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elizastudying's review against another edition
4.0
This was the first novel I read for the course 'Contemporary Irish Writing' that I hope to be doing at UCC this autumn. I liked this book quite much. It tells of Aroon and her family from her childhood on to later, when her mother dies. It shows how conventional Good Behaviour can ruin a lot and is not necessarily a good thing.
barbarabarbara's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
blankgarden's review against another edition
5.0
My review: https://theblankgarden.com/2017/02/16/i-do-know-how-to-behave-believe-me-because-i-know-i-have-always-known/
shimmer's review against another edition
So many reviews and descriptions call Good Behavior a comedy that I went into it expecting a very, very different novel than what I received. I enjoyed what it is, because the narrator's is so fully realized and sympathetic (even pathetic). But apart from a very few biting lines, I found it far more grim than comic.
aoifeh_doheny's review against another edition
3.0
My mistake was misreading "unlovely" as "lovely" on the summary when I first picked this book up. I'm prone to findng unsympathetic main characters a bore, and from the very beginning Aroon proves herself to be very unsympathetic. And yet as the story goes on, you can't help but root for her in the face of her mother's withering attitude and sympathise with her loneliness and delusion.
And then as the end approaches, we are shown once more the sheer arrogance and haughtiness that, according to this book, characterised the old Anglo-Irish world.
A portrait of the last gaps of a fading world, clinding to its meticulous customs and rituals. It's demise is seen in the falling fortunes of Temple Alice, and the pathetic self-belief of Aroon herself.
(To be honest, I preferred [b:The Age of Innocence|53835|The Age of Innocence|Edith Wharton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388248423l/53835._SY75_.jpg|1959512].)
And then as the end approaches, we are shown once more the sheer arrogance and haughtiness that, according to this book, characterised the old Anglo-Irish world.
I was, after all, Aroon St Charles.
A portrait of the last gaps of a fading world, clinding to its meticulous customs and rituals. It's demise is seen in the falling fortunes of Temple Alice, and the pathetic self-belief of Aroon herself.
(To be honest, I preferred [b:The Age of Innocence|53835|The Age of Innocence|Edith Wharton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388248423l/53835._SY75_.jpg|1959512].)
hippos's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
austindoherty's review against another edition
dark
funny
fast-paced
5.0
Aroon, poisoned by her class and pathetically blinkered by her upbringing, longs "to be tomorrow's person," but is confronted with the fact that she will always only be herself: "I knew that here stood the changeless me, the truly unwanted person." People can change. Aroon cannot.
tay_af's review against another edition
5.0
The twists! The turns! The (bad) behavior!
This book depressed me until literally the last twenty five pages and then it blew my mind. I wanted to start rereading it immediately upon finishing it with all the information I now have. Granted, I should’ve picked up on it sooner but Keane’s deft use of a completely unreliable narrator was powerfully effective. A slog at first but well worth it.
Also her body image issues were a little tooooooo well written
This book depressed me until literally the last twenty five pages and then it blew my mind. I wanted to start rereading it immediately upon finishing it with all the information I now have. Granted, I should’ve picked up on it sooner but Keane’s deft use of a completely unreliable narrator was powerfully effective. A slog at first but well worth it.
Also her body image issues were a little tooooooo well written
blankgarden's review against another edition
5.0
My review: https://theblankgarden.com/2017/02/16/i-do-know-how-to-behave-believe-me-because-i-know-i-have-always-known/