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elliemelliemoo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
the_schaef's review against another edition
5.0
A story of relationships. It starts in pre-war Czechoslovakia with the marriage of a Jewish-Czech industrialist and a gentile innocent woman. The house, once the future of their dreams becomes the museum of their past and the relationships and secrets that occur around them. It is an excellent an emotional tale with a historical setting.
starondr's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
krisonthelake's review against another edition
1.0
Read over half but just couldn’t go further. Sigh. Life is just too short to not enjoy a book.
erkadahl's review against another edition
3.0
This book is difficult to rate. The story and it's characters were compelling enough that I felt the need to finish the book, and yet the writing and multiple characters were too much and I fell asleep most nights after 10 minutes of reading. I cannot pinpoint the one thing that made me like and dislike this book equally. Had this not been a book club choice, I am not sure I would have pursued the book past page 75, and the truth is that I did not begin to like the book until after page 150. So to say this book takes time to enjoy and become interesting is an understatement. The characters, particularly Viktor and Hana, became interesting and the main character is of course the house and its many occupants over the decades. Ultimately, I am glad I finished, but I neither liked nor disliked this book. I am rather ambivalent on this book, and I can't say that has happened before with any other book.
jmutschler88's review against another edition
3.0
The symbolism was a bit overwhelming in the last part of the book, and I would have liked to see more character development, even if that meant the book were longer. Also would have liked more depth into the Landauer's time between Cuba and Liesel's return. Enjoyable otherwise.
kingarooski's review against another edition
4.0
A charming and delightful read about a family and a house and the major shifts in Central Europe’s 20th Century history. I really enjoyed this book.
thebobsphere's review against another edition
5.0
It’s always interesting to read past Booker nominees. The Glass Room was shortlisted in 2009 – the year Hilary Mantell’s Wolf Hall won and it has that ‘classic’ Booker feel to it. Occasionally these books do crop up in the shortlist but back then one would find more of them dominating the long or shortlist.
By classic Booker, I mean : well structured plot, great writing style, some unpredictability , memorable characters and , usually, but not all the time, a historical setting. Glass Room has it all. That year the shortlist was a particularly strong one so anyone of these titles were contenders.
The Glass Room follows the tradition of Rebecca and Slade House, by this I mean that the humans are just bit players and the inanimate object it the star. In this case, as the title suggests it is a glass room which is the centrepiece of a modern house built for a up and coming Czech couple in the 1920’s. The power of the glass room is that it reflects (no pun intended) the fragility of the characters and when someone enters the room a secret is usually revealed. Not only is the historical setting, 1920 – 1990, real but the house actually does exist in Brno.
The Czech couple who engineered the house’s construction fall into a series of hidden passions and adultery. There are hints of queerness and otherwise and as one guesses, the glass room is the focal point for most of the events within the family.
When the Nazis take over the Czech Republic ( I’ll use the current term or Czechia) the family flees and the room becomes a lab for the study of eugenics. Once again things do go wrong mainly due one previously introduced character and the house is abandoned to the next person.
The last person to live in the house and subsequently the glass room is turned into a gymnasium for children afflicted by polio is a physicist and, as the pattern repeats itself, The glass room is a place where he confesses some of his past mistakes.
Mawer ties everything up with most of the character’s meeting up with explanations of their destinies. Personally, as I hated it when I was younger, I used to find overuse of coincidence a cheap trick but lately I actually enjoy them and I’m curious to see what an author will do to ‘save’ a situation.
The Glass Room is a quietly epic novel – with it’s ambitious plot, it’s manages to work. As I said earlier there’s a lot of strengths everywhere from writing to characters so this will please a lot of people if you’re looking for a solid, well-crafted read. In fact I’m surprised that The Glass Room has not received as much recognition as Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See which came out five years later and is similar in it’s setting and writing style. Hopefully more people will pay attention as The Glass Room does definitely deserve to gain a bigger readership.
By classic Booker, I mean : well structured plot, great writing style, some unpredictability , memorable characters and , usually, but not all the time, a historical setting. Glass Room has it all. That year the shortlist was a particularly strong one so anyone of these titles were contenders.
The Glass Room follows the tradition of Rebecca and Slade House, by this I mean that the humans are just bit players and the inanimate object it the star. In this case, as the title suggests it is a glass room which is the centrepiece of a modern house built for a up and coming Czech couple in the 1920’s. The power of the glass room is that it reflects (no pun intended) the fragility of the characters and when someone enters the room a secret is usually revealed. Not only is the historical setting, 1920 – 1990, real but the house actually does exist in Brno.
The Czech couple who engineered the house’s construction fall into a series of hidden passions and adultery. There are hints of queerness and otherwise and as one guesses, the glass room is the focal point for most of the events within the family.
When the Nazis take over the Czech Republic ( I’ll use the current term or Czechia) the family flees and the room becomes a lab for the study of eugenics. Once again things do go wrong mainly due one previously introduced character and the house is abandoned to the next person.
The last person to live in the house and subsequently the glass room is turned into a gymnasium for children afflicted by polio is a physicist and, as the pattern repeats itself, The glass room is a place where he confesses some of his past mistakes.
Mawer ties everything up with most of the character’s meeting up with explanations of their destinies. Personally, as I hated it when I was younger, I used to find overuse of coincidence a cheap trick but lately I actually enjoy them and I’m curious to see what an author will do to ‘save’ a situation.
The Glass Room is a quietly epic novel – with it’s ambitious plot, it’s manages to work. As I said earlier there’s a lot of strengths everywhere from writing to characters so this will please a lot of people if you’re looking for a solid, well-crafted read. In fact I’m surprised that The Glass Room has not received as much recognition as Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See which came out five years later and is similar in it’s setting and writing style. Hopefully more people will pay attention as The Glass Room does definitely deserve to gain a bigger readership.
shirlee2024's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting for the insight on Czechia during WWII, but characters weren't very well developed.