Scan barcode
novelesque_life's review against another edition
4.0
4 STARS
"This is a novel about movie love. Set in Ottawa in the 1990s, it is the quixotic tale of tall, thin Harriet Browning, inflamed by the movies she was deprived of as a child. Harriet is a woman so saturated with the movies, seen repeatedly and swallowed whole, that she no longer fits into this world. Bent on seeing everything she has missed, she forms a Friday night movie club with three companions-of-the-screen: a boy who loves Frank Sinatra, a girl with Bette Davis eyes, and an earthy sidekick named Dinah for Dinah Shore. Breaking in upon this quiet backwater, in time with the devastating ice storm of 1998, come two refugees from Hollywood, the faded widow of a famous screenwriter and her movie-expert stepson. They are harsh reality. With them come blackouts, arguments, accidents, illness and sudden death. But what chance does real life stand when we can watch movies instead? What hope does real love have when movie love, in all its brief intensity, is an easy option? In this comedy of secondhand desire, movies and movie lovers come first." (From Amazon)
I really enjoyed this novel - very beautifully written. If you are a movie lover, especially classics, you need to read this.
"This is a novel about movie love. Set in Ottawa in the 1990s, it is the quixotic tale of tall, thin Harriet Browning, inflamed by the movies she was deprived of as a child. Harriet is a woman so saturated with the movies, seen repeatedly and swallowed whole, that she no longer fits into this world. Bent on seeing everything she has missed, she forms a Friday night movie club with three companions-of-the-screen: a boy who loves Frank Sinatra, a girl with Bette Davis eyes, and an earthy sidekick named Dinah for Dinah Shore. Breaking in upon this quiet backwater, in time with the devastating ice storm of 1998, come two refugees from Hollywood, the faded widow of a famous screenwriter and her movie-expert stepson. They are harsh reality. With them come blackouts, arguments, accidents, illness and sudden death. But what chance does real life stand when we can watch movies instead? What hope does real love have when movie love, in all its brief intensity, is an easy option? In this comedy of secondhand desire, movies and movie lovers come first." (From Amazon)
I really enjoyed this novel - very beautifully written. If you are a movie lover, especially classics, you need to read this.
caustic_wonder's review against another edition
2.0
Reading this book feels like being invited to tea with two old friends, who you don't really know all that well and who don't take the time to really get to know you, or to let you into their circle. It's like being the outsider in a conversation that never provides you an opportunity to join in. There is no way to become really involved in what is going on because everyone is too busy, too involved in their own lives, their own versions of their lives rather, that I can't really feel bad for them when bad things happen or things don't go the way they want. It is filled with references that I just don't get and stories that I'm not allowed to fully understand. The main characters are so flat and uninspiring that I can't distinguish between them most of the time. There is no true action, no advancement of characters. Everyone is flat and fickle and while I realize that this is pretty much the epitome of real life, it's just not something I want to read about. Not my idea of entertainment at all.
exurbanis's review against another edition
4.0
Not about Garbo, but vintage b&w films play a part. Hay always delivers a good story filled with human insights and poignancy
ketonks's review
5.0
If a writer can be your jam, Elizabeth Hay is mine. Just everything I want in a good read.
bent's review
2.0
Read this with my book club. None of us really liked it. The only scene that sticks with me is the scene in the restaurant with the fork - don't want to go into any more details than that. Otherwise, I just found it full of not-very-compelling characters that sat around and talked about nothing much.
yeahdeadslow's review
3.0
I am torn.
Did I actually like this book or not? I'm not even sure.
While reading, I was never bored, though the story didn't really seem to go anywhere. One thing I noticed is that all the heavy things that happened (such as death) happened without notice. All the sudden a character was dead/diagnosed with a disease and I, as the reader, would blink rapidly, mouth agape, and wonder if my inattentiveness was to blame. I don't think it was, though.
I wanted less of the main character, Harriet. I liked her to some extent, and while she didn't annoy me, I did wish she would change something! (I couldn't decided: were her unsent letters Pauline Kael endearing... or just creepy?)
I wanted more of Kenny (Harriet's son), Lew (her husband), and Dinah (her friend). I wouldn't have minded a deletion of Jack Frame, though I suppose he did help move the plot along. Again, not that the plot ever really went anywhere.
Being a fan of old films, I did like how saturated this book was in references. I don't care if it did read as contrived, I still liked them. The way Kenny was always asking people to make "Top 5 favourite..." lists reminded me of my brothers and I.
The writing was wonderful, but I already knew Elizabeth Hay was a talented writer. Though, as mentioned above, the way she chose to tell some events was confusing. But other than that, this book was full of quotes I wanted to underline.
So... on the high end of 3 stars, I think? Or a 3.5, I suppose that would be.
Did I actually like this book or not? I'm not even sure.
While reading, I was never bored, though the story didn't really seem to go anywhere. One thing I noticed is that all the heavy things that happened (such as death) happened without notice. All the sudden a character was dead/diagnosed with a disease and I, as the reader, would blink rapidly, mouth agape, and wonder if my inattentiveness was to blame. I don't think it was, though.
I wanted less of the main character, Harriet. I liked her to some extent, and while she didn't annoy me, I did wish she would change something! (I couldn't decided: were her unsent letters Pauline Kael endearing... or just creepy?)
I wanted more of Kenny (Harriet's son), Lew (her husband), and Dinah (her friend). I wouldn't have minded a deletion of Jack Frame, though I suppose he did help move the plot along. Again, not that the plot ever really went anywhere.
Being a fan of old films, I did like how saturated this book was in references. I don't care if it did read as contrived, I still liked them. The way Kenny was always asking people to make "Top 5 favourite..." lists reminded me of my brothers and I.
The writing was wonderful, but I already knew Elizabeth Hay was a talented writer. Though, as mentioned above, the way she chose to tell some events was confusing. But other than that, this book was full of quotes I wanted to underline.
So... on the high end of 3 stars, I think? Or a 3.5, I suppose that would be.
glenna's review
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I'm usually a big fan of Elizabeth Hay's work but this book just lacked an engaging plot and cast of characters.
ktonks's review against another edition
5.0
If a writer can be your jam, Elizabeth Hay is mine. Just everything I want in a good read.