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candacesiegle_greedyreader's review against another edition
5.0
"The Northern Clemency" was shortlisted for the Mann Booker Prize, so imagine my surprise when no local libraries bought it. I bought it, and am not sorry I did. This is an excellent novel, sone of those books where "nothing" happens, but which keeps you completely hooked for a satisfactory period of time. Covering the 1970s to the 90s, it's about two families living on the same street in Sheffield, England, and the book is rich in characters of all sorts, an interesting political period, and some very fine writing.
The London bookies had Philip Hensher favored for the Mann Booker, but it went to "White Tiger," which I also liked but quickly forgot. "The Northern Clemency" has really stuck with me and I am looking for his other novels.
The London bookies had Philip Hensher favored for the Mann Booker, but it went to "White Tiger," which I also liked but quickly forgot. "The Northern Clemency" has really stuck with me and I am looking for his other novels.
ridgewaygirl's review against another edition
4.0
The Northern Clemency begins in 1974 and follows two families living in Sheffield, England for the next twenty years. The Glover family holds a party, to which many in the neighborhood are invited. When Katherine conceived of the idea, it was with the assumption that the empty house across the street would have new owners, but it isn't until later that the Sellers family arrives from London to take up residence. Over the years, the two families become more entwined as they experience the changes brought by those two eventful decades, from the miners' strike to the changes caused by their children growing up and beginning life as adults.
I love novels like this, where ordinary people live ordinary lives, relationships strengthen or fail under adversity, children struggle through adolescence and find a place in the world, events swirl around them, some affecting them greatly, others barely noticed as they go about their lives.
For the most part, this was an excellent book. Hensher writes with compassion and understanding for the weaknesses and desires of his characters. It's only at the very end, when the least fleshed-out character behaves oddly and is treated unsympathetically by the author that I felt my interest flag a bit. It's like the author needed an event, for something more dramatic than the usual family crises, when the novel's strength lies in just those mundane affairs and relationships. Still, this was a solid novel and I look forward to reading more by this author.
I love novels like this, where ordinary people live ordinary lives, relationships strengthen or fail under adversity, children struggle through adolescence and find a place in the world, events swirl around them, some affecting them greatly, others barely noticed as they go about their lives.
For the most part, this was an excellent book. Hensher writes with compassion and understanding for the weaknesses and desires of his characters. It's only at the very end, when the least fleshed-out character behaves oddly and is treated unsympathetically by the author that I felt my interest flag a bit. It's like the author needed an event, for something more dramatic than the usual family crises, when the novel's strength lies in just those mundane affairs and relationships. Still, this was a solid novel and I look forward to reading more by this author.
cmcarr's review against another edition
i'm giving this book until page 100 before i abandon it.
Update: I abandoned it long before page 100. Sorry, Philip.
Update: I abandoned it long before page 100. Sorry, Philip.
emjay2021's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this a lot--it reminded me quite a bit of Margaret Drabble's The Radiant Way and A Natural Curiosity, since it is set in Northern England of the 1970s/80s. I was a bit disappointed by the end, which seemed oddly abrupt and a bit too tidy (can't say much more without spoiling it). However, Hensher does a great job of painting his characters and showing why they act the way they do. In some ways I suppose this reminds me a little of A Casual Vacancy, which I just finished, though of the two I would probably recommend Rowling's book over this one if you were only going to choose one of them.
swaney's review against another edition
4.0
A domestic novel of middle-class suburbia of 1970s-80s Sheffield, England that explores the dramas and insults so important and relative to the cast/e of characters; narratively it’s a bit like a beginner’s knitters first sweater where unsteady tension leaves us with one arm too short.
cherircohen's review against another edition
3.0
I thought this was going to be so good. Sounds like a great story. Short listed for Man Booker prize. On so many "Best of 2008" lists. But really, it was just boring. Really boring. The book easily could have been 300 pages and not 600. Sure, you wouldn't have known that Daniel never failed to butter a dish and couldn't be persuaded otherwise but really, who cares?
seest12's review against another edition
I just couldn't finish it. No motivation to continue reading it after the first book. Sorry Philip Hensher!
amberacademia's review against another edition
Work book club pick- just not my cup of tea
thelaurasaurus's review against another edition
4.0
An argument with myself:
- Nothing really happens in this book.
- It doesn't matter, it was very well written and not a chore to read. The main characters were well rounded, although the others were a little two dimensional at times.
- But it was over 700 pages long.
- True, but it did span two decades over those pages, and in quite some detail.
- The occasional paragraphs from random extras were annoying. I know they were there to make some kind of point but those pages could have been taken up with explaining more about the Nick situation towards the end.
- Yeah, good point. I still have questions about the Nick thing. I suppose he wasn't a main character.
- Not the point. He was main enough for you to care.
In conclusion, I loved this book... but I needed more closure. I'll probably never read it again - it's just too big!
- Nothing really happens in this book.
- It doesn't matter, it was very well written and not a chore to read. The main characters were well rounded, although the others were a little two dimensional at times.
- But it was over 700 pages long.
- True, but it did span two decades over those pages, and in quite some detail.
- The occasional paragraphs from random extras were annoying. I know they were there to make some kind of point but those pages could have been taken up with explaining more about the Nick situation towards the end.
- Yeah, good point. I still have questions about the Nick thing. I suppose he wasn't a main character.
- Not the point. He was main enough for you to care.
In conclusion, I loved this book... but I needed more closure. I'll probably never read it again - it's just too big!
tessaays's review against another edition
3.0
Torn between two stars and four stars for this. It was sometimes so readable and interesting, and other times I found myself skipping over entire paragraphs because it went into far too much detail. A true epic in the sense of how much ground it covered and the decades, characters etc involved. I’m not sure that all of the character were entirely believable and that irritated me a bit. Still, a hugely enjoyable read.