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peaches1951's review against another edition
2.0
Gorgeously written, but a disturbing book. The main character did not interest me.
margaret21's review against another edition
4.0
I'd read Andrew Miller if he re-interpreted the phone book. But this is the story of Maud, enigmatic Maud, who may or may not have Asperger's. It's the story of her love of boats, her courtship by Tim and their subsequent marriage, her scientific career: and then the tragedy that changes everything. And then Maud goes to sea. The comedy of manners in the first half, exposing the shallow conventions of Tim, his family and their village life is succeeded in the second by a detailed and quite technical account of Maud's days at sea, singlehandedly managing her boat as it sailed south. I, a real landlubber, would have expected to be totally out of my depth here (sorry!) but was as engaged as Maud herself in keeping the ship afloat.
Maud never shares herself with us, any more than she did with Tim. I wanted more intimacy with her, to understand her better, but its Miller's skill that keeps us interested in this enigmatic and unknowable character.
The ending was surprising. But then, so is the entire book.
Maud never shares herself with us, any more than she did with Tim. I wanted more intimacy with her, to understand her better, but its Miller's skill that keeps us interested in this enigmatic and unknowable character.
The ending was surprising. But then, so is the entire book.
jmatkinson1's review against another edition
5.0
Tim and Maud meet through their university sailing club. Tim is a creative from a large and wealthy family, Maud is a scientist from a more modest background. They start a relationship and have a child but it is clear that Tim is more invested than Maud. When tragedy strikes, their relationship collapses and Maud decides to sail across the Atlantic in the boat that they have restored together.
Whilst the first half of the book recounts the relationship between Tim and Maud, the second part is solely about Maud. This is a clever device as for the first part the reader is rooting for Tim, Maud is not an empathetic character, her emotions are too closed off. The tattoo that Maud has on her arm sums it up - roughly translated as 'every man for himself' - Maud gives little away.
The second part of the book focuses on Maud's reaction to the loss of their child and how, after shutting herself off, she decides to sail away. The description of the voyage is exciting and beautiful and Maud's landing in a remote part of Brazil brings into fore the lack of maternal instinct.
In many ways I found this book like an alternative version of Waugh's 'A Handful Of Dust' - a mismatched couple, a death and an adventure - and whilst the ending is ambiguous there is still that sense of disappearing from the normal life. This is a haunting book, beautifully written and ultimately very satisfying.
Whilst the first half of the book recounts the relationship between Tim and Maud, the second part is solely about Maud. This is a clever device as for the first part the reader is rooting for Tim, Maud is not an empathetic character, her emotions are too closed off. The tattoo that Maud has on her arm sums it up - roughly translated as 'every man for himself' - Maud gives little away.
The second part of the book focuses on Maud's reaction to the loss of their child and how, after shutting herself off, she decides to sail away. The description of the voyage is exciting and beautiful and Maud's landing in a remote part of Brazil brings into fore the lack of maternal instinct.
In many ways I found this book like an alternative version of Waugh's 'A Handful Of Dust' - a mismatched couple, a death and an adventure - and whilst the ending is ambiguous there is still that sense of disappearing from the normal life. This is a haunting book, beautifully written and ultimately very satisfying.
apvommen's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
fant_ine's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
denishaskin's review against another edition
5.0
This was just lovely.
Okay, I will admit I found the ending a little unsatisfying. But still. Off to find some more Andrew Miller to read.
Okay, I will admit I found the ending a little unsatisfying. But still. Off to find some more Andrew Miller to read.
fictionfan's review against another edition
2.0
Passionless...
Maud and Tim are an unlikely couple – he gregarious and open, she lacking any kind of personality whatsoever, of any kind, and apparently unable to speak in sentences longer than four words, despite her intelligence. However, he falls in love with her and she... well, acquiesces is the word that springs to mind. They have a good deal of fairly passionless yet intimately described sex which, thankfully, results at last in a pregnancy. I say thankfully because the exhaustion brought on by the child stops them having more sex for a while. But after a few years of living together, during which Maud's contribution to the household conversation gradually adds up to roughly twenty words, tragedy strikes! No, sadly not Maud. She survives – proving yet again that there is no justice in this world. Unable to express her emotions, assuming she has any, Maud takes off in her beloved boat where she can sail and sail and sail without having to speak to anyone at all. Fortunately she manages to have a last bout of sex just before weighing anchor, just in case any reader was missing it...
Oh dear! Sometimes a book and a reader just don't gel and I fear that's the case with this reader and this book. And yet I feel I'm probably being unfair. It reminded me in many ways of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, only much better written I hasten to add, and while I thought that book was pretty awful, 99% of the rest of the universe seemed to think it was wonderful. Basically it's a coming to terms with grief story but with a central character with so little personality that I couldn't feel any empathy for her. Perhaps we're supposed to assume that inside she's a seething cauldron of suppressed emotion, but if so it's too well suppressed. Or perhaps she's supposed to be autistic. I don't know – but she behaves like a speech-free automaton for the whole book, forming no real relationships with any of the other characters, though of course all the men she meets are attracted to her, for no reason I could understand.
The first half is taken up with her one-sided relationship with Tim, who seems to think she's vulnerable and that he needs to take care of her. But in fact, she's so self-sufficient that the rest of the world doesn't really impinge on her at all. When their child is born, Maud returns to work leaving Tim to be the child-carer. After a failed attempt to get the baby to enjoy sailing, Maud begins to leave Tim and the child at home at weekends while she goes off alone in her beloved boat.
The tragedy happens about halfway through and from there on the book tells us of Maud's attempt to deal with her (presumed) grief by taking to the seas on a solo sailing trip. I hoped that might be more interesting but sadly Maud's lack of emotion now becomes coupled with endless, tediously over-detailed descriptions of how to sail a boat, using a bunch of nautical terminology that meant most of it created no images in my mind.
“She shackles the tack to the base of the spare stay then hanks on until she reaches the head...She uncleats the halyard, slithers back to the jib, undoes the halyard shackle with the marlinspike she once gave to Tim as a present but which later, somehow, became her marlinspike, attaches the head of the jib, frees the sheets from the furling jib, reties the bowlines through the clew of the storm jib, hoists the jib from the mast, regains the cockpit, sheets in the jib, cleats it, and sits on the grid of the cockpit sole, her chest heaving, her clothes soaked through.”
Perhaps people who sail will find this kind of description riveting, but I'm afraid I found it about as thrilling as the instructions on a piece of Ikea do-it-yourself furniture, and even less comprehensible. By the two-thirds stage I was skimming pages, hoping desperately to get to the end.
And then the ending brings the same kind of semi-mystical mumbo-jumbo that nauseated me so much in Harold Fry. Miller avoids the sickly sweetness of that book, but unfortunately also avoids either credibility or emotional warmth. But maybe it's just a matter of taste.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Hodder & Stoughton.
Maud and Tim are an unlikely couple – he gregarious and open, she lacking any kind of personality whatsoever, of any kind, and apparently unable to speak in sentences longer than four words, despite her intelligence. However, he falls in love with her and she... well, acquiesces is the word that springs to mind. They have a good deal of fairly passionless yet intimately described sex which, thankfully, results at last in a pregnancy. I say thankfully because the exhaustion brought on by the child stops them having more sex for a while. But after a few years of living together, during which Maud's contribution to the household conversation gradually adds up to roughly twenty words, tragedy strikes! No, sadly not Maud. She survives – proving yet again that there is no justice in this world. Unable to express her emotions, assuming she has any, Maud takes off in her beloved boat where she can sail and sail and sail without having to speak to anyone at all. Fortunately she manages to have a last bout of sex just before weighing anchor, just in case any reader was missing it...
Oh dear! Sometimes a book and a reader just don't gel and I fear that's the case with this reader and this book. And yet I feel I'm probably being unfair. It reminded me in many ways of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, only much better written I hasten to add, and while I thought that book was pretty awful, 99% of the rest of the universe seemed to think it was wonderful. Basically it's a coming to terms with grief story but with a central character with so little personality that I couldn't feel any empathy for her. Perhaps we're supposed to assume that inside she's a seething cauldron of suppressed emotion, but if so it's too well suppressed. Or perhaps she's supposed to be autistic. I don't know – but she behaves like a speech-free automaton for the whole book, forming no real relationships with any of the other characters, though of course all the men she meets are attracted to her, for no reason I could understand.
The first half is taken up with her one-sided relationship with Tim, who seems to think she's vulnerable and that he needs to take care of her. But in fact, she's so self-sufficient that the rest of the world doesn't really impinge on her at all. When their child is born, Maud returns to work leaving Tim to be the child-carer. After a failed attempt to get the baby to enjoy sailing, Maud begins to leave Tim and the child at home at weekends while she goes off alone in her beloved boat.
The tragedy happens about halfway through and from there on the book tells us of Maud's attempt to deal with her (presumed) grief by taking to the seas on a solo sailing trip. I hoped that might be more interesting but sadly Maud's lack of emotion now becomes coupled with endless, tediously over-detailed descriptions of how to sail a boat, using a bunch of nautical terminology that meant most of it created no images in my mind.
“She shackles the tack to the base of the spare stay then hanks on until she reaches the head...She uncleats the halyard, slithers back to the jib, undoes the halyard shackle with the marlinspike she once gave to Tim as a present but which later, somehow, became her marlinspike, attaches the head of the jib, frees the sheets from the furling jib, reties the bowlines through the clew of the storm jib, hoists the jib from the mast, regains the cockpit, sheets in the jib, cleats it, and sits on the grid of the cockpit sole, her chest heaving, her clothes soaked through.”
Perhaps people who sail will find this kind of description riveting, but I'm afraid I found it about as thrilling as the instructions on a piece of Ikea do-it-yourself furniture, and even less comprehensible. By the two-thirds stage I was skimming pages, hoping desperately to get to the end.
And then the ending brings the same kind of semi-mystical mumbo-jumbo that nauseated me so much in Harold Fry. Miller avoids the sickly sweetness of that book, but unfortunately also avoids either credibility or emotional warmth. But maybe it's just a matter of taste.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Hodder & Stoughton.
pennyluisa's review against another edition
3.0
It took me about 3 weeks to finally start this book again after reading 4 chapters. I'm not a big fan of part 1 of the story as the whole relationship was a bit narcissistic on both sides. Eventually the book did get interesting until she was sailing and he started to throw in some sailing technical terms. While I do sail and understood what he was describing, I thought it went on too long. I didn't like or hate this book since it took me 2 days to finish. it was a good read but not one I would recommend.
lizmart88's review against another edition
3.0
Europa editions never let you down. Good book.
The story of a man and a woman, and of the twists life takes. But it's less about what happens, than just exploring the presence of being. What does it feel like to Co exist? How do we know people?
The story of a man and a woman, and of the twists life takes. But it's less about what happens, than just exploring the presence of being. What does it feel like to Co exist? How do we know people?
cazacat's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5