tinkik's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
robyn1998's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I enjoyed this, I think a lot of the political stuff went over my head. I found the characters easy to empathise with. I felt like there was a bit too much mention of how dark Mary's hair was, we get it!!
siria's review against another edition
3.0
On Green Dolphin Street began strongly, with all the sense of period and the kind of photographic impressionism which marks Faulks' writing at its best. He is very good at capturing a sense of the time and place in which the van der Lindens were living—Washington and New York and London in the heady days of Kennedy's race for the White House, a world of embassy parties and diplomatic intrigues and beat poets—as well as sketching out the kinds of people which they were. And yet as the novel progressed, I found it all rather... well, uninspired, I suppose, a little novel-by-numbers, which impression was not weakened by the ending. The last third of the book felt as if it tipped over more and more into a weak melodrama; some of the dialogue which he put into Mary's mouth, in particular, made me raise my eyebrows. Not Faulks' best.
hanarr's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
notrix's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
agnestyley's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Heartbreaking: an intoxicating depiction of an intensely passionate love affair that could never end well. Interesting backdrop of Nixon-Kennedy without it being the focus of the book. A tragic depiction of alcoholism and grief.
davereader's review against another edition
5.0
Evocative! If they make a movie of this book, and manage to convey the emotion of the last couple of chapters, it will blow "Casablanca" off the screen
deanjean_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Heart-breaking finale, with each and every step simultaneously luminous in its orchestration. I hate how this slowly undos you right up from Charlie's almost-suicidal breakdown, right up to the moments of Mary and Frank's last meeting, but if something can arouse such strong emotion in you, then that's a testament to the power of Faulks's writing....
amy_virginia's review against another edition
3.0
This was the first Faulks book I've read, although I know we have the French trilogy. The writing was gorgeous, which is good, because it wasn't the greatest story ever. It's about a British diplomat's wife who has an affair while living with her husband in Washington DC. I did like the depictions of the emotions involved in infidelity. She loves her--(Non sequitor: Hey, there's no male word for mistress, is there? That's weird, there should be. Mister? Master? Neither of those are right. It's like how there's no satisfying female equivalent of 'guy'.) Anyway, she loves Frank, the guy she's having an affair with, but she never stops loving her husband, who is an alcoholic undergoing a nervous breakdown and professional difficulties. When she is with her family, she feels like standing by them is the most important thing, but when she's with Frank, she feels like she can leave them behind for him. We get some chapters from Frank's perspective--he knows and likes the husband, and the husband's perspective, as he goes from ignorance to suspicion to certainty about the affair. I just thought it was a fairly honest portrayal of all emotions involved in infidelity--absolutely nothing is black and white.
Set in 1960, this all unfolds against the backdrop of Nixon and Kennedy's presidential campaigns and the cold war.
Set in 1960, this all unfolds against the backdrop of Nixon and Kennedy's presidential campaigns and the cold war.