- Paperback: 416 pages
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0142002852
- ISBN-13: 978-0142002858
- Product Dimensions: 19.7 x 12.9 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 23 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,707,236 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
An exceptionally well-written book,
By
This review is from: The Idea Of Perfection. (Hardcover)
It is clear why Kate Grenville won the 2001 Orange Prize for this engaging and thoughtful book. Although billed as a romance, the first interest of the book is to elaborate very human, credible characters whose relationships establish a strong and mutually-supporting structure. It is less a romance and more an investigation of community and the meaning of individual perfection within a social context. Grenville captures the spirit of Australian rural life convincingly and laces it with a subtle wit. It is true that the tragedies that have befallen some characters are extreme, but such extreme deluges do happen and are instrumental in forming people's personalities. I would recommend this book to any reader.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A realistic portrayal of small town life,
By Megami (Darwin, Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Idea Of Perfection (Paperback)
This is ostensibly a love story, with two professionals from the city forming an unlikely bond when they are thrown together in a small country town. However, the relationship between the two is only one of many in this well written book. The chapters alternate between the viewpoints of the main characters to develop a well-rounded portrait of all concerned.Karakarook, like many small Australian country towns, has been left behind - they highway doesn't run through town anymore, the bank will soon close its branch, and any industries that supported the town have long gone. Many in the town are pinning their hopes on 'Heritage', which gives a reason for one half of the city partnership, Harley, to be there. She has come from Sydney to organise a museum. She also becomes involved in the fight over another heritage flash point - the old Bent Bridge. Bent Bridge is the reason for the other city person to be in town. Douglas is the engineer tasked with organising the replacement of the bridge. Harley and Douglas have their stories told alternately with that of a third - Felicity, the flighty wife of the bank manager. All three are outsiders - not just in the sense that they have arrived in Karakarook from elsewhere, but they also don't quite belong in the society in which they live. Also, all three have been deeply marked by their backgrounds - Harley forever trying to live up to the expectations of her famous creative family; Douglas living in the shadow of a war hero father he never met; and Felicity trying to forget her humble background while clinging to youthful beauty. Grenville is a skilful enough writer to allude to the importance of these details, while not overburdening the reader with too much character history. Like the other aspects of the book, the author credits the reader with enough intelligence to see the points she is making with being too strident. This is a delight. The fourth main character in the story is the town itself - its history, the lives lived there day-by-day, its physical characteristics. Having lived in more than one small Australian country town, this really rang true for me, and Grenville manages to reign in the 'big town' superiority in her depiction. I was also happily surprised to see the inclusion of a lot of Australian words that the author didn't bother to explain - this is interesting to see in a book that was probably written with an international audience in mind.
2.0 out of 5 stars
uneven at best,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Idea Of Perfection. (Hardcover)
There are some very good scenes in this novel, touching and funny, but it feels overall like a hodgepodge that won't come together. Most disturbing was the way the main character's husband died. It was gothic and sensationalistic and did nothing to advance story or character. It felt as though Grenville had that idea first and built the whole storyline around it. One more thing: the British edition had a knock out cover, which the American edition didn't use, sadly.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
