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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
The Jackson Brodie novels are totally in my wheelhouse. The story is told from multiple viewpoints, bringing with it that awesome feeling of “oh, I know who that is!” or “ooh, I know what they are up to!” throughout as the pieces slowly come together.
Sen nebija lasīts labs detektīvromāns, kur autors (šoreiz autore) meistarīgi ved lasītāju cauri notikumu un atklāsmju līkločiem. Patiesība vicaur grāmatai tiek lēnām nolobīta slāni pa slānim kā tāds sīpols. Un lai arī šī ir viena no Džeksona Broudija sērijas grāmatām, viņš nebūt nav vienīgais varonis, kuru iepazīstam arī ārpus galvenās sižeta līnijas. Neko vairāk nestāstīšu, jo detektīvromāni ir jālasa pašam. Šis varētu patikt arī tiem, kas nav žanra cienītāji.
Jāsaka, ka Keitu Atkinsoni iepazinu caur viņas cita žanra darbiem, kas ir saistīti ar kara tēmu (Life after Life un A God in Ruins) un kas man ļoti patika. Līdz ar to jau labu laiku biju ziņkārīga, kādi tad ir viņas detektīvromāni. Un Atkinsone nelika vilties. Tiešām labi uzrakstīta grāmata (tulkojums arī netraucēja... nu labi, varbūt tikai vietām).
Kādēļ tikai 4 zvaigznes? Jo nobeigumā kaut kā pietrūka. Pat nespēju to ietērpt vārdos. Laikam pēc tik interesanta notikumu savirknējuma biju gaidījusi kaut ko citu.
Jāsaka, ka Keitu Atkinsoni iepazinu caur viņas cita žanra darbiem, kas ir saistīti ar kara tēmu (Life after Life un A God in Ruins) un kas man ļoti patika. Līdz ar to jau labu laiku biju ziņkārīga, kādi tad ir viņas detektīvromāni. Un Atkinsone nelika vilties. Tiešām labi uzrakstīta grāmata (tulkojums arī netraucēja... nu labi, varbūt tikai vietām).
Kādēļ tikai 4 zvaigznes? Jo nobeigumā kaut kā pietrūka. Pat nespēju to ietērpt vārdos. Laikam pēc tik interesanta notikumu savirknējuma biju gaidījusi kaut ko citu.
So disappointing. Loved Case Histories and I really enjoyed aspects of this book. But it was too all over the place, so muddled, so by the time the loose ends came together, I was skimming because I just lost interest. A pretty tedious read.
About 20% in, I almost gave up on this book. I couldn't understand what I was reading. We see a seemingly random, public incident in Edinburgh, then spend chapters delving into the lives of seemingly disconnected characters who witnessed the incident. We also catch up on Jackson Brodie, who is in Edinburgh for the art festival. The novel doesn't follow the structure of a typical mystery novel. While there are some questions worth investigating (who were the two men in the cars? why did one go after the other with a baseball bat, when they didn't seem to know each other?), but we don't follow the investigators working through the questions (at least at first), and our detective, Brodie, isn't on any case. Most of the prose was just stories about the spectators.
But then--then everything started clicking. The characters started finding connections between each other, to the point that it almost bordered on ridiculous, but felt organic enough to be believable. The suspense slowly ratchets up. The climax brings all of the characters together in a scene resembling a stage play--here, in the city hosting an arts festival, we have a murder committed in a glass house with several witnesses. It feels almost Shakespearean.
In the end we are not sympathizing with a specific victim and looking for who killed them, but rather sympathizing with a person who ordered a killing, a killing that the novel works hard to prove is just and right. This person set off in motion the opening scene, and the events that lead to the climax. In the end, it all makes sense, and the vengeance feels satisfying. Kate Atkinson inverts the usual narrative and fills every page with beautiful sentences. In the end, I really liked this.
But then--then everything started clicking. The characters started finding connections between each other, to the point that it almost bordered on ridiculous, but felt organic enough to be believable. The suspense slowly ratchets up. The climax brings all of the characters together in a scene resembling a stage play--here, in the city hosting an arts festival, we have a murder committed in a glass house with several witnesses. It feels almost Shakespearean.
In the end we are not sympathizing with a specific victim and looking for who killed them, but rather sympathizing with a person who ordered a killing, a killing that the novel works hard to prove is just and right. This person set off in motion the opening scene, and the events that lead to the climax. In the end, it all makes sense, and the vengeance feels satisfying. Kate Atkinson inverts the usual narrative and fills every page with beautiful sentences. In the end, I really liked this.
Good book, especially a couple of references to some tv-shows and books.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Thoroughly enjoyable comedy crime caper set at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It lost a few stars because it goes on a bit & I lost my patience as I felt one step ahead of the detectives, the character of Jackson Brodie is not particularly endearing - perhaps a bit too macho to appeal - while Martin drove me to despair. There are a lot of interior monologues going nowhere & characters that aren't fully developed. As others have commented this does feel like a bit of a riff on the nature of crime writing rather than a tale totally committed to the genre itself. And yet well written, amusing and entertaining.
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
A good page turner.
Not a whodunnit, more of a crime caper. I've enjoyed a number of Kate Atkinson's novel but this is the first of the Jackson Brodie's that I've read. It didn't grab me and I wasn't itching to know what would happen next. A bit "meh". But there were some funny lines.