Reviews

Un teatru pentru visători by Polly Samson

Only show reviews with written explanations

gailbird's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

daydreamereyes's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

2.25

Just found I wasn’t massively invested in the story. It felt a bit aimless. Also too many characters to keep track of. It was written a bit like a journalist observing all of the figures in it and despite having read many reimaginings of history, I found the fact that the characters had been real people difficult to get on board with.

jaclyncrupi's review against another edition

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3.0

Sick of your house? Want to travel? How does Hydra in the 60s sound hanging with Leonard Cohen, Charmian Clift and George Johnston? The sense of place in A Theatre for Dreamers is glorious and the bohemian partner swapping is exactly what you’d expect. It has a bit of a My Family and Other Animals vibe but with more adult content and a feminist bent. It didn’t capture my imagination as completely as I had hoped though, but perhaps that’s more the fault of the times than the book.

whatcourtneyreads's review against another edition

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3.0

One thing I WISH I had known when I started reading this is that it is historical fiction based on the years that Leonard Cohen and a bunch of other real-life bohemians, artists, and writers spent living on the Greek Island of Hydra. Leonard is introduced by first name only, and the rest of the characters I hadn’t heard of before, so I didn’t click until quite late. Once I had this epiphany, I enjoyed it far more than I had been, and wished I could rewind.

It also meant that the crazy melodrama and the 240 characters I had previously been getting a bit tired of made sense, or at least made me go “ohhhh right, these awful, self-absorbed (minus Leonard, who is quite sweet) people were real and this is all possibly based on real events”. It definitely felt like reading a soap opera.

This is one of those books where the main character, Erica, is more like a narrator, in that you don’t get a real insight into who they are, they’re more just observing everyone else. I quite like that ‘fly on the wall’ feeling. The only problem is that it made the character and her relationships feel underdeveloped, and I didn’t feel any connection to her when I was supposed to.

A Theatre for Dreamers was a good, summery, beach read, and I did enjoy the writing, even if nothing really happens in it. If nothing else, it transported me to the island of Hydra and made me want to visit the Greek Islands for some European gallivanting and fun in the sun.