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3.03 AVERAGE
3.03 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
mysterious
relaxing
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
fast-paced
Terrible. I found this book in my hotel room in Venice, and thought "why not?". Well, it was awful. No character development, not interesting plot or story line. Just bland and boring. The best thing about it was that it was short and I didn't pay for it. I can see why someone left it behind.
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
At first I wasn't sure, this is an odd little book, but upon reflection I find I quite enjoyed it. Essentially, Rowland and Nina run a mobile finishing school that travels about Europe and has just enough students enrolled to keep it afloat. Nina runs the school while Rowland is, ostensibly, working on his novel, teaching one writing class, and struggling mightily with writer's block. When a new student, Chris, arrives to act as a writer-in-residence and quickly garners publisher's interest in his historical fiction novel due to his youth, Rowland boils over with jealousy. What ensues is interweaving of dual obsessions. The most interesting part for me is that this romantic finishing school, ensconced in the hills near Lake Geneva, is more or less in present time, fully utilizing computers, though not cell phones (perhaps the 90's?). Who are the well-off parents demanding an old world European finishing for their children?
I loved Sparks' descriptions of some of the students:
"Her ambition was to open a village shop and sell ceramics and transparent scarves."
And the 'lessons' of College Sunrise itself:
"'When you finish at College Sunrise you should be really and truly finished,’ Nina told the girls. ‘Like the finish on a rare piece of furniture. Your jumped-up parents (may God preserve their bank accounts) will want to see something for their money. Listen: when you eat asparagus in England, as everyone knows, you take it in your fingers, but the secret of exquisite manners with regard to asparagus is to eat it held in your left hand. Got it?’"
I loved Sparks' descriptions of some of the students:
"Her ambition was to open a village shop and sell ceramics and transparent scarves."
And the 'lessons' of College Sunrise itself:
"'When you finish at College Sunrise you should be really and truly finished,’ Nina told the girls. ‘Like the finish on a rare piece of furniture. Your jumped-up parents (may God preserve their bank accounts) will want to see something for their money. Listen: when you eat asparagus in England, as everyone knows, you take it in your fingers, but the secret of exquisite manners with regard to asparagus is to eat it held in your left hand. Got it?’"
How I wish I could write like this! Riveting, compelling, entertaining... amazing that such a tiny book is so awesomely good. Loved it.