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jeanetterenee's review against another edition
1.0
When I write an honest review of a book I disliked, it often generates endless comments, mostly from people who want to argue with me. The net effect being that a book I didn't want to waste time on ends up stealing even more of my time as I try to respond to comments months and even years later.
SO...I thought this book stank, and that's all I'm sayin'.
SO...I thought this book stank, and that's all I'm sayin'.
skitch41's review against another edition
3.0
(Note: Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program)
I recently discovered this work on Amazon's website. The premise of the book sounded interesting and, even though I don't normally branch off with new authors in fiction, I decided to take a look. After finishing this work, I feel like there could have been something more. The outline of the book is that, on the eve of World War I, a British actor in Vienna seeking psychological help begins an affair with a petite, firecracker vixen and gets swept into the world of British espionage. The plot is pretty sound, if a little bit slow, but I just felt like there was more the author could've explored. The reason why is because the main character, Lysander Rief, learns of a method of overcoming psychological trauma in Vienna called "parallelism" where he essentially replaces the truth of his past with a fictitious account. Considering that the book description promised it would involve espionage and that it would be during WWI, I was hoping that the author would use parallelism to explore the line between deception and self-deception in fascinating era in 20th century history. But, he never does and parallelism becomes a sort of bookend of the events in Lysander's journey. Still, it's a decent espionage story. Just don't let the title or product description leave you expecting anything more than that.
I recently discovered this work on Amazon's website. The premise of the book sounded interesting and, even though I don't normally branch off with new authors in fiction, I decided to take a look. After finishing this work, I feel like there could have been something more. The outline of the book is that, on the eve of World War I, a British actor in Vienna seeking psychological help begins an affair with a petite, firecracker vixen and gets swept into the world of British espionage. The plot is pretty sound, if a little bit slow, but I just felt like there was more the author could've explored. The reason why is because the main character, Lysander Rief, learns of a method of overcoming psychological trauma in Vienna called "parallelism" where he essentially replaces the truth of his past with a fictitious account. Considering that the book description promised it would involve espionage and that it would be during WWI, I was hoping that the author would use parallelism to explore the line between deception and self-deception in fascinating era in 20th century history. But, he never does and parallelism becomes a sort of bookend of the events in Lysander's journey. Still, it's a decent espionage story. Just don't let the title or product description leave you expecting anything more than that.
ladyr's review against another edition
3.0
An absorbing page turner but I felt this was not as good as "any human heart" or some of his other novels.
I failed to really identify or be gripped by any of the main characters and the ending was a little too ambiguous for my liking - I don't mind some questions being left unanswered but I felt as if Boyd almost got bored of it all at the end and the plot lost strength and pace.
The book is quite short so if you like a spy novel give it a go but other writers give you more suspense and intrigue for your money.
I failed to really identify or be gripped by any of the main characters and the ending was a little too ambiguous for my liking - I don't mind some questions being left unanswered but I felt as if Boyd almost got bored of it all at the end and the plot lost strength and pace.
The book is quite short so if you like a spy novel give it a go but other writers give you more suspense and intrigue for your money.
abetterjulie's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a layered, intriguing read. The end was satisfying, but not in a way I expected at all. The suspense that builds is wonderful. There were a few times when I wanted to smack the main character for his flaws, and then other times when I wanted to hug him in joy and relief. There are some dull spots that took up a few pages.
thearomaofbooks's review
DNF around page 125. While I can appreciate the quality writing and wry humor, I just couldn't get myself interested in Lysander's problems. I may come back to it some other day.
loudgls89's review
5.0
http://louiseradcliffe.com/2012/08/11/review-william-boyd-waiting-for-sunrise/
rosseroo's review
5.0
Just reread this and loved it all over again. Boyd's novels tend to follow the same framework, following a single man for a number of years, weaving him into interesting places and pieces of the 20th century. Here, the protagonist is Lysander Rief, a minor London stage actor who has gone on sabbatical to Vienna in 1913. He's there to seek a cure for a very private ailment of a sexual nature, and has heard that the nascent psychoanalytical movement might be just the ticket. The first third of the book follow his efforts in that area, romance, and complications arising therefrom.
The middle section finds him back in London, with WWI just heating up. Before long he is whisked from his position as a translator in an civilian internee camp and asked to perform a delicate task for the government, one that takes him from the front-line trenches to Geneva. The final third of the book has him back in England to hunt down a spy.
As usual with Boyd, the period detail is immaculate and the characters have depth an substance. The story is clever and a bit of a page-turner in disguise, as it trades in the classic trope of the everyman protagonist thrust into extraordinary circumstances, fulfilling the reader's fantasy of how they might also rise to the occasion in similar circumstances. There's one aspect of the plot that's possibly too contrived for some readers, but even that is so elegantly dealt with that it's hard to quibble with the results. Highly recommended for readers who enjoy historical fiction laced with espionage.
The middle section finds him back in London, with WWI just heating up. Before long he is whisked from his position as a translator in an civilian internee camp and asked to perform a delicate task for the government, one that takes him from the front-line trenches to Geneva. The final third of the book has him back in England to hunt down a spy.
As usual with Boyd, the period detail is immaculate and the characters have depth an substance. The story is clever and a bit of a page-turner in disguise, as it trades in the classic trope of the everyman protagonist thrust into extraordinary circumstances, fulfilling the reader's fantasy of how they might also rise to the occasion in similar circumstances. There's one aspect of the plot that's possibly too contrived for some readers, but even that is so elegantly dealt with that it's hard to quibble with the results. Highly recommended for readers who enjoy historical fiction laced with espionage.
tspangler1970's review
3.0
William Boyd is one of those writers who, if he just wrote a long, neverending book, I would keep reading -- I feel the same way about A.S. Byatt. That said, I didn't totally love his new one. It's skillfully written, as always, and it has overtones of Kafka in the first part and Le Carre in the last two thirds, both of which are things I enjoyed about it. But it didn't totally hang together, for some reason. It kind of felt like two books. And there were definitely some threads left hanging for me. Still, I'll go back and read more of him. Adored Brazzaville Beach and Any Human Heart.
borisfeldman's review
2.0
A big disappointment. Had to force myself to finish. A not-very-thrilling thriller. Flat character development.