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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Great character study, not a lot of surprises but a great book for dissecting personalities in and outside of marriage. I really, really liked this book a lot.
I’m not usually a fan of foreshadowing, but it’s used well throughout the novel, especially with the changing vantage points. The story unfolds through the view of its four main characters and it is executed excellently. Each character has their own voice and style and held the attention of the reader while they held the chapter. The structure is part of the appeal and the foreshadowing builds to a satisfying end.
There were some great quotes: “Husbands and wives collaborate, hiding even from themselves who is calling the shots and who is along for the ride.”
“Devine the insecurities and compliment it.”
There were some great quotes: “Husbands and wives collaborate, hiding even from themselves who is calling the shots and who is along for the ride.”
“Devine the insecurities and compliment it.”
dark
I liked this. The shifting narration is really well-done. The pacing is a little slow for the first two-thirds, though it is all obviously building toward something. There are some great moments.
I did not care for the characters in this book and all the negativity. Unfortunately I read it while on vacation in Italy an rather than enhancing my trip, it detracted from it. I agree with all the other 1 and 2 star reviews. Yucky.
This book was entertaining. It wasn't what I would typically read, but was perfect for my mini vacation over the weekend. A quick read for sure.
This book follows two couples (and one couples daughter) on a vacation to Rome and Siracusa. As one may expect, the vacation goes south as secrets are exposed, lies told and intentions discovered.
The book was well written, and the author obviously knows how to keep a reader interested.
I didn't particularly "like" any of the characters - I don't think they are written for the reader to like. Lizzie, one of the wives in this novel, was probably the most relatable and likeable. At the end of the day, though, it didn't matter that I didn't like them. I still wanted to figure out where the story was going. Was I shocked by the outcome? No. But this was a fun, easy read. If that is all you are looking for, you might enjoy this one.
This book follows two couples (and one couples daughter) on a vacation to Rome and Siracusa. As one may expect, the vacation goes south as secrets are exposed, lies told and intentions discovered.
The book was well written, and the author obviously knows how to keep a reader interested.
I didn't particularly "like" any of the characters - I don't think they are written for the reader to like. Lizzie, one of the wives in this novel, was probably the most relatable and likeable. At the end of the day, though, it didn't matter that I didn't like them. I still wanted to figure out where the story was going. Was I shocked by the outcome? No. But this was a fun, easy read. If that is all you are looking for, you might enjoy this one.
Wow, this book was awesome. I really loved Ephron's clever way of telling the story as if one was peering through holes in a wall before finally revealing the truth at the end. This was my first selection from Book of the Month, and I could not be more pleased!
Mi sono gettata nel mondo degli audiolibri da poco, quindi sto ancora cercando di comprendere quali differenze ci siano, per me, nella diversa fruizione di una storia.
In questo caso, ad esempio, mi ritrovo a chiedermi se, leggendo “Siracusa”, invece di ascoltarlo, avrei apprezzato il romanzo nello stesso modo: se avessi avuto modo di concentrarmi appieno sulla scrittura della Ephron, sulle voci dei protagonisti, se avessi potuto immergermi totalmente nelle immagini descritte, invece di tenere sempre un occhio aperto sulla strada, avrei davvero considerato inezie i difetti che ho riscontrato, o li avrei trovati insopportabili?
Ammetto di aver letto questo libro attratta soprattutto dalla bellissima copertina (ho già detto, vero, di voler sposare la persona che sta al reparto grafica della Fazi?): quest'estate ho dato una scorsa veloce alla quarta di copertina, e poi ho archiviato il tutto. Quando questa bella signora in costume da bagno a righe ha fatto capolino sulla home di Storytel, ho salvato subito l'audiolibro, e l'ho ascoltato con estremo piacere.
La storia è raccontata da quattro voci più una: la bambina che non parla mai, che non fa sentire la sua voce se non in rarissime occasioni, salvo poi rivelarsi una presenza ingombrante e fondamentale.
Due coppie americane, uno scrittore famoso, una giornalista fallita, un ristoratore del Maine e la glaciale e insoddisfatta direttrice dell'ufficio turistico di Portland. Un viaggio in Italia, Roma prima , Siracusa poi, e tutte le piccole tensioni di due matrimoni sul filo del rasoio che inevitabilmente emergono.
Ammetto di aver detestato quasi tutti i personaggi: le loro voci sono pretenziose, piene di sé, arroganti, fredde, spesso un po' artificiose, eppure la cosa non mi è dispiaciuta del tutto. Perché ognuno racconta la propria versione dei fatti, la propria deposizione, e lo fa cercando di mettersi nella luce migliore per mitigare le proprie colpe, e paradossalmente questo non fa che porli in una luce ancora peggiore. Eppure, chissà perché, tutte queste meschinità, questi difetti enormi e spesso odiosi, finiscono col far sembrare i personaggi minuscoli, un po' patetici nel loro annaspare in vite imperfette, e si finisce per provare quasi - quasi! - compassione per loro.
la vicenda raccontata è semplice, ed è bello vederla svoglersi attraverso i racconti faziosi dei quattro protagonisti: i fatti sono posti sotto luci diverse, hanno presupposti diversi, e sono filtrati dalle piccole grandi bugie che ognuno dei quattro protagonisti racconta - a sé stesso, prima che al lettore.
Sia chiaro, non c'è niente di straordinariamente innovativo in questo romanzo: le premesse sono chiare, e il punto di arrivo pure. Però è comunque bello seguire Michael, Lizzie, Taylor e Finn in questo viaggio in Italia.
L'Italia: eccola, la nota dolente. È evidente che la Ephron si sia informata molto sull'ambientazione in cui ha deciso di far muovere i suoi personaggi, eppure c'è qualcosa che non va: sembra quasi che i persoanggi si muovano all'interno di una delle guide turistiche di Taylor, come se niente fosse davvero reale. Come se, per l'appunto, l'autrice stesse parlando di un luogo che non ha mai visto, ma di cui ha letto tutto. E poi, insomma, ad un certo punto si riesce pure a infilare un mandolino nella narrazione. È necessario inserire altro?
Il romanzo che inizialmente si presenta come una disamina della disfatta di due coppie incrinate, delle nevrosi della nsotra epoca, della meschinità e delle ipocrisie della buona società, cerca di trasformarsi in un noir che però non riesce mai a decollare: un po' perché è chiaro fin da subito la direzione che prenderà questa parte della storia, un po' perché l'atmosfera tesa e ben congegnata si perde un po' in risvolti di trama inverosimili. Sarebbe stato estremamente affascinante precipitare del tutto nelle atmosfere oscure e inquetantissime che la Ephron suggerisce solamente, senza mai mostrare del tutto. E invece tutto resta appena accennato, un po' troppo superficiale, privo di sostanza: succedono cose gravi, ma sembra che nulla abbia conseguenze. E, d'accordo, stiamo parlando pur sempre del sistema giudiziario italiano, come tutti i protagonisti si premurano di ricordare al lettore almeno una volta, ma certe azioni hanno delle conseguenze. E nel romanzo di queste conseguenze sembra non esserci traccia.
Tutto sommato, però, ascoltare questo romanzo è stata un'esperienza piacevole: ero curiosa di proseguire nell'ascolto, e i difetti non mi hanno impedito di godere della lettura.
Non so quanto questo sarebbe stato valido anche se avessi letto il romanzo in maniera tradizionale: ho bisogno di sperimentare maggiormente la fruizione di audiolibri per trovare una risposta.
Siracusa is a novel set in Sicily. It follows the lives of four people, two couples who are not quite friends.
There's Taylor and Finn, a couple who don't quite fit together. She's from an upper middle class NYC family (but thinks her family is wealthy) and he grew up with his mother working and not much money to spare. Their daughter, Snow, is almost a pre-teen and quiet, very quiet and introverted from her mother's description of her. Taylor thinks she's intelligent and kind but from her pov chapters she comes across as a mean girl who is judgemental and deeply insecure. Snow is odd, her mother smothers her and if you believe her pov an 'angel'. In reality she seems to have a temper and lashes out often, but this is always excused or brushed away by her parents. Finn is a philandering womanizer who treats all the women in his life accordingly based on how well they please him. He cheats on his wife, barely knows his daughter and takes advantage of his best friend.
Then we've got Lizzie and Michael. Michael is a somewhat famous author and so full of himself that I can't believe people can even stand to be around him for very long. He thinks he's a genius and feels that this entitles him to whatever behaviors he wants regardless of their consequences for others. Lizzie is, in my opinion, the least hateable character. Notice what I did there, because she is still hateable. For almost the entire novel you can pretty much root for her because she has decent values, she's a feminist and believes in women's rights, but then towards the end you understand that she enjoys the rift that she causes in Finn & Taylor's marriage, she knows that their history is stronger than his marriage and she takes comfort in it.
So, here's how they all know each other. Finn and Lizzie were lovers. Well they call each other best friend, but they were lovers in the past and seem to be ready to fall back into each other's arms at a moments notice.
Why these people all choose to go to Sicily on vacation together is beyond me but here we are. They are bickering the entire time, all passive aggressive things said behind closed hotel room doors. Taylor and Snow both seem enamored with Michael, Snow almost inappropriately so. She becomes possessive and he seems to enjoy the attention. Taylor loves this because she takes it as a compliment of her own self, it annoys Finn and Lizzie thanks that it shows what a good parental figure Michael could be.
And then a young lover arrives, and not the young lover of the person that you would think. As this person scrambles to hide their lover from the other people in the group everyone but the person with the most at stake seems to notice that their groupmate is acting odd and meeting with this person. What follows is a plot twist that seems to come on naturally but still surprises you when it happens.
I enjoyed this for the character development, I do love a good book where all the characters are hateable. It's fun to do the dishes while I listen to them and scoff at the characters. It was also really quick as an audiobook, it's got a good amount of dialogue and flows well being read.
There's Taylor and Finn, a couple who don't quite fit together. She's from an upper middle class NYC family (but thinks her family is wealthy) and he grew up with his mother working and not much money to spare. Their daughter, Snow, is almost a pre-teen and quiet, very quiet and introverted from her mother's description of her. Taylor thinks she's intelligent and kind but from her pov chapters she comes across as a mean girl who is judgemental and deeply insecure. Snow is odd, her mother smothers her and if you believe her pov an 'angel'. In reality she seems to have a temper and lashes out often, but this is always excused or brushed away by her parents. Finn is a philandering womanizer who treats all the women in his life accordingly based on how well they please him. He cheats on his wife, barely knows his daughter and takes advantage of his best friend.
Then we've got Lizzie and Michael. Michael is a somewhat famous author and so full of himself that I can't believe people can even stand to be around him for very long. He thinks he's a genius and feels that this entitles him to whatever behaviors he wants regardless of their consequences for others. Lizzie is, in my opinion, the least hateable character. Notice what I did there, because she is still hateable. For almost the entire novel you can pretty much root for her because she has decent values, she's a feminist and believes in women's rights, but then towards the end you understand that she enjoys the rift that she causes in Finn & Taylor's marriage, she knows that their history is stronger than his marriage and she takes comfort in it.
So, here's how they all know each other. Finn and Lizzie were lovers. Well they call each other best friend, but they were lovers in the past and seem to be ready to fall back into each other's arms at a moments notice.
Why these people all choose to go to Sicily on vacation together is beyond me but here we are. They are bickering the entire time, all passive aggressive things said behind closed hotel room doors. Taylor and Snow both seem enamored with Michael, Snow almost inappropriately so. She becomes possessive and he seems to enjoy the attention. Taylor loves this because she takes it as a compliment of her own self, it annoys Finn and Lizzie thanks that it shows what a good parental figure Michael could be.
And then a young lover arrives, and not the young lover of the person that you would think. As this person scrambles to hide their lover from the other people in the group everyone but the person with the most at stake seems to notice that their groupmate is acting odd and meeting with this person. What follows is a plot twist that seems to come on naturally but still surprises you when it happens.
I enjoyed this for the character development, I do love a good book where all the characters are hateable. It's fun to do the dishes while I listen to them and scoff at the characters. It was also really quick as an audiobook, it's got a good amount of dialogue and flows well being read.