I'm a big fan of Ron Hansen: his fiction, his basic writing project, his nonfiction, etc. But I felt like I was missing something in his Exiles. As usual, there were moments of beautiful and crafted prose. But the general feel of the book (for me) was very flat. The biographies, especially of Hopkins, felt stilted and almost intentionally dry, as if Hansen chose not to develop the scenes or moments (or even inner life) that would have been most important to a fuller psychological character expose. In his first two Westerns, I felt the same quiet nature of the plot, but with the Westerns I sensed and understood a power behind the quiet: a slow but powerful change in character and American landscape. I couldn't figure out the power behind the quiet in this novel. But perhaps it's there. ( )

Interesting biography of Gerard Manley Hopkins, the English Jesuit and poet. Struck by an article in the newspaper about 5 nuns lost in a shipwreck of the Deutschland, which struck a sandbar off the coast of England he begins to write a long poem on the subject, "The Wreck of the Deutschland", which has since been declared a classic of its genre and Hopkins' masterwork. The crew hadn't been able to see through bad weather and fog and miscalculated their route. The book alternates among Hopkins' life, that of each of the nuns and how they respond to the shipwreck, and how members of the crew deal with the catastrophe. Somewhat dry and pedestrian. The text of the poem was given in the back. I've always liked this poem since reading it in English lit in college years ago, so I was glad to find a book on the subject. The title "Exiles": the nuns consider themselves exiles from Heaven; also, due to a decree from Bismarck, who ruled Germany at the time--the Falk laws: they are exiles from their native land, on their way to America. In a way, you could call Hopkins an exile too. ( )

Beautifully told story of Gerard Manly Hopkins and the shipwreck that inspired his poem The Wreck of the Deutschland. I didn't know there were so any horrible ways to die on a ship.

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This is very close to a biography in tone and intent. Hansen, however, alternates his telling of Hopkin's last 10 years with a re-telling of the wreck of the Deutschland and the death of 5 nuns who were travelling on that ship to re-settle in America. It's a beautifully written, thoughtful book and I think I'm how in love with Gerard Manley Hopkins. ( )

I found this book an engrossing read. Gives the reader an ending and then work from the past back to that ending and weaving in the story of Gerard Manley Hopkins, an enigmatic but now famous poet. For people going through difficult situations, it is very profound. ( )