Reviews

A Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss

pashtet31's review against another edition

4.0

More fiction than history. However, despite slow start and a bit like 18 century English language, novel becomes quite interesting, dynamic and lively. The book is written not by an economic historian (but by PhD student in literature, I guess), thus the amount of financial detailes is frustratingly small. Nevertheless, the book gives you a spirit of the early 1700 London: what people used to do, how they managed their affairs and how they traded "funds" and securities.

The book is very well suited for leisure reading. If you want to change focus from professional literature and looking for a mystery or thriller, consider David Liss novels.

I would definitely add his other book to my reading list.

stephenl's review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

eleewood's review against another edition

4.0

Very Dickensian for the most part. A bit slow to start but holds up.

pendar's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

sjgrodsky's review against another edition

3.0

A very complicated structure, with subplots and characters popping up like dandelions after a spring rain. Like the narrator, I felt confused most of the time. Everything does get resolved, in a final chapter that, if anything, ties up all the plot points too neatly and too rapidly.

There are many things to like: the deeply researched setting, the (ever so current) theme of conscience-free corporate greed, the narrator's dignity, courage, and determination.

On the "less likable" list: the author's female characters divide between actress-whores and the Jewish princess. Umm.

It's a first novel. Most of the right ingredients are here. One hopes that the next novel is a more satisfying soup.

escragg92's review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

bookish_wendy's review against another edition

Meh.

Well written but a bit dry for my current attention span.

emheld's review against another edition

4.0

Ignore the length of time it took me to read this. With no end-of-year work distractions, this is actually a quick read, inventive and fascinating. I look forward to the additional "memoirs" of Benjamin Weaver.

emjay24's review against another edition

2.0

this book took me forever to read. mainly because it was hardcover, thick, and big, so i kept it at work and read it on my half hr lunch breaks. it was too big to carry back and forth.. this was set back in time, in england. a first generation born jewish man is creating the craft of being a private detective. this is when jewish people had no real rights, and there wasn't even a police force. it's really all about setting up the system of stocks (the papers), which leads to a very twisty plot. i liked it. it was a bit slow, but that was probably due to the tiny bits of time i had to read it.

joestewart's review against another edition

3.0

The language was tough to get through; the author used language of the period in nearly all of the writing and I found it tough to get through.