Behind the Scenes at the Museum : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: What am I missing here?
Review: I bought this book based on the glowing recommendations. I could not even finish it. I cared nothing for the protagonist. I could not get into the story at all. Since everyone else seems to have loved it, maybe it's just me, but I sure wish I could get my money back.

Rating:
Summary: Why all the fuss????
Review: If you will allow a voice of dissent here, I almost gave up on this book several times but had heard so much about it, I kept plodding, in the hope it would get better. It didn't. It's badly structured, full of grammatical errors, has too many irrelevant characters and a fairly uninteresting plot. It seems that Atkinson had two ideas- a historical novel and a 20th century soap opera, neither of which was worthy of a full novel, so she threw them in together and came up with this. The characters were too thinly drawn for me to care about and the end of the book suddenly introduces new characters and story lines when it should be drawing to a close. A good editor would have helped - a little. If you really want to read a quality Brtish woman writer, try Rose Tremain- or anyone!

Rating:
Summary: wonderful book!
Review: Though the story is filled with many characters and can be somewhat confusing going back and forth in time, this is a wonderful book about family relationships. I found it almost as complex to follow as Toni Morrison's Paradise but by making a "genealogy tree" of marriages and offsprings, the story for me was much easier to follow. Ms. Atkinson is quite a gifted writer with a very creative touch - connecting the present story with things from the past was extremely unique. And what a way to begin a story about a woman's life with the sentence "I exist" and then to trace her story up to the present with connections to past relatives. It was also unbelievable how she was able to tie all the loose ends of the story together before the ending. I truly loved this book!

Rating:
Summary: I loved this book
Review: This is truly a wonderful book. I loved the dark/dead-pan comedy. It made me laugh, and it made me cry. I was sad when I finished it.

Rating:
Summary: very poignant and thoughtfully written
Review: Kate Atkinson takes you from embryo to middle age through her eyes as Ruby, the youngest daughter in a somewhat dysfunctional family. I love the way she flicks between her life and certain events that have happened to her ancestors lives that have shaped her own. It has a clever twist too. Excellent! Could not put it down!

Rating:
Summary: This book amazed and delighted me
Review: Sorry if my English is not perfect. I was a little suspicious at the beginning because I never heard anything about the author but immediately I just couldn't stoping reading it. The author shows a very sensitive, ironic and bitter imagination. I think this book could only be written by a woman. I'm looking for Human Croquet but I think he is not translated into Portuguese.

Rating:
Summary: Good story but her style of writing can be very confusing.
Review: Although I thoroughly enjoyed the story and her dark humor, Atkinson's style of writing with continual flash backs, fast forwards, the jumps to present time was like wandering through a maze. Some characters appeared early on and were not mentioned again until midway through the book leaving the reader to wonder "who are these people".

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely delightful!!
Review: This book was a real pleasure from start to the dreaded finish. I really hated to turn that last page. Ruby is fascinating and the flashbacks are insightful as well as actually an education in thoughts and feelings of past times. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

Rating:
Summary: i LOVE this book!
Review: i absolutely loved reading this book, and as soon as i finished it i cried, then went out and bought human croquet. i can't even imagine how the book could have been improved--it was truly that good. these characters will stick with you for quite a while--i can't wait to have children so i can name my first daughter ruby... ("i am a precious jewel..."). by far one of the best books i have ever read in my life.

Rating:
Summary: It Kept Me Up All Night
Review: I stayed up til 3:00 a.m. to finish this book. Then I stayed up another two hours just thinking about it. The characters and voices Atkinson creates carried me on a four-generation ride, and have stayed with me ever since. If you enjoy becoming lost in an ever-more-intriguing story, read this book.