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allisonbuie's review
3.0
This book dissects the movie into church-like sermons... sometimes reaching for a new lesson besides the obvious ones that can be viewed in the film. However, the author does provide information that is worth reading. You can tell he has done his research. He knows the movie well, but he also knows a lot about Frank Capra and the time period the movie was filmed.
Picture having a conversation with someone about a movie. You'll agree with some of the things your friend has pointed out, but probably not all of it. That is the magic of film and books alike: you digest the feelings, scenes or wisdom in the way you need to during that current moment.
Some of Bob Welch's lessons I didn't agree with, yet others I was open and glad to hear about.
Picture having a conversation with someone about a movie. You'll agree with some of the things your friend has pointed out, but probably not all of it. That is the magic of film and books alike: you digest the feelings, scenes or wisdom in the way you need to during that current moment.
Some of Bob Welch's lessons I didn't agree with, yet others I was open and glad to hear about.
sallyb72's review
4.0
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
I was not expecting a book of 52 weekly spiritual readings and reflections.
Easily readable and quite simplistic. This is not a book written by a person deep in faith. Send like the questions for reflection were written by someone else? Definitely for the Wonderful Life fan base who love the story and will not judge the author.
I was not expecting a book of 52 weekly spiritual readings and reflections.
Easily readable and quite simplistic. This is not a book written by a person deep in faith. Send like the questions for reflection were written by someone else? Definitely for the Wonderful Life fan base who love the story and will not judge the author.
ebutter's review
4.0
Love the insights into the back story of this movie, but would have loved just a bit more scripture references.
daybreak1012's review
5.0
A very dear friend gifted me this book and I held onto it, counting the days backward from Christmas so I would start it 52 days before, to enjoy and savor a lesson each night before bed. As much as I looked forward to this "lesson book" inspired by my very favorite movie, I had no idea the treat in was in for. So much packed into the pages of this little volume. When I watched my traditional Christmas Eve viewing of It's a Wonderful Life after reading this thought-provoking book of little lessons, it was with new eyes. I didn't think I could love it more, but thanks to 52 Little Lessons from It's a Wonderful Life, I do. I will pull out this book each year going forward and soak in its messages. It is insightful and uplifting and filled with reminders of the type of person I want to be.
guida315's review
3.0
I really looked forward to reading this book, and I did so in one sitting. However, I'm dismayed by the inaccuracies and errors in the book. I wonder if Bob Welch has seen It's a Wonderful Life more than once. First, let me say that I have a deep affinity for the movie; as Mr. Welch mentions in his author's note about the bank president using scenes for training purposes, I, too, during my tenure as the Director of HR and Training for a local credit union, used scenes from the movie. Also, I have had three dogs named after characters from the movie, so to say it's my favorite Christmas movie would be an understatement.
The first typo I encountered was on page xii. "Its a Wonderful Life." Really? There are inconsistencies throughout...is it "the Building and Loan" or "Building and Loan," which sounds pretty awkward? Are plural possessives made with or without the s after the apostrophe? See pages 35 (Martinis') and 83 (Browns's); I submit there should be no s. There are other mechanical problems, i.e., missing commas, misplaced commas, etc., and I don't want to anguish over them except to say this is pretty poor quality in a book; this quality in a newspaper or magazine I could understand.
However, here are my biggest concerns:
on page 38, "As Mary says: 'Enter the Martini castle.'" It was George who said that.
on page 69, "married to Mary Hatch, father of three children...." They had four children.
on page 88, "When he taps her on the shoulder to suggest she and her partner can remain in the Charleston contest...." According to Harry right before this scene, those NOT tapped can remain in the contest.
on page 189, "his daughter Zuzu and her paper flower." What? The flower isn't paper. She supposedly gets sick because she doesn't want to crush it; she wants to put it in water to give it a drink; and, just looking at it, anyone can tell, it's not paper.
Finally, anyone who loves the movie knows that it's not in public domain anymore, despite Mr. Welch saying on page 193 that "its exclusive commercial worth [is] irretrievably lost." No; it's not. A simple Internet search indicates that in 1993 Republic regained control of the movie, which is why it's once again only shown a couple times per Christmas season.
I must say, if I had read any reviews that indicated that the book was so full of errors about the movie, I would never have purchased it. While the 52 lessons were somewhat endearing, if not repetitive, the endearing quotient didn't outweigh the frustration.
The first typo I encountered was on page xii. "Its a Wonderful Life." Really? There are inconsistencies throughout...is it "the Building and Loan" or "Building and Loan," which sounds pretty awkward? Are plural possessives made with or without the s after the apostrophe? See pages 35 (Martinis') and 83 (Browns's); I submit there should be no s. There are other mechanical problems, i.e., missing commas, misplaced commas, etc., and I don't want to anguish over them except to say this is pretty poor quality in a book; this quality in a newspaper or magazine I could understand.
However, here are my biggest concerns:
on page 38, "As Mary says: 'Enter the Martini castle.'" It was George who said that.
on page 69, "married to Mary Hatch, father of three children...." They had four children.
on page 88, "When he taps her on the shoulder to suggest she and her partner can remain in the Charleston contest...." According to Harry right before this scene, those NOT tapped can remain in the contest.
on page 189, "his daughter Zuzu and her paper flower." What? The flower isn't paper. She supposedly gets sick because she doesn't want to crush it; she wants to put it in water to give it a drink; and, just looking at it, anyone can tell, it's not paper.
Finally, anyone who loves the movie knows that it's not in public domain anymore, despite Mr. Welch saying on page 193 that "its exclusive commercial worth [is] irretrievably lost." No; it's not. A simple Internet search indicates that in 1993 Republic regained control of the movie, which is why it's once again only shown a couple times per Christmas season.
I must say, if I had read any reviews that indicated that the book was so full of errors about the movie, I would never have purchased it. While the 52 lessons were somewhat endearing, if not repetitive, the endearing quotient didn't outweigh the frustration.
mtdewdependent47's review
3.0
It's A Wonderful Life is hands down my favorite Christmas movie, and I've seen it at least 50 times. I was excited to read this book. It started out well, but about halfway through it got extremely repetitive. Also, some of the "lessons" seemed a little bit far-fetched, coming mostly from the author's biased point of view. It still was mostly enjoyable and a quick read; however, I deducted one star because the book is full of inaccuracies about the movie. Did the author see this movie more than once? It's simple things like that that can ruin a book for me. If you can get past that, the little lessons in the book can be helpful and will make you think.
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