Stern Men

by Elizabeth Gilbert

The "wonderful first novel about life, love, and lobster fishing" (USA Today) from the #1 bestselling author of Eat Pray Love, Big Magic and City of Girls

In 2000, Elizabeth Gilbert's Stern Men debuted to phenomenal critical attention. Now, Penguin is publishing a new edition of Gilbert's wise and charming novel for the millions of readers who devoured Eat, Pray, Love and remain hungry for more. Off the coast of Maine, Ruth Thomas is born into a feud fought for generations by two groups of local lobstermen over fishing rights for the waters that lie between their respective islands. At eighteen, she has returned from boarding school-smart as a whip, feisty, and irredeemably unromantic—determined to throw over her education and join the "stern men"working the lobster boats. Gilbert utterly captures the American spirit through an unforgettable heroine who is destined for greatness—and love—despite herself.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Historical Fiction, Adult Fiction, Novels, Book Club

289 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Elizabeth Gilbert is an award-winning writer of both fiction and non-fiction. Her short story collection Pilgrims was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway award, and her novel Stern Men was a New York Times notable book. Her 2002 book The Last American Man was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critic’s Circle Award.

Her memoir, Eat, Pray, Love, spent 57 weeks in the #1 spot on the New York Times paperback bestseller list. It has shipped over 6 million copies in the US and has been published in over thirty languages. A film adaptation of the book was released by Columbia Pictures with an all star cast: Julia Roberts as Gilbert, Javier Bardem as Felipe, James Franco as David, Billy Crudup as her ex-husband and Richard Jenkins as Richard from Texas.

Her latest novel, The Signature of All Things, will be available on October 1, 2013. The credit for her profile picture belongs to Jennifer Schatten.

Reviews

[Elizabeth]

I respect Elizabeth Gilbert as a writer--a lot. Her dialogue jumps off the page, her descriptions are taut and humorous. But I do feel that this book reveals an author in her early period trying to find her groove. There are some plot points that fall short, and the character arcs only develop fully in the epilogue. About a third of the plot of the book seemed to fall into the last chapter. That being said, I'm becoming more and more interested in reading various writers' early work, mostly because the flaws show how far they have come and how every writer struggles at the beginning of their career.

I'm not sure if I would recommend this book to someone who is simply a fan of Eat Pray Love. However, if you are studying writing as a craft, Gilbert shows off some textbook skills along with some mistakes. It's a great way to see all the ingredients laid out, but not quite gelling. I'd like to read the Last American Male next.

[Helena · Rating 1 out of 5]

Extremely boring and poorly written.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so taken with this book I could cry. I seem to be in the minority and I cannot understand why! Charming, captivating, brilliant-I loved every single page. Frankly I was not enchanted with this author’s most famous book, Eat, Pray, Love. I gave it 3 stars and it may have been that it was so hyped that by the time I got to it-meh. So luckily I later read the Signature of All Things and whammo-I was in love. But this one-oh my God I loved it. Some reviews pointed out technical sorts of things that were wrong, which I admit I know nothing of the mechanics of writing. I am, however, a reader-voracious for 55 of my 60 years. It even felt a little Alice Hoffman-ish to me.

The only thing that I can think of regarding the less than rave reviews, is that perhaps you have to be a Northeast coastal Yankee to fully appreciate this story. I was born and raised on the far northeastern coast of Massachusetts. I am not unfamiliar with lobstering. I speak “down East.” I understand the language, the accent, the dialect, the idiom, the phrases. I could HEAR the characters speaking to each other. They came alive. I got them. And the characters! What is not to love about these wonderful, real, fleshed-out true to life people? People seem to think this is about lobstering. Well, it is. But it is so much more. It tells of two remote islands off of Maine, where grudges and history run deep through the citizens’ veins. There is so much to be learned here. And the ending? Perfect.

This book is a treasure. I will remember it.

[Понкратова Людмила · Rating 4 out of 5]

Скоріше так, чим ні. Початок роману виявився для мене дещо сухим, не могла призвичаїтися до стилю написання, зустрічалося багато дуже простих і коротких речень. Життя на островах, на яких чоловіки займалися ловлею омарів, здавалося яким-то похмурим, але поступово "втягнулася" в читання і вже з цікавістю спостерігала за розвитком сюжетних ліній. Доволі атмосферно, нічого раніше не знала про ці острови штату Мен і взагалі про те, як треба ловити омарів. Поступово дізнавалася про сімейні перипетії родини головної героїні Рут- історію життя її бабці, матері...
Взагалі Елізабет Гілберт вже в цьому дебютному романі вдалося колоритно виписати характери своїх персонажів (і це справді та Елізабет Гілберт, яка написала "Їсти, молитися, кохати"...), багато гумору, іронії, якоїсь життєвої мудрості. На мою думку, образ Рут не розкрито до кінця; так, вона нарешті(!) взяла себе в руки, вірніше сказати, все в свої руки і добилася успіху, але куди поділися 6 років її життя? Хотілося б дізнатися більше подробиць саме про цей її шлях...
Я не знаю, кому я симпатизувала найбільше в цьому романі, не скажу, що саме Рут, можливо, місіс Поммерой? Ще раз повторюся, що герої різнохарактерні , їх немало в оповіді і мені було цікаво за ними спостерігати.
Взагалі роман сподобався, з таким історичним зануренням у співіснування двох (повторюсь) островів, мешканцям яких, можливо вдасться врешті решт порозумітися... За великим рахунком, мені здалося, що саме острови і є головними персонажами роману...

[zzosska · Rating 2 out of 5]

невдале знайомство хоча я розумію що це дебютний роман але було нудно та прісно. кінець прикольний

[Jodi Maples, MSW, LSW · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps it was my love of her other book, Eat, Pray, Love, that made me not completely love this book. If 1/2 stars were an option, I would have gone with 3 1/2 stars, so I'm rounding up. It was an interesting read...characters were well written, but there was no one I was emotionally invested in (although I loved Kitty, the drunken "aunt"). It seems that perhaps there is more commonality between classes than between geographic groups...this was about a small, lower-middle class community on the east coast who were dependent on lobsters to get by, but it could have easily been the small, middle class community in Iowa that I grew up in that was dependent on the weather & crops to get by. It was the small-town anecdotes that I found most entertaining.

It almost seemed as if this book was written in stages & left that way...several chapters overlapped on information & character description. The fact that Ruth was given so many opportunities that she didn't take advantage of (out of spite? misguided loyalty to her father?) threw me a little bit. While I saw the (predictable) ending coming before they went to the wedding on Courne Haven, I was a little annoyed that she didn't want to see more of the world before settling down. I'm sitting here typing myself into a lower rating for this book...I'll stop now.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

My wife, the daughter of a lobsterman in Maine, bought this book after seeing Elizabeth Gilbert speak. After she'd read it I picked it up casually, not really expecting to read it. I was surprised by how quickly it grabbed me and how much I loved the book. I suppose living in coastal Maine with my 20+ years of exposure to a family tied to island living and lobstering allowed me to picture each and every character perfectly. A great ending, too.

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

Generally, when describing books I try to use more specific language, but in this case my opinion of Stern Men after reading it can be summed up in one word- Weird. I slogged through it, but the book never really completely grabbed me. It had some of the trappings of the things I look for in a good novel; artful writing, an intriguing cast of characters, enigmatic plot twists, but I never really came to a basic understanding of the character of Ruth Thomas. One moment she is full of sass and wry banter, and the next she is making completely reckless decisions, alienating the people she cares about, and behaving like a self-absorbed, sullen teenager. I suppose Gilbert wrote this a long time ago, but I expected more from her. I did enjoy the attention to detail and the lengths the lobstering community goes through to stay afloat, but Stern Men ultimately left me wanting for something it just didn't have.

[Bianca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stern Men was very readable, but it was bumpy and ultimately, it fell flat.
Before the story gets going, we hear about the settlement of the two islands of the coast of Maine - Fort Niles and Courne Haven - and various other historical aspects.
Fishing, especially lobstering, is the main money-making activity on the islands.
The most interesting characters were the women, Ruth Thomas, whom everyone calls intelligent, although I can't quite understand why. Her mother left the family and the island when Ruth was a little girl. Her next-door neighbour, Mrs Pommeroy, becomes her mother figure. The two have a lovely relationship.
The dialogues were well written, they felt quite authentic. But generally, I found the writing clunky, with too much exposition. A good editor could have made this better.

[Baljit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gilbert deserves far more credit for this novel than for her much publicised 'Eat, Pray, Love' and wishy-washy 'Commited'. In 'Stern Men' she takes us into the very heart and soul of this isolated island community of lobstermen. The subject, Ruth Thomas, is a fiesty young lady who is determined to stay on the island and join the gruff seamen in pursuit of lobsters. Here Gilbert delves into the dubiuos ancestery of Ruth, the longstanding fued between the people of the neighbouring island and the many characters of island inhabitants. It is definitely a well-researched novel, and a smoothly woven tale about a little known community. cant say i have read many novels set within a lobster-fishing community and i began this novel with a sense of trepidation less the content appeared too dry, but i think Gilbert skilfully broached the subject, without boring any reader with too much technical detail.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore this book. It takes a little getting into - the history of lobster fishing off the shores of Maine that begins the novel is necessary to the plot, but a little dry (or perhaps it's that, as yet, we have no idea which characters to hang our hats on). But quickly it becomes one of those books that you cannot put down. The characters are utterly unique - and I think that's one of the things I enjoyed most about the book; that each character was fully formed, with backstory, a pattern of speaking, a method of walking, interacting, living that was so utterly them and no other literary character I've read before. It's clever, extremely funny in places (god, the conversation in the bar about having a prize fight with a chimp . . . GOD) and just a thoroughly satisfying read. Wonderful.

[Ярослава Литвин · Rating 4 out of 5]

Прекрасно написана надзвичайно нудна книжка :)

[Vityska · Rating 4 out of 5]

Історія про суворих чоловіків, які ловлять омарів, і дівчину, яка зрештою всіх їх зробила.

[Beverly Fox · Rating 1 out of 5]

*Disclaimer: As always, this review contains spoilers so if you want to read this novel with bated breath don't read this review. (Not that this is that kind-of book anyway, but just in case.)

Anyone who follows my reviews here knows that I am a huge fan of Elizabeth Gilbert which is why it pains me to say that I really, genuinely did not like this book. I might go so far as to say that I hated it.

It isn't because her writing was sub-par in any way. Gilbert shows the same astounding gift for dialogue and capturing the essence of real-life people that I first encountered in Pilgrims (her collection of short stories which I read prior to this) and I would still recommend her to anyone who was looking for a good example of writing strikingly real characters or dialogue. She still does an amazing job of capturing the complexities of human relationships. And she still shows the same flair for creating atmosphere with setting and she devotes more time to that in this book than pretty much anything else. In fact, a much more accurate description of this book would be to call it a story of two islands and their people rather than a love story or even a coming-of-age story which is how most reviews describe it.

Where the book fails, however, is in the story itself. Mainly, it's too damned short. When I was still in the midst of reading this a friend asked me how long it was. I told him it was a little under three hundred pages. He commented on it being a rather short book and I realized that I hadn't really thought about it before then. At the time, it didn't worry me. That was until I finished a chapter ending in a huge development and then beheld the word "Epilogue" on the next page. It hit me like a smack in the face.

And then as I read through that last chapter I was horrified to find that she had skipped over six years following the dramatic development in the previous pages and jumped straight to the (albeit heartwarming) conclusion of the story. So far as the story arc goes she pretty much completely skipped over the climax and jumped right into the resolution. I was shocked when I realized this. And, to put it mildly, I was pissed.

"What the hell? Did she not know how to write out that confrontation? Did she write it but then scrap it for some reason? Why the hell would she do that?" I don't know the answers to any of these questions nor to the countless others that come up as she describes where all the characters are at six years later- because she didn't write them.

I'm not saying that you can't skip time in a story. Heck, there's nine years between the second and third chapters and that didn't phase me at all. What I am saying is that when the main character is revealed to have a huge life change in the works and her father has just learned this shocking revelation you don't skip over what happens next.

What's more, the resolution, at least so far as the love story, doesn't make a whole heck of a lot of sense. I mean, the main character meets this guy, they have a total of two relatively awkward conversations before walking off into the woods and screwing like bunnies (in one of the most graphic and out-of place sex scenes ever written, by the way). The adults in charge are pretty pissed and one is expressly forbade to see the other so that by the time of that big revelation they haven't seen each other or spoken for about five months. Then, in the epilogue six years later, they apparently have one of the happiest marriages on the planet even though the only thing they seem to do together is screw like bunnies. I'm sorry, but great sex does not a miraculous relationship make. And calling this book a love story because of that is just straight-up ridiculous.

And if you're in it for the other reasons- those complex relationships between the occupants of these two islands, their long history of distrust and warring over lobster fishing territory, their complex and somewhat fascinating way of self-governing and their chosen lifestyle which is so vastly different from the mainland- you'll still be disappointed. Gilbert has the main character do something for the community which every single flippin' character in the book repeatedly says would never, ever happen and provides virtually no explanation as to how she does it. Is she just magic? What on earth did she say? How could she possibly get them all to agree to that? Explaining it all away by saying that because she was an accepted insider is not a satisfying end.

Like I said, I was pissed. Still am, in fact (I'm sure you can tell). I have absolutely no idea what purpose that giant skip forward served other than to ruin what seemed like it could have been a really good story. And while this is no way detracts from my love of her other works it will make me wait a while before I pick up her new novel.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Elizabeth Gilbert's first fiction effort. This is not Eat, Pray, Love. Not at all. If you want Eat, Pray, Love ... read that book and not this one. The men here are not sexy. Our female protagonist doesn't travel far and wide. There is no pasta. Don't read Stern Men and complain that you're not getting Eat, Pray, Love. If you need that EPL tie-in to make it through the day, this was probably one of the books that caused Gilbert to constantly owe money to her ex-husband for the rest of her life.

Ruth Thomas, our heroine, is born and grows up in Maine on Fort Niles island. Fort Niles is a scrappy and tiny place for lobster fishermen and the women they love and/or abuse. If you can't or don't want to be a lobsterman, it's best you leave Fort Niles. But even though Ruth has a special connection that would allow her to leave and "do better," and she can never be a lobsterman, all she wants to do is stay. This book is about Ruth and how she finds her way. For most of the book, Ruth is 18 years old and acts it: smart and savvy yet raw and impulsive.

The two subplots include the story of Ruth's grandmother and her mother, and the bitter (and hilarious) lobster wars between Fort Niles and Courne Haven. I thought the characters were well-written and the research was impeccable. Gilbert must have spent months researching how lobstermen and the lobster business operate.

YOU MUST READ THE EPILOGUE. Sometimes I'm guilty of just skimming the epilogue because I've assumed all of the plot action happened already. Read the epilogue or else you'll just be depressed. I do wish the action in the epilogue was expanded on and made into actual numbered chapters. But I really liked this book, and can't wait to get into The Signature of All Things next.

[Suanne Laqueur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Her best? No. But I love it for sentimental reasons—it was her first fiction I read. The audio narrator was pretty good, except for the accent she put on for Cal Cooley, which drove me nuts. Listening made clear the parts I would've skimmed if I were reading. But again, it's dear to me.

[Juniper · Rating 3 out of 5]

having just read gilbert's newest novel, 'the signature of all things', i wanted to go back and re-read this book, her novel that came out in 2000. it's fine. there are some similarities to the newer novel: strong female lead; a family with money, working in/with, & understanding nature. but this earlier works is not quite fully realized, and kinda bumpy along the way. but, the setting is so interesting and gilbert has a few characters i really enjoyed.


* edited for typo. original review written 02 dec 2013

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Foi o título que me chamou a atenção! O título e o facto de estar à venda por apenas 2,50€. Ah, e também por ser escrito pela irreverente e hilariante, Elizabeth Gilbert. Estas foram algumas das razões que me levaram a adquirir esta obra e a mergulhar nestas duas ilhas remotas da costa do Maine, com personagens terrivelmente hilariantes que compõem a comédia/tragédia/romance/documentário sobre lagostas mais original que já tive oportunidade de ler!
https://momentosdemagia.wordpress.com...

[Катерина · Rating 3 out of 5]

Весь роман здався просто завʼязкою, а найцікавіше уже відбулося в епілозі. Я б хотіла прочитати саме ту історію, яка була на останніх сторінках. Тому я трішки розчарована.

[Yevheniia Voitsekhovska · Rating 4 out of 5]

Начитавшись відгуків, шо це найслабша книжка авторки (у якої я ще нічого не читала), я приготувалася до того, шо буде зовсім погано. Але ні. Мені сподобався повільний темп розповіді і деталі побуту жителів островів більш-менш знайомого вже штату Мен (дякувати Стівену наше всьо Кінгу)).
Подолавши трохи нудний довгий пролог, було цікаво слідкувати за життям героїв, дорослішанням і становленням Рут. Кінець книжки мені також сподобався, бо всі порозумілися між собою і знайшли як найкраще пристроїти свої вміння і амбіції.

P.S. Поставила би скоріше 3.5 зірочок, якби гудрідс мав таку можливість

[Berengaria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel, which I read in German translation. The setting, the quirky characters and the little love story were all charming, and although it's been years now, I still remember the story vividly.

Personal note: the main female character reminded me so much of my mother in attitude and speech, that I ordered a copy (in English) and had it sent to my parents. My mother refused to read it, citing she didn't want to know "how she is", and my dad's only comment was, "why did you think we'd like this? There's so much *swearing*!" (errr...is there? I didn't notice.)

There you go.

Review Summary: Enjoy it yourself. Don't show your parents.

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wish certain books could be fitted with a big neon light flashing “NOT WORTH IT” so I wouldn’t waste my time. There is nothing wrong with this novel, per se; however, it was likened to John Irving but has none of his spark – the characters are pointlessly, boringly idiosyncratic; the incidents felt clichéd and the language either dull or silly. Gilbert’s trying for quirky New England family comedy crossed with chick lit, but I don’t get it. Give me John Irving any day.

[With apologies for the rather shallow commentary - this was all I wrote after I read the book in September 2011!]

[Анна Bilenka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Після майже квартального fiction-застою, нарешті перша книжка, яка чудово зайшла на розкачку.
Сюжет не рухається, підозрюю, через обмежену островом географію, герої справжні, але також не рухаються.
Головне, що взяла для себе – віру, що якщо писати, рано чи пізно напишеться щось справді значуще.

[Tetyana Veselkova · Rating 2 out of 5]

Найгірше, що читала цієї авторки.
Дуже прісна книга, герої протягом всього часу маяться, нудьгують, не мають жодної адекватної мотивації своїх дій.
Вест розвиток подій і розвʼязк�� вклалась просто в епілог.

Якщо ви читали щось новіше авторки цю книгу можете пропустити.

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Отримала дуже затишне задоволення читати книгу і занурюватися в цей маленький острів штату Мен. Зізнаюсь, місцями він видавався настільки суворим і відрізаним від цивілізації, що мені було аж важко було уявити. Тепер до історії. Відчутно, що це перша робота Ліз. Інколи мені важко було зрозуміти мотиви героїв, особливо на початку - мама раптово зникла, Рут не хотіла жити з мамою, не хотіла до школи, не хотіла з острова, але й не хотіла нічого робити на острові.. спершу мене це дуже дратувало. Не логічність всій подій, чи то брак мотивів зі сторони автора. Але мало по малу Ліз нам почала все пояснювати. Деякі відповіді вона приберегла до самого кінця і тут теж можна багато інтерпретувати. Інша дещо слабка сторона - деякі персонажі справді могли б бути описані краще. Наприклад, мені далі важко зрозуміти любов Рут і Овні. Тільки тому, що ми майже нічого про нього не знаємо.. Проте деякі персонажі були все ж дуже живі. Наприклад, місіс Померой. Мені подобалися їх з Рут стосунки названої матері і дочки. У них було дуже багато довіри і відвертих розмов. Можливо, частково це можна пояснити їх острівним життям і відірваним від норм і mores решти материка. І Сенатор, такий собі названий дідусь Рут. Мрійник, чия мрія здійснилася.
Вкінці я жадібно ковтала кожне речення, так мені хотілося ще, бо попри ростянутий сюжет всієї книжки, в останні сторінки авторка вкладає десятиліття. І знову ж відчуття недосказаності, або може Ліз хотіла, щоб ми самі дійшли до відповідей, який бракувало. Рада за героїню, що вона обірвала порочне коло і не повторила долю бабці і мами, а мала сміливість вибороти свій шлях.

[Book · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Суворі чоловіки" Елізабет Гілберт.

Перше знайомство з авторкою почалось саме з цієї дебютної книги. Чесно кажучи відчуття після прочитання доволі різні та суперечливі.

В книзі багато омарів, причому дуже велика кількість. Я б сказав книга про ловлю та приготування омарів в різних блюдах.

Книга про конкуренцію, любов, намагання показати "своє Я", нав'язування своїх поглядів іншій людині тощо. В книзі розкривається буде багато різних питань.

Взагалі історія про життя дівчини на ім'я Рут, яка намагається знайти себе, та в подальшому не залежати від своїх родичів.

Знаючи, що це перший роман авторки, то взагалі неточності можна списати на її можливість пошуку власного стилю.

Можу сказати, що книга трішки затягнута, тільки наприкінці розповіді події розгортаються більш динамічніше.

Авторка показує нам історію двох островів та досвід в ловлі омарів. Велика кількість гострих діалогів, багато родинних секретів. Ці факти дійсно придають історії цікавинку.

Сказати що задоволений від прочитання роману не можу. Для мене звичайна книга.

Але читати можна.

7/10

[Ron Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

It turns out Annie Proulx went too far in "The Shipping News." You don't have to go all the way to Newfoundland to find irresistibly quirky people living off the cold sea. Elizabeth Gilbert found them in Maine.

In "Stern Men," her first novel, Gilbert describes the contentious battles between lobstermen living on Fort Niles and Courne Haven, two almost identical islands 20 miles off the coast. These are places inhabited by quiet men who carry a big claw.

As Gilbert wittily suggests at the start of each chapter, their lives reflect the prickly, hard-bodied lives of their catch. Their work is isolating and fiercely competitive. There are no fences in the ocean, no legal way to mark one's lobster "fields" except by tradition and intimidation.

"Every lobster one man catches," Gilbert notes, "is a lobster another man has lost. It is a mean business, and it makes for mean men. As humans, after all, we become what we seek."

Despite the wry comedy of this novel, it doesn't try to hide the scars of human cruelty. For generations, the two islands have fallen into periodic "lobster wars" that decimate their business, destroying boats, traps, and lives.

But beneath a fierce-looking exoskeleton, these hard-drinking, foul-mouthed characters are surprisingly sweet. You just have to know how to handle them. Gilbert does.

And eventually, so does her heroine, Ruth Thomas. She's a smart, aimless young woman who's returned to Fort Niles after an expensive private-school education that makes her a misfit in this little world of misfits.

Ruth isn't sure what to do on an island that employs only men. Women here typically become mothers or alcoholics (or both), but neither of those career moves interests her. She'd like to work as a sternman for her father, the island's most successful lobsterman, but he won't hear of it.

Ruth's peculiar family history conspires with her own immaturity to keep her on the island in a state of agitated suspension. Her grandmother and mother spent their lives working as virtual slaves for the Ellises, a wealthy dynasty that stripped the island of its granite and Ruth's family of its dignity.

The Ellises are now down to a few ancient members - hysterically described in all their self-absorption - but they're still trying to exert their influence. Determined to resist them and their controlling generosity, Ruth turns down their offer of college tuition to loiter around the island, alternately concerned and annoyed with her father and his quarrelsome friends.

She spends her days chatting with Mrs. Pommeroy, her sweet foster mother who supports herself by cutting the hair of everyone on the island. Mrs. Pommeroy had always hoped Ruth would marry one of her seven boys, but her boys are more numerous than desirable.

Ruth's other companion is old Senator Simon Adams, the island's archaeological authority who was never a senator nor an archaeological authority. He dreams of putting his collection of artifacts (junk) into a museum of natural history. But his greater concern is providing employment for one of Mrs. Pommeroy's mentally challenged sons. His latest quest concerns the tusks of a circus elephant that died in a shipwreck 138 years ago. Ruth and the senator spend weeks watching young Webster trudge through the mud flats looking for such treasures.

This is all funny for us, but it's no life for a smart young woman, and Ruth knows it. In the midst of her boredom and despair, she spots Owney Wishnell, the quiet nephew of a wealthy minister from the other island. Think "Romeo and Juliet" with a Maine drawl and a much happier ending. It turns out ya can get thah from heah.

"Stern Men" maintains a tricky balance between romance and tragedy, the comic and the grotesque. Gilbert demonstrates a sweet care for these wounded, quirky characters with all their foibles and limitations. She's particularly sensitive to the way they talk or, more commonly, sulk.

If there's anything to complain about in "Stern Men," it's clustered at the end. Why, in such a delightfully original story, are we served up a clich sex scene that reads like something from the true confessions column of a men's magazine? (Gilbert was a writer for GQ when she wrote this novel.)

Second, and perhaps more disappointing, the most substantial character development takes place off-stage during a five-year gap between the end of the story and a brief epilogue that lets us know how wonderfully everything turned out once everyone started behaving better. Having detailed these people's stagnant lives so effectively, Gilbert seems unwilling to describe their molting process during the crucial phase.

But these are minor complaints about a book that's perfect for summer reading and deep enough to crack the prevailing wisdom that competition is the highest state of being. Beneath the waves of wit and romance, "Stern Men" is a rich meal.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2000/0720/p1...

[Marta Tatusko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Книжка читалась досить рівно, без особливих емоційних злетів чи падінь. Клубок з історією розмотувався рівномірно, але всередині клубка була приємна вишенька - завершення. Мабуть ця рівномірність розповіді і є уособленням життя на острові, і дала мені, читачу, відчути його сповна.
Правильна книжка для відпочинку.

[Khrystyna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Скажу відверто, це не найкраща книжка Ліз Ґілберт. Проте, я дуже люблю те що вона пише. Можливо, комусь цей твір здасться занадто нудним і монотонним про щоденні клопоти життя на острові та якісь дивні омарові війни. Мені ж ця монотонність була потрібна. Я наче трішки пірнула в життя острів'ян і жила з ними руттиним життям.
Найцікавіше Ліз залишила на останні 20 сторінок книжки. Уся динаміка в епілозі. Чи це такий сюжетний "хід конем" або ж просто ґандж її дебютного роману, хто зна?
Моїми улюбленими героями стали місіс Поммерой, від якої справді віяло теплом і турботою, та Сенатор, який понад усе вірив у свої мрії (слонячий бивень!).

[Lady Lex · Rating 5 out of 5]

В мене не було завеликих очікувань стосовно цієї книги (бо я чудово розумію, що розповідь про маленький острів й не має бути сповнена бразильських пристрастей, вона така ж некваплива й одноманітна, як життя на цьому острові), в мене взагалі не було жодних очікувань. І це спрацювало. «Суворі чоловіки» потіснили в моєму серці «Дім на краю ночі» на поличці про маленькі острови й зайняли своє законне місце. Книжка безсумнівно моя. Нехай в якийсь момент я й передбачила фінал, але ж іншого завершення цієї книги я і не вбачала. Тільки такий. Дякую за крихітку Руті, яка змогла!