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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
medium-paced
I saw the movie before I read the book. It was okay, not horrible.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Another reread.
I was admittedly a little distracted while reading (listening) to this but I found the romance hasty and unbelievable. Perhaps that just the nature of classics that come from a society before dating?
I was admittedly a little distracted while reading (listening) to this but I found the romance hasty and unbelievable. Perhaps that just the nature of classics that come from a society before dating?
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A Room with a View follows our young, naïve protagonist Lucy, as she navigates first love and the unforgettable missteps she makes along the way to finding true love.
I loved this book! Likely a 4.5? Not gonna lie, wasn't entirely sure where it was going at the start, but the complexity of Lucy and the way her heartstrings were being tugged was beyond relatable to me. Some other reviewer commented saying that they wished this book was longer and in some aspects, I find that I much agree. I would have liked to hear more about Lucy and George reuniting. I must say—I simply adored the ending! Attempting to redeem such a hateful character was such a sweet, smooth way to making this book as close to perfection as it could. I would, of course, have liked to hear more from other characters and about them—especially Lucy's family, but I enjoyed it. I also loved hearing/looking into the minds of others—Mr. Beebe especially who has his own reasons for doing what he does and the reasoning behind why he does so eventually becomes clear to readers which is also lovely. Another thing that I had mixed feelings about for a while was the way the author would include his own viewpoint/directly address readers—at the start I thought it was disrupting the flow of the book, but towards the end it only continued to help build this overall atmosphere of love and confusion and humanity and almost made the book drama-esque in the small snippets/interludes of various characters going about doing their things. I also really appreciated how George was such a unique character—his original gloominess to his cheerful visage at the end was lovely. Not to mention his dad! Even Cecil was interesting—I found it crazy how in the breakup scene with Lucy he goes about a full 180*—I hope he found his true love too! He truly did end up looking like a good character at the end. Very pleasantly surprised by this lovely book. I absolutely adored the descriptions of the Italian countryside and the overall themes of "dark vs light" and descriptions of various foliage! Definitely was a perfect choice after reading Notes from the Underground! Looking forwards to diving back into Dostoyevsky next though!!
This is probably the second book that I've read written around 1900. But it seems a strange one. There are moments in it where the time it takes place is apparent, but through most of it, it feels like it could be taking place a hundred years earlier. It's old enough that there are occasionally passages that startle me because I don't quite understand what's happening, partly because of the social circumstance, partially because of the different vocabulary and phrasing. All in all, it was enjoyable enough.
Totally unrelated to the book, I experienced the most unique coincidence -- I was reading it on vacation in Florida. I thought it might be amusing to read a book about vacationing while on vacation. And there certainly where passages that were relevant, especially those critiquing travelers. There's one point in the book, while in Italy, that one person mentions a particular villa to the others, saying that Boccaccio was rumored to have written [b:The Decameron|51799|The Decameron|Giovanni Boccaccio|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1362720861s/51799.jpg|1320474] there. On our trip, we stopped at the Ringling museum in Sarasota, the art museum. We didn't read all the nice laminated ringed-together notes for all the rooms, but I did read through an early one. Ringling purchased a lot of the door frames and other structures from buildings in Italy. Including that particular villa that the Decameron was supposedly written in. I guess I'll add The Decameron to my list of 'to read' now.
Totally unrelated to the book, I experienced the most unique coincidence -- I was reading it on vacation in Florida. I thought it might be amusing to read a book about vacationing while on vacation. And there certainly where passages that were relevant, especially those critiquing travelers. There's one point in the book, while in Italy, that one person mentions a particular villa to the others, saying that Boccaccio was rumored to have written [b:The Decameron|51799|The Decameron|Giovanni Boccaccio|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1362720861s/51799.jpg|1320474] there. On our trip, we stopped at the Ringling museum in Sarasota, the art museum. We didn't read all the nice laminated ringed-together notes for all the rooms, but I did read through an early one. Ringling purchased a lot of the door frames and other structures from buildings in Italy. Including that particular villa that the Decameron was supposedly written in. I guess I'll add The Decameron to my list of 'to read' now.
I’ll give this a “pick” but it’s probably more of a “so-so” for me. At times it was hard to follow as I found the writing a bit “proper” for lack of a better word which made the sentences garbled and confusing sometimes. And while the characters could be irritating in their stubbornness, it was a satisfying love story that also said a lot about the socio-economic aspects and sexism of the early 20th century.
Glad I finally got around to reading this.
Glad I finally got around to reading this.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
No
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes