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anafreitasaf's review
dark
reflective
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
4.5
sarahexe's review against another edition
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
lisaandersson__'s review against another edition
slow-paced
3.0
It took me a while to read this, it could be difficult to read this if you're tired, I tried that, did not go so well. I'll still give it a strong 3 out of 5, because it's still nice, makes you think about stuff.
I would like to buy it one day, I actually borrowed it from a library for the first time in years.
Actual thoughts about the book (or maybe not realky about the book):
When I started reading, I read it in british english before I even knew the author actually is an englishman.
The author uses a lot of commas everywhere (more than I ever do! And I use a lot sometimes), except closer to the ending. This leads to a lot of long sentences.
When I read this book I felt very fancy, like, the way it was written felt like the way classics are written (and it is a classic novel), so you sit there and feel a bit.. I can't describe it.. cultivated? Maybe?
The book had a lot of details, commas, and long sentences, it takes a lot of time just to read a few pages if you really want to get what he's saying, you gotta read almost thoroughly. But I still like it.
I have written a lot here, without even talking about the content of the book... well, it's about love, when the realisation hits you, deep thoughts about perspective of things, a man that happens to fall in love, and a woman who also falls in love with him, but they don't realise it, and then they don't really see their relationship as a real relationship. Very vague, yet it feels like I've said too much. Anyway... 🤷♀️
I would like to buy it one day, I actually borrowed it from a library for the first time in years.
Actual thoughts about the book (or maybe not realky about the book):
When I started reading, I read it in british english before I even knew the author actually is an englishman.
The author uses a lot of commas everywhere (more than I ever do! And I use a lot sometimes), except closer to the ending. This leads to a lot of long sentences.
When I read this book I felt very fancy, like, the way it was written felt like the way classics are written (and it is a classic novel), so you sit there and feel a bit.. I can't describe it.. cultivated? Maybe?
The book had a lot of details, commas, and long sentences, it takes a lot of time just to read a few pages if you really want to get what he's saying, you gotta read almost thoroughly. But I still like it.
I have written a lot here, without even talking about the content of the book... well, it's about love, when the realisation hits you, deep thoughts about perspective of things, a man that happens to fall in love, and a woman who also falls in love with him, but they don't realise it, and then they don't really see their relationship as a real relationship. Very vague, yet it feels like I've said too much. Anyway... 🤷♀️
swunderful's review against another edition
dark
tense
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
5.0
mangliu0130's review against another edition
4.0
写得非常细腻非常美，写热恋中的各种假装好像在读普鲁斯特。“Did I actually believe that only the possession of that particular body, the act of kissing again those particular breasts and lying again close to those particular thighs, would ease this agony I was enduring? I thought of myself as I had been with her: delivering flowers, like an errand boy; kissing her, like an actor; tormenting her, like a villain; consoling her, like a doctor; advising her, like a lawyer; and they were all, all, somehow comic, somehow unbelievable, gestures hardly mine. ”
definitely以后会重读。
definitely以后会重读。
ameliasbooks's review against another edition
fast-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
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Infidelity, and Body shaming
Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape
rj42's review
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
An overlooked but incredibly powerful piece of writing, In Love is a simple, concise story in which our middle-aged narrator tells a stranger the tale of his entanglement with a younger woman in the recent past. Their affair is doomed by both his jealousy and insecurity and her lack of faithfulness but the process of ending the relationship is tortuous and overwrought, as she is courted by an older, richer man. Modern readers will find plenty here alarming – set in the 1950s, the narrator is possessive and disdainful towards his partner and expresses his desire to hit her, but this is perhaps unsurprising in a period piece and needs to be seen in the context of the powerful writing and frenzied emotions. Hayes captures not just the frustrations of an affair but the wider malaise of young adults in post-war society, despite the skimpy nature of the book, with the inner narrative of the protagonist as powerful as the plot itself.