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haslerts's review against another edition
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.75
Really good novel with great symbolism, themes, tension, and tone. I feel like all queer people can relate to the conflict in this novel to some degree. My only issue is that I feel like the book got somewhat weaker at the very end.
cesartorres's review
emotional
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
4.75
barrypierce's review
3.0
At the beginning of We Think the World of You, Frank, our queer middle-aged narrator, is faced with the reality that his young lover Johnny is being sentenced to a year in Wormwood Scrubs. Johnny is, however, also married and has a child. His 'vile' wife Megan is aware of Johnny's friendship with Frank but doesn't think any more of it. Johnny's family think the world of Frank. Whilst in prison, Frank is order to take care of Johnny's dog, Evie. At first he's incredibly apprehensive, but eventually Evie become an object of obsession to our narrator.
It's an odd plot. The novel, first published in 1960, is viewed as something of a forgotten queer classic, or at least it's being marketed that way. However, this isn't really a queer novel. Yes, Frank and Johnny are lovers, but that really seems beside the point. The novel isn't about queerness. Which in many ways makes it more subversive.
The novel overall is a sometimes comic, sometimes tragic tale of a man and his lover's dog. A strange chapter in British queer fiction. But I must say that I enjoyed it, and its myriad of quirks.
It's an odd plot. The novel, first published in 1960, is viewed as something of a forgotten queer classic, or at least it's being marketed that way. However, this isn't really a queer novel. Yes, Frank and Johnny are lovers, but that really seems beside the point. The novel isn't about queerness. Which in many ways makes it more subversive.
The novel overall is a sometimes comic, sometimes tragic tale of a man and his lover's dog. A strange chapter in British queer fiction. But I must say that I enjoyed it, and its myriad of quirks.
callmeamelia's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
pleasuretoburn's review against another edition
2.0
Man, what can you say about this book? Ackerley has a mastery of the English language, as you'd expect from authors from England in the first half of the twentieth century to have. But his autobiographical Frank is kind of a jerk. Frank is very snobbish, very classist, and incredibly misogynistic. Old buzzard Tom might have taken a belt to Evie (which of course is unacceptable), but Frank does not even try to hide his contempt for women. Even Johnny's five year old daughters aren't below Frank's contempt except in an aesthetic way. He manages just a few pages about the cousin who lives with him for over a year and is routinely terrorized by the dog. The irony is that Frank eventually gets his due in the end since his life is controlled by exactly the kind of made-up femininity he loathes so much in Evie. I understand loving a dog, I have had pets that I have loved. But for Frank, it seems, it was never really about loving Evie. He even forgot about her for a while during his fight with Millie. His motivation is to con himself into Johnny's life by holding on to the dog. He admits as much in the novel. Does he love the dog? Probably. He certainly doesn't love people. Maybe the biggest twist is that while Frank is bemoaning all of the people who say they "think the world" of this or that he is doing the same things but in a much more heartless way. I have to read one of Ackerley's other books for the same class I read this one for and I'm dreading it now. At least the dog doesn't die, I guess that's why I gave it 2 stars.
magus_eden's review
4.0
This was my first direct encounter with Ackerley (I've read criticism pertaining to him, but had not until now actually read his work), and I'm saddened by the knowledge that this dark, incisive, bitterly funny gem is the writer's only novel. I can only hope his three volumes of autobiography are as cunningly but searingly insightful as this novel - I have every intention of reading them soon!
yopo's review
2.0
As is the case with some shorter novels, I came away from this book feeling like there just wasn't enough there. The characters were well-written (including the dog, which felt like a more complex character than any of the humans!) and the dialogue was colloquial and "real" without feeling forced. Unfortunately, the story hinged completely on one metaphor, which I grew tired of. The protagonist can't be with his lover, who is trapped in prison, so he feels the overwhelming urge to free and spend time with with his lover's dog. The analogy is very surface-level, and the plot wears thin because of it.
zefrog's review against another edition
3.0
What an odd little book this is - the rather melodramatic story of the infatuation between a man and a dog.
This feels more like an episode in a wider narrative of which the reader isn't told. We know nothing about the narrator and the nature of his relationship with Johnny, which is the cause of the events described in the book, is only very vaguely hinted at: we assume that they are lovers but it's not clear. In any case none of the characters involved, not even the dog, are likable.
It is a quick and easy read, though, so no harm done.
This feels more like an episode in a wider narrative of which the reader isn't told. We know nothing about the narrator and the nature of his relationship with Johnny, which is the cause of the events described in the book, is only very vaguely hinted at: we assume that they are lovers but it's not clear. In any case none of the characters involved, not even the dog, are likable.
It is a quick and easy read, though, so no harm done.
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