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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
The last in the Old Filth Trilogy and a must for those who loved Sir Edward
Feathers
Feathers
The third of the series is just as good as the first two. I do recommend that folks read them back to back to back to get the full benefit of the reading.
If this is the way the Old Filth trilogy ends, I liked Old Filth better when I thought it was a magnificent stand-alone novel.
Perhaps it's just been too long since I began the series; but I found Last Friends to be, like the memory of one of its characters, rather scattered and disjointed. Nominally, the novel is about Terry Veneering, the third of the trilogy's central characters, and Gardam does begin to paint a brilliant and heartbreaking portrait. But then, oddly, Veneering's storyline all but stops except for odd bits and pieces, sidetracking instead into the story of other characters whom I did not remember nearly well enough from the other books. Granted, the story of Eddie and Betty and Terry has been told in the two previous books; but it's precisely the Rashomon-like nature of the retelling that was central to the trilogy, and sadly, that just got lost.
Perhaps it's just been too long since I began the series; but I found Last Friends to be, like the memory of one of its characters, rather scattered and disjointed. Nominally, the novel is about Terry Veneering, the third of the trilogy's central characters, and Gardam does begin to paint a brilliant and heartbreaking portrait. But then, oddly, Veneering's storyline all but stops except for odd bits and pieces, sidetracking instead into the story of other characters whom I did not remember nearly well enough from the other books. Granted, the story of Eddie and Betty and Terry has been told in the two previous books; but it's precisely the Rashomon-like nature of the retelling that was central to the trilogy, and sadly, that just got lost.
Loved Old Filth. My Interest waned some with The Man in The Wooden Hat. I wanted to complete the trilogy, but this one I just couldn't get into. Didn't finish it but I'm moving on.
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I don't understand trilogies. I can't imagine just reading one of these books. Together they are a kind of masterpiece--an odd one, but so enjoyable and filled with wonderfully original characters.
It is rather difficult to rate the one book when you can not see it apart from the other two books in this series. Overall the first and mostly the second book where the best. But this one sort of brings it all together. Jane Gardam is an exquisite writer, who paints colourful stories filled with colourful people. The three books are the story of a time long lost and forgotten. The stories of Edward Feathers, old filth, his wife Bettie, Teddy Veneering, old friends Dulcie and Fred Fiscal-Smith. Not one story has only one side to it. Even history is not always what it seems. The main characters have their haydays during the last great days of the Brittish empirie. And they leave that all behind with regret but also with a new hope for the future. Interesting and captivating read. I loved it.