Rating: Summary: Share and Share Alike Review: A rich theatrical producer and his middle-aged lover buy the grandest house in what has to be the wackiest little village in Britain. They hope to get along with the locals, but as "two gentlemen sharing" they fear their little burg may not be ready for gay acceptance.Corlett sets out his own take on the British postcolonial farce, which is trying to satirize a satire. As such he doesn't use a great deal of plot but keeps introducing characters, one more outrageous than the next. There's Doris Day the cleaning lady, who remembers her namesake's tunes but mangles the lyrics beyond recognition. There's the extortionist who runs the grocery store, the corporate wives, the timid wife-next-door and her martinet husband, an ex-RAF type. There's even a drop-dead-gorgeous Italian dropped into the stew to keep things going. We have to be forcibly reminded that Rich, the theatrical producer, is in the States during most of these goings-on. The action culminates in a concert to which the whole town has been invited, and for which there are unforeseen and irreversible consequences. "Two Gentlemen Sharing" isn't subtle. It isn't interior. But it's good fun and if you don't ask too much of it, it's enjoyable.
Rating: Summary: two gentleman sharing Review: A total HOOT! I laughed out loud numerous times, could not put it down, and even woke up the dog in the middle of the night laughing!
Rating: Summary: A musty slog through the country slide Review: Fans of the great E.F. Benson's Mapp and Lucia series will recognize this book for the awkward and charmless knockoff that it is. All the brilliant characters from Tilling are here in disguise: Colonel Flint, uber-dyke Irene, even the parson's mousey little wife Eve, everyone's been dragged out of their coffins and propped up around the tea table. Even without knowing Benson's work, it would be hard to warm to stroytelling this clumsy and stiff with dialogue that flows like a telegraph.
Rating: Summary: a good funny story Review: I bought this book after reading "Now and Then" by the same author. At first I was a little disappointed, "this is not the Corlett I know", I thought. Then I started laughing. This comedy which goes from humor to farce, is irresistible. It reminds me of the Italian "commedia dell'arte" or the British "comedy of manners". Funny characterization, farcical situations make of this novel one of the funniest books I ever read.
Rating: Summary: a good funny story Review: I bought this book after reading "Now and Then". At first I was a little disappointed, "this is not the Corlett I know" I thought. Then I started laughing. This comedy which goes from humor to farce, is irresistible. It reminds me of the Italian "commedia dell'arte" or the British "comedy of manners". Funny characterization, farcical situation make of this novel one of the funniest thing I ever read.
Rating: Summary: a good funny story Review: I bought this book after reading "Now and Then" by the same author. At first I was a little disappointed, "this is not the Corlett I know", I thought. Then I started laughing. This comedy which goes from humor to farce, is irresistible. It reminds me of the Italian "commedia dell'arte" or the British "comedy of manners". Funny characterization, farcical situations make of this novel one of the funniest books I ever read.
Rating: Summary: Liked it Review: I bought this book after reading "Now and Then". At first I was a little disappointed, "this is not the Corlett I know" I thought. Then I started laughing. This comedy which goes from humor to farce, is irresistible. It reminds me of the Italian "commedia dell'arte" or the British "comedy of manners". Funny characterization, farcical situation make of this novel one of the funniest thing I ever read.
Rating: Summary: Camp with Some Heart Review: It's a delight to re-discover an author one adored in childhood, and to find out that he is gay is sweet, to say the least. This tale picks up its pace almost from the beginning, with a cast of kooky stock English village pussies and curmudgeons enacting a somewhat confused and rather amusing scene in a shop run by an imperious, crafty and avaricious shopkeepress. The story proceeds to spin out a million twists and inane spins, binding itself in the complex tentacles of the ever-more-convoluted descriptions of unfortunate, inopportune and ultimately hilarious events, culminating in a frenetic meltdown featuring a ragged prima donna and an ethnic drag, amongst others. Though filled with characters scarcely fleshier than the paper itself, the story is gently amusing and never mean, the camp tempered with a touch of genuine warmth and just a wisp of sensitivity.
Rating: Summary: Gay SitCom in Need of Serious Editing Review: The premise of this book is funny enough...a slightly mismatched gay couple buys a mansion in a small English country village next door to a homophobic retired brigadier general. Unfortunately, this cute premise is diluted by the author's introduction of far too many characters and subplots that go nowhere and a writing style that feels as if the author was being paid by the page. There are entire chapters that have no laughs, no insight, and no significance to the main plot. Boil this book down to half of its length, and it would be a winner.
Rating: Summary: Diverting, but Hardly Original Review: This is a light and breezy small village comedy of manners, a la P.G. Wodehouse, albeit with a gay theme. When a rich London theatrical producer buys the "Hall House" in a small village an hour outside London, and installs his young boyfriend there, wacky antics ensue. The books is chock-a-block with misunderstandings, mistaken identities, secret longings, and over-the-top characters. Per the genre, the book ends with all the characters gathered for a party which quickly degenerates into a wild fiasco in which all is revealed and resolved. It's all fairly diverting stuff, although I never found it laugh-out-loud funny, nor particularly insightful on gay issues.
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