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Loading... Winter in Madrid (original 2006; edition 2006)by C. J. Sansom
Work InformationWinter in Madrid by C. J. Sansom (2006)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. I read this book on my first trip to Madrid. Very absorbing and evocative of the time and the place. Highly recommended. ( ) C.J. riesce a creare un legame tra il lettore ed i suoi personaggi, sebbene il racconto risenta di alti e bassi. Sandy annui'. "Come ho detto al caffe', il futuro appartiene a chi e' capace di afferrare la vita. Non dovremmo mai permettere al passato di tenerci fermi. E il destino non esiste." (215) Harry: "Perche', in pratica, non puoi cambiare nulla", rispose stancamente. "Sono tutti troppo forti, alla fine ti schiacciano." Barbara: "Non ci credo. devi batterti." Harry: "Io ho perso." (613) Ultima nota (polemica): la Sperling & Kupfer dovrebbe cercarsi un correttore di bozze con la seguente esperienza: correttore di bozze! I really enjoyed reading this book for the most part, set in Franco’s Spain (mostly Madrid) just after his fascist forces prevailed in the Civil War. But the ending goes so wrong in so many different ways, it spoiled what had been a gripping story filled with interesting, sympathetic characters in a compelling setting. Worth reading for the historical details about Spain during and just after the Civil War; but be prepared for the story to go spectacularly off the rails and the characters to behave in implausible and unrealistic ways in the end. I am having a very hard time reading lately. There is the pressure of time, but even more there is the feeling that I cannot at this moment handle anything too emotionally draining. So I chose to read this book – an historical mystery type of book – to get me over the rump. Like other reviewers, I found the book too long, a bit predictable and a tad unbelievable. But 3 stars I gave it! First of all, it did help me – at least I know that a book can keep my attention, and I might just try another one. But, even if the plot is contrived, the historical research appears to be accurate, and it did leave me with the feelings that I now understand the political machinations of the time period better. Great way to learn history – in a “All I know I learned in Romance Novels” kind of way.
A best seller in Britain, “Winter in Madrid” prompted some reviewers there to compare Sansom to Graham Greene, Sebastian Faulks and even Hemingway, but I came away less convinced. The idea of transferring public school rivalries to a real battleground is certainly clever, but more introspection would have been welcome. Without the compensation of rich language, the novel’s formulaic structure becomes all too visible. True, Sansom has come up with a surprise ending, but that’s what you expect of a thriller. The problem is that there aren’t enough thrills in the chapters leading up to it. "The uneasy relationship of three British schoolmates haunts their adult lives during the first years of Francisco Franco’s dark Spanish dictatorship in a novel from the author of the excellent Matthew Shardlake Tudor detective stories (Sovereign, 2007, etc.)." It's always a risky strategy for an author to change horses in midstream. If you have enjoyed the critical (and commercial) success that C J Sansom has had with his elegantly written Tudor crime novels, why test the loyalty of your readership by delivering a literary saga set in Spain at the end of the Civil War? Yet if this radical change of direction loses readers, that will be a great shame. Sansom establishes that he is as much a master of this era as of that of Henry VIII. Belongs to Publisher Series
In the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, reluctant British Secret Service spy Harry Brett investigates a shadowy Madrid businessman whose girlfriend would prevent a former lover from joining the communist cause. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.92Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 2000-LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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