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Urban Roy

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About Urban Roy

  • Birthday 06/23/1977

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    http://overexcitedgeek.blogspot.com/

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  1. I thought that this was an extraordinary book. I loved the way that you are effortlessly drawn into a premise that is pretty unbelievable if you thought about it in any depth. There seemed to be very few places where there were loose ends that needed tidying up which can often be annoying when an author hasn't thought things through completely. I loved the fact that this book was all about relationships and that the time traveling aspect is used as a tool to emphasise particular points of the relationships. . If nothing else it is the first (only) book that I actually got teary at by the end. I think it is a combination of loving the characters and the way that the ending is inevitable but even so you can't bear it when it happens. .
  2. Brilliant, thanks for those, I'm going to go to bed chuckling quietly to myself!
  3. Thanks for this review, really interested to hear about this book as I wasn't aware of it. Without wishing to name drop (although I clearly am) I briefly met the author of this novel (Clemmie to her friends...Miss Burton-Hill to me) a couple of years ago (she was absolutely delightful). I haven't read the novel but I fully intend to seek it out. It looks like she has followed the rule of writing about what you know as she is an actress who is probably starting to move into films. Wikipedia assures me that she is the daughter of Humphrey Burton so, much like the character in the book she has a long shadow to step out from under. Looking at the really helpful review of the book it looks like she is starting to do just that.
  4. I read this recently and enjoyed it although I don't think that this is his best. It felt like classic McEwan in that he manages to create a vague feeling of discomfort early on (although I don't think that he does it as well as he did in Atonement) which builds and eventually reveals its source. I like the way that he tells the story of this couple's relationship against the background of the events of one night. It could just have felt like tedious back story but it isn't and is really neatly done. I hadn't seen that theory before but I know exactly which paragraph they are thinking of as it crossed my mind when I read it as it felt a little heavy handed. Having read some of his other books, I suspect that this was in deliberately and he equally deliberately made it ambiguous (to be honest I find that kind of slightly knowing literary technique quite irritating as it feels a little like painting by numbers). Anyway overall I reckon that this is a pretty typical Ian McEwan novel and as it is quite short a useful intro to his work if you want to see if you get on with him or not!
  5. Hope you enjoy it. On Chesil Beach is a good place to start and at 50-60,000 words it shouldn't feel like a massive commitment if it turns out that it's not your kind of thing!
  6. Thanks all for the warm welcome, that is really kind. I enjoyed it and found it pretty standard McEwan fare. I find Ian McEwan can be a little hit and miss, in that I really enjoyed Atonement, but I thought that Amsterdam, was just awful (given that it won the Booker I think that is my failing). I think that On Chesil Beach compares to The Innocent in terms of a fantastical, but belivable, plot and the style of writing. Have you read any other McEwan? What do you think? I find American politics fascinating and this is very much Obama's take on how to sort out America. He is writing for an American audience so to me (as a British reader) some things don't resonate as much as they could, and others seem frankly a little strange. Also, while there are glimpse's of his poetry, this reads in a much more conversational way. But in light of what is going on in the world today, if this is, in some ways, his manifesto, it will be really interesting to see if he stands by his views. What's Dream's from my father like?
  7. Hello all. I came across this site and after a little bit of lurking I thought that I would say hello. My name's Roy and I probably fool myself into thinking that I have more eclectic reading tastes than I really do. I'm not a particularly prolific reader but this year so far I've got through The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri and On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan. I'm currently reading The Sea by John Banville, Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (if reading's the correct term) and Obama's The Audacity of Hope. I'm not very good at reading one thing at a time... I have a bunch of authors that I enjoy but I've probably said enough for now. I'm looking forward to meeting you all and joining in the fun!
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