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THE MIRACLE OF INNOCENCE: A BITTERSWEET, UNFORGETTABLE NOVEL ABOUT A TWELVE-YEAR-OLD CHILD WHO CHANGES THE WORLD. The buzz is big for this heartwarming, funny,
and bittersweet story from Hyde. A quiet, steady masterpiece
with an incandescent ending. An ordinary boy engineers a secular miracle in
Hyde's winning second novel. Her Capraesque theme-that one person
can make a difference-may be sentimental, but for once, that's
a virtue. An uplifting, tear-jerking, and inspiring modern
fable with an extremely appealing young protagonist. Hyde makes the unbelievable seem possible in a
beautifully written, heartwarming story of one boy's belief
in the goodness of humanity. With a book that promotes such an inherently fascinating
idea, it seems almost unnecessary to mention that the book is
well-written, that the characters are interesting and complex
and flawed and real. You start out rooting for the "good guys"
and end up rooting for everyone. "Pay It Forward" is enjoyable
reading, and as a bonus, it will get you thinking outside of
its pages, as few books do. "Pay It Forward"--a book poised to become a phenomenon--is
a well-designed confection that author Catherine Ryan Hyde has
executed with abundant skill. If you ever had a yen for the
utopian, you will have a sweet time with this heartfelt fable. An extraordinary tale that, like its young protagonist,
just might change the world. Big things are expected of this
book (there was already a movie deal in the works before its
release), and with good reason. Pay It Forward is a delightfully
uplifting, moving, and inspiring modern fable that has the power
to change the world as we know it -- which would be a wonderful
phenomenon indeed. [Hyde's] fable speaks to the hunger so many of
us feel for something to believe in that can give us hope..
If the success of Harry Potter suggests that many of us yearn
for magic, Hyde's book delivers an even more profound vision
of what it may be: The simple magic of the human heart. Following on the heels of her critically acclaimed
debut novel, "Funerals for Horses" (1997), Catherine Ryan Hyde
has crafted another affecting tale. It is one sown with promise
and the innate goodness of humankind. Hyde's meticulously wrought,
restrained prose keeps sentiment at bay while at the same time
imbuing "Pay It Forward" with a transcendent power to move.
"Pay It Forward" shores belief and nourishes hope. The story is a quick read, told with lean sentences
and an edge.. Hyde pulls off a poignant, gutsy ending without
bathos. I cried at the end of the book, and I'll cry at
the end of the movie, starring Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and
Haley Joel Osment. Simon & Schuster is betting a lot on "Pay It Forward"
and so far the book is living up to expectations. The Book of
the Month Club has taken it, and Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and
Haley Joel Osment are making the movie for Warner Bros. And
you can see why, for this is a powerful narrative with an idealistic
idea grounded in familiar characters. The philosophy behind the book is so intriguing,
and the optimism so contagious, that the reader is carried along
with what turns out to be a book that lingers long after the
last page is turned. Hyde has a talent for ferreting out dark crannies
in the human soul where insecurity, loneliness and despair dwell,
and for ever so gently training the light of redemption and
awareness upon them. [Her] emotional compass never wavers. |
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