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crystal_reading's review against another edition
3.0
Not so great. Depressing kinda book, though it has a bit of hope at the end. Now I need to read something more lighthearted.
fourtriplezed's review against another edition
4.0
This is my second Anita Brookner novel and in fairly short time I might add. After thoroughly enjoying Incidents in the Rue Laugier I was interested in seeing if I was as enamoured with this one. I am pleased to say the answer is yes. I can also repeat what I said previously, “….minimal dialogue, long passages that were deep descriptions of individuals and of place…….lacking a particularly strong plot.” But again it works. Brookner is an extraordinary writer, so skilled and adept at her craft that plot hardly needs to be complex. Those that enjoy their literature in this style will not be disappointed.
Thematically, this is a tale of loneliness and commitment to a specific way of life when circumstances force our hand. Only child Zoe tells her story as a first-person narrative of growing up with her widowed and solitary mother Anne. Anne eventually marries a much older and wealthy man, who Zoe likes very much. Unfortunately he passes on and Zoe’s world then consists of looking after her mother who declines rapidly. How Zoe deals with all this is superbly told with a deftness that had me the reader thinking that there was a certain permanent pensiveness in Zoe, a pensiveness that pervaded her life from beginning through to her seemingly final destiny of meeting an older man who was not far removed from life’s loneliness himself. All told in a so middle class bourgeois and very English way.
Highly recommended for the exemplary writing alone.
Thematically, this is a tale of loneliness and commitment to a specific way of life when circumstances force our hand. Only child Zoe tells her story as a first-person narrative of growing up with her widowed and solitary mother Anne. Anne eventually marries a much older and wealthy man, who Zoe likes very much. Unfortunately he passes on and Zoe’s world then consists of looking after her mother who declines rapidly. How Zoe deals with all this is superbly told with a deftness that had me the reader thinking that there was a certain permanent pensiveness in Zoe, a pensiveness that pervaded her life from beginning through to her seemingly final destiny of meeting an older man who was not far removed from life’s loneliness himself. All told in a so middle class bourgeois and very English way.
Highly recommended for the exemplary writing alone.
cecile_nw's review
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
missapples's review against another edition
3.0
Great premise that quickly dissolved into a novel I didn’t want to read. Not much was happening after the initial story came to a sad end.
Sometimes when I read Brookner and come across a main character talking about the love affair she’s having at the moment, I catch myself thinking “your guy is probably just hungry or wants to get back to work on time - no need to suspect him of such complicated mental acrobatics.”
And yet, I suppose, that is what makes a Brookner’s novel so distinct. That Mariana Trench full of her exquisite, beautiful, elegant sentences. I’ve never read anyone quite like her.
Sometimes when I read Brookner and come across a main character talking about the love affair she’s having at the moment, I catch myself thinking “your guy is probably just hungry or wants to get back to work on time - no need to suspect him of such complicated mental acrobatics.”
And yet, I suppose, that is what makes a Brookner’s novel so distinct. That Mariana Trench full of her exquisite, beautiful, elegant sentences. I’ve never read anyone quite like her.
hardcoverhearts's review against another edition
dark
sad
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? It's complicated
2.75
wmhenrymorris's review
This is considered a lesser work of Brookner's. But its' quirks are what I like about it.
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