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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
Started out strong but fizzled out. I think it's one I'll pick up again in the future but it just doesn't fit my mood at this time.
I liked the characters in this book even though the plot was muddled. They held my interest when the story did not.
Feel like I might need to read this again at a different time when my head is in a different space.
I don’t even know how to classify Kate Atkinson. All I know is that I want to read 100 more books by her. She has such a way with language and delightful ways to say the most mundane things.
The low rating of this book seems unfair. Is this a WWII EPIC like Life After Life and A God in Ruins? No, it's a much more low-key, slow-burn kind of book. We don't get the million different ways to die during the Blitz or in a fighter-plane, but we get a look into the underworld, of spies and dissidents, of not knowing who to trust, of not even knowing if it's all worth the trouble. Juliet is a strange character: she's a bit aloof as if she doesn't know what to do with herself since her mother died. She dreams vaguely of romance but not much seems to rock her boat, she's not passionate about a cause or other people, but she does her work well. The plot presents a few mysteries but there's no great crescendo of tensions or revelations - we just slowly unveil things, but all with the marvelous Atkinson sense of humour. While this isn't one of those previous masterpieces, I still enjoyed it a lot.
I was eager to get my hands on Transcription because Life After Life is one of the best books I've read in the past five years. While Transcription did not quite exceed the high bar Kate Atkinson had set for herself in my mind, I still really enjoyed this book. I appreciated that even though it was about WWII, it had some levity to it, thanks to the narration style that puts you in the head of the very wry protagonist, Juliet. There's also a spy element that made the book hard to put down for the last third or so. And at just around 300 pages, it's a quick read! However, I'm still chewing over the ending, which I won't spoil here. I'd like to go back and see if I can find hints of the twist throughout. Overall: recommend.
Så seg, så seg och sedan blir den bara otroligt bra! Jag gillar Atkinson men den här var inte den bästa, tyvärr.
I found this book endlessly filled of unnecessary words and extraneous characters, the main character was not compelling and the mystery not interesting enough to make me want to keep reading. It was a slog to finish it and I’m glad I did - and I honestly wonder how someone as boring as Juliet could have been a spy. Indeed it is quite a talent to manage to write such an aggressively boring novel without a plot about WW2 spies. Hated the witticisms throughout the prose and the overuse of brackets, it makes for crowded and confused writing. Next!
Fenella Woolgar is an incredible narrator! I also loved her performance of Life After Life. I enjoyed Transcription, but I think Fenella took the experience from 4.5 stars to 5. She truly brings every character to life in a way that never seems overdone. The story itself was a little slow at first, but engaging. Eventually, I couldn't wait to get to the end and find out what was really going on. I'm not so sure about the ending, but Kate Atkinson created a lot of suspense, and, well, it had to go somewhere. The characters are memorable, and the book as a whole was entertaining and well written. I always love Kate Atkinson's writing!
Great concept, interesting characters, really poor execution. I was bored within the first few chapters, guess this one's just not for me. :/