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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
Mysterious and extraordinary. It is bemusing to start with, but very well worth staying the course. In the end, quite heartbreaking in the way the characters destroyed themselves and each other.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book follows a young American and young European couple in 1920s Europe. And it’s definitely not the book I expected my great grandfather to have read to find my grandmother’s name. After all, it’s fairly racy. But it’s not as if humans are different then from now. People who marry young without sowing their wild oats have always had affairs to remedy their itches. People who have been cheated on in multiplicity have always convinced themselves that they didn’t care, or they have actually decided that they don’t care and have hoped their spouse will truly fall in love so that a divorce is more easily possible.
The book goes back and forth in time, being told as a person would tell the remembering of a period of time from their youth. From the beginning, the narrator tells us that many of the characters meet an untimely death, but it’s not until the end that you find out that the majority of the deaths center around one specific affair within an affair. What is it about the simple want of a person that can drive people to such passionate actions?
This book caused far more contemplation than I anticipated—mainly because parts of my early adulthood resembled this book far too much. I kept trying to land on absolutes that don’t exist. All that I can say at the end of all that contemplation is that this book enforces my belief that it’s best to not to form serious relationships and/or marry before age 25 so that you can learn who you are and hopefully date enough people to get it out of your system before you settle down. That’s all I’ve got. But, sadly, most people have learned and will continue to learn this lesson the hard way.
The book goes back and forth in time, being told as a person would tell the remembering of a period of time from their youth. From the beginning, the narrator tells us that many of the characters meet an untimely death, but it’s not until the end that you find out that the majority of the deaths center around one specific affair within an affair. What is it about the simple want of a person that can drive people to such passionate actions?
This book caused far more contemplation than I anticipated—mainly because parts of my early adulthood resembled this book far too much. I kept trying to land on absolutes that don’t exist. All that I can say at the end of all that contemplation is that this book enforces my belief that it’s best to not to form serious relationships and/or marry before age 25 so that you can learn who you are and hopefully date enough people to get it out of your system before you settle down. That’s all I’ve got. But, sadly, most people have learned and will continue to learn this lesson the hard way.
Actually 3.5 stars for me. I found this novel, written in 1915, fascinating but the linguistic style a bit dated. In the tale of intrigue, adultery, madness and suicides, Ford's central characters are alternately amusing and enraging, both in how they treat one another and how they view their marriages and friendships. I imagine the work was groundbreaking for its time, both in its narrative style and complicated morality, which may be one reason that it so influenced Graham Greene and Joseph Conrad, among others.
Bamboozling. Unreliable narrators can do that to you I guess. As a study of people who are all stone cold bananas I could maybe get behind it; if I'm meant to have any sympathy for them then, save Leonora, it ain't gonna happen. On reflection I think it might be brilliant, but I couldn't say it was enjoyable.
Nobody is "good". #3wordbookreview
3.5 stars
The style of this was quite difficult for me to get my head around. Just because of the time it was written I think??
Classic dimwitted narrator who can't see what is going on right under his nose!
3.5 stars
The style of this was quite difficult for me to get my head around. Just because of the time it was written I think??
Classic dimwitted narrator who can't see what is going on right under his nose!
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
Author possibly too clever for his own good.
Meandering all over the place, a carefully controlled illusion of chaos. A hopelessly deluded narrator who slowly admits to things without ever fully admitting anything to himself.