Rating: 
Summary: A richly constructed book
Review: As I picked up this novel off the shelf the first thing that caught my eye was the front cover. It has been said over and over that you 'must not judge a book by its cover' however I did so without any further contemplation. At the beginning of reading this book I found it enlightning and rather intelligable, though as I drifted further off into the storyline I found it quite droning and repetitive. Not only was the story line love based, but the way Hazzard writes each word seems to be that of a "wannabe" shakespeare or something of the sort. Despite such bad feed-back of Hazzards work it does have its moments. The characters were fairly well explained, though maybe a little too much, and the storyline did have its ups and downs where some days I wanted to know what happened next and others I just couldn't think of anything worse. Good attempt. I reccomend it to those who cannot live without books because it will be one in which you will never forget whether you like it or not.
Rating:
Summary: Response to unhappy book club reader
Review: At first, your club's poor opinion of TRANSIT shocked me. Then I recalled that I'd recommended it to a friend who also ran a book club in NYC; her friends were not quite as dismissive as yours about the book, but they too found it difficult to understand. Without meaning in any way to deride your taste or that of your circle, I can only speculate that TRANSIT disappoints because modern eyes are less than eager to embrace its very different style. You call it 'affected'; yet I assure you that I can usually spot affectation before the cover opens, and Hazzard is in no way guilty of such. There is to me a beautiful and rare RHYTHM in her writing. It is musical and poetic in the best senses of those words, and readers largely accustomed to the fourth-grade syntax and tone of most modern popular novels will, I suppose, feel lost. As for its being 'unintelligible': my turn to be lost. The lives of two sisters are followed, and that's all. They're followed with exquisite attention and fatalistic power, but followed plainly.
Rating: 
Summary: Mislead by Other Reviews
Review: Based on these recommendations, I selected "Transit of Venus" for my book club. Result: Everyone hated it. The writing style is affected to the point of being unintelligable. All readers agreed that the story was borderline absurd and the plot scattered and poorly constructed. At best, I consider this book a case study of highly stylized writing and poor editing. I learned my lesson to never subject my fellow book clubbers to a book based solely on recommendations!
Rating: 
Summary: Dangerous liaisons
Review: Basically I liked TRANSIT OF VENUS. Ms Hazzard is adept at characterization, and there are many gems along the way about human psychology and relationships.At the same time, the novel seems to adopt the premise that only adulterous affairs are interesting or passionate. Every character seems to indulge in one--or two or more. I'm not a churchgoer, so my objection is not that of conventional morality, yet I do value loyalty, faithfulness, and commitment. Even if one fails at these, they seem to be the standard that one should try to meet. SPOILER: Caro is the protagonist, but Ted turns out to be the moral center. As Caro discovers at the crisis/climax, it is longsuffering Ted who has uprightly refused to take unfair advantage of an amoral rival in his quest for Caro's love. And it is this discovery--from the rival himself after he has lost interest in Caro--that causes Caro to suddenly love Ted. One problem, Ted is married, to a woman whom he had earlier desctibed as "all things lovable" (or words to that effect). And yet in a moment, he leaves her for Caro. As a contrast, I recently saw THE HOURS (Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Meryl Streep, Ed Harris), and found it both intriguing and touching. It dealt with love WITHIN marriage--and yet it did not show that this love solved all problems. It showed people remaining true to those they loved--but it also showed that even such love is not enough. The Julianne Moore character, for instance, is loved, but feels the love as oppression. Yet she does not seek another man, but considers only suicide or abandonment of her family as escapes. Perhaps the comparison is not fair, since the tone of THE HOURS is more tragic than that of TRANSIT--but still......
Rating:
Summary: Dangerous liaisons
Review: Basically I liked TRANSIT OF VENUS. Ms Hazzard is adept at characterization, and there are many gems along the way about human psychology and relationships. At the same time, the novel seems to adopt the premise that only adulterous affairs are interesting or passionate. Every character seems to indulge in one--or two or more. I'm not a churchgoer, so my objection is not that of conventional morality, yet I do value loyalty, faithfulness, and commitment. Even if one fails at these, they seem to be the standard that one should try to meet. SPOILER: Caro is the protagonist, but Ted turns out to be the moral center. As Caro discovers at the crisis/climax, it is longsuffering Ted who has uprightly refused to take unfair advantage of an amoral rival in his quest for Caro's love. And it is this discovery--from the rival himself after he has lost interest in Caro--that causes Caro to suddenly love Ted. One problem, Ted is married, to a woman whom he had earlier desctibed as "all things lovable" (or words to that effect). And yet in a moment, he leaves her for Caro. As a contrast, I recently saw THE HOURS (Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Meryl Streep, Ed Harris), and found it both intriguing and touching. It dealt with love WITHIN marriage--and yet it did not show that this love solved all problems. It showed people remaining true to those they loved--but it also showed that even such love is not enough. The Julianne Moore character, for instance, is loved, but feels the love as oppression. Yet she does not seek another man, but considers only suicide or abandonment of her family as escapes. Perhaps the comparison is not fair, since the tone of THE HOURS is more tragic than that of TRANSIT--but still......
Rating: 
Summary: The Transit of the Tedious
Review: How lucky, there are books for every taste. But some books are so overdone and pretentious, one must assume some of the more glowing reviews are sponsored by the friends of the writer or the publisher. Surely, without the motivation of a book club, most of us would put down this pinkie-in-the-air soap opera after the first chapter. It is not time well spent unless you are in jail and have read everything else six times.
Rating:
Summary: A richly constructed book
Review: I just finished the Transit of Venus and enjoyed it so much. As the other reviewers have noted, it does require you to pay close attention. But there is great reward in doing so. It is filled with rich imagery and universal truths that resonate with the reader. It has remained very much in my mind since I finished it. If you are willing to take your time and challenge your mind a little more than with the usual modern novel, you will be in for a wonderful journey.
Rating: 
Summary: Good and not so good
Review: I read this book about 20 years ago, but when I picked it up again, I didn't remember a thing about it except that back then I didn't like it. I liked it this time, but found the writing pretentious. Why should I read entire paragraphs without understanding them when I have read, understood and enjoyed other "difficult" books from Tolstoy to Bellow to Atwood? Maybe the problem is that this is British from an unfamiliar era. Oh, well. I didn't really like any of the characters. Caro was cold, Grace a whimp, Christian self-involved, Ted a martyr, Paul egocentric. The protraits of minor characters such as Caro's fellow office workers were the best part of the book. The plot was nothing much and the end...well, did they live happily ever after or not? I couldn't figure it out.
But it did keep my attention and entertain me for a week. Not all that bad.
Rating:
Summary: A moving and compelling novel
Review: It is hard to do justice to this masterful work. I finished it several days ago but the emotional images are still lingering. This is a wise, moving and many layered novel that absorbed my attention more than any book I have read in years. It is not a quick read, the style is somewhat formal, but the rewards are well worth the time investment. I expect to return to this book again and again over the years and I strongly recommend it for "readers" who find many books too shallow or light.
Rating:
Summary: Jane Austin, Not
Review: Jane Austin without character. First the characters are very shallow and uninspired. Second the characters have no character. They are not torn between right and wronge, well at least not in the first 147 pages, I would have stopped long before this were it not for my book club meeting. The most entertaining part of the work so far is I find myself casting the movie. Hmm, I think Jude Law as Paul, Catherine Zeta Jones perhaps for Caro, obviously Nicole Kidman or her pal what's her name for Grace. Perhaps Henry Thomas for Ted, and throw in Anthony Hopkings and Emma ? that should be enough star power. Anyway I'm back to work on this, must finnish by the 13th
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