Reviews

The World of Tomorrow by Brendan Mathews

steph_84's review against another edition

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5.0

This book is great fun. It’s full of energy and colour, and reminded me of a smart action movie with a bit of drama, comedy and romance thrown in, plus some politics and a bunch of gangsters. The multiple plot-lines all reach their climax at the same point and the descriptions are so vivid, it’s like watching a film, sitting on the edge of your seat. I laughed, I cried, I spent time away from the book thinking about the characters.

The story is set across one week in New York in 1939, with World War 2 looming around the corner. It mostly focussing on the adventures of three brothers but with many interlinked narratives along the way, and some exploration of class, race, family and the fallout from the creation of the newly-formed Republic of Ireland.

The style is quite unusual, not only with the way the book is divided into individual days (except for the first and last chapters), but how it constantly switches between different characters’ perspectives, including minor characters with whom we’re led to deeply consider for a few pages then they’re never mentioned again. At first it was tiring and confusing but once the book got underway and the main characters were established, the constant shifting and remembering stopped being a chore. That said, I read this book in one weekend and do think it’s written to be consumed quickly. If you tried reading a few pages per night you may lose momentum and forget where the many characters and plot-lines are at.

I agree with some other comments that this book could be edited down a bit, but once the story gets going it’s fun to “see” New York and the characters in detail. Besides, some parts of the story are bordering on so over-the-top and unbelievable that to enjoy the book you just need to suspend disbelief and go along with it. It’s not about efficiency but instead it’s about seeing new perspectives and enjoying the wild ride. 4.5 stars.

jclare2's review against another edition

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4.0

I enjoyed this book. The plot was fast-moving, the characters interesting, and the setting of Pre-War NYC fun to visit. Sure, the plot was riddled with unlikely coincidences, but so are most movies. And kinda dude-centric, but ditto. I found the brother living the fake life to be quite unlikable and unsympathetic - and I’m not sure that was the point. But there was enough variety in the points of view that it didn’t detract too much. The most compelling scenes were whenever the whole family is reunited. There was a lot of fun energy in the family dynamics that resonated with me. A fun, quick read. No regrets.

cass_alanna's review against another edition

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3.0

I wanted to like this book more than I did. The storyline was interesting, and the characters’ pasts really drew me in. However, I did skim through a lot of detail that could’ve been left out. I think the book just really needed a good editor.

kiercarnahan's review against another edition

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1.0

DNF at 47%

I couldn't finish this book. I kept trying to stay with it but at 47% I was lost. From the beginning I knew it would be challenging because of all of the characters. I felt like I needed a character map to keep it all straight. There were too many people introduced too quickly, it made it very hard to follow. Sometimes the story would switch characters story lines between paragraphs which confused me as well. There needed to be more a distinctive change on the page to separate them. I also kept waiting for the story to maybe pick up or for things to start making sense but they just weren't for me. Maybe others have had other reactions to this book but it just wasn't for me.

I received this as an arc from netgalley in return for a honest review.

tiptoeingthroughmystacks's review against another edition

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3.0

I'm conflicted about this book. It didn't hold my interest enough to be one of those "cannot. put. down." kind of books, but when I picked it up, it sucked me in for an hour or two at a time. The book is well-written and entertaining, but I found myself skimming the last third of the book. That being said, I'll definitely check out future releases by this author. 3 1/2 stars.

krismcd59's review against another edition

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3.0

This review appears in Historical Novel Review 81 (August 2017):

This ambitious, sprawling adventure imagines New York City and the 1939 World’s Fair in all its jazzy glory. Mathews, a professor of creative writing, uses every fictional trick he can think of to steer the three main characters—the passionate but hapless Dempsey brothers, Martin, Francis, and Michael—in and around the streets, hotels, dance clubs, and back alleys of the metropolis. The beating heart of the narrative is Irish, and savvy readers will spot many allusions to Samuel Beckett and James Joyce, whose Ulysses is Mathews’ narrative model.

As in Joyce’s masterpiece, we follow each brother in turn, up and down the city, and listen to his internal monologues. Beckett’s sense of loss and suspended identity is present in the central character of Michael, brain-damaged and aphasic after a brush with an IRA bomb, but acutely sensitive to the sights and sensibilities of the city in which he wanders, accompanied by the ghost of William Butler Yeats. After a brief prologue on a luxury ship en route from Ireland to New York, where we meet Michael and his brother Francis, a scrappy escaped con with a stolen IRA bankroll, who has donned the persona of a louche Scottish lord, the rest of the story takes place during a single tumultuous week. The third brother, the emigré Martin, is an up-and-coming big band leader who finds himself and his young family endangered by Francis’ underworld pursuers. But, there are many more characters, and whether readers will find this novel joyously overstuffed or annoyingly cluttered is a matter of taste.

The multiple points of view—expressed in lovingly detailed musings and flashbacks—slow the action to a crawl at times; there’s a lot of telling rather than showing, and the author’s style can be a bit ponderous. Still, it’s an impressive evocation of the time and place, and the action becomes satisfyingly suspenseful in the last quarter of this long read.

kathrynirena's review against another edition

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5.0

It's hard to believe this is a debut novel--it's a magnificent read. Along with a dozen other characters I was drawn in to the lives of the Dempsey brothers.

sophronisba's review against another edition

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2.0

Too long by half -- every idea, character, and subplot that the author ever had he apparently decided to stuff into this novel. It is too much. But he does do a good job with the milieu, and I wouldn't be averse to picking up his next if it is more streamlined and disciplined.

gretel7's review against another edition

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I received this from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

Oh, I really wanted to like this book. It has all the different facets of historical fiction that I adore. But reading it was like slogging through knee deep cement. The story was making no progress and I couldn't grasp onto any interest in the characters.

Abandoned at 22%.

No rating, DNF

stevenk's review against another edition

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3.0

I enjoyed the Dempsey brothers, two on the run from the IRA and Irish authorities and one a musician living in NYC (minus the imaginary Yeats) and they made the story enjoyable. But there was a lot going on here, the late 30's jazz scene, the Worlds Fair, the IRA in America, the wealthy sisters and the weddings, the former IRA hitman being drawn back in, a Czech photographer trying to stay in America and away from the Nazi's and these tangent stories detract from the book and makes it too long. The writing was good and I liked parts of this book a lot but there were just too many characters and it was too long.