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A review by thebobsphere
The Idea of Perfection by Kate Grenville
3.0
Kate Grenville’s The idea of Perfection is the only Women’s Prize winner I DNF’d and since I am a completist, I felt like it was time to revisit it.
This time round I finished it.
Plotwise I was reminded of Peter Carey’s Oscar and Lucinda, that is two seemingly different misfits join forces, although their causes are different. In this case the setting is a small Australian village where mild mannered Douglas Cheeseman is hired to tear is down while Harley Savage is sent by the government to preserve the town’s heritage. They both fall in love. There is a subplot featuring a town person’s affair with a butcher.
What I liked about the book was the way Kate Grenville would sneak in little details about the protagonists, The two main ones have suffered from broken marriages and mental health issues. Slowly we get a full picture of both Harley and Douglas. I also liked the descriptions of the small town characters, especially Chook the multi tasking builder who has an endless supply of opinions all told in a slang that Douglas cannot understand.
The book begins to drag with the subplot. It gets boring hearing the towns person cheat on her husband and Harley and douglas’ romance follows a rom com pattern which wears itself out after a bit. Plus at 400 pages the book does overstay it’s welcome.
The Idea of Perfection starts off well and takes a dip about midway. For a person who is a fan of The Women’s Prize winners this came a bit of surprise as I do find the choices consistent. Definitely not my favourite but it does rank quite low.
This time round I finished it.
Plotwise I was reminded of Peter Carey’s Oscar and Lucinda, that is two seemingly different misfits join forces, although their causes are different. In this case the setting is a small Australian village where mild mannered Douglas Cheeseman is hired to tear is down while Harley Savage is sent by the government to preserve the town’s heritage. They both fall in love. There is a subplot featuring a town person’s affair with a butcher.
What I liked about the book was the way Kate Grenville would sneak in little details about the protagonists, The two main ones have suffered from broken marriages and mental health issues. Slowly we get a full picture of both Harley and Douglas. I also liked the descriptions of the small town characters, especially Chook the multi tasking builder who has an endless supply of opinions all told in a slang that Douglas cannot understand.
The book begins to drag with the subplot. It gets boring hearing the towns person cheat on her husband and Harley and douglas’ romance follows a rom com pattern which wears itself out after a bit. Plus at 400 pages the book does overstay it’s welcome.
The Idea of Perfection starts off well and takes a dip about midway. For a person who is a fan of The Women’s Prize winners this came a bit of surprise as I do find the choices consistent. Definitely not my favourite but it does rank quite low.