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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
I enjoyed the book, though it was a strange story that didn't end up going either where I initially expected, nor where it seemed to be headed at the half-way point, or even where it seemed to be concluding in the last 100 pages. For the most part, I liked the way religion was handled as it was interesting to see an attempt to show different attitudes and schools of thought within the church in the UK. I was a little put of when the combination of psychology and religion seemed to be forced, but it worked mot of the time.
informative
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book isn't for everyone, but Howatch offers her readers much to think about with this story of Nick Darrow. Inspires the reader to go back and find out about the many characters who appear here as older people, as she wrote about many of them in previous books.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed the book, though it was a strange story that didn't end up going either where I initially expected, nor where it seemed to be headed at the half-way point, or even where it seemed to be concluding in the last 100 pages. For the most part, I liked the way religion was handled as it was interesting to see an attempt to show different attitudes and schools of thought within the church in the UK. I was a little put of when the combination of psychology and religion seemed to be forced, but it worked mot of the time.
Another excellent instalment in the Starbridge series (#5). In some ways I liked this book better than previous novels in the series. In others I liked it less. By the end of the book the author has tied up most of these fantasies into rational, real world stories with logical explanations. But whilst reading it was hard to swallow some of the details. I know it was set in the 60's but I'm not willing to believe that much odd stuff happened. I didn't love the main character as much in this book as in some previous. But the suspenseful writing is amazing. I couldn't put it down.
Enthralling psychological thriller with a compelling mix of theological debate, family saga and Jungian philosophy.
This is such an engaging series. I'm enthralled at the way the characters deceive themselves and their reasoning behind their actions. This book, however, through the eyes of Nicholas Darrow in the 60s, was too off the rails for me. I didn't like Nicholas and the way he used women, sleeping with a different woman every day and then discarding them. I found his focus on language odd. He alternatively called the Devil real, but also called it "picture language." It's like he couldn't decide if he believed in a spiritual world or just psychological explanations.
I'm always surprised this author is a woman because the men in this series are all arrogant, confident that they're absolutely right about everything, dismissive of women, self-deceiving...
On to the final book - #6.
I'm always surprised this author is a woman because the men in this series are all arrogant, confident that they're absolutely right about everything, dismissive of women, self-deceiving...
On to the final book - #6.
Enthralling psychological thriller with a compelling mix of theological debate, family saga and Jungian philosophy.
Enthralling psychological thriller with a compelling mix of theological debate, family saga and Jungian philosophy.
"MYSTICAL PATHS" --- the 5th novel (of 6) in the "Church of England Series" centered on the Church of England in the 20th century --- introduces the reader to Nicholas Darrow, the son of teacher/healer, spiritual advisor, psychic and ex-Fordite monk Jon Darrow, who figures both prominently and peripherally in the series. Nicholas is given center stage here.
The novel begins in 1988, by which time Nicholas is a priest in the Church of England with a healing ministry. He receives a call from an old friend (Venetia Flaxton), who tried --- - without success, for Nicholas, who like his father, possesses psychic powers, can be persuasive when he wants to be --- to get out of her promise to visit him at the Healing Centre. Her call triggers an onrush of memories which carry him back to the year 1968. This was to prove the seminal year in Nicholas' life. At that time he was 25, a Cambridge graduate on the threshold of ordination, and a man sure of himself and his psychic gifts. Yet, beneath the veneer of sobriety and good sense which he liked to project, Nicholas led a licentious and somewhat dissolute personal life. He is set on following his elderly father (with whom he has a close, almost symbiotic, relationship) into the Church of England. Yet, as the novel progresses, the reader becomes witness to a near-tragedy in Nicholas' life. But only "by facing the truth about his relationship with his father" can Nicholas find a way out of the darkness that threatens to engulf him entire.
This is a finely crafted novel peopled by a rich variety of characters, each with their own interesting stories to tell. For the reader who is new to the "Church of England Series", he/she need not feel compelled to read each novel therefrom in sequential order. Indeed, the author states that "[e]ach book is designed to be read independently of the others, but the more books are read, the wider will be the view of the multi-sided reality which is being presented." And what a reality it is.
The novel begins in 1988, by which time Nicholas is a priest in the Church of England with a healing ministry. He receives a call from an old friend (Venetia Flaxton), who tried --- - without success, for Nicholas, who like his father, possesses psychic powers, can be persuasive when he wants to be --- to get out of her promise to visit him at the Healing Centre. Her call triggers an onrush of memories which carry him back to the year 1968. This was to prove the seminal year in Nicholas' life. At that time he was 25, a Cambridge graduate on the threshold of ordination, and a man sure of himself and his psychic gifts. Yet, beneath the veneer of sobriety and good sense which he liked to project, Nicholas led a licentious and somewhat dissolute personal life. He is set on following his elderly father (with whom he has a close, almost symbiotic, relationship) into the Church of England. Yet, as the novel progresses, the reader becomes witness to a near-tragedy in Nicholas' life. But only "by facing the truth about his relationship with his father" can Nicholas find a way out of the darkness that threatens to engulf him entire.
This is a finely crafted novel peopled by a rich variety of characters, each with their own interesting stories to tell. For the reader who is new to the "Church of England Series", he/she need not feel compelled to read each novel therefrom in sequential order. Indeed, the author states that "[e]ach book is designed to be read independently of the others, but the more books are read, the wider will be the view of the multi-sided reality which is being presented." And what a reality it is.