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michaelfeeney's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
mirificmoxie's review against another edition
emotional
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? Yes
3.5
wisteriaearl's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
4.0
mizpurplest's review against another edition
4.0
This wasn't the book I thought I was going to read when I picked it up, and I had a hard time getting myself to keep going with it because it was so much more serious than what I was looking for.
But I found that once I did pick it up, the dry, easy tone and the accessibility of the characters propelled me through it fairly quickly and enjoyably.
I'm not quite inspired enough to read the two sequels right now, but I do recommend this book to anyone who enjoys war novels and quality writing.
But I found that once I did pick it up, the dry, easy tone and the accessibility of the characters propelled me through it fairly quickly and enjoyably.
I'm not quite inspired enough to read the two sequels right now, but I do recommend this book to anyone who enjoys war novels and quality writing.
beemini's review against another edition
DNF. Funny, touching, but then out of nowhere, super racist.
silvej01's review against another edition
3.0
This novel was something of a disappointment to me. However, I might have had a more favorable impression had I not long ago finished Anthony Powell's magisterial twelve volume series, A Dance to the Music of Time. In the third of his four "seasons," each comprising three novels, Powell focuses on the war years and, for me, those novels captured the period and simply held my interest far more than this one.
ipb1's review against another edition
3.0
OK, but when the objects of satire are (from a more recent perspective) self-satirising the barbs are a little blunted. I had the same problem here as I had with his more lauded [b:Brideshead Revisited|111620|Brideshead Revisited|Evelyn Waugh|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1393880521l/111620._SY75_.jpg|2952196] in that I don't actually care about any of the characters.
yazzer's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
anti_formalist12's review against another edition
3.0
Parts of this book are quite funny, in particular the whole section with Apthorpe and his Thunder-box, but I ended up feeling that this was a strange look at England in the opening year of the war. The main character, Guy Crouchback, seems to just be Waugh, and at times he is incredibly unlikeable. The whole time I was reading this I couldn't help comparing it to Patrick Hamilton's The Slaves of Solitude, a much better book about England at war. I might read more Waugh, but maybe not anytime soon.