msmoodyreader's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
gorecki's review against another edition
5.0
When I finished reading this book, I needed some time to think. Usually, I decide how I feel about a book immediately after putting it down, but with this one it was a bit different.
Did I love this book? Yes, I did. Do I feel like giving it 5 stars and a praise? Yes, I do. Do I feel like giving it 4 stars and some criticism? Yes, I do. You can see why I needed my time to think.
The Absolutist is a very moving story that unfolds gradually and surprises with its ending (well, at least it surprised me, though I saw some reviews here saying that the ending was too obvious). Throghout the different chapters, we follow the developments of three stories - that of Tristan Sadler travelling to Norwich to meet Marian Bancroft, the sister of a man he's served with during WWI, that of William Bancroft in the army, the man mentioned, and that of Tristan Sadler's life before and after the war. I felt the author had no difficulty sliding between these stories and revealing a few details from each of them here and there, while gradually building a very emotional novel.
Tristan is a young man who constantly needs to look eye to eye with difficulties. He's been thrown out of his own home by his own family and needs to face the "reason" behind it, he needs to face his love for a man he's served with during the war and also face this man's sister, Marian. Not to mention facing a horrible secret and living with it after the war. What I found disturbing while reading this novel was how I kept switching my emotions between pity, compassion, annoyance, disgust, understanding and many more. Tristan's character was one I felt for at one moment, and hated for being weak and pitiful the next. Marian Bancroft was annoying with her behaviour and sudden fits of anger, frustration, and illogical behaviour before sliding back into being nice and chatty, but then again her jumpiness was also understandable due to what she's been through. This constant switch between emotions made this book very engaging for me, but again - this is one of the reasons we readers read, isn't it? To show us not only the things we like and relate to, the ones we feel comfortablee with, with nicely built plots and stories that we can read lying back, but to show us a glimpse of a darker and more confused side of life. Looking around, I see plenty of people acting in the exactly same way in situations less dramatic than the one narrated in this book - switching between being strong to being pitiful, from waking compassion to being annoying. So why should such a typically human trait be denied to a character in a book?
After finishing the novel, an interesting thought about the title crossed my mind. I don't believe it was intentional from the authors side, I am not a huge fan of "what did the author think of when he wrote this one word here" type of analysis, but it struck me a very interesting coincidence. This story revolves strongly around extremities. It's about the absolutes. The absolute yes or no. You either fight or you don't, it is either you and it's no one else. It's either life or it's death.
4.5 stars.
Did I love this book? Yes, I did. Do I feel like giving it 5 stars and a praise? Yes, I do. Do I feel like giving it 4 stars and some criticism? Yes, I do. You can see why I needed my time to think.
The Absolutist is a very moving story that unfolds gradually and surprises with its ending (well, at least it surprised me, though I saw some reviews here saying that the ending was too obvious). Throghout the different chapters, we follow the developments of three stories - that of Tristan Sadler travelling to Norwich to meet Marian Bancroft, the sister of a man he's served with during WWI, that of William Bancroft in the army, the man mentioned, and that of Tristan Sadler's life before and after the war. I felt the author had no difficulty sliding between these stories and revealing a few details from each of them here and there, while gradually building a very emotional novel.
Tristan is a young man who constantly needs to look eye to eye with difficulties. He's been thrown out of his own home by his own family and needs to face the "reason" behind it, he needs to face his love for a man he's served with during the war and also face this man's sister, Marian. Not to mention facing a horrible secret and living with it after the war. What I found disturbing while reading this novel was how I kept switching my emotions between pity, compassion, annoyance, disgust, understanding and many more. Tristan's character was one I felt for at one moment, and hated for being weak and pitiful the next. Marian Bancroft was annoying with her behaviour and sudden fits of anger, frustration, and illogical behaviour before sliding back into being nice and chatty, but then again her jumpiness was also understandable due to what she's been through. This constant switch between emotions made this book very engaging for me, but again - this is one of the reasons we readers read, isn't it? To show us not only the things we like and relate to, the ones we feel comfortablee with, with nicely built plots and stories that we can read lying back, but to show us a glimpse of a darker and more confused side of life. Looking around, I see plenty of people acting in the exactly same way in situations less dramatic than the one narrated in this book - switching between being strong to being pitiful, from waking compassion to being annoying. So why should such a typically human trait be denied to a character in a book?
After finishing the novel, an interesting thought about the title crossed my mind. I don't believe it was intentional from the authors side, I am not a huge fan of "what did the author think of when he wrote this one word here" type of analysis, but it struck me a very interesting coincidence. This story revolves strongly around extremities. It's about the absolutes. The absolute yes or no. You either fight or you don't, it is either you and it's no one else. It's either life or it's death.
4.5 stars.
hannahh071's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
gemmafawn's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
cjeanne99's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The narrative never came together for me - and - I never really liked Tristan.
vapourwavey's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25