Scan barcode
essjay1's review
2.0
Maddening. I read half, then skimmed through to the end when I realised this just would not get any better. Watching this woman get sucked in by a con man was boring and infuriating. Two stars because she’s such a great writer. The last page is the best in the book.
textpublishing's review against another edition
5.0
‘I love The Watch Tower, but I love The Catherine Wheel more. Like all the Harrower books, with their psychological mysteries, their droll humour, their brilliant language and ear for voices, The Catherine Wheel takes your hand from the first page and beckons you in.’
Ramona Koval
‘A brilliant achievement.’
Washington Post on The Watch Tower
‘First published in 1966, this book has traces of Patrick White mixed with the darkness of the brothers Grimm. It is a great novel due a rediscovery in the way that Stoner was championed by John McGahern.’
Irish Times on The Watch Tower
‘A remarkable achievement.’
Australian Book Review on Down in the City
‘Rich and rewarding.’
Starred review, Kirkus
‘The Catherine Wheel is a great starting point for those new to Harrower’s work, those readers who are unafraid to face the darker aspects of desire we’re sometimes too ashamed to acknowledge.’
3am Magazine, Top Reads for 2015
Ramona Koval
‘A brilliant achievement.’
Washington Post on The Watch Tower
‘First published in 1966, this book has traces of Patrick White mixed with the darkness of the brothers Grimm. It is a great novel due a rediscovery in the way that Stoner was championed by John McGahern.’
Irish Times on The Watch Tower
‘A remarkable achievement.’
Australian Book Review on Down in the City
‘Rich and rewarding.’
Starred review, Kirkus
‘The Catherine Wheel is a great starting point for those new to Harrower’s work, those readers who are unafraid to face the darker aspects of desire we’re sometimes too ashamed to acknowledge.’
3am Magazine, Top Reads for 2015
fourtriplezed's review
1.0
Boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, very boring.
I have not enjoyed this book one bit. After 90 pages I thought to myself that it would kick on.
Nope! It got more boring.
I got to the 250th page and had had enough. Page after page of boring twaddle that is so repetitive as to be the literary equivalent of Chinese Water torture.
But I soldiered on to the end. Why? I ask myself. I have 450 books sitting round my house and I kept reading this boring crap for some unknown reason. The same meaningless boring chat back and forth by the same boring people from beginning to end and I keep reading. Not one of the characters is of interest. The narrator boringly explains page after page not very much at all. Yeah she is head over heels in boring something or other with a failed actor who is is is…. I don’t know what, a dull boring mind screw? I don’t mind the challenging but this was not challenging. It is boring. The same repetitive stuff page after boringness page.
Boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, very boring.
I have not enjoyed this book one bit. After 90 pages I thought to myself that it would kick on.
Nope! It got more boring.
I got to the 250th page and had had enough. Page after page of boring twaddle that is so repetitive as to be the literary equivalent of Chinese Water torture.
But I soldiered on to the end. Why? I ask myself. I have 450 books sitting round my house and I kept reading this boring crap for some unknown reason. The same meaningless boring chat back and forth by the same boring people from beginning to end and I keep reading. Not one of the characters is of interest. The narrator boringly explains page after page not very much at all. Yeah she is head over heels in boring something or other with a failed actor who is is is…. I don’t know what, a dull boring mind screw? I don’t mind the challenging but this was not challenging. It is boring. The same repetitive stuff page after boringness page.
Boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, very boring.
hcube3's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
naimfrewat's review
3.0
I'll give Elizabeth Harrower another chance. I think she captured well the inner workings of a psyche gradually drawn down into a destructive obsession. What I did not like was the simplistic plot, which would have made this book a tedious read had it been lengthier.
Sums up the book nicely:
" As if love ever lasted! As if it could or should! Of course it might..."
While the style seemed, for the most part, pretty straightforward, there were some notable sections that I captured for future reference.
"And now the reasons for those tears were like a presence in the room, implacable, forcing me to know what I would not: that my tears were for a lost simplicity, for a failure I would lack the innocence to repeat. "
Sums up the book nicely:
" As if love ever lasted! As if it could or should! Of course it might..."
While the style seemed, for the most part, pretty straightforward, there were some notable sections that I captured for future reference.
"And now the reasons for those tears were like a presence in the room, implacable, forcing me to know what I would not: that my tears were for a lost simplicity, for a failure I would lack the innocence to repeat. "
boorrito's review
3.0
"Who was I to divert a river single-handed?"
Yes...but that doesn't mean you should jump into that river either.
I didn't find The Catherine Wheel as good as [b:The Watch Tower|2497026|The Watch Tower|Elizabeth Harrower|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335598702s/2497026.jpg|2504346]. That doesn't make it a bad book, however. It's just rougher and less refined than her later classic. In The Watch Tower there's the balance of Clare to Laura's absolute submission to Felix, while here Clem trashes herself for...what, exactly? To get burnt and so know better next time? It's not an obvious case of romantic delusion, she's never quite ready to say she loves him and wants to possess him alone, but her pity for him is just as powerful and traps her just as effectively. (There's an excellent New Yorker article about Harrower's work that I read while reading this and it's spot on.)
Elizabeth Harrower nails down the kind of man that frankly, it's hazardous to be in the near area of, nevermind caught up with, again with a level of insight I haven't seen anywhere else. It's horrifyingly claustrophobic. I was glad to have finished it and left it behind.
Yes...but that doesn't mean you should jump into that river either.
I didn't find The Catherine Wheel as good as [b:The Watch Tower|2497026|The Watch Tower|Elizabeth Harrower|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335598702s/2497026.jpg|2504346]. That doesn't make it a bad book, however. It's just rougher and less refined than her later classic. In The Watch Tower there's the balance of Clare to Laura's absolute submission to Felix, while here Clem trashes herself for...what, exactly? To get burnt and so know better next time? It's not an obvious case of romantic delusion, she's never quite ready to say she loves him and wants to possess him alone, but her pity for him is just as powerful and traps her just as effectively. (There's an excellent New Yorker article about Harrower's work that I read while reading this and it's spot on.)
Elizabeth Harrower nails down the kind of man that frankly, it's hazardous to be in the near area of, nevermind caught up with, again with a level of insight I haven't seen anywhere else. It's horrifyingly claustrophobic. I was glad to have finished it and left it behind.
More...