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Summary: There is no There There - But That's the Whole Point
Review: Minimalist fiction with its perfect sentences and sometimes obscure and unknowable characters usually does not appeal to me. However, in Andorra the style and technique match the author's purpose. The Andorra of the title is not the real country, but a world we would escape to. (The unreal geography is the first clue.) Yet this world of escape is like the one we live in. It reflects ourselves. We cannot always succeed in being good or kind or in finding truth; the police will make us paranoid (especially if we have something to be paranoid about); love and friends are hard to find and keep; escape is a wish or perhaps only escapism. Cameron expertly pulls all this together.The book is not quibble-less. The restrained depiction of characters often results in a certain coldness. The conversation is sometimes too unreal for even this unreal Andorra. Still, these were minor faults in an otherwise profound book.
Rating: 
Summary: Exquisite.. but it does disappoint
Review: Peter Cameron's writing is consistently beautiful, and this novel is no exception - indeed it contains some of his finest writing. I was quickly lost in his Andorran town, and sometimes it took my breath away, because his writing is exquisite - clean, but never spare, simple but never dowdy. However, more than with his other novels, I thought he tried to hard to make the plot more important, and he just didn't need to. All the characters are enveloped in the most tantalising mysteries, but when these are revealed, there's something of an anticlimax, and then again, nothing is revealed of characters who are intriguing to the point of exasperation. It's a fabulous book and I don't want to be as mean as I am being, but I feel he just lets sensation win outover soul in the end, and I expect more of him.
Rating: 
Summary: I sometimes wish I'm Kafka too
Review: The reviews have been amazing, but this "magical" book can really seem as hollow as a bad card trick. The writing is certainly precise, but so very precious and affected also. Cameron is a very good writer, but this is a mediocre book--a little glass bubble with snow inside it.
Rating:
Summary: A terrific book for smart readers
Review: This book is smart, funny, beatifully written and very moving. Its orginality and daring may be too challenging for literal readers (see some of these other reviews!), but smart readers who enjoy great fiction will not be disappointed. It's one of those rare contemporary novels that begs to be read at least twice.
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Summary: An usual and gripping novel
Review: This compulisve thriller has a very unique and unusual approach. Peter Cameron's excellent clarity and restraint did make the novel all the more a pleasure.
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Summary: Clever book has Out-Foxed Some
Review: This elegant novel has evaded (and therefore disapointed)some readers but those who read it closely -- and enjoy its details -- will be richly rewarded. Peter Cameron's characters in this novel are at once immensely human and mysterious. Cameron's Andorra is beautiful and mysterious. Read the bood: allow yourself to leave your country for awhile and luxuriate in Peter Cameron's. It's worth the trip.
Rating:
Summary: sublime
Review: This is a stunning book, and one I don't really recognize in most of the editorial or customer reviews posted here. By purposefully misnaming the book Andorra, the author seems to be telling us that the plot details are secondary...instead the focus is on is the attempts of the main character to maintain strict control over his new life, measuring everything and everyone around him. We slowly come to understand why he has done this, as we see the simplest of encounters cause his life to spin out of control. It's a testament to Cameron's writing that this doesn't quickly get tiring; instead the result is striking, with wonderful insights coming from each encounter. The writing is nimble and spare. A wonderful book...I found myself wanting to reread it as soon as I had finished it.
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Summary: Intriguing little story for summer reading
Review: This is an enjoyable book in a fantasy land about a rather elusive character and those he encounters - perfect for beach reading.
Rating:
Summary: A nice read....
Review: Worth the four hours it takes to read it.
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