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pigman's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
novelesque_life's review
2.0
2 STARS
"Colin escapes to the New World to heal himself when Vera, to whom he'd been getting married, sends him an invitation to her wedding to someone else. In New Cardiff he finds a simplicity that seduces and transforms him. When Vera arrives to explain it was all a joke, he's a very different Colin." (From Amazon)
I was interested in reading this novel because it was written by the author of [b:The Graduate|71047|The Graduate|Charles Webb|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403023709s/71047.jpg|1630939] and stars Colin Firth and Minnie Driver! Unfortunately, I did not care for the book as it was more dull than funny.
"Colin escapes to the New World to heal himself when Vera, to whom he'd been getting married, sends him an invitation to her wedding to someone else. In New Cardiff he finds a simplicity that seduces and transforms him. When Vera arrives to explain it was all a joke, he's a very different Colin." (From Amazon)
I was interested in reading this novel because it was written by the author of [b:The Graduate|71047|The Graduate|Charles Webb|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403023709s/71047.jpg|1630939] and stars Colin Firth and Minnie Driver! Unfortunately, I did not care for the book as it was more dull than funny.
angelaaaa's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
reviewdiaries's review against another edition
4.0
This review was written for The Review Diaries: http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.com/2011/01/review-new-cardiff-by-charles-webb.html
This was made into a film a few years ago entitled ‘Hope Springs’ staring Colin Firth, Heather Graham and Minnie Driver, and I don’t know how much seeing the film before reading the book will have affected my view on it.
I loved the film, it was a quiet yet witty affair, perfectly cast that trundled along nicely, and the same can be said of the book. I always find it interesting to see how they translate a book into a film, but this is an example of one done exceptionally well. The scenes, the dialogue, almost everything is transposed word for word into the new medium.
This is pared down simplicity, with around eighty per cent of the novel being entirely dialogue. There’s very little description to get bogged down in, just communication between characters that builds into emotions and relationships. Colin in particular has a wit that leaps off the page, and had me laughing out loud with some of the one liners. It’s haunting, with idyllic almost fairy tale like qualities, and was a highly enjoyable read.
However, I don’t know whether I partly enjoyed the simplicity of the book, because I had the characters and voices in my head that I’d already seen in the film. The casting was perfect, the actors inhabiting the roles so well that reading, I could hear their voices, see the beautiful landscape and the buildings and scenes vividly. It certainly heightened my enjoyment, and whilst I’m certain I would have loved the book anyway, I can’t separate the two enough to see how much.
My only puzzlement came with the ending, which continues on in the book a little further than in the film. It shows Colin and Mandy a few months down the line, and I felt it took away some of the romance built up through the rest of the story. Perhaps something that needs to be done, after all real life isn’t all fairy tales and romance, but I would have preferred to have been left with the escapist illusions, rather than the realities that come with day to day existence.
Over all a very funny, moving and engaging book, showing how simplicity is sometimes the most effective option when conveying complex relationships. A favourite for 2011, and one I will continue to go back and enjoy time and time again.
This was made into a film a few years ago entitled ‘Hope Springs’ staring Colin Firth, Heather Graham and Minnie Driver, and I don’t know how much seeing the film before reading the book will have affected my view on it.
I loved the film, it was a quiet yet witty affair, perfectly cast that trundled along nicely, and the same can be said of the book. I always find it interesting to see how they translate a book into a film, but this is an example of one done exceptionally well. The scenes, the dialogue, almost everything is transposed word for word into the new medium.
This is pared down simplicity, with around eighty per cent of the novel being entirely dialogue. There’s very little description to get bogged down in, just communication between characters that builds into emotions and relationships. Colin in particular has a wit that leaps off the page, and had me laughing out loud with some of the one liners. It’s haunting, with idyllic almost fairy tale like qualities, and was a highly enjoyable read.
However, I don’t know whether I partly enjoyed the simplicity of the book, because I had the characters and voices in my head that I’d already seen in the film. The casting was perfect, the actors inhabiting the roles so well that reading, I could hear their voices, see the beautiful landscape and the buildings and scenes vividly. It certainly heightened my enjoyment, and whilst I’m certain I would have loved the book anyway, I can’t separate the two enough to see how much.
My only puzzlement came with the ending, which continues on in the book a little further than in the film. It shows Colin and Mandy a few months down the line, and I felt it took away some of the romance built up through the rest of the story. Perhaps something that needs to be done, after all real life isn’t all fairy tales and romance, but I would have preferred to have been left with the escapist illusions, rather than the realities that come with day to day existence.
Over all a very funny, moving and engaging book, showing how simplicity is sometimes the most effective option when conveying complex relationships. A favourite for 2011, and one I will continue to go back and enjoy time and time again.
bent's review against another edition
2.0
Not a great book. It consists almost solely of dialogue, and very awkward dialogue, where one character makes some kind of incomplete statement and the other character keeps asking questions to draw out more information while the original speaker is somewhat evasive. Or you have two characters talking but having different conversations - Character A talks about their relationship while Character B talks about the museum. Each character alternates speaking lines about their different conversations.
I was actually well into the book before it dawned on me that the book was meant to be humorous - not a good sign. After that, the awkward dialogue made a little more sense as it was obviously written for comedic effect. It wasn't any funnier, it just was more logical. There was one line in the book that made me laugh out loud, but that was it.
Some of the set-ups seemed very contrived - the scene at the golf course being a prime example. I found that I started to lose patience over the last hundred pages. The book is basically a romantic comedy, but it's not really marketed that way. Had it been, I probably never would have picked it up.
You never really get to know the characters, since the dialogue doesn't give a lot away about any of them. Are you supposed to like Colin? Like Mandy? Hate Vera? They're all very two-dimensional, so it's hard to really care about any of them. I could see how it might work as a movie, however, which is apparently what they've done, so this might be a case of the movie being better than the book. I definitely couldn't recommend it as a book.
I was actually well into the book before it dawned on me that the book was meant to be humorous - not a good sign. After that, the awkward dialogue made a little more sense as it was obviously written for comedic effect. It wasn't any funnier, it just was more logical. There was one line in the book that made me laugh out loud, but that was it.
Some of the set-ups seemed very contrived - the scene at the golf course being a prime example. I found that I started to lose patience over the last hundred pages. The book is basically a romantic comedy, but it's not really marketed that way. Had it been, I probably never would have picked it up.
You never really get to know the characters, since the dialogue doesn't give a lot away about any of them. Are you supposed to like Colin? Like Mandy? Hate Vera? They're all very two-dimensional, so it's hard to really care about any of them. I could see how it might work as a movie, however, which is apparently what they've done, so this might be a case of the movie being better than the book. I definitely couldn't recommend it as a book.
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