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thomasgoddard's review against another edition
4.0
I was introduced to this book by a film called The Souvenir. In the film, by Joanna Hogg, Honor Swinton Byrne reads a section to Tom Burke. The film was reasonably well acted, but awful anyway. There was a lot running against it. I think it's based on her life and though interesting things have happened to her, she fails to translate that into film.
The book title intrigued me. Also, having visited Venice, I wanted to see if it held any familiarity to me.
I initially started reading with no awareness of the author. After a good long time I was enjoying it and was surprised to find it was written by a man. It's a heavily sentimental novel. I'd not have assumed as much had the book been nearer to the present decade, but as it was written 100 years ago, I assumed I was safe in my assumption. Clearly not.
It's the story of two lovers, introduced and seemingly continually reunited by the vehicle of a penny. Later the penny is dispensed with, but the theme of money is never far from sight.
This was a joy to read and I'm still not entirely sure why. It isn't outstanding, but it really charmed me. I liked the narrative style. There's a flowery aspect to it, but it never aggregated me or wore thin.
It was a good re-introduction to the joy of using a Kindle Paperwhite as a reading medium as well. I prefer books, but we're fast approaching the time where a digital copy is the most accessible format to the voracious reader. I can remember a time when most ebooks were crap. Bestsellers and romance. These days you can reliably find a copy of most books in digital format and I've started using it a lot more. Mostly because I'm reading longer works and carting around a 600+ page book is a chore. I'll read it and if I love the book, I'll buy it in paper.
I bought this book the second I finished it. A rare and unusual gem.
The book title intrigued me. Also, having visited Venice, I wanted to see if it held any familiarity to me.
I initially started reading with no awareness of the author. After a good long time I was enjoying it and was surprised to find it was written by a man. It's a heavily sentimental novel. I'd not have assumed as much had the book been nearer to the present decade, but as it was written 100 years ago, I assumed I was safe in my assumption. Clearly not.
It's the story of two lovers, introduced and seemingly continually reunited by the vehicle of a penny. Later the penny is dispensed with, but the theme of money is never far from sight.
This was a joy to read and I'm still not entirely sure why. It isn't outstanding, but it really charmed me. I liked the narrative style. There's a flowery aspect to it, but it never aggregated me or wore thin.
It was a good re-introduction to the joy of using a Kindle Paperwhite as a reading medium as well. I prefer books, but we're fast approaching the time where a digital copy is the most accessible format to the voracious reader. I can remember a time when most ebooks were crap. Bestsellers and romance. These days you can reliably find a copy of most books in digital format and I've started using it a lot more. Mostly because I'm reading longer works and carting around a 600+ page book is a chore. I'll read it and if I love the book, I'll buy it in paper.
I bought this book the second I finished it. A rare and unusual gem.
whogivesabook's review against another edition
4.0
I was introduced to this book by a film called The Souvenir. In the film, by Joanna Hogg, Honor Swinton Byrne reads a section to Tom Burke. The film was reasonably well acted, but awful anyway. There was a lot running against it. I think it's based on her life and though interesting things have happened to her, she fails to translate that into film.
The book title intrigued me. Also, having visited Venice, I wanted to see if it held any familiarity to me.
I initially started reading with no awareness of the author. After a good long time I was enjoying it and was surprised to find it was written by a man. It's a heavily sentimental novel. I'd not have assumed as much had the book been nearer to the present decade, but as it was written 100 years ago, I assumed I was safe in my assumption. Clearly not.
It's the story of two lovers, introduced and seemingly continually reunited by the vehicle of a penny. Later the penny is dispensed with, but the theme of money is never far from sight.
This was a joy to read and I'm still not entirely sure why. It isn't outstanding, but it really charmed me. I liked the narrative style. There's a flowery aspect to it, but it never aggregated me or wore thin.
It was a good re-introduction to the joy of using a Kindle Paperwhite as a reading medium as well. I prefer books, but we're fast approaching the time where a digital copy is the most accessible format to the voracious reader. I can remember a time when most ebooks were crap. Bestsellers and romance. These days you can reliably find a copy of most books in digital format and I've started using it a lot more. Mostly because I'm reading longer works and carting around a 600+ page book is a chore. I'll read it and if I love the book, I'll buy it in paper.
I bought this book the second I finished it. A rare and unusual gem.
The book title intrigued me. Also, having visited Venice, I wanted to see if it held any familiarity to me.
I initially started reading with no awareness of the author. After a good long time I was enjoying it and was surprised to find it was written by a man. It's a heavily sentimental novel. I'd not have assumed as much had the book been nearer to the present decade, but as it was written 100 years ago, I assumed I was safe in my assumption. Clearly not.
It's the story of two lovers, introduced and seemingly continually reunited by the vehicle of a penny. Later the penny is dispensed with, but the theme of money is never far from sight.
This was a joy to read and I'm still not entirely sure why. It isn't outstanding, but it really charmed me. I liked the narrative style. There's a flowery aspect to it, but it never aggregated me or wore thin.
It was a good re-introduction to the joy of using a Kindle Paperwhite as a reading medium as well. I prefer books, but we're fast approaching the time where a digital copy is the most accessible format to the voracious reader. I can remember a time when most ebooks were crap. Bestsellers and romance. These days you can reliably find a copy of most books in digital format and I've started using it a lot more. Mostly because I'm reading longer works and carting around a 600+ page book is a chore. I'll read it and if I love the book, I'll buy it in paper.
I bought this book the second I finished it. A rare and unusual gem.
elaoise_benson's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
A romance of two people but also two cities - enjoyable read but also of it’s time so definitely some archaic views especially about the role of women.
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