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thepoisonwoodreader's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
zefrog's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This ambitious family saga is not an easy read. Covering 60 years of the lives of a group of disparate siblings, sion of an impoverished upper-class family, the narrative is divided in six "books" of unequal length, each gathering seemingly random scenes of the lives of the characters, with a background of historical events. There doesn't appear to be an ending as such, not even an open one. The story simply stops at some point, as if Wilson suddenly got bored.
The book shares many similarities with Life After Life and A God in Ruins, which I didn't particularly like either, although, of course it precedes both by several decades.
Beyond the often stilted and convoluted sentences, and the many typos (in my first edition, in any case) that make comprehension even more difficult, Wilson insists on jumping from one character to the next without giving many clues as to who is he writing about. At times it is easy enough to guess, at other times it isn't until quite far on, which adds another unneeded layer of complexity to the narrative. Sometimes Wilson also randomly includes fragments of theatre scripts that relate to the main story or extracts of diaries. But this is done apparently without particular order or meaning.
In theory, the premise of the novel is interesting and so are the characters and what they get up to, but in the end if difficult to relate to the book and while some of it is amusing and there are glimpses of something really good, most of it is too opaque to really engage the reader.
This is supposed to be the portrait of a country in flux, manhandled by history, but in the end, even though the circumstances are different, little of substance seems to have changed for the characters.
The book shares many similarities with Life After Life and A God in Ruins, which I didn't particularly like either, although, of course it precedes both by several decades.
Beyond the often stilted and convoluted sentences, and the many typos (in my first edition, in any case) that make comprehension even more difficult, Wilson insists on jumping from one character to the next without giving many clues as to who is he writing about. At times it is easy enough to guess, at other times it isn't until quite far on, which adds another unneeded layer of complexity to the narrative. Sometimes Wilson also randomly includes fragments of theatre scripts that relate to the main story or extracts of diaries. But this is done apparently without particular order or meaning.
In theory, the premise of the novel is interesting and so are the characters and what they get up to, but in the end if difficult to relate to the book and while some of it is amusing and there are glimpses of something really good, most of it is too opaque to really engage the reader.
This is supposed to be the portrait of a country in flux, manhandled by history, but in the end, even though the circumstances are different, little of substance seems to have changed for the characters.
caterinaanna's review against another edition
3.0
I started this while sleepy and got a bit lost in the extended interwoven dreams of the first section: I couldn't work out if the family were in Kensington or on the trail in America. I therefore determined to wait until i was awake before I got back to it but was on a rather active holiday so it got put aside for a week and re-started. Second time round it made sense, but if you like your narratives to be straightforward this isn't for you. There are continuing shifts of perspective and style and great gaps in the timeline (admittedly any significant events in these gaps are back-filled in later sections) that took some getting used to, and no less than eight major characters each with their own major role. So it took a bit of getting into, but, in the end it was fascinating.
The Matthews 'children' (well into their old age by the end of the book) are the product of a shabby genteel marriage between parents who appear to be at daggers drawn throughout their lives, but stay together until the end. In the meantime they make the lives of their children and their housekeeper/cook at best tense and at worse miserable and the book studies the effects this has on each of the children and their future.
I could see that it was well and cleverly done, follow the psychological development of each of them, and even understand why they forgave their parents in the end, but in the end didn't find either of the boys particularly sympathetic. Mags the struggling writer, Sukey the conventional mother and Gladys' sufferings for her lover were far more intriguing than the pompousness of war veteran Quentin or the studied interbellum queerness of Marcus. I also didn't really see the point of continuing the book to the next generation; the children didn't seem to grow much after their parents' death and it seemed more like a 'What Katy Did Next' bolt on - the bit that in a film would be a line or two of text next to a still of that person. There you go Mr Wilson, another format you could have played with.
Although I enjoyed reading this, I did leave it feeling relieved I'd finished rather than sad it had ended. Were it not so long, I might have rated it higher, and the rating may go up in retrospect.
The Matthews 'children' (well into their old age by the end of the book) are the product of a shabby genteel marriage between parents who appear to be at daggers drawn throughout their lives, but stay together until the end. In the meantime they make the lives of their children and their housekeeper/cook at best tense and at worse miserable and the book studies the effects this has on each of the children and their future.
I could see that it was well and cleverly done, follow the psychological development of each of them, and even understand why they forgave their parents in the end, but in the end didn't find either of the boys particularly sympathetic. Mags the struggling writer, Sukey the conventional mother and Gladys' sufferings for her lover were far more intriguing than the pompousness of war veteran Quentin or the studied interbellum queerness of Marcus. I also didn't really see the point of continuing the book to the next generation; the children didn't seem to grow much after their parents' death and it seemed more like a 'What Katy Did Next' bolt on - the bit that in a film would be a line or two of text next to a still of that person. There you go Mr Wilson, another format you could have played with.
Although I enjoyed reading this, I did leave it feeling relieved I'd finished rather than sad it had ended. Were it not so long, I might have rated it higher, and the rating may go up in retrospect.
athenalindia's review against another edition
This is finished in the sense of "I give up," not in the sense of "I actually managed to finish it."
I got about a hundred and twenty pages in, came to the scene where two parents drown kittens in order to get money, stopped, thought, realized there was no part of this book I was enjoying, gently put it down, and backed away.
I got about a hundred and twenty pages in, came to the scene where two parents drown kittens in order to get money, stopped, thought, realized there was no part of this book I was enjoying, gently put it down, and backed away.
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