City Travel Guides > Books > By Period

Average Rating:

.On the Road (Penguin Modern Classics)
City Travel Guides > Books > By Period
by: Jack Kerouac

February 24, 2000
I first read this book when I was 18 years old and as cliched as it may sound it changed my entire outlook on life. It illustrated to me that rebellion and individuality are the best of things and that even in a world as violent and corrupt as this one, love and friendship can still prosper. The visceral and profound honesty with which Kerouac writes takes the reader to the heart of the action and the unrelenting pace of the narrative propels one on and on, just like Sal and Dean themselves are propelled to "go go go". No literature fan can afford not to read this all time great, that Kerouac never really came close to matching. Simply beautiful.
>>See More Reviews & Details on On the Road (Penguin Modern Classics)

Used Price: £3.50

Average Rating:

.The Island
City Travel Guides > Books > By Period
by: Victoria Hislop

April 10, 2006
Hype led me to read this book which, I felt sure, was going to be a winner. How wrong I was! This was like reading a history book of the driest kind. The prose was flat, dull and utterly uninspired. There was a marked absence of use of original metaphor or simile or any richness of language that would have made the book with its unusual subject matter an exciting read. As it clunked along I found myself struggling to finish it - and at the end I'd forgotten all about Alex and Ed as, after the first brief introduction, no reference whatsoever had been made to them until the end. It is hard to see why this book got published. Is it possible to give it 0 stars?
>>See More Reviews & Details on The Island

Used Price: £0.01

Average Rating:

.The Damned Utd
City Travel Guides > Books > By Period
by: David Peace

April 05, 2007
An astounding book. A riveting portrait of fraility and self-doubt full of drama and pace and tragedy. I have little idea who most of these people are but was utterly gripped by the sheer power of the prose. Just amazing.
>>See More Reviews & Details on The Damned Utd

Used Price: £0.60

Average Rating:

.Heart of Darkness
City Travel Guides > Books > By Period
by: Joseph Conrad

April 28, 1994
I originally read this novel as a first year undergraduate in 1988. I found it dull and very hard work. I still remember having to force myself to read a page or two each night just to get through it. The horror indeed. I recently thought I would try reading it again as, after so long and with more mature tastes I might enjoy it. But no. I gave it my best shot - and then gave up. Maybe I'll have another go in 2028...
>>See More Reviews & Details on Heart of Darkness

Used Price: £0.01

Average Rating:

.The Return
City Travel Guides > Books > By Period
by: Victoria Hislop

June 26, 2008
The reasons I chose this book to read were firstly because I enjoyed "The Island" by the same author, and secondly because I wanted to find out more about the Spanish Civil War, after visiting Spain several times recently and being fascinated by the film Pan's Labyrinth.
It is a perfectly readable story of Mercedes and her family, and how they are destroyed, along with millions of other innocents, in the civil war, which like other civil wars, divided even close family members.
I find it shocking and frightening that the events described happened so recently; but that the name of Franco is not spoken of as frequently and with such loathing as that as Hitler. Also, that the thousands of tourists who visit Spain every year, myself among them, ... Read More:
>>See More Reviews & Details on The Return

Used Price: £6.68

Average Rating:

.Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain
City Travel Guides > Books > By Period
by: Evelyn Waugh

March 30, 2000
I came to Brideshead Revisited with high hopes, and to a certain extent they were realised. The dialogue sparkles with wit and verve, and the descriptions of aristocratic life between the war imbue the book with a faded glamour. The story initially revolves around the friendship between Charles Ryder and Lord Sebastian Flyte, an aristocratic student at Oxford whose eccentric lifestyle masks a deeper personal crisis. Roughly half way through the book, Sebastian's growing alcoholism drives an irreversable wedge between him and Charles, and for me, this is where the book slightly loses its way. I found Sebastian's alcoholic antics tedious, and the speed with which Charles breaks away from his former friend unlikely. The remainder of the novel, for me, retained none of the charm of ... Read More:
>>See More Reviews & Details on Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain

Used Price: £3.60

Average Rating:

.Second Glance
City Travel Guides > Books > By Period
by: Jodi Picoult

August 21, 2008
This is the first Picoult that I have enjoyed from start to finish in a while. I do get slightly annoyed when she introduces so many characters at once, but once into the story it was a really good read. Thoroghly recommended!
>>See More Reviews & Details on Second Glance

Used Price: £2.03

Average Rating:

.Of Mice and Men: with Notes: With Notes (Longman Literature Steinbeck)
City Travel Guides > Books > By Period
by: John Steinbeck, Jim Taylor

September 01, 2000
I read Of Mice and Men as part of a practice GCSE exercise with my class and found myself pleasantly surprised at the quality of writing. Steinbeck clearly deserved his Nobel Prize in literature and this classic piece of American literature is evidence. The author uses simple but appropriate language to portray the era of the Great Depression (1930s). The book is rather slow but enticing as the slow build up gives way for a truly original climax. Demonstrating a mastery of language, description and dialogue, 'Of Mice and Men' is truly emotional and deals with a lot of the problems faced in the 1930s and our outlook on society in general.
>>See More Reviews & Details on Of Mice and Men: with Notes: With Notes (Longman Literature Steinbeck)

Used Price: £3.11

Average Rating:

.One Fifth Avenue
City Travel Guides > Books > By Period
by: Candace Bushnell

September 23, 2008
I bought this book on a whim, needing a pick me up on a cold and dreary weekend. I wasn't sure if Bushnell could deliver the goods, but this novel was genuinely enjoyable. She's created an interesting little story and filled it with a mix of likable and not so likable characters. While her insight into New York society seems slightly dated, in spite of the many new media references, her passion for the city shines through as she manages to capture both its glorious history and the never-ending struggle for success.

This book won't put any demands on you as a reader, but it will help to while away a few hours.
>>See More Reviews & Details on One Fifth Avenue

Used Price: £9.94

Average Rating:

.The Birthday Present
City Travel Guides > Books > By Period
by: Barbara Vine

August 28, 2008
(I intended four stars but I can't change it back. Oh well.)

The Birthday Present has probably been the book I was most looking forward to in 2008, especially considering how good Rendell's last effort under the Vine name - The Minotaur - was. Sadly, this doesn't get within a long creeping tendril's distance of the quality.

It's early 1990. The Thatcher government it's nearing it's last days, and there's a love affair going on. Ivor Tesham, a thirty-year-old political rising star is secretly bedding beautiful London housewife Hebe Furnal. For her birthday Ivor decides to give her a special present that certain more open couples have begun to engage in: a practice known as `adventure sex'. Hebe is to be abducted, consenting but unknowing of when, at an unknown venue ... Read More:
>>See More Reviews & Details on The Birthday Present

Used Price: £9.00