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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I never cared much for Maurice Gee is a child and now as an adult I must recant my opinion.
Utterly brilliant, completely gripping and unabashedly a New Zealand novel.
Utterly brilliant, completely gripping and unabashedly a New Zealand novel.
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
medium-paced
challenging
dark
slow-paced
The book is quite different to the movie in terms of setting (Henderson, Auckland vs rural Otago) but another solid NZ book.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm not sure what to say about this one, so I keep saying nothing...The writing is precise and perfect for the story. The narrator - both the character and the audio book reader - keeps you at a distance, even when revealing the most personal things. The story looks like a mystery on the surface - a girl has been killed and the narrator is a suspect. You wonder for a bit how reliable the narrator is, until you learn to trust his voice and observations. The story goes back into his childhood, to his fanatical religious mother and his father, escaping with books into his private den. I would recommend it particularly to people who like books where that slight distance is kept. The audio version is great, and the narrator has a cool, level voice - and reads in a New Zealand accent (for those of you who like accents). If you're looking for a straight-up mystery, this one probably won't be what you want, but as more of a psychological exploration it's fascinating.
Need to read more kiwi fiction. Enjoyed hearing familiar place names like Muriwai and Takapuna.
I found this depiction of the WW2 to Cold War period of NZ society, with its slight conservativeness, pastoral landscape small town atmosphere did ring true.
Paul’s character I sympathised with a lot of the time however found him increasingly self absorbed and my reservations towards him increased. There are also parts of the novel that show its age or the ideas of the time it was written, particularly Paul’s musings on woman which have slightly misogynistic undertones by today’s standards. I also found his relationship with Cecilia and conversations between them quite inappropriate. I was unsure at the end if I am meant to have reservations about his character or if this is just a product of the differences in ideas of the time it was written and now.
In any case it’s an enjoyable read.
I found this depiction of the WW2 to Cold War period of NZ society, with its slight conservativeness, pastoral landscape small town atmosphere did ring true.
Paul’s character I sympathised with a lot of the time however found him increasingly self absorbed and my reservations towards him increased. There are also parts of the novel that show its age or the ideas of the time it was written, particularly Paul’s musings on woman which have slightly misogynistic undertones by today’s standards. I also found his relationship with Cecilia and conversations between them quite inappropriate. I was unsure at the end if I am meant to have reservations about his character or if this is just a product of the differences in ideas of the time it was written and now.
In any case it’s an enjoyable read.
The film In My Father's Den was so remarkable that immediately after watching it, I wanted to read the novel upon which it was based. It took nearly four years to get my hands on it, as it was out of print until recently and to my knowledge is only being published again in New Zealand. I read it in two evenings. Read? Devoured? Whatever.
Darker than the film by orders of magnitude, the novel is an intensely intimate and unflinching look at a deeply flawed man and the equally flawed system which helped to shape him. Paul Prior is no monster, but he's no saint, either, and what makes him fascinating is the self-awareness with which he examines himself, his life and those around him. I felt, after the fact, as though I had been his lover, perhaps; his mother; his friend. I've never been so moved by a literary character before. Maurice Gee wrote a masterpiece, and I look forward now to the rest of his oeuvre.
Darker than the film by orders of magnitude, the novel is an intensely intimate and unflinching look at a deeply flawed man and the equally flawed system which helped to shape him. Paul Prior is no monster, but he's no saint, either, and what makes him fascinating is the self-awareness with which he examines himself, his life and those around him. I felt, after the fact, as though I had been his lover, perhaps; his mother; his friend. I've never been so moved by a literary character before. Maurice Gee wrote a masterpiece, and I look forward now to the rest of his oeuvre.