Comments on: Book Review, ‘Bound on Earth’

By: Blog Segullah : Auction Item #1: Signed Copy of Angela Hallstrom’s ‘Bound on Earth’

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:16:05 +0000

[...] Signed copy of Angela Hallstrom’s Bound on Earth . I reviewed the book at Blog Segullah here. Now start [...]

By: Mormon Renaissance » Blog Archive » On a Unified Mormon Fiction

Mormon Renaissance » Blog Archive » On a Unified Mormon Fiction — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 21:09:30 +0000

[...] of the most unique beliefs in Mormondom, and I think it could make for a great literature.Â From the buzz I’m hearing about Angela Hallstrom’s Bound on Earth, this novel seems promising in that [...]

By: Angela

Angela — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 02:39:04 +0000

Deborah, thank you so much. It means a great deal to me that you like my book. I followed the link to the Exponent II blog and saw that you’d mentioned it there as well, and I’m so grateful. I have to rely a lot on word of mouth, and so your willingness to say kind things about the novel is a real help, especially when I think the audience for blogs like Segullah and Exponent II might be particularly interested in the novel. And I love that you used my quote in your course, too! As a first time novelist, it’s quite a thrill to think of someone reading and even quoting me. Really cool. And thank you for the quote above. Beautiful.

By: Deborah

Deborah — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 01:59:04 +0000

Angela: It really is a superb novel. This week in my senior Contemporary Lit class (high school), we were just finishing “American Pastoral” — a book I appreciated but just couldn’t love. “Things fall apart” so utterly, and the book ends there, in the devastation. Any why so thoroughly eviscerated. To show them a contrasting “Job” story, we read aloud part of Archibald MacLeish’s “J.B.” (love love love) which ends with Sarah returning — in tremendous pain and deeply confused — but holding a flower that persisted in blooming:

J.B.: Why did you leave me alone?

Sarah: I loved you.
I couldn’t help you any more.
You wanted justice and there was none–
only love

J.B. : He does not love. He
Is.

Sarah: But we do. That’s the wonder.

J.B. Yet you left me.

Sarah. Yes, I left you.
I thought there was a way away . . .

I never could! Even the forsythis . . .
Even the forsythia beside the
Stair could stop me.

And I then noted this excerpt from your interview at A Motley Vision:

I also became very interested in the idea of â€œstayingâ€ as a theme in serious literature. So much of the literature I was reading and critiquing in school had to do with leavingâ€”especially when it came to relationships. And I understand why. Leaving is the archetypal launching pad for most good plots, whether itâ€™s leaving the country to go to on an adventure or leaving your husband to take up with a younger man. But I knew there had to be a lot of great drama and conflict in the act of staying, too, because I saw all sorts of drama around me, and most of that drama had to do with the act of staying, of being committed, of pushing through darkness toward hope.

Thought you’d like to know

By: Justine

Justine — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 17:27:49 +0000

I’m excited to read it! I just couldn’t bring myself to fork over the money for overnight shipping. So, in 7-10 days, I’ll have a more informed opinion!

By: Angela

Angela — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:16:55 +0000

Maralise, thanks so much for the review. And thanks for the kind words, Kathy. As of right now, I’m not planning a sequel–but it’s always hard to leave your characters behind. They’ll be rattling around in my head for a long time to come!

By: Kathryn Soper

Kathryn Soper — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 01:27:01 +0000

Thanks for this, Maralise.

I just finished my second read, and enjoyed it even more than the first. I expect I’ll return to it again and again.

Angela, how about a sequel? I haven’t had enough of the Palmers!