You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Well this was definitely a mixed bag of a book for me.
Let's start with the positive; Kate Atkinson can write passages and lines that just evoke such a visceral reaction. I could picture Fox Corner and Ursula, through all her ages and wild Isabelle and Sylvie, Hugh Teddy etc. I felt like I was there, just hovering above them watching it all. Willing them to be OK. So much of this book is so alive and real to me.
But the reincarnation part of it at times was so jarring that if I have not been reading it for Helen's book club I probably would have DNF because I found it so annoying and frustrating. In particular the influenza storyline. It resets so many times and the way out of it gets more and more farcical that I got quite irritated. Also the whole Germany time line with Hitler just felt really random and also pulled us away from all those characters we had come to be invested in. Likewise the bombing of London just seemed to go round and round. How many times did she do it? I couldn't tell you. Too many times. Was Creighton part of all of them? Who knows.
Also the ending. It just didn't feel hugely satisfactory to me. I wish it at ended with Ursula finally reaching old age and finally finding some peace in a natural death but the jumping back again, a bit more Hitler some other stuff. Frustrating.
Many years ago I read Behind the Scenes of the Museum by the same author and remember loving it. I might try it again because her writing of characters and places really is phenomenal it was just the plot that didn't work for me.
Oh but there was a dog, more than one in fact. When Lucky waits for Teddy to come back from his flight, that was when I cried. Dogs!
Let's start with the positive; Kate Atkinson can write passages and lines that just evoke such a visceral reaction. I could picture Fox Corner and Ursula, through all her ages and wild Isabelle and Sylvie, Hugh Teddy etc. I felt like I was there, just hovering above them watching it all. Willing them to be OK. So much of this book is so alive and real to me.
But the reincarnation part of it at times was so jarring that if I have not been reading it for Helen's book club I probably would have DNF because I found it so annoying and frustrating. In particular the influenza storyline. It resets so many times and the way out of it gets more and more farcical that I got quite irritated. Also the whole Germany time line with Hitler just felt really random and also pulled us away from all those characters we had come to be invested in. Likewise the bombing of London just seemed to go round and round. How many times did she do it? I couldn't tell you. Too many times. Was Creighton part of all of them? Who knows.
Also the ending. It just didn't feel hugely satisfactory to me. I wish it at ended with Ursula finally reaching old age and finally finding some peace in a natural death but the jumping back again, a bit more Hitler some other stuff. Frustrating.
Many years ago I read Behind the Scenes of the Museum by the same author and remember loving it. I might try it again because her writing of characters and places really is phenomenal it was just the plot that didn't work for me.
Oh but there was a dog, more than one in fact. When Lucky waits for Teddy to come back from his flight, that was when I cried. Dogs!
Ursula Todd, is born on the 11 February 1910 to an upper middle class British family, but in the first encounter, she is still born strangled by the umbilical cord. In a parallel story, the same baby is born and survives.
As Ursulas lives out her life, she has multiple iterations of being born, and surviving to a greater age. Until she reached the Second World War. In each of these lives, she sees different effects, and these different lives have a strong effect of deja vu for each event she witnesses. As she realises the implications of her parallel lives she knows that she has a chance to change the future and stop the misery of World War Two
The writing in the story was very powerful at times, in particular the events of the blitz during the war and the suffering of the population of London. But I found the concept of the multiple lives of Ursula harder to get a grip on in the context of this story and time that it is set. This was a shame really, but it is good too see mainstream authors looking to the science fiction genre for inspiration for stories.
As Ursulas lives out her life, she has multiple iterations of being born, and surviving to a greater age. Until she reached the Second World War. In each of these lives, she sees different effects, and these different lives have a strong effect of deja vu for each event she witnesses. As she realises the implications of her parallel lives she knows that she has a chance to change the future and stop the misery of World War Two
The writing in the story was very powerful at times, in particular the events of the blitz during the war and the suffering of the population of London. But I found the concept of the multiple lives of Ursula harder to get a grip on in the context of this story and time that it is set. This was a shame really, but it is good too see mainstream authors looking to the science fiction genre for inspiration for stories.
What if you had the chance to live your life again and again, until you finally got it right? That's the question this book asks. The opening scene intrigued me, and by the end of the book it all made sense. Some of the story was a bit confusing, but overall I really enjoyed it!
One reviewer said this book felt like Groundhog Day, but I was thinking it's more like Choose Your Own Adventure. Ursula lives her life over and over making different choices, which affect future events, but it is all set during the historical truth of WWI and WWII. Took a long time to get into this book, but the second half moved along more fluently, as you figured out the characters, some who only appeared for one scenario.
So good. I learned more about life during World War II, especially the Blitz, from this then from a textbook. I think the end of the chapter that takes place in Germany with the advance of the Red Army will stick with me for a long time.
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Horrible read! Couldn't understand events and characters -- confusing and the worst book I've ever started. Won't finish it.
3 stars only because I totally didn't get the ending.