do you know, she finds him. He arrives in the form of Tom Booker-- a rugged, sensitive, dreamy cowboy who helps Pilgrim and Grace repair their fractured selves. To add more mesquite to fire, Booker has a way with not-so-injured, attractive, married women--like Annie. As the plot thickens, so does the familial strife, which threatens to undo Booker's healing work.
Like an expert cinematographer, Evans deftly crafts each scene with precision and clarity, sprinkling in ominous signs and foreboding images. For example, in the opening paragraphs, as Annie starts out on the tragic ride, she comes across a bloody bird wing that seems to have fallen out of nowhere. The weight of impending doom is further strengthened by the truck driver's bad luck--he has a run-in with the highway patrol just moments before his meeting with Grace and Pilgrim. These not-so-subtle subliminal messages are masterfully stitched in throughout the story and may compel readers to act as if they were watching a B-grade horror movie, shouting aloud, "Don't go there!" However sentimental, The Horse Whisperer is an engaging read, sort of like a finely tuned, well-edited film. --Rebekah Warren
One morning while teenage Grace Maclean is riding Pilgrim, her goofy, loveable pony, she has a horrendous glass-shattering, bone-splintering, ligament-lynching meeting with a megaton truck that leaves her and her four-legged friend damaged in mind, body, and spirit. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, her jaded, brilliant, bitchy mom, Annie Graves (Kristin Scott Thomas in the 1998 film) is working out a wrinkle in her self-absorbed existence when she gets a call at her plush, Manhattan office about Grace's accident. Racked with guilt, Graves makes it her calling to find the mythical horse whisperer, an equine Zen master who has the ability to heal horses (and broken souls) with soothing words and a gentle touch. Just when it seems he can't be found, what do you know, she finds him. He arrives in the form of Tom Booker-- a rugged, sensitive, dreamy cowboy who helps Pilgrim and Grace repair their fractured selves. To add more mesquite to fire, Booker has a way with not-so-injured, attractive, married women--like Annie. As the plot thickens, so does the familial strife, which threatens to undo Booker's healing work.
Like an expert cinematographer, Evans deftly crafts each scene with precision and clarity, sprinkling in ominous signs and foreboding images. For example, in the opening paragraphs, as Annie starts out on the tragic ride, she comes across a bloody bird wing that seems to have fallen out of nowhere. The weight of impending doom is further strengthened by the truck driver's bad luck--he has a run-in with the highway patrol just moments before his meeting with Grace and Pilgrim. These not-so-subtle subliminal messages are masterfully stitched in throughout the story and may compel readers to act as if they were watching a B-grade horror movie, shouting aloud, "Don't go there!" However sentimental, The Horse Whisperer is an engaging read, sort of like a finely tuned, well-edited film. --Rebekah Warren
Did not read this one, but hope someone likes it!
from back of book:
"Fascinating...moving...a big, engrossing book (with) an unexpected ending that surprises mightily." - Los Angeles Times
"Fascinating...moving...a big, engrossing book (with) an unexpected ending that surprises mightily." - Los Angeles Times
I have not read this book but this is from the cover:
The Horse Whisperer is a story made in Hollywood heaven. The novel was written by a first-time author, and the film option was snapped up by aging heartthrob Robert Redford for 3 million smackers. Why take such risks on a brand-spanking-new author? The answer becomes clear upon reading the touching tale.
One morning while teenage Grace Maclean is riding Pilgrim, her goofy, loveable pony, she has a horrendous glass-shattering, bone-splintering, ligament-lynching meeting with a megaton truck that leaves her and her four-legged friend damaged in mind, body, and spirit. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, her jaded, brilliant, bitchy mom, Annie Graves (Kristin Scott Thomas in the 1998 film) is working out a wrinkle in her self-absorbed existence when she gets a call at her plush, Manhattan office about Grace's accident. Racked with guilt, Graves makes it her calling to find the mythical horse whisperer, an equine Zen master who has the ability to heal horses (and broken souls) with soothing words and a gentle touch. Just when it seems he can't be found, what do you know, she finds him. He arrives in the form of Tom Booker-- a rugged, sensitive, dreamy cowboy who helps Pilgrim and Grace repair their fractured selves. To add more mesquite to fire, Booker has a way with not-so-injured, attractive, married women--like Annie. As the plot thickens, so does the familial strife, which threatens to undo Booker's healing work.
The Horse Whisperer is a story made in Hollywood heaven. The novel was written by a first-time author, and the film option was snapped up by aging heartthrob Robert Redford for 3 million smackers. Why take such risks on a brand-spanking-new author? The answer becomes clear upon reading the touching tale.
One morning while teenage Grace Maclean is riding Pilgrim, her goofy, loveable pony, she has a horrendous glass-shattering, bone-splintering, ligament-lynching meeting with a megaton truck that leaves her and her four-legged friend damaged in mind, body, and spirit. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, her jaded, brilliant, bitchy mom, Annie Graves (Kristin Scott Thomas in the 1998 film) is working out a wrinkle in her self-absorbed existence when she gets a call at her plush, Manhattan office about Grace's accident. Racked with guilt, Graves makes it her calling to find the mythical horse whisperer, an equine Zen master who has the ability to heal horses (and broken souls) with soothing words and a gentle touch. Just when it seems he can't be found, what do you know, she finds him. He arrives in the form of Tom Booker-- a rugged, sensitive, dreamy cowboy who helps Pilgrim and Grace repair their fractured selves. To add more mesquite to fire, Booker has a way with not-so-injured, attractive, married women--like Annie. As the plot thickens, so does the familial strife, which threatens to undo Booker's healing work.
Didn't read it my teenage daughter did and she liked it.
mine has a different cover
