A review by andrewspink
De grote cirkel by Maggie Shipstead

adventurous hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

In general, I've never really understood the attraction of the romance of flying in the early stages of the industry. This book changed that for me. It makes much more sense now; the story gave some good insights into what it must have been like at that time. I enjoyed the way that the Marion's character developed along with the development of aviation, and the plot had sufficient twists and surprises right until the end. It was indeed a long road to the end, with a large page count. The book was well enough written that that wasn't such a problem for me, but, like many other reviewers, I found the 20th century sections less good and don't think the book would have been worse if they had been omitted. I guess the idea was to show how a contemporary view of someone from the last century is inevitably distorted and partial (perhaps, especially a Hollywood film), but I'm not sure if it entirely succeeded in that, perhaps because the actress was (imho) rather an irritating character. 
Nevertheless, it was a book I really enjoyed, both for the plot and for the diversity of the characters. 
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