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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
I hated Claudia!!! But I loved this book. It was like following someone on Instagram specifically because they annoy you and make you feel envious and you hate them but also will not stop following them. FOUR STARS!!!!
La narración no estaba mal: cruda y poética en ocasiones.
Moon Tiger er, hvad The English Patient ville ønske den var.
I give up. I keep thinking this book will get better but it just. doesn't.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
If only Penelope Lively had stuck with the love affair in the desert I might have enjoyed it as much as any novel about star-crossed romance during World War II. Instead, the introductory premise of a popular historian on her deathbed setting out to write a "history of the world" gives way to reminiscences about deliberately unpleasant personal circumstances and a poorly contextualized family drama bomb.
adventurous
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I thought it a bit of a poor man's Waterland / English Patient. The thoughts are there, the musings about history and personal story and all of that, and I felt that the bits set during the war you could really feel for Claudia, but the rest of it got a bit confusing and rambly. I'm not sure if it's because I read it as an ebook - perhaps the print version has clearer demarcations? - but the book tends to flip from first to second to third person, from past to present, from linear to repeating the exact same scene, and there's no sense of break before the switch happens. This makes it very difficult to follow.
Would definitely recommend Waterland instead if the themes of history and story interest the reader.
Spoiler
The whole diary entry bit at the end was also a bit cliched. I thought that the bits with Tom in already spelt out this feeling, and it wasn't necessary to beef it up with having a mysterious diary suddenly pop up - it added nothing but cliche.Would definitely recommend Waterland instead if the themes of history and story interest the reader.