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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
slow-paced
Fabulous, intricate spy thriller. I love Atkinson and her mordant wit; this novel is brimming with that dry and tricky humor. The story is based loosely on real events in England during WWII and in after years as MI5 attempted to discern and eliminate moles within the service. Atkinson was reading through recently released archival transcriptions and began wondering about the (undoubtedly) woman who must have typed them up. She builds a compelling character in Juliet and builds in many twists and turns in her tale.
And of course, being Atkinson, there are also dogs. Small one and yappy.
And of course, being Atkinson, there are also dogs. Small one and yappy.
i generally enjoyed the first half, but found the second half really, really confusing. plot lines seemed to pop up out of thin air and some plot points were centralized and then dropped quickly, leaving me wondering what the heck happened! not a lot of resolution, but still not a bad book. i really loved the first half!
I enjoyed this one. I thought she did a great job with the setting and while the plot was a little convoluted, I still found myself wanting to follow it through to the end.
I really enjoyed Life after Life and A God in Ruins and I love love loved the first three quarters of this book. At the very end, though, the author lost me. Four stars for the first part, 2.5 for the last part. Let's call it a three star book.
I didn't always love the voice of the writing-- there's a bit too much winking at the reader--but the story is unfolded so brilliantly that I didn't really mind.
A 5-star read until the very end when I was left thinking, 'is that it?!'
I adore Kate Atkinson and Transcription was very Kate Atkinson-y, with all her usual trademarks : war and its aftermath, life and its aftermath, multifaceted charming characters, just so much delightful humour. Juliet had me laughing out loud every few pages! I'm a sucker for war novels, the BBC and it's stiff-upper-lip, and female spies as protagonists...it's like Atkinson had a paint-by-numbers for A Book Sarah Would Love and she followed it exactly. Thanks Kate!
But. The end was so abrupt! A little more meta than I was expecting and my tired brain needs a few more days to process the layers.
I adore Kate Atkinson and Transcription was very Kate Atkinson-y, with all her usual trademarks : war and its aftermath, life and its aftermath, multifaceted charming characters, just so much delightful humour. Juliet had me laughing out loud every few pages! I'm a sucker for war novels, the BBC and it's stiff-upper-lip, and female spies as protagonists...it's like Atkinson had a paint-by-numbers for A Book Sarah Would Love and she followed it exactly. Thanks Kate!
But. The end was so abrupt! A little more meta than I was expecting and my tired brain needs a few more days to process the layers.
This was my third [a:Kate Atkinson|10015|Kate Atkinson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1363801830p2/10015.jpg] novel, but my first in print form. Having previously discovered her through the audio editions of [b:Life After Life|15790842|Life After Life (Todd Family, #1)|Kate Atkinson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1358173808l/15790842._SY75_.jpg|21443207] and [b:A God in Ruins|3722183|A God in Ruins (Todd Family, #2)|Kate Atkinson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451442002l/3722183._SY75_.jpg|42652219], I was so pleased to find her beautifully organic and lyrical writing was not dependent on the performance provided by an audiobook.
Atkinson's writing has such a stream-of-consciousness feel to it while still being fully grounded in the plot. Instead of going off and feeling completely untethered from the main storyline, Atkinson uses these flashback moments (which can be, and often are, just a sentence long reaction/memory) to enhance the story. Phrases, smells, sights, and sounds all encourage organic remembrances and Atkinson uses this to full advantage here with deft subtly.
The main character, Juliet Armstrong, has two main time periods, 1940 and 1950, working in large chunks throughout the novel—with a complementary bookended time period of 1981. We spend long swaths of time in each at a go, so it never feels clunky, choppy, or sporadic. It is between these two important eras in Juliet's life that the story oscillates. Some of the moments in 1950, especially any part that lands in the first half of the book, appeared with a hint of stagnation. But the recovery found in the second half was worth it.
Transcription gave me more of what I was looking for in [b:The Alice Network|32051912|The Alice Network|Kate Quinn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1492238040l/32051912._SX50_.jpg|50492909] but didn't get. I need a book that lands more in the character study realm rather than something laden with setting descriptions and an emotionally removed narrative. Atkinson has a wonderful way with developing her characters naturally and indirectly so that the people in her books come fully formed and we are getting to know them as we read, rather than the forceful way a plot-driven book can end up being more tell than show.
I will definitely work my way through Atkinson's other published works.
Atkinson's writing has such a stream-of-consciousness feel to it while still being fully grounded in the plot. Instead of going off and feeling completely untethered from the main storyline, Atkinson uses these flashback moments (which can be, and often are, just a sentence long reaction/memory) to enhance the story. Phrases, smells, sights, and sounds all encourage organic remembrances and Atkinson uses this to full advantage here with deft subtly.
The main character, Juliet Armstrong, has two main time periods, 1940 and 1950, working in large chunks throughout the novel—with a complementary bookended time period of 1981. We spend long swaths of time in each at a go, so it never feels clunky, choppy, or sporadic. It is between these two important eras in Juliet's life that the story oscillates. Some of the moments in 1950, especially any part that lands in the first half of the book, appeared with a hint of stagnation. But the recovery found in the second half was worth it.
Transcription gave me more of what I was looking for in [b:The Alice Network|32051912|The Alice Network|Kate Quinn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1492238040l/32051912._SX50_.jpg|50492909] but didn't get. I need a book that lands more in the character study realm rather than something laden with setting descriptions and an emotionally removed narrative. Atkinson has a wonderful way with developing her characters naturally and indirectly so that the people in her books come fully formed and we are getting to know them as we read, rather than the forceful way a plot-driven book can end up being more tell than show.
I will definitely work my way through Atkinson's other published works.