Reviews

Sydney by Delia Falconer

erinjandacreative's review against another edition

3.0

I picked up this book from a small bookshop, during my first few months of living in Sydney. I was intrigued by the premise of the book and the fact that it is part of a series. As a newcomer to Sydney (at the time), I thought it would be interesting to read about one author’s experience of having grown up in the city.

Delia Falconer writes beautifully and clearly spent a lot of time researching the history of Sydney. I appreciated learning more about the city’s history and hearing some of its stories.

I struggled a bit to enjoy reading this book, I think because I was expecting something completely different. I suppose also that my short experience of living in Sydney compared to Falconer’s, allowed me to view the city from a foreigner’s perspective. Having grown up in a small town in the USA, I found Sydney to be an extraordinary place! I think Falconer and I both love Sydney but for different reasons.

deestarod's review against another edition

2.0

Though this book was full of interesting facts and anecdotes about Sydney I struggled to connect with the way Delia Falconer told this tale. It felt at times as if Falconer was trying too hard to convince readers of the attributes that she most loves about the city. Maybe if I'd grown up in Sydney like Falconer did I would've responded differently to the book, but as a relatively recent arrival I was expecting this book to reveal more layers and uncover a whole lot of new perspectives on Sydney, and it failed to do so for me.

mswm36's review against another edition

Thoughtful and beautifully written book about Sydney. The observations are spot on. Particularly enjoyed the last chapter, “showing off”.

manxomemia's review

4.0

Beautiful, funny, haunting, and thought-provoking. It made me see the city I grew up in in a different light