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3.28 AVERAGE
3.28 AVERAGE
dark
tense
medium-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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, War
Minor: Suicide
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-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
Funny, sad and interesting.
funny
It's 2:15 in the morning when the phone rings. What a great start to a book.
It's set over the course of an evening and has flashbacks to tell you the story of Polly and General Kent. Polly is very liberal and General Kent - well he is the other spectrum. Over the course of the book not only do you learn their story and why he has made contact with her 15 years later but it also touches on some interesting topics and gives you two different points of view.
Polly wants to save the world, have world peace, have fair and equal rights for those in 3rd world countries and make a difference.
The General doesn't want gays in the army, women in the army and is an army man through and through. It's very interesting seeing the different points of view.
This has a good thread of humour running through the book - but it's humour that makes you laugh once you think about it. Not slapstick american humour.
It's set over the course of an evening and has flashbacks to tell you the story of Polly and General Kent. Polly is very liberal and General Kent - well he is the other spectrum. Over the course of the book not only do you learn their story and why he has made contact with her 15 years later but it also touches on some interesting topics and gives you two different points of view.
Polly wants to save the world, have world peace, have fair and equal rights for those in 3rd world countries and make a difference.
The General doesn't want gays in the army, women in the army and is an army man through and through. It's very interesting seeing the different points of view.
This has a good thread of humour running through the book - but it's humour that makes you laugh once you think about it. Not slapstick american humour.
challenging
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was such a strange mix... It was a light and entertaining page turner with many good jokes and funny quotes... But it was also so sad! And it really took my by surprise that it started to move in such a sad direction. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed it - it was just what I needed, as it made me forget the world around me - I was just so absorbed in the story.
For me, this book was short on the usual humour and seemed full of repetition.
I've long meant to read the novels by Ben Elton, a writer whom I have admired for his movie and television work of comic genius such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Blackadder, and Love Actually. This is his fourth or fifth novel, and I figured that me must have been able to shift into a new medium with some success, not to mention that I had seen some recommendations for his novels in places that I usually trust.
Unfortunately, this book didn't work for me. I did finish it, but I think that was due in part to my not wanting to start another book so near to my recent vacation and that I was actually reading it quite quickly. The problem here stems from Elton's choice of comedic material: the juxtaposition of an ultra lefty in the person of Polly, who once protested the American presence on British soil by chaining herself along with a group of other female peaceniks to the gates of the military base, and Jack Kent, an ultra righty who was one of those American soldiers, now risen to the rank of General and on the precipice of becoming the next head of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Neither Polly or Jack are believeable characters, which usually isn't a problem in a comedy novel, as believability often takes a back seat to exaggeration. But by making them opposite sides of the political coin, some of their aspects are not so much exaggerated as inconsistent, especially in the use Elton puts them into service of the thin plot. They are, instead, means by which Elton proceeds to skewer both political persuasions and this might work if they weren't each so full of straw that his darting arrows not only pierce but proceed to explode the propped up dummies, to extend and exaggerate the metaphor. He also is exceedingly graphic, especially in his portrayal of the physical attraction of these opposites in the backflashes to their initial meeting, which is more squirm-inducing than arousing. As the book works inevitably to the climax, and as Elton has his characters move around to the spots where everything will proceed as he wants, he has to have them repeat themselves to the point of annoyance. Halfway through the book, I debated if you could make a drinking game out of every time Polly demanded that Jack answer why he had returned after 30 years and then revealing that she was still attracted to him. It's the kind of thing that might have worked in a screenplay, because it could have been excised by the director or editor.
Compared to books by other British TV alumni such as Stephen Fry or Hugh Laurie, this was a major disappointment. I'm hoping that this was just an off-book, and that Elton's others are much better. It may be some time for me to try one of those after this book, though.
Unfortunately, this book didn't work for me. I did finish it, but I think that was due in part to my not wanting to start another book so near to my recent vacation and that I was actually reading it quite quickly. The problem here stems from Elton's choice of comedic material: the juxtaposition of an ultra lefty in the person of Polly, who once protested the American presence on British soil by chaining herself along with a group of other female peaceniks to the gates of the military base, and Jack Kent, an ultra righty who was one of those American soldiers, now risen to the rank of General and on the precipice of becoming the next head of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Neither Polly or Jack are believeable characters, which usually isn't a problem in a comedy novel, as believability often takes a back seat to exaggeration. But by making them opposite sides of the political coin, some of their aspects are not so much exaggerated as inconsistent, especially in the use Elton puts them into service of the thin plot. They are, instead, means by which Elton proceeds to skewer both political persuasions and this might work if they weren't each so full of straw that his darting arrows not only pierce but proceed to explode the propped up dummies, to extend and exaggerate the metaphor. He also is exceedingly graphic, especially in his portrayal of the physical attraction of these opposites in the backflashes to their initial meeting, which is more squirm-inducing than arousing. As the book works inevitably to the climax, and as Elton has his characters move around to the spots where everything will proceed as he wants, he has to have them repeat themselves to the point of annoyance. Halfway through the book, I debated if you could make a drinking game out of every time Polly demanded that Jack answer why he had returned after 30 years and then revealing that she was still attracted to him. It's the kind of thing that might have worked in a screenplay, because it could have been excised by the director or editor.
Compared to books by other British TV alumni such as Stephen Fry or Hugh Laurie, this was a major disappointment. I'm hoping that this was just an off-book, and that Elton's others are much better. It may be some time for me to try one of those after this book, though.