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art_and_bibliophilia's review against another edition
4.5
Lionel Shriver so eloquently analyses human behaviour and interpersonal dynamics in just under 130 pages, I read this little gem in one sitting. Every single sentence of this novella is brilliant. Shriver, in fine form, did not put a foot wrong.
shoisengupta's review against another edition
4.0
compelling characters, lovely writing, ending that left me frustrated (but in a good way?), very quick and enjoyable read :)
blackoxford's review against another edition
3.0
Love Has Limits
When A loves B, and B loves C, but C hates A, none of the relations are stable. Especially if B is a male who defines himself by these relations and therefore puts himself emotionally at the mercy of females A and C. Thanks to B, everyone is confused and hapless. Men! Who’d have ‘em?
Women are more resilient than men, less naive and generally more capable of guile. Is that sexist? Perhaps. But that’s Shriver’s opinion, and I trust her. Personally, I’ve never understood why women aren’t the only candidates for Army generalships, which demand strategy-savvy intelligence; and why men aren’t restricted to the lower ranks that require only myopic muscle.
When A loves B, and B loves C, but C hates A, none of the relations are stable. Especially if B is a male who defines himself by these relations and therefore puts himself emotionally at the mercy of females A and C. Thanks to B, everyone is confused and hapless. Men! Who’d have ‘em?
Women are more resilient than men, less naive and generally more capable of guile. Is that sexist? Perhaps. But that’s Shriver’s opinion, and I trust her. Personally, I’ve never understood why women aren’t the only candidates for Army generalships, which demand strategy-savvy intelligence; and why men aren’t restricted to the lower ranks that require only myopic muscle.
rholbrook's review against another edition
4.0
In this short but powerful novella, Lionel Shriver asks the age-old question: Can men and women ever be just friends?
When Weston proposes to his longtime girlfriend Paige, her acceptance comes with one condition: He must sever ties with his best friend of 25 years and old flame, Jillian. When Jillian gives the couple an intensely personal and extravagant engagement gift, dubbed The Standing Chandelier, the complicated relationship triangle is made all the messier. The gift is large, awkward and inconvenient, signifying the elephant in the room that is Weston and Jillian’s cloudy relationship.
Anyone who’s been in a serious relationship will relate to this on both sides of the spectrum. Readers will find themselves empathizing with every character, yet also wanting to shake them out of their stupidity at other times. Read it in one sitting to experience the full intensity.
When Weston proposes to his longtime girlfriend Paige, her acceptance comes with one condition: He must sever ties with his best friend of 25 years and old flame, Jillian. When Jillian gives the couple an intensely personal and extravagant engagement gift, dubbed The Standing Chandelier, the complicated relationship triangle is made all the messier. The gift is large, awkward and inconvenient, signifying the elephant in the room that is Weston and Jillian’s cloudy relationship.
Anyone who’s been in a serious relationship will relate to this on both sides of the spectrum. Readers will find themselves empathizing with every character, yet also wanting to shake them out of their stupidity at other times. Read it in one sitting to experience the full intensity.
podsticles's review against another edition
3.0
I love Lionel Shriver. I think she is a very clever lady, and anyone who has seen or read her interviews will know this.
I loved, and was shocked by, her most famous novel, ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’, which was passed from teacher to teacher of the school I worked in at the time, with opinions and thoughts being shared over soup and sandwiches at the staffroom table.
I skipped her follow-up, ‘The Post Birthday World’, but thought the follow-up to that, ‘So Much For That’ was astounding, and almost as horrifiying as ‘Kevin’ in many ways. It was also strangely under-appreciated in my opinion. I thought the writing was sharp, the relationships realistic, and the topic relevant to the time.
Again I missed out her next novel [The New Republic], but was disappointed by its follow-up, ‘Big Brother’.
By pure coincidence I apparently only read her novels alternately, so missed out on ‘The Mandibles’, and landed on this novella, ‘The Standing Chandelier.’
~~~~.~~~~.~~~~
I really wanted to enjoy this book. I thought the premise was excellent - a man being given the ultimatum to give up his lifelong (and occasionally intimate) friendship with Jillian Frisk for the hand in marriage of Paige Myers. I thought the drama was probably quite realistic. I imagined if I was Paige I would probably have the same conditions. My biggest problem was the ‘standing chandelier’ itself, which was large, unwieldy, awkward, and which sounded quite ugly. But maybe that was the point? Paige will accept anything if it inevitably gets her what she wants.
I loved, and was shocked by, her most famous novel, ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’, which was passed from teacher to teacher of the school I worked in at the time, with opinions and thoughts being shared over soup and sandwiches at the staffroom table.
I skipped her follow-up, ‘The Post Birthday World’, but thought the follow-up to that, ‘So Much For That’ was astounding, and almost as horrifiying as ‘Kevin’ in many ways. It was also strangely under-appreciated in my opinion. I thought the writing was sharp, the relationships realistic, and the topic relevant to the time.
Again I missed out her next novel [The New Republic], but was disappointed by its follow-up, ‘Big Brother’.
By pure coincidence I apparently only read her novels alternately, so missed out on ‘The Mandibles’, and landed on this novella, ‘The Standing Chandelier.’
~~~~.~~~~.~~~~
I really wanted to enjoy this book. I thought the premise was excellent - a man being given the ultimatum to give up his lifelong (and occasionally intimate) friendship with Jillian Frisk for the hand in marriage of Paige Myers. I thought the drama was probably quite realistic. I imagined if I was Paige I would probably have the same conditions. My biggest problem was the ‘standing chandelier’ itself, which was large, unwieldy, awkward, and which sounded quite ugly. But maybe that was the point? Paige will accept anything if it inevitably gets her what she wants.
hanni19088's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
shriyak's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
This ebook has taken me forever to read. I'm not going to continue with an indepth review
balancinghistorybooks's review against another edition
4.0
I spotted one of my Goodreads friends reading this, and purchased a copy for my Kindle. I really enjoy Shriver's writing, and whilst I've not even got through more than one of her novels to date, I wanted to see how she would craft a shorter work stylistically. The main nub of The Standing Chandelier - can a man and woman be 'just friends'? - sounded rather twee and overdone, and is something I would ordinarily avoid. I was more than intrigued by the way in which Shriver might handle it, however, and was pleasantly impressed. She manages to avoid an awful lot of cliched tropes, and creates an exploration which is more unusual than usual.
The prose throughout the novella is intelligent and taut, as I was expecting, and I was pulled in straight away. Shriver still involves a lot of depth when crafting her characters, and both Weston and Jillian come across as fully-formed and believable individuals. Darkly funny at times, the story carries one through from beginning to end at a perfectly adjusted pace. Rather than lose herself in the constrained form, or having to drop more interesting elements of storyline in order to obey the conventions of the novella, The Standing Chandelier is rather perfect in terms of its size. Yes, it can be read in a couple of hours, but it still feels rich, and has a lot of emotional depth to it.
The prose throughout the novella is intelligent and taut, as I was expecting, and I was pulled in straight away. Shriver still involves a lot of depth when crafting her characters, and both Weston and Jillian come across as fully-formed and believable individuals. Darkly funny at times, the story carries one through from beginning to end at a perfectly adjusted pace. Rather than lose herself in the constrained form, or having to drop more interesting elements of storyline in order to obey the conventions of the novella, The Standing Chandelier is rather perfect in terms of its size. Yes, it can be read in a couple of hours, but it still feels rich, and has a lot of emotional depth to it.
ellesbells's review against another edition
5.0
This was beautiful. The writing was wonderful and the characters feel so real to me in such a short space of time. It broke my heart a little bit. Can’t wait to listen again.