louwine's review against another edition
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
alice_horoshev's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-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
5.0
Wonderfully written, couldn't put down till the last page. Very emotional, unexpected ending💥
deea_bks's review against another edition
1.0
This was the crappiest and most annoying book I read in the last year. I didn't think Barnes was capable of ever writing such poor quality novels.
zsofi_lengyel's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
flomc's review against another edition
dark
funny
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
aljosa's review against another edition
3.0
Well... That was, well, not bad, but certainly stupid.
So after a long affair, a college professor leaves his wife and marries his lover. And then he starts to question his new wife's previous relationships to the point of obsession which results in a murder and a suicide? It was unusual topic, but Graham had no reason to be jealous. As for her ongoing affair with his friend Jack, Graham shouldn't have done that. Killing for revenge is stupid.
Unlike other Barnes' novels (this was my fifth) this one feels like a proper story (Just like my favourite "The Sense of an Ending"), but something's missing. It just feels stupid. I'll give Barnes a pass though because this was only his second novel. (Three years later he wrote wonderful "Flaubert's Parrot") He was probably still finding himself as a writer. Some elements are still here (deep analysis of actions, for example)
And there weren't enough memorable quotes. Only two or three I believe whereas in the others I had at least a dozen.
So after a long affair, a college professor leaves his wife and marries his lover. And then he starts to question his new wife's previous relationships to the point of obsession which results in a murder and a suicide? It was unusual topic, but Graham had no reason to be jealous. As for her ongoing affair with his friend Jack, Graham shouldn't have done that. Killing for revenge is stupid.
Unlike other Barnes' novels (this was my fifth) this one feels like a proper story (Just like my favourite "The Sense of an Ending"), but something's missing. It just feels stupid. I'll give Barnes a pass though because this was only his second novel. (Three years later he wrote wonderful "Flaubert's Parrot") He was probably still finding himself as a writer. Some elements are still here (deep analysis of actions, for example)
And there weren't enough memorable quotes. Only two or three I believe whereas in the others I had at least a dozen.
hey_laura_mc's review against another edition
4.0
Graham spends a brief period of time patting himself on the back after he meets Ann. She's pretty, sexually adventurous and a world away from his pedestrian wife Barbara. Quite why Ann's interested in insecure historian Graham is uncertain-the nice, safe guy after all of the wild boys of her youth?-but anyway, she is, they marry and Graham starts Part 2 of his life scarcely believing his luck.
But one day he takes his daughter to the pictures and spots the lovely Ann in one of her sexy cinematic bit-parts. He'd always known she'd dabbled in acting but never seen her in action, and from this point on a spiral of masochistic jealousy begins. There are some dire, but scarily plausible, consequences and the tension is tendon-tight throughout.
Really interesting questions raised about memory and jealousy as the only emotion that makes itself felt so strongly retrospectively an about an individual's genetic disposition to jealous tendencies. Hmmm. Strokey-chin-thoughtful-face.
Some fabulous quotes and great narrative techniques too-lots of folded corners!
But one day he takes his daughter to the pictures and spots the lovely Ann in one of her sexy cinematic bit-parts. He'd always known she'd dabbled in acting but never seen her in action, and from this point on a spiral of masochistic jealousy begins. There are some dire, but scarily plausible, consequences and the tension is tendon-tight throughout.
Really interesting questions raised about memory and jealousy as the only emotion that makes itself felt so strongly retrospectively an about an individual's genetic disposition to jealous tendencies. Hmmm. Strokey-chin-thoughtful-face.
Some fabulous quotes and great narrative techniques too-lots of folded corners!
elvendork's review against another edition
3.0
As always, Barnes writes beautifully, but it is my lack of interest in (and sympathy for) white male tears that gave this book 3 stars.
k_gregz's review against another edition
4.0
This book was really funny and very dark with a disturbing ending. That is all I have to say about it.
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