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Loading... Diverse dieren, levend en dood (original 2012; edition 2013)by Marina Lewycka (Author), Anneke Bok
Work InformationVarious Pets Alive and Dead by Marina Lewycka (2012)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Well written and the subject matter that tipped me into giving 4 stars. I guess I'm the right age group to enjoy it and the author has thrown enough plot into it to make 3 or 4 books - which I love. Needed to pay attention to follow it all.... Doncaster, communes, miners, economics, short selling, allotments, schools and reunions to name a few. ( ) Well written and the subject matter that tipped me into giving 4 stars. I guess I'm the right age group to enjoy it and the author has thrown enough plot into it to make 3 or 4 books - which I love. Needed to pay attention to follow it all.... Doncaster, communes, miners, economics, short selling, allotments, schools and reunions to name a few. This novel is full of unhappy characters, many of which are unlikeable. The telling of the story flits between different members of a family, mum and brother and sister and moves between the present and back to the past when the family lived in a commune. I didn't find the novel laugh out loud funny and it was the saddness that dominated it for me. Marina Lewycka usually has a bitter-sweet aspect to her novels and usually I find that the humour wins out but not this time. Filled with Marina Lewycka's trademark quirky characters and unusual situations, Various Pets Alive and Dead is a really good read. It started off a little slow I thought, but once I had really got into the story I loved it. Doro and Marcus lived in a commune in Doncaster in the 70s and 80s and that's where their children, Serge and Clara, were brought up, along with their adopted sister, Oolie-Anna. Serge and Clara have rebelled against the free living of their childhood and work in banking/trading (Serge) and as a teacher (Clara). The story is set against the backdrop of the finance crisis in 2008. I loved the characterisations and how the story played out. There's not a plot as such as it's more a slice of life story, but oh what lives these characters live! Such a lot of fun. no reviews | add a review
Marco and Doro's children have grown up rather different from them: primary schoolteacher Clara craves order and clean bathrooms; son Serge is pretending to his parents that is still doing a Maths PhD at Cambridge, while in fact making loadsamoney in the City; third child Oolie Anna, who has Down Syndrome, is desperate to escape home and live on her own. Once the truth starts breaking through, who knows what further secrets will be revealed about any of them? Set half in Doncaster, half in London, this is a very funny riff on modern values, featuring hamsters, cockroaches, poodles, a chicken and multiplying rabbits, told by Marina Lewycka in her unique and brilliant combination of irony, farce and wit. 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:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. Penguin Australia3 editions of this book were published by Penguin Australia. Editions: 1905490917, 1905490550, 0141044942 |