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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
Gaaaa! My favorite London Blitz novel yet! (And that’s saying a lot because: weird obsession) I got so into this story- did not want it to end! Excellent from beginning to end!
I didn’t hate this, but I also didn’t love it. I wanted to know what would happen with the characters but also continually felt pretty unfulfilled. I usually enjoy books that work backward through time, but the fact that this book did not then jump back up to the “present”, even just briefly at the end, really made everything feel very anti-climatic. I’m not sure that I really walked away having gained anything here.
"She supposed that houses, after all--like the lives that were lived in them--were mostly made of space. It was the spaces, in fact, that counted, rather than the bricks."
This is probably a 4.5 star book for me. It was, at times, difficult to read, as some of the descriptions were graphic, but that's war, isn't it (that's life)? Sarah Waters crafted a beautiful, poignant novel with rich, complex characters. I loved that she told the story with a backwards timeline. I think if it 1941 hadn't felt so rushed I might have gone with 5 stars here, but I still really loved this book. I can't believe this was my first Waters novel, but it definitely won't be my last.
This is probably a 4.5 star book for me. It was, at times, difficult to read, as some of the descriptions were graphic, but that's war, isn't it (that's life)? Sarah Waters crafted a beautiful, poignant novel with rich, complex characters. I loved that she told the story with a backwards timeline. I think if it 1941 hadn't felt so rushed I might have gone with 5 stars here, but I still really loved this book. I can't believe this was my first Waters novel, but it definitely won't be my last.
medium-paced
Sarah Waters, toujours des fictions historiques en Angleterre, toujours plein de perso queers. Celui-ci se passe pendant la Seconde Guerre Mondiale.
J’ai l’impression que ce livre est plus proche de Tipping The Velvet (mon préféré) que d’autres de l’autrice. On y croise vraiment une forme de communauté queer de l’époque, et pas juste un vécu individuel, je trouve ça plus intéressant.
Ce qui m’a par contre un peu déçu c’est que l’histoire manque vraiment d’enjeux. Tout est concentré sur le passé des personnages, et le dénouement arrive lorsqu’on a enfin prit connaissance des trauma de chacun. Ça explique leurs motivations et attitudes, mais honnêtement développer le caractère d’un personnage ne me semble pas suffisant pour faire un roman. J’aurais aimé que cela soit inséré dans une histoire plus globale et narrative je pense.
J’ai l’impression que ce livre est plus proche de Tipping The Velvet (mon préféré) que d’autres de l’autrice. On y croise vraiment une forme de communauté queer de l’époque, et pas juste un vécu individuel, je trouve ça plus intéressant.
Ce qui m’a par contre un peu déçu c’est que l’histoire manque vraiment d’enjeux. Tout est concentré sur le passé des personnages, et le dénouement arrive lorsqu’on a enfin prit connaissance des trauma de chacun. Ça explique leurs motivations et attitudes, mais honnêtement développer le caractère d’un personnage ne me semble pas suffisant pour faire un roman. J’aurais aimé que cela soit inséré dans une histoire plus globale et narrative je pense.
Any Waters book is a bit too long, takes effort to fully enjoy. Its always worth it.
I found The Night Watch to be much more enjoyable than Waters' The Little Stranger, I feel that the characters were more rounded and developed and the intertwining stories were by far more interesting.
Not her best. I like Sarah's authorial touches, but this one starts off very slowly and if you weren't already a fan of hers, I can't imagine you'd continue for very long. The reverse format she uses is actually quite clever, but as far as the story goes, I feel it would have been better executed with more 'in between' dates. We're left to draw far too much inference for ourselves - not something I generally mind, but in this case, it leads to more imagination than canon - and in some cases, we never really find out what happens. Duncan's arc is one such - what *actually* landed him in prison? He says of his suicide "I tried and failed", and we're shown tantalising glimpses of his reaction to Alec's suicide, but not how his father goes from sound asleep to the kitchen full of blood, or anything to tell us more of Duncan himself. Julia and Helen's story is similarly lacking - Julia is apparently not having the affair we're supposed to think she is, yet their starting passages are never resolved and there's only a very short piece from which to make up what happens in the Julia/Kay/Helen triangle when everything comes to a head. Predictably, everything ends sadly for everyone (I'm convinced Sarah Waters does not believe in happy endings; again, not normally a problem, but it does make reading her works a rather repetitive business), and in the cases where it doesn't - Viv? Too much is left to the imagination! - we hear nothing more. Overall, I was left wanting, and frustrated that I persevered with the book, only to find the answers I'd assumed were coming didn't ever arrive.
First of all I would like to begin by saying I enjoyed Sarah Walters writing style and the format in which she wrote this plot backwards from the end to the beginning, the descriptive prose made you feel part of the atmosphere of the story. The only thing I struggled with was the pacing of the story, for me I much preferred the pace of the third and final part of the book, at times throughout the rest of the book I felt I had to compel myself to return back to it.
The main characters left me feeling somewhat flat and lacked a personality within their roles of the story which meant at times it was hard to empathise with the circumstances they were finding themselves in.
There were a number of areas however, that did interest me and which I wish had been looked into with more depth.
I enjoyed the bits involving Kay's involvement in the Ambulance Service during the bombings of London, I actually liked the writing of her relationship with Mickey and wish I had gotten the opportunity to know more about her.
The book references the imprisonment of consciencous objectors and I would have like to have heard a few stories from various people as to what made them object.
Duncan's friendship with Alex is dealt with last in the final third of the book with a devastating conclusion however, I would have liked to have known more about his relationship with the Prison Warden and the implied nature of their relationship when he left prison and moved in with him.
I did get frustrated when Viv's character was reduced to purely that of a mistress and although that was the case and would have been viewed as such at that time, she was also clearly very strong and independent to be working for the war office and maintaining her relationship with her brother Duncan.
Finally the concluding scene grated with me and felt too easy as I believe the previous writing was in place that two of the characters could have just walked away making for a more jaw dropping conclusion.
With all this in mind it was a good read and so I have given it 3 stars and will try a further story from Sarah Waters to see how I get on.
The main characters left me feeling somewhat flat and lacked a personality within their roles of the story which meant at times it was hard to empathise with the circumstances they were finding themselves in.
There were a number of areas however, that did interest me and which I wish had been looked into with more depth.
I enjoyed the bits involving Kay's involvement in the Ambulance Service during the bombings of London, I actually liked the writing of her relationship with Mickey and wish I had gotten the opportunity to know more about her.
The book references the imprisonment of consciencous objectors and I would have like to have heard a few stories from various people as to what made them object.
Duncan's friendship with Alex is dealt with last in the final third of the book with a devastating conclusion however, I would have liked to have known more about his relationship with the Prison Warden and the implied nature of their relationship when he left prison and moved in with him.
I did get frustrated when Viv's character was reduced to purely that of a mistress and although that was the case and would have been viewed as such at that time, she was also clearly very strong and independent to be working for the war office and maintaining her relationship with her brother Duncan.
Finally the concluding scene grated with me and felt too easy as I believe the previous writing was in place that two of the characters could have just walked away making for a more jaw dropping conclusion.
With all this in mind it was a good read and so I have given it 3 stars and will try a further story from Sarah Waters to see how I get on.