The Submission

Highly recommended - an attitude changer.

A unique way of re-examining the events following 9/11 through the eyes of a variety of people affected by this tragedy. Stereotypes do us a disservice - this novel reveals real people behind the labels.

6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

2 FOR EFFORT, BUT EH!

Maybe I have just become a jaded New Yorker since the events of 9/11 and their aftermath, but honestly this sophomoric effort at writing "the novel" about 9/11 falls far short both as a story and as good writing. Whether or not Ms. Waldman was a writer for the NY Times is irrelevant, becuase this book just does not work as a whole. It is dull, the characters are flat, the story is less than timely given the wonderful result of the Memorial that we now have, and it fails to deeply convey the myriad feelings of those of us who lived through any aspect of the horrible day we must never forget. I am appalled that this was published, actually, given that the memorial described is far fetched, the circumstances ridiculous, and the characters shallow and often grating. Mabe this would pass in a writer'sworkshop, but as a novel it is less than what is needed for this event. Sad,as I looked forward to a book with some depth, and other than the final section...well, the rest is a waste of time, frankly. Pass it by, and don't honor this tripe if you truly want to honor the victims and our city.

6 out of 10 people found this review helpful.

Highly Recommend - it reads like it is straight from the six oclock news

This book is set ten years after 9/11. A jury in Manhattan has been assigned the task of selecting a memorial for the victims of the 9/11 attack. Sometimes while reading this book, I felt as though the characters were so real, I should be able to google them and find out more about them.

Amy Waldman develops the characters in a heart wrenching and real manner. The conflict of the beautiful submission of an Islamic architect and the jury is only one small conflict. There are conflicts within the families of the victims, between the victim families and within the City of New York. The submission process is questioned, the validity of the jury is questioned, and the strength of American foundation is put to the test. Politicians and journalists cloud the process.

This book shows the struggles of people, fighting for their ideals under the urgent quetion of how to remember a national tragedy.

This would be a wonderful book club selection.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Cultural and religious differences in an easy read.

This is an excellent novel highlighting cultural and religious differences. In a country, and at a time, where many want to impose their own values on different societies, this book improves understanding and shows how unwise and futile those efforts will be. The only negative that I perceived is the author's propensity to use words that require looking up in a dictionary.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Monumental

Gripping.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Highly recommended

Well written, compelling story. On target with the crazies in this country.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Worth it

This is worth the read. There are a lot of interesting characters and the best and worst of human behavior definitely comes out. I shifted from loving certain characters to despising them by the end. Fascinating and well-written.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Highly recommended

Great book.
Couldn't put it down

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Life imitates art. A must read.

In this thoughtful book, the author tackles a topic that is very important and came to an ugly head while she was probably in the process of writing the book. It certainly makes us think about what kind of a country we want to be and if we can ever get beyond the individual fiefdoms that rule our existence these days and work together as a united people.

It would be a great book club book. Lots of discussion value.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

It’s somewhat difficult to review *The Submission* as a no

It’s somewhat difficult to review *The Submission* as a novel, since it quite deftly eludes classification as any specific type of currently popular genre. It certainly doesn’t fit under the heading of political thrillers or epic tales, yet it certainly would fit right into any category that might be considered tangential to either of those well-established genres. What we have here, you see, is a good old-fashioned Novel of Ideas, almost an allegory, in which just about every character represents a distinct philosophy or ideology or point of view about A Very Important Event. In this case, that event happens to be the World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001 and the subsequent effort to create a fitting memorial to the event.

Waldman does not miss an angle here—she considers everything from the sentiments of the victims’ families to the democratic process of selecting a design to our current (or is it longstanding?) cultural obsession for memorializing everything to the need to honor and respect diversity—and the likely impossibility of balancing all of these elements to the satisfaction of all involved.

On these counts, Waldman succeeds brilliantly. Her story demonstrates her profound understanding of the issues involved in this story. But she doesn’t quite hit the mark when it comes to creating and developing strong characters. If you’re willing to sacrifice character development for nuanced themes, you’ll probably enjoy this book just a bit more than I did. For my tastes, I had hoped for more thoroughly three-dimensional characters to carry this thorny plot along.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

This book was very good. I'm wondering still what choice I would

This book was very good. I'm wondering still what choice I would make!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

amazing...

This is a book I will have to read again...feel like I missed some points along the way...a fascinating read...

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Very thought provoking!

This would be a great book for book clubs.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Greaat book

Good read with complex characters.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

love, love, love this book

Such a compelling story. Definitely opens up a new perspective and once again reminds me that every action creates a reaction. Just a fantastic book

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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