Wonderland (The Wonderland Quartet)

Wonderland was very engaging and well written. I looked forward to reading a few pages each night as I settled myself after busy days at work and the home routine. Although I did not personally connect with the main character, Jesse, I was,interested to see how he could make sense of his life,after the tragic end to his family. I related to his wife as she was a product of the time, who viewed her life as over with marriage and bearing children. Not everyone in her day succumbed to this fate but I related to her depression. I think my mother showed many of the same traits, 6 kids and stuck at home. I think JCO is a terrific writer . This series was the first I had read by her. I look forward to reading more of her work.

Library Journal calls it the greatest of Ms. Oates' novels. I call it THE GREATEST OF EVERYONE'S NOVELS, and I have read several thousand.WOW! Her genius is extraordinary. Unmatched. She writes better than anyone else AND understands human nature better than anyone else. What a combination.This is the story of Jesse and others whose lives intersect with his. No-one in the book is totally sane, yet all except one, lead outwardly normal lives. Sounds much like the majority of us. What Ms. Oates does so magically, is dissect and show what we all hide when we present a pleasant facade to the world.I am incredibly sad that I have come to the end of this (understated) masterpiece. I do not know of a word for "greater than a masterpiece," which is what this is.

As the fourth novel of a four-novel 'set,' Joyce Carol Oates ends her sustained, semi-serialized "Wonderland" set with another sober statement about America and a niche of wealth and poverty. The second novel, "them," was the strongest of the four (and award-winning). The fourth book can be a bit rambling and loose -- and with every book, Oates expounds on her writing of the book, and on its meaning to her: an interesting take.

A doctor with a troubled past is so engrossed in his professional life that he loses touch with the humanity he serves, and a troubled daughter rebels until she is essentially brainwashed and ravaged by drugs. Oates called the novel gothic in tone. I considered it tedious at times. It is a psychological novel for the most part, and it seems that the concern over getting at these issues made the actual story and motivation of the characters difficult to follow at times. Overall, a decent work. Anyone who likes Oates will like this. For those who don't, it will be hit and miss.

This book is jam-packed full of life, history, pain, passion, family, love and hate. I almost have no words. I binge read all four of Ms. Oates first books. What a banquet. The complexity of her characters are art. Often, her prose are poetry. I was hijacked back in history and mesmerized by the raw beauty of her composition. Amazing.

Joyce Carol Oates is a master at her craft.

This book was almost impossible to put down, and I read it as if it were a marathon. Much of it was impossible to understand, just as it would be impossible to understand the damaging effect that early childhood trauma would have on an individual such as Jesse. It was a fascinating, yet troubling read.

This took me forever to read. I like bizarre story lines, but this one didn’t seem to make any progress. Just the retelling of tragic family stories one after another. No breaking of the vicious cycle. Lots of detail - too much detail, to the point of tediousness in reading. I got to the end and had a WTF moment. I am giving it 3 stars for the parts that had my attention...