Reviews

I don't know if it's because I'm too far removed from the setting to appreciate the subtleties of what is being sent up, or that the book is too farcical to be truly insicive, or that the authorial voice is too vague and unclear to really determine whether the reader is supposed to be relating to any of these awful characters, but this didn't really click for me. It's a ludicrous and fairly engaging plot, but with zero character development, nothing that actually made me laugh out loud, and some truly abhorrent and unnecessary racism that has no bearing on the plot and leaves a sour taste regarding the rest of the book.

lostintime_73's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

orliemcdonie's review against another edition

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dark funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

izzynend's review against another edition

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3.0

it was all going well until it got a bit racist. I don't think we can ignore that part. I guess it is a satire, and expectations of people are subverted etc etc but, although written in the early 20th century, racism has never been okay.
oh to be a rich white man with no agency and no worries.

kivt's review against another edition

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4.0

Recently reread. As good as I remembered. I like this much more than Brideshead Revisited--same sense of despair and decay, less sketchy Catholicism, more humor.

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