Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful!!
Review: A beautiful book with a magical story....makes me want to paint!
Rating: 
Summary: Confusing
Review: A beautifully designed book...not as much so as the Griffin and Sabine trilogy, but beautiful nonetheless. But this book has too many things that, to me, don't really have anything to do with the story. The concertina pages of questions for example. Even after he discovered the answers to them....what do they have to do with anything? I can't see where they fit into the storyline, except to add a bit of mystery to it. There is also the page with the instructions for the Forgetting Room. None of which were used or mentioned in the story. I know the book is meant to be surrealistic and mysterious, and it is most definately that, but it did leave me a bit confused and wondering about things. Like what was the point of the beautiful scar faced woman, Ceres. She adds nothing of worth really to the story. And why is the letter "A" the pass letter? Pass letter for what? Well, maybe this is what Bantock planned to do from the beginning, and that is to confuse the heck out of his readers. Well he succeeded with me. But I will read other books of his as it does give my brain a workout.
Rating: 
Summary: Expecting more
Review: After learning that Nick Bantock had written more books after Griffen and Sabine, I was eager to try them all . "The Forgetting Room' sounded like a good bet. But the very small print, the less than top quality production, and the story itself, in my opinion, make it third rate. I will carefully consider the reviews before trying another.
Rating:
Summary: The Forgetting Room
Review: An artist's talent is frequently said to skip a generation. In Rafael's case that prooved to be the case.This portrait of an artist's (Rafael) grandson's (Armon) awakening to himself is pure magic to those who read magic. I envy your first reading.
Rating:
Summary: The Forgetting Room
Review: An artist's talent is frequently said to skip a generation. In Rafael's case that prooved to be the case. This portrait of an artist's (Rafael) grandson's (Armon) awakening to himself is pure magic to those who read magic. I envy your first reading.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it.
Review: An excelent story of a man trying to come to terms with his past family life and social life. A trip to Spain brings more questions and some unusual answers. Excellent story and art work.
Rating:
Summary: Enchanting, involving you in each riddle.
Review: From the author that brought to us Griffin and Sabine, came the intriguing "Forgetting Room". I am drawn into the characther's feeling and struggle through a series riddles that will guide him to his grandfather's past and his future. Each riddle is involving the reader to think with the character. When I started to read this book, I cannot put it down at all. (End up staying up until 4 am!)
Rating:
Summary: A better tale of Bantock himself than a mere work of fiction
Review: I love Nick Bantock's work, and have for a few years now. I consider his works an inspiration for my own and I enjoyed this book as a means to discover how Bantock as an artist creates his pieces. As a story however, I felt it lacked the passion it set out to portray and seemed hurredly written. All Bantock collectors will buy this book, and most will treasure it, not for the forgetful story, but for the artwork and an insight into the artist himself. If you are looking for a great story however, I'm sad to say you should look elsewhere. Don't worry, I'll still be first in line to buy the next one.
Rating: 
Summary: Blood is thicker than water
Review: I love the disclaimer about García Lorca's quotes, in which Nick Bantock blames any inaccuracies on his characters' faulty memories! This story takes place in Ronda, a beautiful city in Malaga, Spain. The descriptions of the city are great, and the famous bridge ("El Tajo del Coño") is central to the story. I wish that the original painting that Armon makes of it had not been so obscured by the other elements of the collage. There were a few more things that bothered me. Paolo and Francesca are Italian names, not Spanish. "Casa", not "cassa", is Spanish for "house". The appearance of Ceres is rather superfluous, and i do not know that she provides much to the story, other than to reiterate that Rafael was a special kind of man, and we already knew that. The ghostly images and hallucinations that Armon experiences in the final chapters are also a bit over the top. Armon goes into a meditative mode once he arrives in Ronda. Reading between the lines, it is suggested that he was ripe for the epiphany he experiences towards the end. However, the transformation he suffers, the happiness and thirst for life that envelop him so rapidly, are far-fetched. You cannot shed your skin like if you were a snake at molting time. The very essence of you remains always with you, and Armon's melancholy is Armon himself. The best part of the book, to me, is the analysis that Armon makes of his family relationships. The introspection that he experiences in the solitude of the studio is described in an exquisite way. I wonder how much autobiographical stuff is in Armon. This novel is to me much more satisfying that the Griffin and Sabine Trilogy, despite discrepancies, artifice and Italian vocabulary. Armon's conversations with himself make this book worth it. One of the editorial reviews calls it a 'fairy tale', and that's right on the money.
Rating:
Summary: Blood is thicker than water
Review: I love the disclaimer about García Lorca's quotes, in which Nick Bantock blames any inaccuracies on his characters' faulty memories! This story takes place in Ronda, a beautiful city in Malaga, Spain. The descriptions of the city are great, and the famous bridge ("El Tajo del Coño") is central to the story. I wish that the original painting that Armon makes of it had not been so obscured by the other elements of the collage. There were a few more things that bothered me. Paolo and Francesca are Italian names, not Spanish. "Casa", not "cassa", is Spanish for "house". The appearance of Ceres is rather superfluous, and i do not know that she provides much to the story, other than to reiterate that Rafael was a special kind of man, and we already knew that. The ghostly images and hallucinations that Armon experiences in the final chapters are also a bit over the top. Armon goes into a meditative mode once he arrives in Ronda. Reading between the lines, it is suggested that he was ripe for the epiphany he experiences towards the end. However, the transformation he suffers, the happiness and thirst for life that envelop him so rapidly, are far-fetched. You cannot shed your skin like if you were a snake at molting time. The very essence of you remains always with you, and Armon's melancholy is Armon himself. The best part of the book, to me, is the analysis that Armon makes of his family relationships. The introspection that he experiences in the solitude of the studio is described in an exquisite way. I wonder how much autobiographical stuff is in Armon. This novel is to me much more satisfying that the Griffin and Sabine Trilogy, despite discrepancies, artifice and Italian vocabulary. Armon's conversations with himself make this book worth it. One of the editorial reviews calls it a 'fairy tale', and that's right on the money.
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