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patchworkbunny's review
4.0
The Islanders is the perfect antidote to saccharine Christmas tales. As with Pascal Garnier’s other books, the tone is dark and the characters on a varying scale of dislikeable. What seems like a straightforward, if a little inconvenient, Christmas soon starts to go downhill. It’s a reminder that Christmas isn’t a time of cheer for everyone and the already cynical may appreciate the dark humour at this time of year.
Olivier is a recovering alcoholic, but he is soon lured back to the drink with devastating consequences. Rodolphe has become bitter at the world, overweight and blind, he might as well be invisible. Something that his sister and Olivier never were at school. But they wanted to be on their island, alone and separated from the world.
There's a lot of observations about growing up, about getting older. Their imaginary island is a symbol of their youthful naivety. A place they expected to be when they grew up. Instead Jeanne is trapped with her disabled and manipulative brother and Olivier is unfeeling in his marriage but brought alive by drink. Is there any way for them to get back to their island or has it been submerged forever?
I liked the little slice of this Paris suburb at Christmas. How all the shops and cafes seemed to remain open and you could just wander down for fresh croissants on Christmas morning. The book is a little dated, I’m assuming this was written quite some time before it was published, or Garnier never embraced modern life. There’s phonebooks and videotapes and a world in which you can disappear easily by not answering the door. Though sometimes it’s good to be reminded of the days before technology took over our lives.
Review copy provided by publisher.
Olivier is a recovering alcoholic, but he is soon lured back to the drink with devastating consequences. Rodolphe has become bitter at the world, overweight and blind, he might as well be invisible. Something that his sister and Olivier never were at school. But they wanted to be on their island, alone and separated from the world.
There's a lot of observations about growing up, about getting older. Their imaginary island is a symbol of their youthful naivety. A place they expected to be when they grew up. Instead Jeanne is trapped with her disabled and manipulative brother and Olivier is unfeeling in his marriage but brought alive by drink. Is there any way for them to get back to their island or has it been submerged forever?
I liked the little slice of this Paris suburb at Christmas. How all the shops and cafes seemed to remain open and you could just wander down for fresh croissants on Christmas morning. The book is a little dated, I’m assuming this was written quite some time before it was published, or Garnier never embraced modern life. There’s phonebooks and videotapes and a world in which you can disappear easily by not answering the door. Though sometimes it’s good to be reminded of the days before technology took over our lives.
Review copy provided by publisher.
andrew61's review
4.0
My second Pascal garnier and it didn't disappoint. I suspect however that it's darkly surreal humour won't appeal to everyone . The first of his French noir novellas I read had a hired killer dying of cancer and was very dark but brilliant. This one was equally as bizarre-a successful businessman returns to bury his aged mother in her Versailles flat during a snowy Christmas. His next door neighbour proves to be and old flame, with whom he shares a forgotten secret,and we meet her overweight blind and wonderfully wicked brother who enjoys sitting in the louvre describing the darker part of the raft of the medusa before picking up a homeless man to share Christmas dinner .The subsequent events are brilliantly drawn and it read like classic French film,bonkers but brilliant.
Great characters,great situations, I am looking forward to reading more- if you've not read him and enjoy dark humour I'd recommend this writing.
Great characters,great situations, I am looking forward to reading more- if you've not read him and enjoy dark humour I'd recommend this writing.
bundy23's review
2.0
A silly story that's impossible to believe and 3 of the most unlikeable characters you'll ever be forced to spend time with made this one hard to finish despite being only 112 pages.
thirdcoast's review
4.0
Writing full of sharp edges. Interesting. Despairing. Weird and vibrant. Full review here: http://www.scrivler.com/reviews/book-reviews/the-islanders/.
debumere's review
4.0
What a great read. The characters were fabulous, I could picture them clearly inside my head.
A visual story and an entertaining plot.
A visual story and an entertaining plot.
efbeckett's review
4.0
Not one for the "I couldn't get into it because I didn't like any of the characters" crowd, then.
charlesminus's review against another edition
4.0
This book should come with a warning for any sober alcoholics who are still struggling with their sobriety. If that describes you - do not read this book. I'm ten years sober and past any cravings for booze; however, at one point this book made me feel physically and mentally sick through its portrayal of the horrors of the alcoholic's descent into madness. This writer has great writing skills and I will look for further work by him, but I hope it is not about alcohol. 4 stars.
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