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muggsyspaniel's review
3.0
3 and a half might be a better mark but definitely not 4. A Way Through the Wood isn't in the same class as The Small Back Room or Darkness Falls From the Air but that's not to say it's poor. There are great moments and some lovely sections and Balchin's writing occasionally equals that illustrious pair but sometimes seems old fashioned and dated. If, as I have heard, this is a fictionalized account of Balchin's own marriage breakup then it's no wonder he turned to booze. Good stuff but not the one to convert non fans.
nigelbrown's review
3.0
This is a quite nicely written, though not terribly exciting, tale, set in a time were there was still the death penalty, a nauseating class system and plenty of misogyny. Written in the fifties it reads, almost, like a script from an old black and white film that has catered for an audience expecting a spiffing tale of upper class cads and bounders, I mean, did people really talk like that?
The main problem is the characters, supposedly the cream and intellectual elite of upper class society, are all a bit pathetic.
The main problem is the characters, supposedly the cream and intellectual elite of upper class society, are all a bit pathetic.
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