andipants's review against another edition
4.0
The first half of this, for me, was a solid five stars. The setting and characters were carefully crafted and the story came together in a slow build of delicious detail. In the second half though, the tension was ratcheted up to eleven and just stayed there; it was almost painful. It makes sense: the stakes are terribly high and the characters' sense of helplessness is realistic and excruciating. But toward the end, one of the characters muses that she is almost bored of the constant tension. This, too, comes off as realistic, but unfortunately, the situation is crafted so believably that I was also coming to feel that way about the book itself. Nothing was happening; almost no unexpected developments were presenting themselves to change the situation; it was just an agony of waiting to see if the sword would fall. It dragged. And then when the ending did come, it was far too abrupt.
So my enjoyment was marred enough that I can't quite give this a five star rating. The rest of the book, however, was fantastic, and overall was definitely worth the read.
So my enjoyment was marred enough that I can't quite give this a five star rating. The rest of the book, however, was fantastic, and overall was definitely worth the read.
readingwithhippos's review against another edition
5.0
I can't watch Breaking Bad. I've tried—I watched the first season and maybe a few episodes of the second, but I had to stop. It's not that I'm particularly squeamish about violence or language; like most people these days, I think I'm fairly desensitized to all that. I mean, I've seen SVU, you know?
What I can't handle about Breaking Bad is watching Walter White, a regular middle-aged white guy, an almost comically ordinary person, sink by inches into a life of horrifying crime. At first he's just trying to make a few extra bucks to support his family—we've all been there—but then, events take a turn and suddenly he's strangling a virtual stranger in a basement.
After that scene, I was done with the show. It wasn't the murder itself that bothered me, though it certainly wasn't pleasant viewing; it was how deeply I empathized with and related to Walt. He was a normal person, just like me. Until he wasn't. Watching a character with whom you relate go down a path of utter darkness, well, it starts to make you wonder things about yourself. Walt didn't set out to become a heinous criminal, but it happened. Witnessing his downward slide made me queasy, and queasy is one thing I'm decidedly not looking for in a television show.
Sarah Waters's latest book gave me a Walter White feeling in my gut. She too imagines characters that at the outset seem painfully ordinary. Frances and her elderly mother are cash-strapped following the first World War and the death of Frances's father, and decide to take on boarders (whom they genteelly refer to as “paying guests”) in order to make ends meet. Frances is already spinsterish in her mid-twenties, seeming resigned to a life of housekeeping for her mother.
But then the Barbers arrive, and hell very slowly breaks loose. I'll avoid spoilers here because the momentum of the novel depends on a few surprises, but I will say that things get far out of Frances's control. Young married couple Leonard and Lilian Barber are good lodgers, paying rent on time and trying not to disturb their landladies, but before long their lives are so shockingly tangled up with Frances's own it seems they'll never get free of each other. I'm not saying Frances finds herself dealing crystal meth, but her life does change dramatically, to the point that the Frances we know at book's end is hardly recognizable as the same one who was scrubbing floor tiles at the beginning.
Waters's prose is lovely, paced just right despite the book's length (around 550 pages). You'll want to read fast to keep unspooling the story, but the beauty of the writing demands deliberation. Frances and her renters are drawn with uncomfortably intimate clarity, and their tragedy, though deeply personal, feels epic in scope.
Like Breaking Bad, this is a story of regular people who suddenly aren't anymore. It's difficult and uncomfortable. But I absolutely loved reading it anyway.
More book recommendations by me at www.readingwithhippos.com
What I can't handle about Breaking Bad is watching Walter White, a regular middle-aged white guy, an almost comically ordinary person, sink by inches into a life of horrifying crime. At first he's just trying to make a few extra bucks to support his family—we've all been there—but then, events take a turn and suddenly he's strangling a virtual stranger in a basement.
After that scene, I was done with the show. It wasn't the murder itself that bothered me, though it certainly wasn't pleasant viewing; it was how deeply I empathized with and related to Walt. He was a normal person, just like me. Until he wasn't. Watching a character with whom you relate go down a path of utter darkness, well, it starts to make you wonder things about yourself. Walt didn't set out to become a heinous criminal, but it happened. Witnessing his downward slide made me queasy, and queasy is one thing I'm decidedly not looking for in a television show.
Sarah Waters's latest book gave me a Walter White feeling in my gut. She too imagines characters that at the outset seem painfully ordinary. Frances and her elderly mother are cash-strapped following the first World War and the death of Frances's father, and decide to take on boarders (whom they genteelly refer to as “paying guests”) in order to make ends meet. Frances is already spinsterish in her mid-twenties, seeming resigned to a life of housekeeping for her mother.
But then the Barbers arrive, and hell very slowly breaks loose. I'll avoid spoilers here because the momentum of the novel depends on a few surprises, but I will say that things get far out of Frances's control. Young married couple Leonard and Lilian Barber are good lodgers, paying rent on time and trying not to disturb their landladies, but before long their lives are so shockingly tangled up with Frances's own it seems they'll never get free of each other. I'm not saying Frances finds herself dealing crystal meth, but her life does change dramatically, to the point that the Frances we know at book's end is hardly recognizable as the same one who was scrubbing floor tiles at the beginning.
Waters's prose is lovely, paced just right despite the book's length (around 550 pages). You'll want to read fast to keep unspooling the story, but the beauty of the writing demands deliberation. Frances and her renters are drawn with uncomfortably intimate clarity, and their tragedy, though deeply personal, feels epic in scope.
Like Breaking Bad, this is a story of regular people who suddenly aren't anymore. It's difficult and uncomfortable. But I absolutely loved reading it anyway.
More book recommendations by me at www.readingwithhippos.com
mnemognose's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
afox98's review against another edition
2.0
Giving up. I’m 35% of the way through and don’t love the characters, find it to be repetitive, and dread the rest of the book. Moving on.
rebbemcc's review against another edition
2.0
Skimmed here and there. Way too overwrought for my tastes. So much handwringing. Some nice dialogue. Honestly, I don't understand why this book was on so many "Best of 2014" lists.
mert64's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
gracieliza1's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
elliemcc11's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyed this novel, my first by Sarah Waters. I shall definitely read more of her novels.
Set in 1920s post-WW1 London, this is a tale of forbidden love (there are some not very graphic lesbian sex scenes which some readers might feel uncomfortable reading) and the extremes people go for the sake of love. Things take a nasty turn and the last third of the book is dedicated to court scenes, which I have to admit I was less enamoured with compared to the rest of the novel.
Overall it was well written and kept my attention throughout.
Set in 1920s post-WW1 London, this is a tale of forbidden love (there are some not very graphic lesbian sex scenes which some readers might feel uncomfortable reading) and the extremes people go for the sake of love. Things take a nasty turn and the last third of the book is dedicated to court scenes, which I have to admit I was less enamoured with compared to the rest of the novel.
Overall it was well written and kept my attention throughout.
keb3's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Not as good as some of the other Sarah Waters books I’ve read - probably 3 stars for plot and pace, but it gets another star for how lovely her writing is.