A Differing view
I am suprised that others did not enjoy 'Modern Times' as I found it a very stimulating read. I thought it was a very well crafted book that maintained its sincerity. I thought it very brave of Grant to attempt to write about so complex and emotive a subject but I thought she handled it very well.
There were so many themes interwoven that it is impossible to pin down exactly what the book was setting out to do and I liked this. It kept sparking off various thoughts in my head and there were various aspects of Evelyn that found I empathised with and others that were completely alien to me. I thought the move from impassioned youth to worldly adult was beautifully done and she avoided making Evelyn cynical in her more mature years. I also thought she chose a very honest ending. I thought for one ghastly minute it was going to be a Captain Corelli’s Mandolin ending and was very glad it wasn’t.
I also thought the whole concept of ‘home’ was an interesting one. ‘Home’ became more than just place, but relationships and ultimately self-identity. As someone who has moved around a lot (albeit in the one country), home to me is about being with those you love, and I got the feeling that this was true of Evelyn. ‘Home’ being with her mother, the one person I felt she really loved and understood and reverted back to, as opposed to passion with Johnny or comfort with Leo.
I found the historical setting of this book fascinating as it was a period of history I was not very familiar with. The building of a city from scratch was a wonderful back drop for such a medley of ideas and cultures. For those of us brought up in relative peace time, in an age of multi-culturalism and the global village it was revealing to see the passionately held post-war patriotism that is so alien to a lot of us. I have only encountered something similar in a Northern Irish friend and, I suspect, for similar reasons.
A great read and refreshing to read a story about Jews that is not set in the Middle Ages or contain songs! I thought it was just as good as Girl with a Pearl Earring so I'd say don't give up on Orange Prize Winners just yet Emily!
There were so many themes interwoven that it is impossible to pin down exactly what the book was setting out to do and I liked this. It kept sparking off various thoughts in my head and there were various aspects of Evelyn that found I empathised with and others that were completely alien to me. I thought the move from impassioned youth to worldly adult was beautifully done and she avoided making Evelyn cynical in her more mature years. I also thought she chose a very honest ending. I thought for one ghastly minute it was going to be a Captain Corelli’s Mandolin ending and was very glad it wasn’t.
I also thought the whole concept of ‘home’ was an interesting one. ‘Home’ became more than just place, but relationships and ultimately self-identity. As someone who has moved around a lot (albeit in the one country), home to me is about being with those you love, and I got the feeling that this was true of Evelyn. ‘Home’ being with her mother, the one person I felt she really loved and understood and reverted back to, as opposed to passion with Johnny or comfort with Leo.
I found the historical setting of this book fascinating as it was a period of history I was not very familiar with. The building of a city from scratch was a wonderful back drop for such a medley of ideas and cultures. For those of us brought up in relative peace time, in an age of multi-culturalism and the global village it was revealing to see the passionately held post-war patriotism that is so alien to a lot of us. I have only encountered something similar in a Northern Irish friend and, I suspect, for similar reasons.
A great read and refreshing to read a story about Jews that is not set in the Middle Ages or contain songs! I thought it was just as good as Girl with a Pearl Earring so I'd say don't give up on Orange Prize Winners just yet Emily!
posted by Helen Shields @ 5:29 PM
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