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A Touch of Love

By Jonathan Coe

(48)

| eBook | 9780141916903

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Book Description

Robin, a postgrad student in Coventry, has spent four and a half years not writing his thesis. He and his academic colleagues, united by pallor, social ineptitude and sexual inexperience, once spent hours discussing their theories, but they somehow never made it into print.

Now his Continue

Robin, a postgrad student in Coventry, has spent four and a half years not writing his thesis. He and his academic colleagues, united by pallor, social ineptitude and sexual inexperience, once spent hours discussing their theories, but they somehow never made it into print.



Now his unfinished thesis languishes in a drawer, and Robin hides in his room, increasingly frightened by a world he doesn't understand. His friends have failed him and romance eludes him. His only outlet is his short stories, scribbled in notebooks and expressing his secret obsessions and frustrations.



Then, when an unfortunate and embarassing incident in a public park lands him in serious trouble, Robin's life finally spirals out of control ...

6 Reviews

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  • 1 person find this helpful

    Not the best book from Coe, it's all very sad and it's only ironic in the saddest way possible. Still his ability to create valid characters just with simple dialogues and gestures is always great. I wouldn't recommend this book for bad moods, it definitely doesn't cheer up.

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    Robba said on Jul 28, 2010 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • This is the first book I read by Coe and unfortunately it doesn't make me want to read more. The story is fragmented and not well told. The book is too short and somehow unfinished. Plus, I don't understand the cover of this edition (and to be honest, not even the title of the book itself...).

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    dario villa said on Sep 1, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • Friendship needs more fertile soil than is provided by the merely social occasion...

    Apart from this quote, I can't figure out the meaning of this story. I know it has a lot to do with friendship, love and life, but really: The only positive thing of this book is that even the most depressed reader realizes that their lives are not as bad as they think. There's this Robin guy. He li ... (continue)

    Apart from this quote, I can't figure out the meaning of this story. I know it has a lot to do with friendship, love and life, but really: The only positive thing of this book is that even the most depressed reader realizes that their lives are not as bad as they think. There's this Robin guy. He lives in his flat and rarely goes out. He's been prosecuted for a sexual crime he hasn't committed. His closest friend is this woman Aparna, an Indian woman, once a "star" in the neighbourhood and now a bitter lonely woman, who accuses everybody of being selfish, when she is only thinking of herself. There's Hugh. He's unemployed waiting for some teacher to retire so that maybe he can find an academic job. Then there's Emma, the lawyer, whose marriage is dying.
    Ted, whom we meet only briefly, and only at the beginning seems to be the happiest man among all of these people.
    Though I loved the other two books by this author I found this one pointless and depressing. I hope "The House of Sleep" and "The Rain Before It Falls" aren't the only two books worth reading (though they're really amazing stories!)
    I won't write an Italian review for this one, as I am not going to suggest reading this story.

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    Katia Guido said on Apr 23, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • the worst book Coe wrote, imho

    I had to read it, as I love Coe. But this was really boring and forgettable to me, while all the others left me good memories, and always inspired strong feelings of happiness, sadness, or you name it.

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    Viollka said on May 26, 2010 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • The complexities of a human soul

    I am surprised by how much I enjoeyd this book, considering how sad the story is.
    The main plot revolves around the figure of Robin Grant, a depressed post-graduate student and wannabe writer, who finds himself in an unexpected sticky situation.
    The narration of his predicaments is interrupted by fo ... (continue)

    I am surprised by how much I enjoeyd this book, considering how sad the story is.
    The main plot revolves around the figure of Robin Grant, a depressed post-graduate student and wannabe writer, who finds himself in an unexpected sticky situation.
    The narration of his predicaments is interrupted by four short stories - written by him - each of them an insight to his mind and philosophy on life.
    It's what others make of his writing, how he is percevied by those that come in contact with him and the sense that understanding someone else is a complex, near impossible task that makes for interesting reading.
    4/5

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    Miki said on Jan 14, 2010 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • Sometimes Coe writes the saddest novels you can think of. This is one of the most gloomy. Do not read it if you are depressed. Be careful if you are passing through a period of lessened self-esteem. In all other cases, be ready to plunge into an abyss of solitude and sadness.

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    rayuela said on Jul 7, 2008 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

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