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francesmthompson's Reviews (976)
I really, really wanted to love this after so many have recommended it and of course, due to that Pullitzer Prize Winner sticker on its cover. For personal reasons - as a short story author who likes to overlap plots and characters in my collections - I was also intrigued by the composition of the "novel" which is essentially a collection of short stories about an interwoven set of characters and events.
However, I just didn't get swept up in the book and nor did I lose myself in any of the stories. I therefore found it hard to remember who was who and where they all crossed over thanks to the ever-shifting timeline and the changing, often new, narrators. I think the diverse story-telling styles were just too varied and I never really got a full measure of the two central characters Bennie and Sasha. That said there are some lovely moments and I applaud Egan for introducing so many different viewpoints and narrative styles, and throughout the book - which I did feel I was persevering with at times - there were some really lovely lingering moments and uses of language and prose.
To summarise I wasn't disappointed I bought and read it, just a little unimpressed, but I remain grateful that this book exists!
However, I just didn't get swept up in the book and nor did I lose myself in any of the stories. I therefore found it hard to remember who was who and where they all crossed over thanks to the ever-shifting timeline and the changing, often new, narrators. I think the diverse story-telling styles were just too varied and I never really got a full measure of the two central characters Bennie and Sasha. That said there are some lovely moments and I applaud Egan for introducing so many different viewpoints and narrative styles, and throughout the book - which I did feel I was persevering with at times - there were some really lovely lingering moments and uses of language and prose.
To summarise I wasn't disappointed I bought and read it, just a little unimpressed, but I remain grateful that this book exists!
I read Tulip Fever in almost one sitting on the flight to Dubai from Amsterdam, where I now live. It was recommended to me by my favourite fellow reader - my mother - because of the setting of Amsterdam in the first half of the seventeenth century, its focus on the fast-growing trend of portrait painting and the rise and fall of Tulipmania on the stock market, something I knew little about.
I found the historical references, descriptions, facts and details fascinating and I wildly appreciate all the author's hard work to research, collate and squeeze as much data in her flowing text without interrupting the natural progression of the story. This book is the ultimate companion for anyone who visits Amsterdam and plans on spending all their time in the Rijksmuseum (which is easily done - it's a huge museum).
I also enjoyed how quickly the story began and how promptly the reader is thrown into a web of lies, scandal and lust all told in very beautiful prose. Plot twists kept me turning the pages and there was a wonderful crescendo of tension was almost as comical as it was angst-ridden - kudos to Moggach!
Historical fiction is not my cup of tea at all, but the history lessons I learned about a place I loved and a Dutch institution - tulips - left me feeling satisfied as much with my new knowledge as I was with the charmingly told story of full-of-life characters in old Amsterdam.
I found the historical references, descriptions, facts and details fascinating and I wildly appreciate all the author's hard work to research, collate and squeeze as much data in her flowing text without interrupting the natural progression of the story. This book is the ultimate companion for anyone who visits Amsterdam and plans on spending all their time in the Rijksmuseum (which is easily done - it's a huge museum).
I also enjoyed how quickly the story began and how promptly the reader is thrown into a web of lies, scandal and lust all told in very beautiful prose. Plot twists kept me turning the pages and there was a wonderful crescendo of tension was almost as comical as it was angst-ridden - kudos to Moggach!
Historical fiction is not my cup of tea at all, but the history lessons I learned about a place I loved and a Dutch institution - tulips - left me feeling satisfied as much with my new knowledge as I was with the charmingly told story of full-of-life characters in old Amsterdam.
A charming, easy-to-read and gentle collection of short stories ranging in subject matter, length and style. I really loved Touch and A Careful Man. Recommended to anyone who wants to grow their love of short stories. Hope to read more short fiction from the author one day!
Passionate, tender and heartfelt, I bought this to acknowledge the good work Sean and co. do on the Self Publishing Podcast but ended up getting swept away in his story and that of his family. Inspiring read for anyone with an interest in indie writing and hard, hard work required to succeed.
I would have happily given Scoop by Evelyn Waugh a big fat 4 or maybe 4.5 stars if it wasn't for some openly offensive and racist language and observations he uses. It really did cast a shadow over the whole story, which otherwise rolled and rollicked around like the farce it was meant to be. Poking fun at Fleet Street, politicians, foreign policy, aristocracy and "country bumpkin" folk along the way, there was real charm to be enjoyed here and of course Waugh's prose is effortless but fully effective.
Some scenes required a bit more imagination than others, but the crucial twists centring around mistaken identity and a inexperienced journalist accidentally making the "scoop" of the year, are fondly woven into the plot naturally and simply. The characters and dialogue also carry this novella, and Waugh could have gone on to write a book about at least ten of the players caught up in this satire.
My favourite line... "To a journalist all countries are rich."
Some scenes required a bit more imagination than others, but the crucial twists centring around mistaken identity and a inexperienced journalist accidentally making the "scoop" of the year, are fondly woven into the plot naturally and simply. The characters and dialogue also carry this novella, and Waugh could have gone on to write a book about at least ten of the players caught up in this satire.
My favourite line... "To a journalist all countries are rich."
I bought and read Nightwood after reading heady reviews by T.S. Eliot and Jeanette Winterson - both of whom offer their thoughts and impressions in the Preface and Introduction respectively. I also read that it was essential reading for anyone interested in the over-indulgent 1920s in Paris and the USA. Both Winterson and Eliot refer to a second (or third) reading of this book being essential and maybe I will again one day, but the first reading has peculiarly left me just as impressed as I am disappointed.
While there are lessons to be learned (about today's society as much as yesterday's) on every page, their medium is often a little waffling and off-topic. I found myself craving "action" in a way I don't usually when a book is this well written. And when the action came it was more often than not delivered by other people (Nora and the doctor) in rambling late night conversations shrouded in unrelated but almost relevant lengthy metaphors and digressions.
There is no doubt in my mind that Barnes was a literary revolutionary of her time and her bang-on-target character assassinations are expert to a fault (one went on for three pages!); I also adore how intelligently and unapologetically she wrote a story about a lesbian love triangle in the 1920s and yet the book was never banned and was only gently censored by the author prior to it being published in its full version in 1955. There is also much to be learned in this book from a story-telling perspective, as the woman at the focus of all the tragic attention - Robin Vote - never takes on the form of main narrator.
I look forward to my second reading...
While there are lessons to be learned (about today's society as much as yesterday's) on every page, their medium is often a little waffling and off-topic. I found myself craving "action" in a way I don't usually when a book is this well written. And when the action came it was more often than not delivered by other people (Nora and the doctor) in rambling late night conversations shrouded in unrelated but almost relevant lengthy metaphors and digressions.
There is no doubt in my mind that Barnes was a literary revolutionary of her time and her bang-on-target character assassinations are expert to a fault (one went on for three pages!); I also adore how intelligently and unapologetically she wrote a story about a lesbian love triangle in the 1920s and yet the book was never banned and was only gently censored by the author prior to it being published in its full version in 1955. There is also much to be learned in this book from a story-telling perspective, as the woman at the focus of all the tragic attention - Robin Vote - never takes on the form of main narrator.
I look forward to my second reading...
Lovely language, tension building scenes and sweet dynamic between Poole and Utterson at the end helped me. really enjoy this classic I felt I already knew too well.
My review will echo many of the observations made by others in relation to the disorganised and repetitive structure of this book. I also struggled with the first half being a little too aggressive and narrow-minded. That said, the Choose Yourself principle is one that I became deeply moved and inspired by having already half-adopted such an approach to my life in recent years. There is no doubt that Altucher has a way of encouraging and installing great pride and practises in people and this should be applauded. I will definitely be taking away some lessons and will be challenging myself to execute some of the Daily Practises he swears by. I recommended this book for anyone needing an extra nudge into a freelance career or a new entrepreneurial adventure. Choose Yourself!
Wonderfully readable if a little obvious and a little over-wrought in places. Some lovely use of language, pages of tender description and plenty of turmoil to chew on. There were unexpected revelations, but I felt a lot of the build up wasn't quite given the explosive conclusion or revelation it was leading to. A definite recommendation for a beach read - you never feel like you're wasting time reading Maggie O'Farrell.
While not Grisham's finest work, he does well to portray and pay tribute to the tragedy that is the death penalty. I read this because I'm currently working on my own "mystery/crime thriller" idea and I needed some guidance on pacing, tension and how to weave fact into fiction. This book delivered on all those fronts. His books are always so easy to get swallowed up in and I sped through the 450+ pages. I would have liked some more insight into some of the characters, but the ones who are "full-bodied" - Boyette, Flak, the two mothers Reeva and Roberta - were strong enough to carry the story. Read if you are interested in the shocking ins and outs of the death penalty in some US States, but don't expect a balanced argument for or against; Mr Grisham, like me, is by all accounts very much against.