The Debt to Pleasure

Rating:
Summary: Six stars are needed for this one!
Review: Our book group couldn't stop reading passages aloud to each other. This twisted novel reveals more delights with each read. The uncompromising arrogance of the narrator is matched only by the author's perverse sense of humor. I have rarely encountered a more consistent characterization of an individual on the brink of sanity. Bravo, Mr. Lanchester!

Rating:
Summary: Pretentious, wordy, and unreadable
Review: I'm an American who has spent 2 years living in England, and 4 months living in France (plus visiting often), so I did catch the regional allusions. But this book was painful to read (it was a gift so I wanted to finish it). Back to the drawing board, Mr. Lanchester.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Books I have Ever Read!
Review: I read an excerpt from this novel in Granta and couldn't wait to read the rest! It is not for everyone-- if you don't like stories that stray from the conventional chronological narrative or you are a black and white moralist, skip it. This book is very well written, clever and witty. Lanchester's use of language is a treat. I am on-line buying another copy because I lent mine to a friend and she has not returned it. I plan to read it again to get another dose of Tarquin Winot!

Rating:
Summary: A chef-d'oeuvre of epic proportions.
Review: The Debt To Pleasure is perhaps the strongest argument that I have ever read for culinary elitism. Captivating from page one, the drawn-out sentences that border on insanity pull together one of the finest pieces of fiction that I have ever read. If you love literature, food, and/or France, you will be doing yourself a favor to read this first novel by John Lanchester.

Rating:
Summary: fabulous for foodies
Review: What a treat! An evil, pompous man, noshing his way about the countryside whilst unveiling to the reader his dark past. The food imagery is very good and the characterisation splendid.

Rating:
Summary: Unreadable
Review: The stream of consciousness style, including sentances with asides lasting over a page, was completely unreadable. I found myself rereading paragraphs over and over to get their meaning. The plot was unoriginal and disappointing, and even the link to food was uninspiring. The overview on the book cover was totally misleading.

Rating:
Summary: Post-Martha Steward Self-Referential Fiction
Review: Delicious.

Witty mannerism eventually reveals a pattern of completely egocentric sociopathology.

After reading "Godel, Escher, Bach" years ago, friends and I were intoxicated by self-reference in art. Finally one pointed out that a work whose subject is itself doesn't have much to say and is, in a word, boring. This story's development is careful, gradual, and sophisticated enough that when it reached out to tickle that atrophying self-reference nerve, I didn't mind. The approach is more mature, or at least better camouflaged.

Those looking to refresh stale e-mail signatures will find a variety of tempting epigrams. My favorite, paraphrased, is something like "People so easily intuit my dislike for the term 'genius' that I'm hardly ever called one anymore."

Others have commented on Winot's vocabulary. It was unusual enough to see the word "sprezzatura" in print, for only the third time in my experience--but almost "Twilight Zone" to see it for the fourth time! (Perhaps Winot exhausted his word-a-day list near the end of his manuscript!)

I second the mention of the book's physical beauty. It's a very attractive package.

Rating:
Summary: an intellectual mindf***
Review: A treat for all senses! Lanchester's mastery of language, all things esoteric, the erogenous zones that are our taste buds...my only disappointment was that he decided to weave a plot into his masterfully sophisticated musings that, in my opinion, were enough in and of themselves! I will keep this book handy if for no other reason than to increase my vocabulary by looking up all of the wonderful words of which I have no clue what they mean! Thank you, Mr. Lanchester, for a book that gives me the same pleasure as opening a present each time I pick it up to read. TITLE:The Debt to Pleasure AUTHOR:John Lanchester, Nick Ullett (Narrator) CUSTOMER-ID:4938397 SOURCE:[e-mail] EMAIL:[e-mail] DISPLAY-EMAIL:no USER-LOCATION:Denver CO TIME:904014779 RATING:5 PRIORITY:2500 SUMMARY: REVIEW: A treat for all senses! Lanchester's mastery of language, all things esoteric, the erogenous zones that are our taste buds...my only disappointment was that he decided to weave a plot into his masterfully sophisticated musings that, in my opinion, were enough in and of themselves! I will keep this book handy if for no other reason than to increase my vocabulary by looking up all of the wonderful words of which I have no clue what they mean! Thank you, Mr. Lanchester, for a book that gives me the same pleasure as opening a present each time I pick it up to read. TITLE:The Debt to Pleasure AUTHOR:John Lanchester, Nick Ullett (Narrator) CUSTOMER-ID:4938397 SOURCE:[e-mail] EMAIL:[e-mail] DISPLAY-EMAIL:no USER-LOCATION:Denver CO TIME:904014779 RATING:5 PRIORITY:2500 SUMMARY: REVIEW: A treat for all senses! Lanchester's mastery of language, all things esoteric, the erogenous zones that are our taste buds...my only disappointment was that he decided to weave a plot into his masterfully sophisticated musings that, in my opinion, were enough in and of themselves! I will keep this book handy if for no other reason than to increase my vocabulary by looking up all of the wonderful words of which I have no clue what they mean! Thank you, Mr. Lanchester, for a book that gives me the same pleasure as opening a present each time I pick it up to read.

Rating:
Summary: Delicious and Evil
Review: I love this book! The narrator's character is captured perfectly in the style of writing, so that as the plot unfolds (oh, so gradually), I was not so much surprised by the twists as awed by the sheer perversity of thought, word, and deed. This is one of the few books I will re-read many times.

Rating:
Summary: Food for thought, but you must be hungry.
Review: Despite being about one of my most favourite subjects, Lanchester's latest work was much work indeed. I tend to consume books in bits and pieces, often leaving the story on a table for days on end before returning. Not easy with A Debt to Pleasure, as it requires constant attention. Nonetheless, John produced some good (if not wordy) writing and insight into something we all like and need - food.