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ivorgeoghegan's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.25
mildemakrel's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
bettermetal's review
2.0
This book didn’t need to be this long. The first 150 pages is just set up for the alternate history plot. But even then - the actual plot of the book is not complicated at all, you could recap it in the shortest time. Yet the book is just filled with passages that seem to serve no purpose. It was so boring I just couldn’t wait to be done with it.
The second problem is that a lot of the book was just unreadable to me. English is not my first language and while I don’t have a problem with the language itself I did have a problem with all the (pop?) culture references Fry has put there. I checked a translated copy – it has 171 (!) footnotes just explaining trivia that Fry had put there to be the smartest most clever person in the room. I mean it’s not an episode of QI, come on, 171 footnotes. And while I do speak English I unfortunately do not speak German. And a lot of passages set in the past for some reason contain it. It doesn’t make any sense. The characters talk to each other in German which we read about in English yet there are parts of speech that are not translated. I am fine with translating a word or two here and there but with whole sentences I just didn’t bother. Again, unreadable.
The characters are flat and uninteresting. The main character Michael Young is immature, arrogant, stupid and just unlikable. But I guess he has to be to even consider such a stupid thing as blindly changing history (being a history major even). It is believable in a way that the characters being what they are would do the things they are doing, it’s all in character. But it is just not interesting to read about.
I did not actually mind reading 1st person POV as I thought I would. It actually suited Michael’s character – all those I, I, I, me, me, me.
Barely two stars just for the 3rd last part of the book. The plot moved faster and was alright but it’s not worth it to read the whole thing just for that.
I’m happy to be done with it.
The second problem is that a lot of the book was just unreadable to me. English is not my first language and while I don’t have a problem with the language itself I did have a problem with all the (pop?) culture references Fry has put there. I checked a translated copy – it has 171 (!) footnotes just explaining trivia that Fry had put there to be the smartest most clever person in the room. I mean it’s not an episode of QI, come on, 171 footnotes. And while I do speak English I unfortunately do not speak German. And a lot of passages set in the past for some reason contain it. It doesn’t make any sense. The characters talk to each other in German which we read about in English yet there are parts of speech that are not translated. I am fine with translating a word or two here and there but with whole sentences I just didn’t bother. Again, unreadable.
The characters are flat and uninteresting. The main character Michael Young is immature, arrogant, stupid and just unlikable. But I guess he has to be to even consider such a stupid thing as blindly changing history (being a history major even). It is believable in a way that the characters being what they are would do the things they are doing, it’s all in character. But it is just not interesting to read about.
I did not actually mind reading 1st person POV as I thought I would. It actually suited Michael’s character – all those I, I, I, me, me, me.
Barely two stars just for the 3rd last part of the book. The plot moved faster and was alright but it’s not worth it to read the whole thing just for that.
I’m happy to be done with it.
rpych2's review against another edition
2.0
I wish I liked this book more, because I love Stephen Fry as an actor. But it started off so slow, like the first 200 pages were difficult to get through. After that was fine, but nothing that really blew me away and made the rating jump up for me. I wish I gave up on it, but the concept was so interesting that I was hoping it would get better. Unfortunately it was a bit too late and it didn’t redeem itself, so I was pretty disappointed with this one.
tyler1207's review
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
janie_cloud's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
mehitabels's review against another edition
4.0
"It means that it is my job to tell you the true story of what never happened. Perhaps that's the definition of fiction."
samyukta_24's review against another edition
5.0
Making History has one of the most uniquely mind-bending plots I have ever come across. Michael Young, a student pursuing a Ph.D. in History, encounters a non-assuming physics professor on a fateful day, thereby changing his life and the whole course of history. They both fixate on the idea of how the world would turn out if Adolf Hitler had never been born, and set about to make it into reality.
This isn't the first time I have heard about Stephen Fry, but I was always reluctant to try his books. What a grave mistake. I have never enjoyed and completely been absorbed by a book like this before. A great mixture of tragedy, humor, philosophy, history, and time travel is still not enough to describe what exactly this book represents. All I can say is that it's a wild ride from start to finish.
There are a lot of liberties taken, of course, with regards to the alternate history of the world and the whole science and technology aspect of the book, but I don’t think those are the points to ponder about. The heart-wrenching truth and circumstances surrounding the darkest period of human history and just the very idea of rewriting life as we know it, already gave a plethora of moments where I had to keep the book aside to digest the narrative.
All in all, even though it sometimes bordered on the outrageous and offensive, it is still one of the weirdest (in-the-best-way) books I have read till now.
This isn't the first time I have heard about Stephen Fry, but I was always reluctant to try his books. What a grave mistake. I have never enjoyed and completely been absorbed by a book like this before. A great mixture of tragedy, humor, philosophy, history, and time travel is still not enough to describe what exactly this book represents. All I can say is that it's a wild ride from start to finish.
There are a lot of liberties taken, of course, with regards to the alternate history of the world and the whole science and technology aspect of the book, but I don’t think those are the points to ponder about. The heart-wrenching truth and circumstances surrounding the darkest period of human history and just the very idea of rewriting life as we know it, already gave a plethora of moments where I had to keep the book aside to digest the narrative.
All in all, even though it sometimes bordered on the outrageous and offensive, it is still one of the weirdest (in-the-best-way) books I have read till now.
hammerintoanvil's review against another edition
2.0
An unusual beast: a novel that would make a much better short story.
The key twist is the main interest, and would make a more interesting tale if written up in the style of Roald Dahl’s adult short works. As it is, half the book is given over to building up a throughly unlikable protagonist with little actual impact on the plot.
The key twist is the main interest, and would make a more interesting tale if written up in the style of Roald Dahl’s adult short works. As it is, half the book is given over to building up a throughly unlikable protagonist with little actual impact on the plot.
susannacantele's review
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0