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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
hopeful
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I can never tell the difference between science fiction and speculative, histrionic fiction. There is, IMHO, an absolute shortage of science fiction movies. Egg, I ming, comic books don't count. Actually I'm not too terribly fond of action movies, predictably they have the same setlist, if ya catch my drift. I like stand-alone's, naturally I could never watch a TV show again unless it's cobra Kai.
"Now rich man he say liar to poor man. But poor man, he better not say liar to rich man."
The sirocco blows on the Mediterranean island of Nepenthe. Essentially what was a communal territory situated between Sicily and the Adriatic, ahem, it's another made-up place like Orhan Pamuk did with Mingheria. That is, a pedantic government, Norm dug into Homer, it's common knowledge that the Tale of Genji was written by a female, why not the Odyssey?!
"I grant that morality changes slowly. It changes slowly because the proletariat, whose product it is, does the same."
Speaking of production, did you know that the Spartans 'thought it positively indecent not to steal?' so there's a $300 shield wall 🛡️ & if you like melodrama, I'm rather curious that Tibetan monks have arguments amongst themselves too, sth. Like, "Numskull, you no form rite?'
I do appreciate the imagery in this novel. Douglas described the cobalt firmament, trees w/ a ghostly green tinge, "A smile," he used to say, "will sway the Universe." What is a genepistasis? Some kind of genetically spliced pistachio?! I can imagine, at that.
"We are always groping about in the dark, are we not? We are always puzzling about our own problems instead of helping other people with theirs. Perhaps one should not think so much of oneself, though it is an interesting subject."
Terrible shit happens everyday, & and am I but a queer artifice? Norm packs a soupçon of harangue in a tidy cachet... I dabbled in a passing wind, and then bit down on the punt.
Tho there was a faecal residue, be more animated - I had more fun with this one because I still don't know what it was about. Philosophical discourse admittedly doesn't rub it out, making this reader more circumspect than agog, I questioned âť“ more than I answered. Blue
"Now rich man he say liar to poor man. But poor man, he better not say liar to rich man."
The sirocco blows on the Mediterranean island of Nepenthe. Essentially what was a communal territory situated between Sicily and the Adriatic, ahem, it's another made-up place like Orhan Pamuk did with Mingheria. That is, a pedantic government, Norm dug into Homer, it's common knowledge that the Tale of Genji was written by a female, why not the Odyssey?!
"I grant that morality changes slowly. It changes slowly because the proletariat, whose product it is, does the same."
Speaking of production, did you know that the Spartans 'thought it positively indecent not to steal?' so there's a $300 shield wall 🛡️ & if you like melodrama, I'm rather curious that Tibetan monks have arguments amongst themselves too, sth. Like, "Numskull, you no form rite?'
I do appreciate the imagery in this novel. Douglas described the cobalt firmament, trees w/ a ghostly green tinge, "A smile," he used to say, "will sway the Universe." What is a genepistasis? Some kind of genetically spliced pistachio?! I can imagine, at that.
"We are always groping about in the dark, are we not? We are always puzzling about our own problems instead of helping other people with theirs. Perhaps one should not think so much of oneself, though it is an interesting subject."
Terrible shit happens everyday, & and am I but a queer artifice? Norm packs a soupçon of harangue in a tidy cachet... I dabbled in a passing wind, and then bit down on the punt.
Tho there was a faecal residue, be more animated - I had more fun with this one because I still don't know what it was about. Philosophical discourse admittedly doesn't rub it out, making this reader more circumspect than agog, I questioned âť“ more than I answered. Blue
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
If you are looking for a book with a strong plot, keep looking! Nothing much happens as Douglas follows the lives of several people who visit Nepenthe for the summer.
There are a lot of good descriptions and lively commentary which kept the book going for me. It kind of felt like it was stretching to be a Vanity Fair but never quite as saucy.
There are a lot of good descriptions and lively commentary which kept the book going for me. It kind of felt like it was stretching to be a Vanity Fair but never quite as saucy.
Charming and clever, a book almost without plot that still managed to keep me drawn in for its entirety.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Long-winded, and most of it either irrelevant or problematic today. And found out the author was a known paedophile. Not sure why this is still in print.
I didn't really enjoy reading it and skimmed a lot of it but it was cool
Deducting stars for excessive length - Douglas clearly does not believe brevity is the soul of wit, a big problem when he’s trying to ape Oscar Wilde’s epigrammatic style. He loves the sound of his own voice and simply cannot write a single sentence where 22 paragraphs will do just as well. I reckon the book would have been vastly improved if 100-150 pages were cut. As it was up until the last 90 pages I was going to award this two stars.
It’s a satire on Victorian attitudes - especially towards morality and Christianity. This is probably less relevant today. Much of the book is taken up by lengthy philosophical dialogues between the characters. He doesn’t make much effort to differentiate the individual speech patterns, they all sound similar and three-quarters of the way in I was still confusing characters.
His prose does flow easily so it’s not a difficult read, and some of the situations and plot developments are funny. I was most fascinated by his analysis of a Catholic Church working hand in glove with the Mafia.
Anyone attracted to this because of the setting in a thinly-disguised Belle Époque Capri (then the playground of the European A-Gays) by a homosexual author will be very disappointed. Douglas fled London due to a gay sex scandal while writing this and there is speculation he censored himself to avoid throwing paraffin on the flames. The book only goes as far as throwing very coy and ambiguous hints on sexual matters.
It’s a satire on Victorian attitudes - especially towards morality and Christianity. This is probably less relevant today. Much of the book is taken up by lengthy philosophical dialogues between the characters. He doesn’t make much effort to differentiate the individual speech patterns, they all sound similar and three-quarters of the way in I was still confusing characters.
His prose does flow easily so it’s not a difficult read, and some of the situations and plot developments are funny. I was most fascinated by his analysis of a Catholic Church working hand in glove with the Mafia.
Anyone attracted to this because of the setting in a thinly-disguised Belle Époque Capri (then the playground of the European A-Gays) by a homosexual author will be very disappointed. Douglas fled London due to a gay sex scandal while writing this and there is speculation he censored himself to avoid throwing paraffin on the flames. The book only goes as far as throwing very coy and ambiguous hints on sexual matters.