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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
Intertwined short stories, each detailing a weekend in the life of one of the people who ride the bus home to their small town in western Ireland from Dublin every weekend. Each story goes a little further into the weekend, covering a different person and showing how each person's perception of events, of themselves, and of the other riders are different.
I see a lot of low ratings and reviewers who don't seem to like (or get?) this format. These are "slice of life" stories. There are no plot twists or surprise endings. This is classic Maeve. It's a character study and a commentary on small-town Ireland in the 80s.
This copy also includes Dublin 4, a collection of 4 longer short stories. This seems to have really thrown people off in their reviews here. They are separate stories and not meant to fit into the stories of The Lilac Bus.
I see a lot of low ratings and reviewers who don't seem to like (or get?) this format. These are "slice of life" stories. There are no plot twists or surprise endings. This is classic Maeve. It's a character study and a commentary on small-town Ireland in the 80s.
This copy also includes Dublin 4, a collection of 4 longer short stories. This seems to have really thrown people off in their reviews here. They are separate stories and not meant to fit into the stories of The Lilac Bus.
I just finished reading Olive Again by Elizabeth Stout and that got me thinking about Maeve’s books, which I read in the 90’s so they probably never got logged here. Lilac Bus is my favorite Maeve book. I’m going to assign it to 1999 until I figure out a more accurate date.
This is a lovely little audiobook, only a little under 3 hours of easy listening about a group of characters lives as they go back to their little home town each weekend, mainly to visit and help out family. Some families are aging others are trying to run small businesses one-handed, like the local pub. A more delightful set of characters would be hard to find. Beautifully narrated by Maeve's sister Kate in a light Irish lilt.
It's the first time I've listed to one of Maeve Binchy's books and I've not read one, but been meaning to for a while. Her audiobooks seem like the way to go for me.
Another little nod to the Irish for St Pat's day.
It's the first time I've listed to one of Maeve Binchy's books and I've not read one, but been meaning to for a while. Her audiobooks seem like the way to go for me.
Another little nod to the Irish for St Pat's day.
lighthearted
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:
No
slow-paced
Immediately previous to The Lilac Bus, I read Binchy's first novel, Light a Penny Candle. Its abrupt and unsatisfying ending was so disappointing, and not at all what I've come to expect from her writing.
Fortunately, The Lilac Bus was a lovely palate cleanser. Instead of taking place over decades, its events cover a weekend - with flashback forays here and there - and each part covers one of the riders of the lilac bus. Each character is written well, thoroughly, and sympathetically. The overlap between their lives is wonderful (and somewhat bit more believable than the way the characters happened to meet each other in her other book written in a similar format, Evening Class).
This book isn't nearly as long as some of her other novels. It was just right. One of her best. :)
Fortunately, The Lilac Bus was a lovely palate cleanser. Instead of taking place over decades, its events cover a weekend - with flashback forays here and there - and each part covers one of the riders of the lilac bus. Each character is written well, thoroughly, and sympathetically. The overlap between their lives is wonderful (and somewhat bit more believable than the way the characters happened to meet each other in her other book written in a similar format, Evening Class).
This book isn't nearly as long as some of her other novels. It was just right. One of her best. :)
It’s no secret that I have become quite enamoured with Maeve Binchy this year. After I devoured her first novel, Light A Penny Candle, a few months back I decided to see what her shorter fiction had in store. It is with an air of sadness that I then have to write that I didn’t really enjoy The Lilac Bus (1984). The book is less a novel but more a series of short stories about a group of people. The central conceit is that there is a bus, a lilac-coloured bus, which drives from Dublin to the small of village of Rathdoon every weekend. Each person who takes this bus is gifted, by Binchy, with a vignette on their lives. We go from person to person, seat to seat, to discover who’s hiding what – every person has a story to tell.
I read the blurb of this one and thought it sounded fascinating. I usually enjoy character studies. However, Binchy just didn’t seem able to connect everything together. After reading some people’s stories you are left questioning what exactly is the overall narrative here. The answer is that there is no narrative. The entire book is disjointed and there is no flow what-so-ever. It is also quite clear to read that Binchy had a lot more fun writing about some characters than others. I will say that there are a couple of good stories in here and they are typically Binchy so they definitely alleviate this novel of most of its downfalls. My overall feeling toward The Lilac Bus is ‘meh’. It could have been so much better.
I read the blurb of this one and thought it sounded fascinating. I usually enjoy character studies. However, Binchy just didn’t seem able to connect everything together. After reading some people’s stories you are left questioning what exactly is the overall narrative here. The answer is that there is no narrative. The entire book is disjointed and there is no flow what-so-ever. It is also quite clear to read that Binchy had a lot more fun writing about some characters than others. I will say that there are a couple of good stories in here and they are typically Binchy so they definitely alleviate this novel of most of its downfalls. My overall feeling toward The Lilac Bus is ‘meh’. It could have been so much better.
My mum read a lot of Maeve Binchy around the time that I was starting high school, when I was at that in between stage where I'd grown out of most teenage literature but a lot of adult fiction was too mature for me, since I was just turning twelve. My mum suggested I read this book as it was shorter than Binchy's usual novels. I don't remember particularly enjoying it that much (maybe because I hadn't realised it would be a collection of short stories?) and as a result I never read anything else by Binchy. I really should give her another chance now that I'm older.
Very enjoyable but I felt that some of the characters didn't get much of a wrap-up.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced