The Book of Kings

Rating:
Summary: painful yet enduring
Review: If ever a book was in dire need of a strong editor, this is it! Without any editorial experience I could easily slash a good half of this book. But it is the other half that kept me at it. I purchased the book because of the promise of the story within. And the underlying story is wonderful. But Thackara really needs to get over himself! A lot of the writing is utter conceit, literary posturing to be expected from a high school literature teacher/frustrated novelist, not from someone who actually got these 800 pages published. Too bad. It could easily have been a really great book.

Rating:
Summary: Grandiose, sometimes incomprehensible, but worth it!
Review: The first time I picked up this book, I put it down after a few pages-the writing is often very obscure, and understanding it is difficult: but when I tried again I ignored the language when verbose, and became involved with the story itself and the characters. It really is a wonderful overview of the European world as it is swept up in unbelievable evil and suffering. Not told from just one point of view, it shows that noone is perfectly pure, or without ulterior motive, and that alliances are constantly shifting. Ultimately fascinating-and not one graphic sex scene!!

Rating:
Summary: Intermittently Wonderful
Review: Yes, you do need to know a little French, and you do need a vocabulary of a college grad, but no- this book is not pompous. Romantic? Yes. Grandious? Yes Occassionally tedious? Yes. Riveting? Often. Wonderfully coreographed? Absolutely,especially the set pieces whether it is a dinner party at a German estate or a war battle in Russia. I guess the thing I most liked about this book the most was that it painted a picture of pre- WWII Europe without inserting any late twentieth century sensebilities- excellent social and philisophical commentary. Well worth getting through the 775 pages. Only one unhappy note: it occassionaly degenerates to soap opera.

Rating:
Summary: Intermittently Wonderful
Review: Yes, you do need to know a little French, and you do need a vocabulary of a college grad, but no- this book is not pompous. Romantic? Yes. Grandious? Yes Occassionally tedious? Yes. Riveting? Often. Wonderfully coreographed? Absolutely,especially the set pieces whether it is a dinner party at a German estate or a war battle in Russia. I guess the thing I most liked about this book the most was that it painted a picture of pre- WWII Europe without inserting any late twentieth century sensebilities- excellent social and philisophical commentary. Well worth getting through the 775 pages. Only one unhappy note: it occassionaly degenerates to soap opera.