The book is beautifully written, sometimes almost a little too experimentally, yet it sometimes seems clichéd. An easy example; the book is split into parts--Beginning, Middle, End--and in each of those parts each character has a chapter describing what happens to them, each character's chapter begi
... (continue)
The book is beautifully written, sometimes almost a little too experimentally, yet it sometimes seems clichéd. An easy example; the book is split into parts--Beginning, Middle, End--and in each of those parts each character has a chapter describing what happens to them, each character's chapter begins "the beginning", "the middle", "the end".
To summarize, the novel describes what happens to a family on an extended holiday when an uninvited--indeed unknown--guest shows up & lives with the family. Each character has fatal flaws & the guest through her conniving manages to show those flaws to each individual. They all grow and find themselves, some to more success for their future lives than others by the finish.
Other than the writing being slightly over the top, the main thing that stopped me really enjoying the book was that none of the characters are particularly likable.
Do stick with it; it gets better about a third of the way through, but still not enough for me to effuse over it.
I enjoyed Ali's first novel, Brick Lane, and picked this one up as it appeared to be in a similar genre. The setting may be the same (London), and some of the subjects may be similar, (immigrants on the edge of society), but the depth of Brick Lane just isn't there.
I enjoyed Ali's first novel, Brick Lane, and picked this one up as it appeared to be in a similar genre. The setting may be the same (London), and some of the subjects may be similar, (immigrants on the edge of society), but the depth of Brick Lane just isn't there.
The protagonist, Gabe, is an up & coming chef who's proving himself by working as a head chef in a hotel while convincing investors to help him open his own restaurant.
The novel follows Gabe dealing with his kitchen staff, with his dying father, with a suspicious death in his kitchen, with his girlfriend, all the while thinking back on his relationship with his father and how things used to be.
The novel does pick up in the last third, but the characters remain one dimensional (I never could keep the five or six kitchen staff separate), Gabe isn't especially likable, and there seems very little coherent point to the novel, just page on page of slow moving, not especially beautiful prose.
Perhaps I was spoilt by a novel dealing with a very similar subject--Marina Lewycka's Two Caravans (Strawberry Fields in the US). Her characters were alive and very identifiable.
A beautifully, beautifully written novel about intergenerational relationships & passing knowledge & experience from father to son. There are some lovely little stories in it, and the author does a good job of tying things together.
But the constant religious philosophizing soon wore me down (
... (continue)
A beautifully, beautifully written novel about intergenerational relationships & passing knowledge & experience from father to son. There are some lovely little stories in it, and the author does a good job of tying things together.
But the constant religious philosophizing soon wore me down (the novel is about a family of ministers). It was a chore to finish, and about halfway through I took to skipping quickly over the more religious passages, of which there are a lot.
If you aren't religious, give this book a pass no matter how well written it is.
The novel starts in the poor dirty streets of late 18th century London. Will, the protagonist is born into a poor family and through love is able to move up a rung to become an apprentice bargeman. Soon however things go wrong and he has to resort to stealing to support his wife & newly born child.
... (continue)
The novel starts in the poor dirty streets of late 18th century London. Will, the protagonist is born into a poor family and through love is able to move up a rung to become an apprentice bargeman. Soon however things go wrong and he has to resort to stealing to support his wife & newly born child. Of course he gets caught and finds himself transported to Australia.
Once in Australia the family is able to pick themselves up & eventually Will moves them to a spit of land that he feels is "His own. His own, by virtue of his foot standing on it". The only problem of course is that Aboriginals who had no concept of owning land, had been using it for generations. From here the novel really finds its own and follows Will through decisions that he can't always totally agree with, and yet lead to both a tragedy & him finally becoming a wealthy landowner.
Grenville does a great job describing the dirty cold streets of London as well as her native sunny warm Australia. She is able to turn what is in many ways a morality tale showing how man is fallible & can not always understand how his decisions will lead to consequences into a well rounded story.
The early descriptions of London are wonderful, as are some of the Australian scenes. The book is not a page turner, but is easy to read & has great language. It in fact won the 2008 Commonwealth Prize.
Accidental, the
The book is beautifully written, sometimes almost a little too experimentally, yet it sometimes seems clichéd. An easy example; the book is split into parts--Beginning, Middle, End--and in each of those parts each character has a chapter describing what happens to them, each character's chapter begi ... (continue)
The book is beautifully written, sometimes almost a little too experimentally, yet it sometimes seems clichéd. An easy example; the book is split into parts--Beginning, Middle, End--and in each of those parts each character has a chapter describing what happens to them, each character's chapter begins "the beginning", "the middle", "the end".
To summarize, the novel describes what happens to a family on an extended holiday when an uninvited--indeed unknown--guest shows up & lives with the family. Each character has fatal flaws & the guest through her conniving manages to show those flaws to each individual. They all grow and find themselves, some to more success for their future lives than others by the finish.
Other than the writing being slightly over the top, the main thing that stopped me really enjoying the book was that none of the characters are particularly likable.
Do stick with it; it gets better about a third of the way through, but still not enough for me to effuse over it.
In the Kitchen
I enjoyed Ali's first novel, Brick Lane, and picked this one up as it appeared to be in a similar genre. The setting may be the same (London), and some of the subjects may be similar, (immigrants on the edge of society), but the depth of Brick Lane just isn't there.
The protagonist, Gabe, is an u ... (continue)
I enjoyed Ali's first novel, Brick Lane, and picked this one up as it appeared to be in a similar genre. The setting may be the same (London), and some of the subjects may be similar, (immigrants on the edge of society), but the depth of Brick Lane just isn't there.
The protagonist, Gabe, is an up & coming chef who's proving himself by working as a head chef in a hotel while convincing investors to help him open his own restaurant.
The novel follows Gabe dealing with his kitchen staff, with his dying father, with a suspicious death in his kitchen, with his girlfriend, all the while thinking back on his relationship with his father and how things used to be.
The novel does pick up in the last third, but the characters remain one dimensional (I never could keep the five or six kitchen staff separate), Gabe isn't especially likable, and there seems very little coherent point to the novel, just page on page of slow moving, not especially beautiful prose.
Perhaps I was spoilt by a novel dealing with a very similar subject--Marina Lewycka's Two Caravans (Strawberry Fields in the US). Her characters were alive and very identifiable.
Gilead
A beautifully, beautifully written novel about intergenerational relationships & passing knowledge & experience from father to son. There are some lovely little stories in it, and the author does a good job of tying things together.
But the constant religious philosophizing soon wore me down ( ... (continue)
A beautifully, beautifully written novel about intergenerational relationships & passing knowledge & experience from father to son. There are some lovely little stories in it, and the author does a good job of tying things together.
But the constant religious philosophizing soon wore me down (the novel is about a family of ministers). It was a chore to finish, and about halfway through I took to skipping quickly over the more religious passages, of which there are a lot.
If you aren't religious, give this book a pass no matter how well written it is.
The Secret River
The novel starts in the poor dirty streets of late 18th century London. Will, the protagonist is born into a poor family and through love is able to move up a rung to become an apprentice bargeman. Soon however things go wrong and he has to resort to stealing to support his wife & newly born child. ... (continue)
The novel starts in the poor dirty streets of late 18th century London. Will, the protagonist is born into a poor family and through love is able to move up a rung to become an apprentice bargeman. Soon however things go wrong and he has to resort to stealing to support his wife & newly born child. Of course he gets caught and finds himself transported to Australia.
Once in Australia the family is able to pick themselves up & eventually Will moves them to a spit of land that he feels is "His own. His own, by virtue of his foot standing on it". The only problem of course is that Aboriginals who had no concept of owning land, had been using it for generations. From here the novel really finds its own and follows Will through decisions that he can't always totally agree with, and yet lead to both a tragedy & him finally becoming a wealthy landowner.
Grenville does a great job describing the dirty cold streets of London as well as her native sunny warm Australia. She is able to turn what is in many ways a morality tale showing how man is fallible & can not always understand how his decisions will lead to consequences into a well rounded story.
The early descriptions of London are wonderful, as are some of the Australian scenes. The book is not a page turner, but is easy to read & has great language. It in fact won the 2008 Commonwealth Prize.