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myrthekorf's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
jennyyates's review against another edition
4.0
This is a novel about a woman who spends her early years imbibing literature, and then discovers that everything she had learned from it was wrong. She discovers that goodness doesn’t equal happiness, and that what looks like happiness generally isn’t.
It’s not exactly a cynical novel, but it’s very realistic, and none of the characters are spared. The central dynamic is between Ruth Weiss and her eccentric and basically narcissistic parents, George and Helen. George is pompous and passive, while Helen is a successful actress until age catches up with her. There are quite a few periphery characters, all vividly drawn, sometimes with just a few strokes.
I recommend this to anyone who enjoys sharp, clear writing and incisive character studies.
It’s not exactly a cynical novel, but it’s very realistic, and none of the characters are spared. The central dynamic is between Ruth Weiss and her eccentric and basically narcissistic parents, George and Helen. George is pompous and passive, while Helen is a successful actress until age catches up with her. There are quite a few periphery characters, all vividly drawn, sometimes with just a few strokes.
I recommend this to anyone who enjoys sharp, clear writing and incisive character studies.
teresatumminello's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
The title of Brookner’s first novel, aka [b:A Start in Life|1523501|A Start in Life|Anita Brookner|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1305983347l/1523501._SY75_.jpg|81589], is a fitting one. It also refers to [b:Un début dans la vie|2554694|Un début dans la vie|Honoré de Balzac|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1335391131l/2554694._SY75_.jpg|2373209] by [a:Honoré de Balzac|228089|Honoré de Balzac|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1206567834p2/228089.jpg], whose works are the academic focus of the protagonist, Dr. Ruth Weiss. More important to the woman who believes “her life had been ruined by literature” is the main character of Balzac’s [b:Eugénie Grandet|59142|Eugénie Grandet|Honoré de Balzac|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388286601l/59142._SY75_.jpg|1399014], referenced throughout.
In the beginning I was strongly reminded of Brookner’s third novel, [b:Look at Me|84512|Look at Me|Anita Brookner|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1483585077l/84512._SY75_.jpg|621659], with the self-centered parents, who are more present in the plot of this story; and the married couple Ruth befriends, though here the couple are benign. While I found Look At Me more intense than The Debut, the latter is still pure Brookner with her trademark irony and (even if detached) cri du cœur.
The title of Brookner’s first novel, aka [b:A Start in Life|1523501|A Start in Life|Anita Brookner|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1305983347l/1523501._SY75_.jpg|81589], is a fitting one. It also refers to [b:Un début dans la vie|2554694|Un début dans la vie|Honoré de Balzac|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1335391131l/2554694._SY75_.jpg|2373209] by [a:Honoré de Balzac|228089|Honoré de Balzac|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1206567834p2/228089.jpg], whose works are the academic focus of the protagonist, Dr. Ruth Weiss. More important to the woman who believes “her life had been ruined by literature” is the main character of Balzac’s [b:Eugénie Grandet|59142|Eugénie Grandet|Honoré de Balzac|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388286601l/59142._SY75_.jpg|1399014], referenced throughout.
In the beginning I was strongly reminded of Brookner’s third novel, [b:Look at Me|84512|Look at Me|Anita Brookner|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1483585077l/84512._SY75_.jpg|621659], with the self-centered parents, who are more present in the plot of this story; and the married couple Ruth befriends, though here the couple are benign. While I found Look At Me more intense than The Debut, the latter is still pure Brookner with her trademark irony and (even if detached) cri du cœur.
sachacharlotte's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
sydsnot71's review against another edition
3.0
This is the first book by Anita Brookner I have read. I rather liked it.
It does seem faintly autobiographical, based on my limited understanding of Brookner's life. It has one of the great first lines of a novel though.
Ruth Weiss is an academic whose life has been 'ruined by literature'. She used literature as an escape from real life, which she seemed to struggle with. Whilst all around her people seem to conspire to keep her life within limits. Her parents, George and Helen, are monsters. Not evil monsters, but selfish and self-absorbed.
I actually really liked Ruth and there was throughout a frustration that other people were suffocating her. That she wasn't allowed to be the person she wanted to be, but the book seems to show that perhaps she had misled herself. Even if almost everyone else in the novel appears to be - at best - a disappointment.
But there is something softly positive in the ending. The realization that she needs a new 'start in life'. It's quite funny in a dark way. The blurb quotes a review that calls it 'a tragi-comedy', which is fair-ish.
I'm not sure if it is Brookner's best novel, as it is the first I've read and the first she wrote but there's enough here for me to want to read more Brookner. Her writing is clear, sharp and clever. So, that's that.
It does seem faintly autobiographical, based on my limited understanding of Brookner's life. It has one of the great first lines of a novel though.
Ruth Weiss is an academic whose life has been 'ruined by literature'. She used literature as an escape from real life, which she seemed to struggle with. Whilst all around her people seem to conspire to keep her life within limits. Her parents, George and Helen, are monsters. Not evil monsters, but selfish and self-absorbed.
I actually really liked Ruth and there was throughout a frustration that other people were suffocating her. That she wasn't allowed to be the person she wanted to be, but the book seems to show that perhaps she had misled herself. Even if almost everyone else in the novel appears to be - at best - a disappointment.
But there is something softly positive in the ending. The realization that she needs a new 'start in life'. It's quite funny in a dark way. The blurb quotes a review that calls it 'a tragi-comedy', which is fair-ish.
I'm not sure if it is Brookner's best novel, as it is the first I've read and the first she wrote but there's enough here for me to want to read more Brookner. Her writing is clear, sharp and clever. So, that's that.
ebkara's review against another edition
1.0
This book is unrelentingly depressing, the revolting spoilt mother, the feckless father and the overwhelmed daughter Ruth. This novel feels very faded and instead of a story about a start in life is really a story of a life stalled and squandered by a commitment to revoltingly selfish parents. I just wanted Ruth to leave them behind and grab some sort of life for herself.
sofs's review
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
El año pasado leí Look At Me y me terminó decepcionando por culpa de mis propias expectativas (que no tenían nada que ver con ese libro). Ahora me estoy redimiendo con Anita Brookner: a Un debut en la vida lo disfruté muchísimo.
En esencia, este libro es Anita Brookner demostrando cuánto se extiende su comprensión de la condición humana. Y con cuánta belleza logra hacerlo: con su prosa tranquila que espera el momento justo para pillarte desprevenida. Y con sus personajes, ni especialmente felices ni tristes, que, como pasa a menudo en la vida real, nunca terminan consiguiendo exactamente lo que quieren.
En torno al final, quizás van apareciendo los puntos más débiles de la novela. En particular, quedé frustradísima por la suerte de desapego con que la autora trató el desenlace de Ruth y su familia. Y aún más al caer en cuenta de que no pudo ser la literatura lo que le arruinó la vida a Ruth Weiss (como lo proponía la premisa inicial del libro).
Por lo demás, estoy muy emocionada por continuar leyendo a la autora (y por, ojalá, releer Look At Me con mejor disposición).
En esencia, este libro es Anita Brookner demostrando cuánto se extiende su comprensión de la condición humana. Y con cuánta belleza logra hacerlo: con su prosa tranquila que espera el momento justo para pillarte desprevenida. Y con sus personajes, ni especialmente felices ni tristes, que, como pasa a menudo en la vida real, nunca terminan consiguiendo exactamente lo que quieren.
En torno al final, quizás van apareciendo los puntos más débiles de la novela. En particular, quedé frustradísima por la suerte de desapego con que la autora trató el desenlace de Ruth y su familia. Y aún más al caer en cuenta de que no pudo ser la literatura lo que le arruinó la vida a Ruth Weiss (como lo proponía la premisa inicial del libro).
Por lo demás, estoy muy emocionada por continuar leyendo a la autora (y por, ojalá, releer Look At Me con mejor disposición).
conniezawa's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.5
firvida's review
4.0
Necesitaba un libro que me recordara la existencia de LITERATURA. Llevo demasiado tiempo sumida en novelas románticas contemporáneas muy, muy mediocres, con finales felices inverosímiles, lo cual está bien durante un tiempo, pero a largo plazo las Ruth de la vida nos sentimos una mierda: ¿dónde está nuestro final feliz? Lo que le pasa a Ruth, lo que siente Ruth, no es tan raro. Es la vida. Puedes ser inteligente, amable y buena persona y que la vida no te lo devuelva. Es así. Eso pasa. Y está bien que, de vez en cuando, lo recordemos.