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Horse Heaven
"It's not true," says a character in Jane Smiley's funny, passionate, and brilliant new novel of horse racing, "that anything can happen at the racetrack," but many astonishing and affecting things do—and in Horse Heaven, we find them woven into a marvelous tapestry of joy and love, chicanery, folly, greed, and derring-do.
Haunting, exquisite Rosalind Maybrick, wife of a billionaire owner, one day can't quite decide what it is she wants, and discovers too late that her whole life is transformed . . . Twenty-year-old Tiffany Morse, stuck in her job at Wal-Mart, prays, "Please make something happen here . . . This time, I mean it," and something does . . . Farley, a good trainer in a bad slump; Buddy, a ruthless trainer who can't seem to lose even though he knows that his personal salvation depends upon it; Roberto, an apprentice jockey who has "the hands" but is growing too big for his dream career with every passing day; Leo the gambler and his earnest son, Jesse, who understands everything about his father's "system" except why it doesn't work; Elizabeth, the 62-year-old theorist of sex and animal communication, and her best friend, Joy, the mare manager at the ranch at the center of the universe—all are woven together by the horses that pass among them: Two colts and two fillies who begin with the promise of talent and breeding, and now might or might not achieve stardom.
There are the geldings—Justa Bob, the plain brown horse who always wins by a nose, a lovable claimer who passes from owner to owner on a heart-wrenching journey down from the winner's circle; and the beautiful Mr. T., raced in France and rescued in Texas, who is discovered to have some unusual and amazing talents.
And then there is the Jack Russell terrier, Eileen, a dog with real convictions—and the will to implement them.
The strange, compelling, sparkling, and mysterious universe of horse racing that has fascinated generations of punters and robber barons, horse-lovers and wits, has never before been depicted with such verve and originality, such tenderness, such clarity, and, above all, such sheer exuberance.
Haunting, exquisite Rosalind Maybrick, wife of a billionaire owner, one day can't quite decide what it is she wants, and discovers too late that her whole life is transformed . . . Twenty-year-old Tiffany Morse, stuck in her job at Wal-Mart, prays, "Please make something happen here . . . This time, I mean it," and something does . . . Farley, a good trainer in a bad slump; Buddy, a ruthless trainer who can't seem to lose even though he knows that his personal salvation depends upon it; Roberto, an apprentice jockey who has "the hands" but is growing too big for his dream career with every passing day; Leo the gambler and his earnest son, Jesse, who understands everything about his father's "system" except why it doesn't work; Elizabeth, the 62-year-old theorist of sex and animal communication, and her best friend, Joy, the mare manager at the ranch at the center of the universe—all are woven together by the horses that pass among them: Two colts and two fillies who begin with the promise of talent and breeding, and now might or might not achieve stardom.
There are the geldings—Justa Bob, the plain brown horse who always wins by a nose, a lovable claimer who passes from owner to owner on a heart-wrenching journey down from the winner's circle; and the beautiful Mr. T., raced in France and rescued in Texas, who is discovered to have some unusual and amazing talents.
And then there is the Jack Russell terrier, Eileen, a dog with real convictions—and the will to implement them.
The strange, compelling, sparkling, and mysterious universe of horse racing that has fascinated generations of punters and robber barons, horse-lovers and wits, has never before been depicted with such verve and originality, such tenderness, such clarity, and, above all, such sheer exuberance.
640 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
247 people are currently reading
3478 people want to read
About the author
Jane Smiley
132 books2,704 followersJane Smiley is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist.
Born in Los Angeles, California, Smiley grew up in Webster Groves, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, and graduated from John Burroughs School. She obtained a A.B. at Vassar College, then earned a M.F.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. While working towards her doctorate, she also spent a year studying in Iceland as a Fulbright Scholar. From 1981 to 1996, she taught at Iowa State University. Smiley published her first novel, Barn Blind, in 1980, and won a 1985 O. Henry Award for her short story "Lily", which was published in The Atlantic Monthly. Her best-selling A Thousand Acres, a story based on William Shakespeare's King Lear, received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992. It was adapted into a film of the same title in 1997. In 1995 she wrote her sole television script produced, for an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street. Her novella The Age of Grief was made into the 2002 film The Secret Lives of Dentists.
Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel (2005), is a non-fiction meditation on the history and the nature of the novel, somewhat in the tradition of E. M. Forster's seminal Aspects of the Novel, that roams from eleventh century Japan's Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji to twenty-first century Americans chick lit.
In 2001, Smiley was elected a member of The American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Born in Los Angeles, California, Smiley grew up in Webster Groves, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, and graduated from John Burroughs School. She obtained a A.B. at Vassar College, then earned a M.F.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. While working towards her doctorate, she also spent a year studying in Iceland as a Fulbright Scholar. From 1981 to 1996, she taught at Iowa State University. Smiley published her first novel, Barn Blind, in 1980, and won a 1985 O. Henry Award for her short story "Lily", which was published in The Atlantic Monthly. Her best-selling A Thousand Acres, a story based on William Shakespeare's King Lear, received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992. It was adapted into a film of the same title in 1997. In 1995 she wrote her sole television script produced, for an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street. Her novella The Age of Grief was made into the 2002 film The Secret Lives of Dentists.
Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel (2005), is a non-fiction meditation on the history and the nature of the novel, somewhat in the tradition of E. M. Forster's seminal Aspects of the Novel, that roams from eleventh century Japan's Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji to twenty-first century Americans chick lit.
In 2001, Smiley was elected a member of The American Academy of Arts and Letters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 440 reviews
June 25, 2012
Just loved how Smiley contrasted thoroughbred racing horses - who are born to know what they love and what they are meant to do - with a whole gaggle of self-doubting, identity-conflicted humans. Funny, "sprawling" but controlled, lotsa anthropomorphism but no saccharine sentimentality. Smiley has an insider's knowledge of her milieu, but also respects and trusts her reader enough not to bog the story down in definition or description. Even though they are frequent, her race scenes are never boring. And - the #1 reason I loved this book: she portrays the deep love between humans and animals with respect, knowledge, understanding.
A lovely summer read, for those days you're not at the track. :-)
A lovely summer read, for those days you're not at the track. :-)
March 16, 2018
March 15 ~~ Review coming tomorrow.
March 16 ~~ I gave this book four stars yesterday but while thinking over my reading experience before sitting to write this review I've dropped it down to three.
The basic idea of the whole thing is compelling: follow the stories of certain Thoroughbred horses during their first three years of life. Will they turn out to be the horses they were expected to be? What kind of drama will surround them and their people? (Because there is always drama around a horse, even a backyard horse.)
Of course I loved the descriptions of the horses, the sense of being at the racetrack, the feel this book gave me of being around the animals again, and I enjoy any book that does that.
But.
As other reviewers have mentioned, there is just too much here. Too many characters, too many shifts from one to the other, and along about page 400 or so I really just wanted the whole thing to be over.
This was my second reading, but the first time through had been so long ago I could only really remember the horse Justa Bob, who was the most memorable this time through also.
Will I ever read it again? Honestly, if I do, I will skim past big chunks and sprint to the finish line instead of plodding more or less patiently for the whole distance.
March 16 ~~ I gave this book four stars yesterday but while thinking over my reading experience before sitting to write this review I've dropped it down to three.
The basic idea of the whole thing is compelling: follow the stories of certain Thoroughbred horses during their first three years of life. Will they turn out to be the horses they were expected to be? What kind of drama will surround them and their people? (Because there is always drama around a horse, even a backyard horse.)
Of course I loved the descriptions of the horses, the sense of being at the racetrack, the feel this book gave me of being around the animals again, and I enjoy any book that does that.
But.
As other reviewers have mentioned, there is just too much here. Too many characters, too many shifts from one to the other, and along about page 400 or so I really just wanted the whole thing to be over.
This was my second reading, but the first time through had been so long ago I could only really remember the horse Justa Bob, who was the most memorable this time through also.
Will I ever read it again? Honestly, if I do, I will skim past big chunks and sprint to the finish line instead of plodding more or less patiently for the whole distance.
August 2, 2012
I'm not really sure how I feel about the book overall. It was excellent in many ways, but sort of pointless overall. It's a soap opera about horses & the people working with them on the track with a sort of beginning & a kind of end, but there was a lot of history & certainly life goes on after the book ends.
The writing was good, engaging & yet there wasn't a single defined plot, so I got a bit lost at times. Toward the middle of the book, I almost gave it up due to characters musing & then it suddenly picked up again. I guess that was the biggest flaw, there was a very realistic unevenness to the story. Tons of crazy things happen, then life sort of drifts along & the cycle repeats.
There are a lot of characters, both horse & human, but there is a pretty good list in the front. It might be worthwhile to make some extra notes. Some of the characters were tough for me to keep separated. For instance, two trainers, Farley & Dick were similar enough that I confused them on more than one occasion, although that didn't really hurt the story at all. Most stood out wonderfully like Justa Bob & Mr. T, super horse characters.
I have enough experience to know that Smiley REALLY knows the business & her take on it, the way she describes the horses & the people, is fantastic. If you like watching any of the big flat races (e.g. the Kentucky Derby) & wonder what sort of life led up to & goes on after, I can't think of a better way to do it.
The writing was good, engaging & yet there wasn't a single defined plot, so I got a bit lost at times. Toward the middle of the book, I almost gave it up due to characters musing & then it suddenly picked up again. I guess that was the biggest flaw, there was a very realistic unevenness to the story. Tons of crazy things happen, then life sort of drifts along & the cycle repeats.
There are a lot of characters, both horse & human, but there is a pretty good list in the front. It might be worthwhile to make some extra notes. Some of the characters were tough for me to keep separated. For instance, two trainers, Farley & Dick were similar enough that I confused them on more than one occasion, although that didn't really hurt the story at all. Most stood out wonderfully like Justa Bob & Mr. T, super horse characters.
I have enough experience to know that Smiley REALLY knows the business & her take on it, the way she describes the horses & the people, is fantastic. If you like watching any of the big flat races (e.g. the Kentucky Derby) & wonder what sort of life led up to & goes on after, I can't think of a better way to do it.
February 23, 2008
Fascinating portrayal of the thoroughbred horseracing world.
How does Jane Smiley do it? Her books are all completely unique. There is no formula; no predictability (you could say she is an anti-Ian McEwan). The story is set in the thoroughbred racing world of Southern California. The story, and the human beings involved are involving. But what set this book apart for me? Two of the main characters are animals. One of the racehorses, and, a dog. A Jack Russell Terrier to be more precise. And let me tell you - these characters are as interesting, and convincing as the humans. Maybe even more.
Note to reader: I grew up surrounded by thoroughbreds and horse-people, and have lived with Jack Russell's for 20 years.
How does Jane Smiley do it? Her books are all completely unique. There is no formula; no predictability (you could say she is an anti-Ian McEwan). The story is set in the thoroughbred racing world of Southern California. The story, and the human beings involved are involving. But what set this book apart for me? Two of the main characters are animals. One of the racehorses, and, a dog. A Jack Russell Terrier to be more precise. And let me tell you - these characters are as interesting, and convincing as the humans. Maybe even more.
Note to reader: I grew up surrounded by thoroughbreds and horse-people, and have lived with Jack Russell's for 20 years.
January 5, 2021
Author Jane Smiley takes readers into the world of champion thoroughbred horse racing in her book, "Horse Heaven". The book is well written, although much too long. Written in the 1990's, the book was contemporary for its time. Now it seems a little like historical fiction with its references to then President Clinton's affair along with other 1990's cultural events of the period.
For animal enthusiasts, part of the book's appeal is learning about the horses themselves and their lives. Justa Bob and Mr. T. were horses I bonded with. Sixteen year old jockey Roberto's first ever professional ride as a jockey on Justa Bob was thrilling to read about.
Horse owners, trainers and others who take care of the horses are followed in the book. Many have gigantic egos and are not particularly happy. I enjoyed reading about the ironies that the author lays out. Some of the ironies are: a 50 year old married woman who is thought to have it all, but spends her milestone birthday alone; another woman who uses her therapy sessions to copy the therapist's hair style and clothes, a fabulously wealthy man who has forgotten what it's like to simply enjoy a meal with a friend; and a man who begins to find Jesus (as he says) but can't seem to stop himself from cheating. The author has a fun sense of humor.
3.8 stars
For animal enthusiasts, part of the book's appeal is learning about the horses themselves and their lives. Justa Bob and Mr. T. were horses I bonded with. Sixteen year old jockey Roberto's first ever professional ride as a jockey on Justa Bob was thrilling to read about.
Horse owners, trainers and others who take care of the horses are followed in the book. Many have gigantic egos and are not particularly happy. I enjoyed reading about the ironies that the author lays out. Some of the ironies are: a 50 year old married woman who is thought to have it all, but spends her milestone birthday alone; another woman who uses her therapy sessions to copy the therapist's hair style and clothes, a fabulously wealthy man who has forgotten what it's like to simply enjoy a meal with a friend; and a man who begins to find Jesus (as he says) but can't seem to stop himself from cheating. The author has a fun sense of humor.
3.8 stars
January 2, 2009
Horse Heaven by Jane Smiley is a novel about horses and their breeders, owners, trainers, grooms, jockeys, traders, bettors and other turf-obsessed humans. It takes place over two-years and chronicles the lives of various horses and their people.
I know a little about horses - that is to say I've ridden horses, been to riding competitions, and been to the race track - but I still found this book particularly hard to get into. You see nothing ever happens, there is no real plot. The entire novel is much more a character epic, and the only redeemable characters are the horses. The horses are quirky and sensitive, and you become attached to them all and feel their ups and downs, their victories and defeats.
The book bounces from character to character, in a way that makes you assume that the stories will converge at some point, but they never really do. They are all loosely related by being in the racing world, but that's it. Every time I felt I had a handle on everyone in the book, Smiley added another set of characters - I couldn't keep up!
In conclusion, let me say this to you: if you enjoy plot-driven novels, this book it not for you; if you enjoy slow-moving character studies, you'll enjoy Horse Heaven. My advice is to read this book for the horses, because the humans will disappoint you every time.
I know a little about horses - that is to say I've ridden horses, been to riding competitions, and been to the race track - but I still found this book particularly hard to get into. You see nothing ever happens, there is no real plot. The entire novel is much more a character epic, and the only redeemable characters are the horses. The horses are quirky and sensitive, and you become attached to them all and feel their ups and downs, their victories and defeats.
The book bounces from character to character, in a way that makes you assume that the stories will converge at some point, but they never really do. They are all loosely related by being in the racing world, but that's it. Every time I felt I had a handle on everyone in the book, Smiley added another set of characters - I couldn't keep up!
In conclusion, let me say this to you: if you enjoy plot-driven novels, this book it not for you; if you enjoy slow-moving character studies, you'll enjoy Horse Heaven. My advice is to read this book for the horses, because the humans will disappoint you every time.
August 23, 2016
I fell in love with a race horse named Justa Bob...
May 15, 2019
Let's get it out in the open. I love Horse Racing!!!! I have been to many of the tracks where Smiley sets her book, as well as many smaller locations where I swear the horses plow the north 40 in the day and race by night. But horse racing still remains the domaine of the rick, populated by horse people who train, groom and care for the horses. I think this is anther top flight effort by Smiley as she takes us month by month through the racing year. She is at her best when her months around 30 pages in length with chapters in the 8-10 page range, this forces Smiley to be more concise in her writing and focus on certain horses and people. We see the highs (which are limited to only a few) and the lows (which is the more common occurrence). We fall in love with horses and characters, my favorite being the claimer, Justa Bob, along with Limitless. Good stories revolve around both those horses.
Why only a 4****? Well, Smiley gives us too many characters, too many horse and a lot of extraneous chapters that deal with personal issues that do nothing to move along the story. In the end, the horses are at the level they are supposed to be at, even though their owners never thought that their horses were of those levels. Some horses rise, others fall, others slip away. Trainers come and go and so do owners. It is a good look at this highly competitive and closely knit community and if you have any love of horses or racing that you should give this book a chance.
Why only a 4****? Well, Smiley gives us too many characters, too many horse and a lot of extraneous chapters that deal with personal issues that do nothing to move along the story. In the end, the horses are at the level they are supposed to be at, even though their owners never thought that their horses were of those levels. Some horses rise, others fall, others slip away. Trainers come and go and so do owners. It is a good look at this highly competitive and closely knit community and if you have any love of horses or racing that you should give this book a chance.
December 17, 2007
an epic poem in prose . . . about horse racing.
March 26, 2014
Wonderful book. Smiley artfully made me care and worry about a character that never spoke a word - Justa Bob. She does it without ever anthropomorphizing him.
September 3, 2012
Jane Smiley's novel about horse racing is one of the best books I have read this summer. It was loaned to me by my sister-in-law, a horse woman herself and daughter of a horse woman. Jane Smiley owns a race horse or two and clearly knows plenty about the subject. A big part of the book's success is the way she makes the horses characters in the story as much as she does the humans.
I knew nothing about the world of horse racing, except that people like to go to the races and bet money. I learned more than I knew there was to know about the individuals who own race horses (usually wealthy), the ones who train them (often fanatical), the jockeys, and the major races of each year along with their locations and prizes. Smiley provides a list of characters and horses but not a glossary, so I kept my iPhone handy and the terminology is easy to find on the web.
For the most part, reading the book was a perfectly painless way to learn because the facts are couched in the stories of individuals, including their dreams, their interpersonal troubles, the highs and lows of the racing life, and the many, various ways that these persons relate to horses.
Smiley takes on the big issues and questions of live, love, business, ethics, etc. Her novel is sprawling and long and rich with emotion. I always enjoy her fiction because of the non-judgmental approach she takes to human foibles; the heady brew of dry humor plus pathos by which she makes us know that often the bad guy wins and the nice people lose. In this one, almost every character, human or horse, gets what he or she wants in one way or another, deserved or not.
It is a long book, cleverly plotted with intertwining destinies, and I never wanted it to be over. I will probably not ride a horse again in my life and, unless someone invited me along, I would not attend a race, even though the Santa Anita track is just down the freeway. But I don't think I will ever forget the animals or the humans, so well did she bring them to life. Now I understand completely how people can love horses so much.
January 1, 2009
I love the Dicken-esque structure of this novel. This is the first novel I have read by Smiley. I read her small bio of Dickens and thought it was a wonderful distillation of the man and his work; she had the fine sense to recognize Our Mutual Friend as perhaps his best work. With Horse Heaven she goes back her forebearers, Dickens, Fielding and Thackery and creates a novel that is worthy homage.
One of the things I loved best about her book is the sly humor. There is one episode of quiet sly humor which involves Pete Rose and an airline attendant and a woman who believes she can grant wishes. I won't attempt re-tell it. Its a small bit, but so perfect.
Now all that said, it took me about 100 pages to really get thoroughly hooked. But once it did hook me, it had me fast. Even now I find myself thinking about things in it or laughing over bits.
You don't have to love horses to love this book; but you may afterwards.
One of the things I loved best about her book is the sly humor. There is one episode of quiet sly humor which involves Pete Rose and an airline attendant and a woman who believes she can grant wishes. I won't attempt re-tell it. Its a small bit, but so perfect.
Now all that said, it took me about 100 pages to really get thoroughly hooked. But once it did hook me, it had me fast. Even now I find myself thinking about things in it or laughing over bits.
You don't have to love horses to love this book; but you may afterwards.
June 22, 2008
A rambling book with many evocative characters, human and equine, that will stick with me. I haven't cried over a book in a while but one particular scene was so wrenching that it had me sobbing as I read.
August 19, 2015
I enjoyed Horse Heaven so much that when I finished the last page, I turned back to the first.
August 26, 2012
Part of me wants to say that this was just an interminable horse book, and that part of me is speaking with an honest voice (if a condescending and dismissive one). Smiley interweaves the tales of a central set of horses with the proliferating stories of owners, bettors, riders, trainers, breeders, etc., creating a kaleidoscopic effect as the reader glimpses the increasing patterns and events uniting them. Some parts seemed needlessly silly (a horse psychic?), others goofily erotic (not just the comic relief of Elizabeth/Plato and their sex seminars but even the sexual awakening of one of the major characters by a horse trainer who seems to have learned his bedroom technique from a horse masseur...uh huh); much is comfortingly sentimental (every last minute rescue of a horse from a terrible situation reminds you that in fact many or even most horses who go through the racing circuit are abused in some way or form at one point or another and many wind up in the slaughterhouses at the end of the day), and much stretches for the personally and cosmically symbolic in what felt to me like a ham-handed way. Plus, this is incredibly long, and I want long books to earn their pages. This one did not, and I kept wondering where Smiley's editor was. (Perhaps off at the races.)
But there was something that drew me into this book. In fact, I quite enjoyed the beginning. I really enjoyed it for a long time even before the horse racing as symbol for life and society and its ups and downs became tedious and the revelations of the lonely and horse-obsessed became repetitive. The novel is basically about many people who are in love with horses and surrounded by other people who don't understand or treat horses badly. The good guys find each other and often find love and satisfaction. Their interpersonal satisfaction is mirrored in the ultimate triumphs of the horses in whom they find their joie de vivre. (I'm glad Smiley wasn't meaner to her readers in terms of narrative and sentiment. Without spoiling anything, she usually pulls back from the precipice when she flaunts what could happen and probably does happen outside of the realm of fiction.)
In this novel, Smiley shows off what realism can do. She includes fascinating detail and trivia about horses and horse-racing (clearly she knows her stuff and enjoys this stuff too--perhaps too much for the non-horse-obsessed reader). She also does what a writer like Dickens does so well and uses the system surrounding horse racing and supporting horse racing to occupy a symbolic space like chancery does in Bleak House, a micocosm of society and life. If those nouns feel too abstract, so too do many of the characters' reveries about the symbolic significance of the track. She uses the life stories that she interweaves through the track to establish a moral compass and emotional ideal, and she traces them throughout the novel. Letting horses run the way they want to run and valuing them for character rather than simply profitability = good. It also constitutes the emotional lesson in most of the life stories that she presents to the reader here; each quirky character needs to figure out how to run in their own path, as it were, taking joy in the process, and then they need to apprecate other quirky characters and fully appreciate them and let them be themselves. Alas, this did not seem like a terribly complex or compelling lesson. It certainly did not require six hundred some pages for its exegesis.
And there actually is an interesting tension between the social critique that Smiley sometimes makes in this novel of greed and the astonishing disposable income (the Romneys, anyone?) shown by the owners at the track (as in most Victorian realist novels, it is the middling sorts who come off well and are morally shiny and good in the novel!) and then her total affection for this sport which requires a shocking amount of money to buy horses, care for them, and participate in the competitions. She even includes some good guy rich people to get around this problem of the tension between social critique and horse racing celebration.
Anyway, an incredibly problematic novel and often a really dull one, but also often touching. I think it would have been better as a much shorter short story collection about characters who all love horses. And then there wouldn't have had to be the narrative acrobatics that Smiley engages in at the end of the novel to bring it all together and wrap up all loose threads in the plot. I often really like Smiley as a writer; A Thousand Acres is wonderful, and Private Life has a wonderful critique of patriarchal marriage. But this seemed lame (if heartfelt) by comparison. There are some adorably engaging sections from the point of view of a Jack Russell terrier.
But there was something that drew me into this book. In fact, I quite enjoyed the beginning. I really enjoyed it for a long time even before the horse racing as symbol for life and society and its ups and downs became tedious and the revelations of the lonely and horse-obsessed became repetitive. The novel is basically about many people who are in love with horses and surrounded by other people who don't understand or treat horses badly. The good guys find each other and often find love and satisfaction. Their interpersonal satisfaction is mirrored in the ultimate triumphs of the horses in whom they find their joie de vivre. (I'm glad Smiley wasn't meaner to her readers in terms of narrative and sentiment. Without spoiling anything, she usually pulls back from the precipice when she flaunts what could happen and probably does happen outside of the realm of fiction.)
In this novel, Smiley shows off what realism can do. She includes fascinating detail and trivia about horses and horse-racing (clearly she knows her stuff and enjoys this stuff too--perhaps too much for the non-horse-obsessed reader). She also does what a writer like Dickens does so well and uses the system surrounding horse racing and supporting horse racing to occupy a symbolic space like chancery does in Bleak House, a micocosm of society and life. If those nouns feel too abstract, so too do many of the characters' reveries about the symbolic significance of the track. She uses the life stories that she interweaves through the track to establish a moral compass and emotional ideal, and she traces them throughout the novel. Letting horses run the way they want to run and valuing them for character rather than simply profitability = good. It also constitutes the emotional lesson in most of the life stories that she presents to the reader here; each quirky character needs to figure out how to run in their own path, as it were, taking joy in the process, and then they need to apprecate other quirky characters and fully appreciate them and let them be themselves. Alas, this did not seem like a terribly complex or compelling lesson. It certainly did not require six hundred some pages for its exegesis.
And there actually is an interesting tension between the social critique that Smiley sometimes makes in this novel of greed and the astonishing disposable income (the Romneys, anyone?) shown by the owners at the track (as in most Victorian realist novels, it is the middling sorts who come off well and are morally shiny and good in the novel!) and then her total affection for this sport which requires a shocking amount of money to buy horses, care for them, and participate in the competitions. She even includes some good guy rich people to get around this problem of the tension between social critique and horse racing celebration.
Anyway, an incredibly problematic novel and often a really dull one, but also often touching. I think it would have been better as a much shorter short story collection about characters who all love horses. And then there wouldn't have had to be the narrative acrobatics that Smiley engages in at the end of the novel to bring it all together and wrap up all loose threads in the plot. I often really like Smiley as a writer; A Thousand Acres is wonderful, and Private Life has a wonderful critique of patriarchal marriage. But this seemed lame (if heartfelt) by comparison. There are some adorably engaging sections from the point of view of a Jack Russell terrier.
January 22, 2009
Review originally and more completely published at http://www.epinions.com/review/Horse_...
I found Horse Heaven to be entirely too disjointed, jumping from unconnected event to unconnected character every few pages. Smiley did give all her animals very human qualities, making them as integral to the story as the actual human characters. At one point, we even ride around in Eileen the scrappy terrier’s mind, hearing her thoughts.
The novel jumps from character to character. Some of these characters are connected in obscure ways, some never meet at all. The main idea circulating through this novel, from page one on seems to be whether the characters “know themselves” and whether or not they ever get to know themselves. In the opening sequence, Epic Steam is noted for being a horse who ”knows who he is” whereas Froney’s Sis, due to being orphaned at such a young age doesn’t quite know who she is. Rosalind finds herself after her affair with Dick. Al loses himself when he finds out about the affair, but then finds himself in re finding his wife of twenty some years. Buddy finds himself when he finds Jesus but then finds his real self when he misplaces Jesus and takes back up his crooked ways.
The novel doesn’t really end. I felt there were loose ends that should have been addressed. I wanted to know what happened to certain characters. I was taught that in fiction, if the author presents the reader with a loaded gun, that gun will be shot before the end of the story. I feel that Jane Smiley left me with a loaded gun, safety still on.
I found Horse Heaven to be entirely too disjointed, jumping from unconnected event to unconnected character every few pages. Smiley did give all her animals very human qualities, making them as integral to the story as the actual human characters. At one point, we even ride around in Eileen the scrappy terrier’s mind, hearing her thoughts.
The novel jumps from character to character. Some of these characters are connected in obscure ways, some never meet at all. The main idea circulating through this novel, from page one on seems to be whether the characters “know themselves” and whether or not they ever get to know themselves. In the opening sequence, Epic Steam is noted for being a horse who ”knows who he is” whereas Froney’s Sis, due to being orphaned at such a young age doesn’t quite know who she is. Rosalind finds herself after her affair with Dick. Al loses himself when he finds out about the affair, but then finds himself in re finding his wife of twenty some years. Buddy finds himself when he finds Jesus but then finds his real self when he misplaces Jesus and takes back up his crooked ways.
The novel doesn’t really end. I felt there were loose ends that should have been addressed. I wanted to know what happened to certain characters. I was taught that in fiction, if the author presents the reader with a loaded gun, that gun will be shot before the end of the story. I feel that Jane Smiley left me with a loaded gun, safety still on.
November 24, 2016
This is my favourite Jane Smiley so far. It takes place over two years, and follows several American flat racing Thoroughbreds, their trainers, owners, jockeys and associated hangers-on. There are dirty training tactics, personal trials and tribulations, affairs, distressing animal abuse, big money deals and scams, betting ... and of course the thrill and beauty of the actual races and the horses that run them.
It is typical of her other books that I've read in that it has a large cast of characters, and the narrative and POV keeps switching between them (including the horses and a rather unlikeable dog). The characters are all memorable enough that the reader doesn't get confused, though (unlike Moo, where I occasionally had to remind myself who was who), and I didn't find the short episodic nature of the narrative at all annoying. There are amusing moments. Mostly, though, it is a meticulously observed story of two years in the lives of those involved in the racing scene - deeply complex, but with a fresh, forthright and deceptively simple storytelling style.
It is typical of her other books that I've read in that it has a large cast of characters, and the narrative and POV keeps switching between them (including the horses and a rather unlikeable dog). The characters are all memorable enough that the reader doesn't get confused, though (unlike Moo, where I occasionally had to remind myself who was who), and I didn't find the short episodic nature of the narrative at all annoying. There are amusing moments. Mostly, though, it is a meticulously observed story of two years in the lives of those involved in the racing scene - deeply complex, but with a fresh, forthright and deceptively simple storytelling style.
September 29, 2017
Is there any genre beyond the abilities of this wonderful author?
I have read many books by Jane Smiley, and only remember one I didn't find engaging (Lidie Newton: wasn't my thing). I've had Horse Heaven for years, and wasn't wildly excited about the subject, but decided to read it on the strength of her authorship.
I found it purely wonderful. She can write an attractive society woman with the same ease as she writes a philosophical horse trainer, for that matter she can write horses and a hyperactive dog with entitlement issues.
The book is episodic, not in chapters exactly, but in brief musings of a moment only a few pages long. Each bit is discrete and usually does not lead to the next bit. Characters reappear eventually, and some link to others. I did not find it choppy, and enjoyed the ability to stop and reflect (and sometimes reread) rather than continue with a narrative that flows more typically. The result was a beautiful integrated quilt of a story, and I was hugely satisfied.
I have read many books by Jane Smiley, and only remember one I didn't find engaging (Lidie Newton: wasn't my thing). I've had Horse Heaven for years, and wasn't wildly excited about the subject, but decided to read it on the strength of her authorship.
I found it purely wonderful. She can write an attractive society woman with the same ease as she writes a philosophical horse trainer, for that matter she can write horses and a hyperactive dog with entitlement issues.
The book is episodic, not in chapters exactly, but in brief musings of a moment only a few pages long. Each bit is discrete and usually does not lead to the next bit. Characters reappear eventually, and some link to others. I did not find it choppy, and enjoyed the ability to stop and reflect (and sometimes reread) rather than continue with a narrative that flows more typically. The result was a beautiful integrated quilt of a story, and I was hugely satisfied.
December 14, 2020
I started this book and thought I would love it. I follow horse racing and recognized a lot of names, jockeys as horses. I most definitely did not love this, in fact I skimmed finished the book. The only reason I did that was curiosity about some of the horses.
The human characters were shallow, self centered idiots. There were so many storylines to follow. You have no idea what story is going on until a couple of pages into the chapter. The characters were not very likable so I didn’t really care about them at all. Plus the book is so long and drags out.
At first you can follow it somewhat easily. After a couple hundred pages, some characters get really long drawn out chapters. This is when I completely lost interest.
It is a pointless book that drags and gets to a point that it is so boring, you just don’t care how it will end. I’m surprised I wasted so much time trying to finish reading it.
If it takes me two months to read a book, it isn’t worth the effort.
The human characters were shallow, self centered idiots. There were so many storylines to follow. You have no idea what story is going on until a couple of pages into the chapter. The characters were not very likable so I didn’t really care about them at all. Plus the book is so long and drags out.
At first you can follow it somewhat easily. After a couple hundred pages, some characters get really long drawn out chapters. This is when I completely lost interest.
It is a pointless book that drags and gets to a point that it is so boring, you just don’t care how it will end. I’m surprised I wasted so much time trying to finish reading it.
If it takes me two months to read a book, it isn’t worth the effort.
February 13, 2014
640 pages! Too long. I would have given it 5 stars, but for the length. It's about Thoroughbreds and owners and trainers and horses and love! Very enjoyable, but some of the characters were dropped at a point in the middle and then quickly reintroduced at the end. Some of the chapters felt like a New Yorker story. But, all in all, enjoyable.
May 8, 2008
Fine novel by Jane Smiley, a favorite author. She gets inside the minds of the horses in a surprisingly believable way. Really enjoyed it.
September 13, 2012
Gone with the Wind for horses. FUN.
September 9, 2012
This is a lovely fat book, populated with well-drawn characters both human and equine. (And in one glorious case, canine.) What it is not, is a plot-driven book. There isn’t much of what one would call “action.” However, that is fine with me. I much prefer story to plot, and there’s more than enough of that to keep the book moving forward. This is a very organic book. It chronicles the lives of a handful of people as they intersect, weave, meander, and move through one another. It’s also an honest look at the world of horses.
Horse competition, in most of its athletic forms, is a field riddled with contradictions. Many of the humans involved in these endeavors truly love horses. Their lives revolve around and their spirits are refreshed by the equine personalities all around them. In the book, this is captured, by Deirdre, Dick, Farley (sidebar: Is it possible to have a character named Farley in a book as horsey as this and not conjure up Black Stallion associations?), Roberto, Audrey, and Tiffany. These people are fueled by horses, and would do anything to be around them. Then there are people, like Rosalind (at least early in the book) and Al, who appreciate the horses, but more as symbols of something else: power, wealth, or prestige. And then there are people like Buddy and that horrible vet whose name I can’t at the moment recall, who are actively using horses as inanimate objects to fuel their own ends. The tragedy is that this third group is just as influential, if not more, in the horse world as the first group. And thus, the horse-centered activities aren’t always—or even often—activities that are actually beneficial for the horses.
The idea of horse racing is very simple: which, of a group of horses, is the fastest. But it quickly becomes far more complicated than that. You start taking into account different distances and track materials, different types of courses. You start bringing to bear varied nutritional and training routines. You get into the gray are of drugs and therapies of dubious efficacy, ethicality, and legality. You get into those gray areas pretty darn fast. And, if you’re a horse-lover employed by someone who doesn’t have the best interest of the horses at heart (for any reason at all) you’re without question going to end up doing things you’re not proud of, if you want to live your lift near these horses. You end up hurting the very heart of your job and your life.
Other reviewers have mentioned that the animal abuse in this book went unnoticed. I would fiercely disagree. Smiley didn’t write straightforward diatribes against it. But she did clearly and explicitly point it out, without lingering or interpreting, and then let her characters’ own thoughts, actions, and agonies, speak for themselves. Every character in this book is dealing, in their way, with this central struggle. They’re all dealing with mistreatment and abandonment of horses, and the fact that these horses, legally, are treated as disposable commodities, not people with inherent rights to existence and a minimal quality of life, and the fact that these animals were deliberately created, deliberately inbred, to the end of being perfect running machines. Smiley drives this point home repeatedly, but subtly, through her characters rather than through straight narrative condemnation.
In their way, many of the trainers, jockeys, breeders, and managers in this book are in the same position as orca trainers at Sea World. To be close to the animal they love, they have to hurt it. Such a situation takes a level of cognitive dissonance that isn’t often sustainable in the non-delusional. These people either have to come to terms with their world, make efforts to change it, leave it, or ignore the discrepancy altogether. The tragedy is that this has to happen at all when, in a more regulated world that cared more for the welfare of the horses, horse-lovers could work with horse athletes with no more guilt than a coach works with an NBA player.
The horses in the book, Thoroughbred, were bred to run. Many of them clearly love it. But they’re also horrifically inbred (I love that Smiley takes it as written than we all know about the cheetah bottleneck, and how they’re all close as twins). The rigors of the sport tax their bodies and leave them prematurely aged. And then, the very sport that created them, abandons them often to a heartbreaking, grim fate.
This is not in the least a preachy book. You could read it, and enjoy it, as the braided stories of players in the horse world, and the trials and tribulations of life at the track. You could read it as a meditation on modern life. You could read it merely as an engaging story with plenty of wonderful characters to while away an afternoon. It succeeds on all of these levels. But it shines, peerless, as a quiet rebuke, a gentle expose, of the world of horses itself. It gleams with the love of horses and with the desire to do better by them.
Horse competition, in most of its athletic forms, is a field riddled with contradictions. Many of the humans involved in these endeavors truly love horses. Their lives revolve around and their spirits are refreshed by the equine personalities all around them. In the book, this is captured, by Deirdre, Dick, Farley (sidebar: Is it possible to have a character named Farley in a book as horsey as this and not conjure up Black Stallion associations?), Roberto, Audrey, and Tiffany. These people are fueled by horses, and would do anything to be around them. Then there are people, like Rosalind (at least early in the book) and Al, who appreciate the horses, but more as symbols of something else: power, wealth, or prestige. And then there are people like Buddy and that horrible vet whose name I can’t at the moment recall, who are actively using horses as inanimate objects to fuel their own ends. The tragedy is that this third group is just as influential, if not more, in the horse world as the first group. And thus, the horse-centered activities aren’t always—or even often—activities that are actually beneficial for the horses.
The idea of horse racing is very simple: which, of a group of horses, is the fastest. But it quickly becomes far more complicated than that. You start taking into account different distances and track materials, different types of courses. You start bringing to bear varied nutritional and training routines. You get into the gray are of drugs and therapies of dubious efficacy, ethicality, and legality. You get into those gray areas pretty darn fast. And, if you’re a horse-lover employed by someone who doesn’t have the best interest of the horses at heart (for any reason at all) you’re without question going to end up doing things you’re not proud of, if you want to live your lift near these horses. You end up hurting the very heart of your job and your life.
Other reviewers have mentioned that the animal abuse in this book went unnoticed. I would fiercely disagree. Smiley didn’t write straightforward diatribes against it. But she did clearly and explicitly point it out, without lingering or interpreting, and then let her characters’ own thoughts, actions, and agonies, speak for themselves. Every character in this book is dealing, in their way, with this central struggle. They’re all dealing with mistreatment and abandonment of horses, and the fact that these horses, legally, are treated as disposable commodities, not people with inherent rights to existence and a minimal quality of life, and the fact that these animals were deliberately created, deliberately inbred, to the end of being perfect running machines. Smiley drives this point home repeatedly, but subtly, through her characters rather than through straight narrative condemnation.
In their way, many of the trainers, jockeys, breeders, and managers in this book are in the same position as orca trainers at Sea World. To be close to the animal they love, they have to hurt it. Such a situation takes a level of cognitive dissonance that isn’t often sustainable in the non-delusional. These people either have to come to terms with their world, make efforts to change it, leave it, or ignore the discrepancy altogether. The tragedy is that this has to happen at all when, in a more regulated world that cared more for the welfare of the horses, horse-lovers could work with horse athletes with no more guilt than a coach works with an NBA player.
The horses in the book, Thoroughbred, were bred to run. Many of them clearly love it. But they’re also horrifically inbred (I love that Smiley takes it as written than we all know about the cheetah bottleneck, and how they’re all close as twins). The rigors of the sport tax their bodies and leave them prematurely aged. And then, the very sport that created them, abandons them often to a heartbreaking, grim fate.
This is not in the least a preachy book. You could read it, and enjoy it, as the braided stories of players in the horse world, and the trials and tribulations of life at the track. You could read it as a meditation on modern life. You could read it merely as an engaging story with plenty of wonderful characters to while away an afternoon. It succeeds on all of these levels. But it shines, peerless, as a quiet rebuke, a gentle expose, of the world of horses itself. It gleams with the love of horses and with the desire to do better by them.
December 15, 2013
A dangerous trend continues. At almost 600 pages, "Horse Heaven," Jane Smiley's latest novel, is even longer than her last one, "The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton." (Even its title was too long.)
Without apparent irony, the advance publicity for "Horse Heaven" boasts that this new novel is paced like "Moo," Smiley's satire of a Midwestern agricultural university. That's no bull. "Moo" had some nice features, but its lame pacing certainly wasn't one of them. In chapters named for the months over two years, "Horse Heaven" perfectly conveys the sensation of time passing. Slowly.
The novel's herd of loosely related characters are all involved with horse racing, breeding, training, and buying. Almost every chapter introduces new characters. We meet owners like Alex Maybrick, "a successful manufacturer and importer of heavy metal castings from distant impoverished nationlike locations," and his wife Rosalind, who's attended everywhere by her comical terrier. We watch trainers like Farley, a sensitive man guided by Tibetan principles, and Buddy Crawford, a crooked winner tormented by Jesus. We follow ranch managers like Krista, who tries to balance her work and motherhood, or Deirdre Donohue, a lonely woman who pushes all nonhorse friends away. We ride with Roberto in his first race. We giggle as the mystic Elizabeth Zada channels horses' thoughts and dispenses sex advice. We sigh as little Audrey falls in love with an old gray. We cheer for Tiffany, the Wal-Mart checker who's dating the rapper Ho Ho.
And there are the horses, helpfully introduced - unlike the biped characters - in a prologue. When Elizabeth Zada isn't around to read their minds, Smiley narrates their equine thoughts.
Of course, the real problem isn't the novel's length or the number of characters. It's the fact that the plot rides off in all directions. Every time we get comfortable with one group, Smiley forces us to change horses midstream. It's a method Tom Wolfe used in “A Man in Full" (1998), but his disparate plots eventually twisted into a single wildly engaging story. (Ironically, the 12 pages about horses in his huge book are more visceral than anything in these 600.)
None of these characters seems capable of giving this novel sufficient focus, but several of them remind us why Smiley won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for "A Thousand Acres" (1991).
The burden of loving an animal while training it toward a deadly win is rendered here with heartbreaking clarity. She's particularly good at describing emotional inertia, the way people cling to painful relationships and unsatisfying jobs because they're anxious about possible changes. When a wealthy owner falls in love with a pensive trainer, hairline fractures spread through several lives. "One thing Rosalind Maybeck realized about hopeless affairs," Smiley writes ruefully, "was that they were certainly enlightening. She knew more about herself, Al, Dick, Louisa, life, love, and horses than she had ever known before, and probably more than it was healthy to know. Of course she should have settled for knowing about fine collectibles. [Her husband's] children would have joked for the rest of her life about how shallow and empty she was, and she would have gone to her grave and disappeared without leaving a trace, even for herself, but that opportunity was past now."
There are quirky touches of wit here, too, such as the description of Mr. Tompkins, one of the owners, who insists on communicating only by e-mail with the people sitting around him - even "hello" and "OK." Smiley effectively satirizes the grotesque wealth of the owners, the perverse "work ethic" of gamblers, and the "whole socially unredeemed enterprise" of racing.
But then Smiley is capable of making characters say things like "I don't know what love is anymore." When a line breaks like that, there's nothing to do but take it out back and shoot it.
Horse romantics may find the book's behind-the-scenes detail engaging enough, but others are likely to look this gift horse in the mouth and see an old nag.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2000/0330/p2...
Without apparent irony, the advance publicity for "Horse Heaven" boasts that this new novel is paced like "Moo," Smiley's satire of a Midwestern agricultural university. That's no bull. "Moo" had some nice features, but its lame pacing certainly wasn't one of them. In chapters named for the months over two years, "Horse Heaven" perfectly conveys the sensation of time passing. Slowly.
The novel's herd of loosely related characters are all involved with horse racing, breeding, training, and buying. Almost every chapter introduces new characters. We meet owners like Alex Maybrick, "a successful manufacturer and importer of heavy metal castings from distant impoverished nationlike locations," and his wife Rosalind, who's attended everywhere by her comical terrier. We watch trainers like Farley, a sensitive man guided by Tibetan principles, and Buddy Crawford, a crooked winner tormented by Jesus. We follow ranch managers like Krista, who tries to balance her work and motherhood, or Deirdre Donohue, a lonely woman who pushes all nonhorse friends away. We ride with Roberto in his first race. We giggle as the mystic Elizabeth Zada channels horses' thoughts and dispenses sex advice. We sigh as little Audrey falls in love with an old gray. We cheer for Tiffany, the Wal-Mart checker who's dating the rapper Ho Ho.
And there are the horses, helpfully introduced - unlike the biped characters - in a prologue. When Elizabeth Zada isn't around to read their minds, Smiley narrates their equine thoughts.
Of course, the real problem isn't the novel's length or the number of characters. It's the fact that the plot rides off in all directions. Every time we get comfortable with one group, Smiley forces us to change horses midstream. It's a method Tom Wolfe used in “A Man in Full" (1998), but his disparate plots eventually twisted into a single wildly engaging story. (Ironically, the 12 pages about horses in his huge book are more visceral than anything in these 600.)
None of these characters seems capable of giving this novel sufficient focus, but several of them remind us why Smiley won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for "A Thousand Acres" (1991).
The burden of loving an animal while training it toward a deadly win is rendered here with heartbreaking clarity. She's particularly good at describing emotional inertia, the way people cling to painful relationships and unsatisfying jobs because they're anxious about possible changes. When a wealthy owner falls in love with a pensive trainer, hairline fractures spread through several lives. "One thing Rosalind Maybeck realized about hopeless affairs," Smiley writes ruefully, "was that they were certainly enlightening. She knew more about herself, Al, Dick, Louisa, life, love, and horses than she had ever known before, and probably more than it was healthy to know. Of course she should have settled for knowing about fine collectibles. [Her husband's] children would have joked for the rest of her life about how shallow and empty she was, and she would have gone to her grave and disappeared without leaving a trace, even for herself, but that opportunity was past now."
There are quirky touches of wit here, too, such as the description of Mr. Tompkins, one of the owners, who insists on communicating only by e-mail with the people sitting around him - even "hello" and "OK." Smiley effectively satirizes the grotesque wealth of the owners, the perverse "work ethic" of gamblers, and the "whole socially unredeemed enterprise" of racing.
But then Smiley is capable of making characters say things like "I don't know what love is anymore." When a line breaks like that, there's nothing to do but take it out back and shoot it.
Horse romantics may find the book's behind-the-scenes detail engaging enough, but others are likely to look this gift horse in the mouth and see an old nag.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2000/0330/p2...
December 18, 2014
This is a book with a HUGE cast of characters. In fact, the first 2 pages is the list of characters, from horse owners, trainers (and their assistants), breeders, jockeys, bettors, the horses themselves, and the racetracks. While the story is linear - even to the sections being dated - it does of necessity skip around to the various groups of characters, many of whom are relatively unknown to each other and who don't interact with the other groups of characters. I was not confused, although there was once or twice in the earlier pages that I needed to have my memory refreshed. ;-)
I believe this is well-researched and everything rings true. But who am I to say? I knew nothing about horse racing when I turned the first page. What was most fascinating to me:
a. Horse racing attracts people from all walks of life.
b. Not all owners are filthy rich, although certainly none of them are average Joe's either.
c. Horses have definite personalities - even to being very opinionated.
The above makes it sound as if this were a treatise on horse racing. I do not want to mislead you. This is an excellent story, fairly well-written, and while the prose is not stellar, it comes with good characterizations. In spite of the stories of the groups of characters being interwoven with each other, it was pretty much a page turner. It included some good horses, no horse won all the time; some good trainers, one was more than slightly dishonest; a few people were beyond "slightly" eccentric, most were normal even if "horse crazy." I will definitely return to Jane Smiley.
I believe this is well-researched and everything rings true. But who am I to say? I knew nothing about horse racing when I turned the first page. What was most fascinating to me:
a. Horse racing attracts people from all walks of life.
b. Not all owners are filthy rich, although certainly none of them are average Joe's either.
c. Horses have definite personalities - even to being very opinionated.
The above makes it sound as if this were a treatise on horse racing. I do not want to mislead you. This is an excellent story, fairly well-written, and while the prose is not stellar, it comes with good characterizations. In spite of the stories of the groups of characters being interwoven with each other, it was pretty much a page turner. It included some good horses, no horse won all the time; some good trainers, one was more than slightly dishonest; a few people were beyond "slightly" eccentric, most were normal even if "horse crazy." I will definitely return to Jane Smiley.
November 21, 2013
I really enjoyed this story, though at first I was not sure what I had gotten myself into. It was 22 discs long which for me, is a big book. Half way through the book though I was really enjoying the story.
It is a story about racehorses, the horses, their owners, trainers, assistant trainers, grooms, vets and riders. Jane must really know her horses because when she became the horse and told us how they were feeling, to me, it was quite realistic.
There was Just a Bob, Epic Steam, Residual and Limitless just to name a few. Some of the trainers were Buddy, Farley and Diedra. Some of the owners were the Al and Roselind Mayberick and their jack Russell Irene. William Veil, and Jason and Melanie White. Some owners had owned many racehorses and some were owners for the first time.
My favourite horse was Just a Bob - he came alive in this story.
Not to mention Mr T and Audrey.
I highly recommend this book even if you don't like horses. I read this for a good reads summer challenge and it fit the bill very well.
It is a story about racehorses, the horses, their owners, trainers, assistant trainers, grooms, vets and riders. Jane must really know her horses because when she became the horse and told us how they were feeling, to me, it was quite realistic.
There was Just a Bob, Epic Steam, Residual and Limitless just to name a few. Some of the trainers were Buddy, Farley and Diedra. Some of the owners were the Al and Roselind Mayberick and their jack Russell Irene. William Veil, and Jason and Melanie White. Some owners had owned many racehorses and some were owners for the first time.
My favourite horse was Just a Bob - he came alive in this story.
Not to mention Mr T and Audrey.
I highly recommend this book even if you don't like horses. I read this for a good reads summer challenge and it fit the bill very well.
December 15, 2013
I found the whole book a rather clinical, and extremely unenjoyable read. . .
The animal cruelty was horrific, it was dealt with in a clinical way and didn't stimulate the depth of emotion that such abuse should have.
I found the characters (both human and animal alike) lacking any feel, they seemed so emotionless, cold and lacking in depth.
Books very rarely leave me so disappointed. Horse Heaven didn't stimulate any feeling for the human characters, I would not have been even remotely sad if the entire cast had been obliterated by way of an alien invasion or the like.
If I had checked Horse Heaven out of the library it would have been returned unread, but having spent good money on buying this book I felt obliged to read it, needless to say it hasn't earned a place on my bookshelf and has been re-homed.
This book was more 'Horse Hell' than 'Horse Heaven'
Ages 18+ due to scenes of a sexual nature, and explicit animal cruelty.
The animal cruelty was horrific, it was dealt with in a clinical way and didn't stimulate the depth of emotion that such abuse should have.
I found the characters (both human and animal alike) lacking any feel, they seemed so emotionless, cold and lacking in depth.
Books very rarely leave me so disappointed. Horse Heaven didn't stimulate any feeling for the human characters, I would not have been even remotely sad if the entire cast had been obliterated by way of an alien invasion or the like.
If I had checked Horse Heaven out of the library it would have been returned unread, but having spent good money on buying this book I felt obliged to read it, needless to say it hasn't earned a place on my bookshelf and has been re-homed.
This book was more 'Horse Hell' than 'Horse Heaven'
Ages 18+ due to scenes of a sexual nature, and explicit animal cruelty.
July 9, 2018
Added 7/26/12. (first published 1999)
July 6, 2018 - I borrowed this ebook from our public library.
July 9, 2018 - I am giving up on this book! I read 32% of the book. It is too hard to follow because there are too many characters and too many scene shifts. Very confusing and frustrating. The following GR review agrees with me:
==========================
"This was an awful book...I read to page 155 trying to give it a chance but it had way too many characters and every chapter was a page and a half then switching the characters, absolutely no flow...sorry but to the glue factory it must go!"
FROM: Dawn's one star GR review at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
===========================
Half the time, I didn't know what was going on. Also, it was sad to read about so many bad things happening to the horses.
July 6, 2018 - I borrowed this ebook from our public library.
July 9, 2018 - I am giving up on this book! I read 32% of the book. It is too hard to follow because there are too many characters and too many scene shifts. Very confusing and frustrating. The following GR review agrees with me:
==========================
"This was an awful book...I read to page 155 trying to give it a chance but it had way too many characters and every chapter was a page and a half then switching the characters, absolutely no flow...sorry but to the glue factory it must go!"
FROM: Dawn's one star GR review at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
===========================
Half the time, I didn't know what was going on. Also, it was sad to read about so many bad things happening to the horses.
October 18, 2010
Still trying to figure out how a horse lover like Smiley can be a race track enthusiast as she owns over 20 horses herself and races them. (I think racing is often cruel and is about human ego). But it's a wonderful story and she writes about people and horses equally well. Nice, big fat book to get involved with.
READ IT AGAIN! 2 years later. Such a good read, although I couldn't bring myself to read the last few chapters again. My memory remembered enough to know I would be crying like a baby so I didn't go there.
READ IT AGAIN! 2 years later. Such a good read, although I couldn't bring myself to read the last few chapters again. My memory remembered enough to know I would be crying like a baby so I didn't go there.
October 25, 2015
Even though I found Horse Heaven to be disjointed and too long, I enjoyed it. I would probably give it 3.5 stars. The animal characters were the most engaging. Some of the chapters felt like short stories, not necessarily integral to the book, but interesting nevertheless. An example of this would be the chapters about a father and son, Leo and Jesse. Once again, a writer trying to write a book in the spirit of Dickens, but not quite making it.
Overall, a pleasant read.
Overall, a pleasant read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 440 reviews