Scan barcode
minareadsa19e1's review
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
thebobsphere's review
3.0
Bailey's Women's Prize for fiction 8/16
At one point during The Dark Circle, One of the main protagonists, Valarie is describing Kafka to the other lead protagonist Lenny. Here Grant plonks a perfect analogy for all the characters in this novel are living in a Kafkaesque situation.
The Dark Circle is primarily about the post war sanatorium culture, where people suffering from TB were placed in buildings which resembled hotels and subjected to both utter boredom and healing techniques which would be seen as cruel and unusual by today's standards. During this time the NHS was established, which meant that people from all sorts of backgrounds were allowed to enter sanatoriums.
The two main characters of The Dark Circle, twins Lenny and Miriam are admitted and a lot of the novel focuses one their life and daily interactions with the other patients; the bookish Valarie, the boisterous American Arthur and the German Hannah. Eventually the main protagonists are cured but they cannot shake off the sanatorium's influence, which affects them, even in old age.
While the writing style is good, The Dark Circle has got flaws. The American character is stereotypical, and acts like something out of a 70's sitcom, the LBGT aspect of the novel is good but could have been better and the last 50 pages or so feel rushed. It still is an enjoyable novel and some of Grant's paragraph sparkle with humor. I am a bit baffled why this one made the Bailey's shortlist though.
fern17's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
kerveros's review
1.0
I finished this book over two hours ago and have spent a lot of the time since wondering what it is about this book that I am missing. I mean... I must be missing something given this book was shortlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction. But I think I just have to accept that this book was just not my cup of tea.
I guess you could say that this is a book about doing the wrong things for what you think are the right reasons. Either that or it was a book about two pathetic, ignorant, ungrateful, unlikable individuals who I would like to say deserved everything they got except the one got too much and the other not nearly enough. There were some side characters in here who seemed to exist to move the plot along as opposed to being what I would consider fully realised. That said, there were some interesting stories in here - Hannah for example - and it is a shame that the book instead focuses on two ingrates instead.
It is a real shame that I didn't take to this, as I thought the idea was interesting. TB is something people have heard of, yet despite its continuing existence, not many people know much about it these days. The idea of a group of people learning to live, or should I say choosing to live, with TB, how they could group together and rally against the institution that is trying to help them, is different. But I have always said that I need either likable characters or a plot that grips me and I didn't get either from this.
I guess you could say that this is a book about doing the wrong things for what you think are the right reasons. Either that or it was a book about two pathetic, ignorant, ungrateful, unlikable individuals who I would like to say deserved everything they got except the one got too much and the other not nearly enough. There were some side characters in here who seemed to exist to move the plot along as opposed to being what I would consider fully realised. That said, there were some interesting stories in here - Hannah for example - and it is a shame that the book instead focuses on two ingrates instead.
It is a real shame that I didn't take to this, as I thought the idea was interesting. TB is something people have heard of, yet despite its continuing existence, not many people know much about it these days. The idea of a group of people learning to live, or should I say choosing to live, with TB, how they could group together and rally against the institution that is trying to help them, is different. But I have always said that I need either likable characters or a plot that grips me and I didn't get either from this.
balancinghistorybooks's review
2.0
I have read and very much enjoyed a couple of Linda Grant's books to date. With all of the hype currently surrounding this novel, particularly as it has just been shortlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize, I was left distinctly unimpressed. Whilst I am all for historical novels set in and around the sanitorium, this fell rather flat for me.
The Dark Circle is interesting in terms of its historical setting, and whilst the story begins in rather a promising manner, there is no real consistency to the piece. I also felt that it was sorely lacking in terms of its characters. They were shallow and stereotypical; the only one whom I wanted to know more about when she was introduced was Valerie, and she soon succumbed to being just as predictable, naively privileged as she was, as Lenny and Miriam. The characters in The Dark Circle are not realistic enough to carry the whole, and the lack of plot hooks or twists makes the whole feel rather lacking.
The Dark Circle has an awful lot of promise, but I am afraid that I did not find it lived up to this. The final part of the novel felt altogether unnecessary; rather trite and irrelevant. I did not care enough about the protagonists to want to know what happened to them in their post-sanitorium lives. Sadly, The Dark Circle disappointed me, and I am now in two minds as to whether to read any more of Grant's novels in future.
The Dark Circle is interesting in terms of its historical setting, and whilst the story begins in rather a promising manner, there is no real consistency to the piece. I also felt that it was sorely lacking in terms of its characters. They were shallow and stereotypical; the only one whom I wanted to know more about when she was introduced was Valerie, and she soon succumbed to being just as predictable, naively privileged as she was, as Lenny and Miriam. The characters in The Dark Circle are not realistic enough to carry the whole, and the lack of plot hooks or twists makes the whole feel rather lacking.
The Dark Circle has an awful lot of promise, but I am afraid that I did not find it lived up to this. The final part of the novel felt altogether unnecessary; rather trite and irrelevant. I did not care enough about the protagonists to want to know what happened to them in their post-sanitorium lives. Sadly, The Dark Circle disappointed me, and I am now in two minds as to whether to read any more of Grant's novels in future.
jillysnz's review
3.0
Not sure I got the point of this book. Not sure what it was trying to say. Also - didn't like the reader of the audio.
lonesomereader's review
5.0
I’ve had a copy of Linda Grant’s most recent novel “The Dark Circle” on my shelf since it was published in November, but for whatever reason I didn’t get to reading it despite being extremely moved by her previous novel “Upstairs at the Party.” So I was delighted to find it on the Baileys Prize longlist as it gave me a great excuse to get it down and finally read it. Although this novel is very different from her previous one I was immediately drawn in by the eloquence of Grant’s prose with its excellent witty dialogue and vibrant characters. The story concerns a brother and sister (Lenny and Miriam) in 1950s London who contract tuberculosis. The city and social environment are vividly rendered where the continued deprivation of the war and effects of the bombings are still intensely felt. A very different scene is evoked when the pair are taken to a sanatorium in Kent which was once an exclusive facility for the privileged but it’s now taking in patients under the new national health care system. This creates an intermingling of people from all walks of life who are plagued by this illness and pining for a rumoured miracle cure. The result is a spectacular evocation of the passage of time and changing values through the lives of several fascinating characters.
Read my full review of The Dark Circle by Linda Grant on LonesomeReader
Read my full review of The Dark Circle by Linda Grant on LonesomeReader