rosekk 's review for:

Changing Places by David Lodge

4.0

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The book was amusing and an absorbing read. The personal aspects of the story weave in nicely with the local politics which in turn reflect a vision of the two societies portrayed at the time in question. Often I end up annoyed with stories like this because I find the characters can be aggravating and the tone can vary between being patronising and depressing. This book didn't fall into those pitfalls. While the character were clearly flawed and made some poor decisions they retained a sense of warmth (I had a few concerns in this regard with Philip at one stage - his character was starting to loose me - but it all pulled back swiftly). The characters are people you want to stick with to the end. The settings, while flawed in ways that reflect reality, appears outrageous so it strikes a balance between being familiar and being larger-than-life.