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jeneskra's review
Honestly I'm just not reading physical books as much these days and I was sort of bored with it anyway and so I returned it when I had used up all of the library renewals on it.
mfumarolo's review
4.0
Really more of a 3.5 if I’m honest, but since Goodreads STILL doesn’t allow for half-stars, I’ll round up.
Laurain May be my favorite new-to-me author of 2018. This is the second book of his I’ve read, and while it had less whimsy than the romantic The Red Notebook, this novel similarly explores a lot of feelings and delivers a thoughtful and well-crafted story in a relatively short number of pages. I really liked the structure of this book and how it occasionally abandoned the main plot line to allow a secondary character to speak for a chapter. A great example of the power nostalgia can have over us (or contrarily, the fight some of us put up against it), and the intersections our lives make with each other.
Laurain May be my favorite new-to-me author of 2018. This is the second book of his I’ve read, and while it had less whimsy than the romantic The Red Notebook, this novel similarly explores a lot of feelings and delivers a thoughtful and well-crafted story in a relatively short number of pages. I really liked the structure of this book and how it occasionally abandoned the main plot line to allow a secondary character to speak for a chapter. A great example of the power nostalgia can have over us (or contrarily, the fight some of us put up against it), and the intersections our lives make with each other.
theamyleblanc's review
3.0
I didn't feel any particular way about this one. I wanted to read it because I had loved The Red Notebook so much but this one didn't jive with me the same way. It was an enjoyable read, though the beginning was a bit slow. It was a nice way to cleanse the palate and prepare me to sink my teeth into a really deep series or dense non-fiction novel.
I'd cautiously recommend it.
I'd cautiously recommend it.
bianca89279's review
4.0
'French Rhapsody' is my third Antoine Laurain novel/novella I've read this year.
I love novels where different characters's stories/lives intersect either serendipitously or on purpose. Antoine Laurain is very good at putting together such stories.
In the "French Rhapsody', Alain Massoulier, a general practitioner (doctor) receives a letter 33 years later. The letter could have changed his and his friends' destinies when they were in their early 20s and were trying to make it in the music world as the new wave, cold wave band the Holograms.
So Alain is trying to get in touch with his former bandmates, to see if any of them still have the recording that could have propelled them to fame. While doing this, we come to meet many other characters. It's interesting to note how all of them had chosen different paths: an economist, a hotel owner, an extreme right wing nut-job politician, an art/antique dealer and a large-scale sculpture artist.
Some of the characters were more interesting than others. I must confess I found it hard reading the extreme right-wing's character's incessant speech and hate monologues, so I kind of skimmed over that part. Another character that plays a big part in this novel is JBM, a very accomplished businessman. It's obvious that Antoine Laurain, like most people, is disillusioned with the state of the French politics and the career politicians who don't have much of a backbone. So he created JBM, who's too good to be true, short of a fantasy of what a good politician should be.
As with all previous Antoine Laurain novels, nostalgia is present throughout this book.
While this novel wasn't as charming and well put together as 'The Red Notebook' and 'The President's Hat', it was still a very enjoyable read.
Looking forward to reading 'The Portrait', which comes out in July 2017.
I've received this novel via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to Gallic Books for the opportunity to read this novel and also for sending me the paperback novel (I entered a newsletter competition).
I love novels where different characters's stories/lives intersect either serendipitously or on purpose. Antoine Laurain is very good at putting together such stories.
In the "French Rhapsody', Alain Massoulier, a general practitioner (doctor) receives a letter 33 years later. The letter could have changed his and his friends' destinies when they were in their early 20s and were trying to make it in the music world as the new wave, cold wave band the Holograms.
So Alain is trying to get in touch with his former bandmates, to see if any of them still have the recording that could have propelled them to fame. While doing this, we come to meet many other characters. It's interesting to note how all of them had chosen different paths: an economist, a hotel owner, an extreme right wing nut-job politician, an art/antique dealer and a large-scale sculpture artist.
Some of the characters were more interesting than others. I must confess I found it hard reading the extreme right-wing's character's incessant speech and hate monologues, so I kind of skimmed over that part. Another character that plays a big part in this novel is JBM, a very accomplished businessman. It's obvious that Antoine Laurain, like most people, is disillusioned with the state of the French politics and the career politicians who don't have much of a backbone. So he created JBM, who's too good to be true, short of a fantasy of what a good politician should be.
As with all previous Antoine Laurain novels, nostalgia is present throughout this book.
While this novel wasn't as charming and well put together as 'The Red Notebook' and 'The President's Hat', it was still a very enjoyable read.
Looking forward to reading 'The Portrait', which comes out in July 2017.
I've received this novel via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to Gallic Books for the opportunity to read this novel and also for sending me the paperback novel (I entered a newsletter competition).
margaret21's review
4.0
I'm in two minds about this book. I loved it at first: the slightly whimsical 'French' voice of the narrative, for instance. The plot line was promising. A middle aged doctor has a letter delivered 33 years too late. It's from a record company interested to talk to him and his then-fellow band members about a demo tape they'd sent for consideration. Alain has lost touch with them all, but his interest piqued, he hunts them down and we are gradually introduced to each of them. It's only later the plot gets stretched a bit thin for me. The coincidences become perhaps one too many, the individual denouements a little extreme. Nevertheless, it's a charming book, and takes a satirical sweep at current life in metropolitan France. I'd be interested to read it in the original French, because it seems very well translated, and by a team of two, which is unusual.
jasperitis's review
3.0
More like 3 1/2 stars. It still has some of the whimsy of Laurain's previous books, but I feel there's more than a touch of cynicism.
read_with_pinot's review
1.0
DNF. ⭐️ Conventional writing=not engaging. Dull protagonist. ‘Casual’ sexism: a 19 year old woman is a ‘girl’, an 8 year old girl is ‘a little minx’, and a woman waking up is a ‘rumpled shrew’. No thanks Monsieur.
vanessa_issa's review
3.0
Another charming novel by the French writer Antoine Laurain. Many thanks to Gallic Books for providing an ARC via NetGalley!
thomasdj's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75