Reviews

A very fun read. A lecturer in English shadows a Managing Director of a factory, so I like how it combines the worlds of business and academia. It's set in the 1980s, when I went to college, which added to the appeal. I didn't even mind the too tidy ending.

toddlleopold's review against another edition

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5.0

Charming and humane. Lodge could have made his characters, a Tory industrialist and a feminist professor, straw men - and there is a touch of that - but over the course of the book both grow. Meanwhile, Lodge shows he’s done his research on the state of work and academia in 1980s Thatcher Britain, and if it’s one thing that made me sad, it’s that the situation has actually gotten worse in the last 35 years.

The ending ties things up a bit too neatly, down to a deus ex machina, but since one thing “Nice Work” tries to do is echo 19th-century novels, I didn’t hold it against him. Highly recommended.

thesearethebooks's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

mikaaa's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

A pretty weird read to me. Firstoff it had racist undertones, only portraying POC as minimum wage workers who often take drugs and I also don't like the idea that sex work in itself degrades women. While pictures of naked women are definetely not okay, I don't like that the narative repedatively said, the existence of these sexy pictures only degrades women. The prose in the first chapter was also horrible to read for me and it took too long for the characters to meet but after the first chapter the prose improved a great deal.

Now to the plot: I really don't know what to make of it.

Let's start with the things I liked: The narrative didn't present Robyn as weird for her demands of equal justice, the book did include a nu,ber of interesting discussions and I am very greatful Robyn didn't fall in love with Vic. Now for the rest: I think my main problem is that motivations are so so wrong. Yes, Vic does in the end take down the sexy posters, but it seemed to me he only did it because he liked Robyn. I don't even mean that he tried to impress her but the reason that he listened to Robyn in the first place mainly seemed to be that she was attractive and sometimes on his side. If Robyn had been a to him unatractive lesbian for example I cannot imagine him reaching the same level of insight. Vic's change does not primarily happen out of an understanding how his behaviour is sexist, it happens because an attractive women is inspiring him. A few lines of the narative also sounded very weird to me like the repeated mention of the breasts of Robyn's friend or the destription of her own pyhsique. I also don't know what to make of the end since the problems are magically solved through a big lump of money.

In general an interesting read but I was very happy when I was done with it.

Content Warnings

_dunno_'s review against another edition

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3.0

Had I known [b:Nice Work|69935|Nice Work (King Penguin)|David Lodge|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170715155s/69935.jpg|2877330] was the last book of a trilogy of campus novels, I would have started in the right order. But obviously I hadn't and I simply chose it because of some feeling of frustration you have when you see full shelves with one author's books and you wonder how come he's so famous and you have no idea how he writes. The same thing happened with [a:Julian Barnes|1462|Julian Barnes|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1242364645p2/1462.jpg] about a year ago. And again, I picked the wrong book, cause it was a sequel. Note to self: read [b:Talking It Over|2195464|What I Talk About When I Talk About Running|Haruki Murakami|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1205696926s/2195464.jpg|2475030].

Well, as I was looking for something amusing yet intelligent, I got what I wanted. Not haha funny (he's British, after all), so you'll not burst into laughter every two paragraphs, but amusing and witty. Lodge does a great job mixing academia with industry, playing with semiotics and machinery and choosing Frankfurt as the linking knot between the two (it is a well-known fact that Frankfurt holds both the most important book fair and also the most important machinery and automobiles exhibition.)

I will read the other two books from the trilogy. Hopefully, in the nearest future.

fallinginreverse's review

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funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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