Beginner's Greek

I wanted to read BEGINNER'S GREEK because of the full-page, front-loaded, gushing review it received in The New York Times Book Review. The reviewer compared the book to "a big sunny lemon chiffon pie," to let the reader know that BEGINNER'S GREEK is light and frivolous, yet fit for a gourmet palate and with a pleasing tang. Well, that's accurate enough.

BEGINNER'S GREEK is wonderfully written, with a smooth and luscious style, understated humor, unexpected yet appropriate metaphors, a profusion of biting-yet-not-quite-cruel character studies, and a minimum of frou-frou, "virtuosic" writerly clutter.

BUT. Starting with the prologue, when Peter muses that women who read books by overrated English novelists on a plane are to be avoided at show more all costs, while readers of THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN are infinitely desirable, it's clear that BEGINNER'S GREEK was written for snobs. It's full of literary references for experienced readers to find, and then pat themselves on the back for catching - but it's also full of discreet contempt for intellectuals...or at least certain intellectuals. The less-perfect intellectuals who try too hard, who struggle to be sophisticated when others achieve it effortlessly.

Talk about biting the hand that feeds.

The hero of the novel, Peter Russell, is presented as an idealized nice guy - handsome, wealthy, athletic, but also charmingly earnest and just a little naive. Very sweet. The problem is, he's mostly nice by comparison. He's nice in comparison to his best friend, a manipulative and deeply selfish philanderer. The friendship alone suggests something might be wrong with Peter - the fact that Peter hates his best friend, but maintains the friendship, confirms it. He's nice in comparison to his boss, a cartoonishly villainous man whose days are spent plotting Peter's downfall. It's hard not to come out ahead in that comparison. And we're led to believe that Peter is nice because he's marrying Charlotte, an annoying and humorless woman he doesn't love...or even like that much. I'm sorry, I don't think that's nice at all.

Especially since meanwhile, Peter is in love with Holly. Holly couldn't be more perfect. She is gorgeous, she is kind, she is smart, she is a good listener, she is thoughtful, she is educated, she is funny. She is a composite of womanly virtues. She also happens to be in love with Peter. But circumstances keep them apart - and that, of course, is the meat of BEGINNER'S GREEK.

In fact, for the first two-thirds of the novel circumstances really go to town on Peter and Holly. Just as it starts to look like Peter and Holly might finally have their chance, some improbable disaster intervenes to separate them. Further events clear the obstacle, but before anything can happen another improbable disaster sunders them anew. This makes for an incredibly anxious reading experience. Perhaps it is to the author's credit, but I would have to call it an unpleasantly anxious reading experience.

BEGINNER'S GREEK is a smart, well-written, frequently insightful book. But the bad impression I had of Peter at the beginning was slow to dissipate, the sly sneers at the reader enraged me, and the plotting was occasionally ridiculous. For me, the negatives were stronger than the positives. show less

USA Today called Beginner’s Greek “a literary love story for grown-ups,” and Library Journal compares James Collins to Jane Austen. With a write-up like that, I wasn’t at all sure what to expect. I have a bad reaction to hyperbole, so I probably wouldn’t even have started to read the book in a bookstore. But Hachette Book Group had included it in a gift parcel that I won from Nights and Weekends, and I’m so glad, or I’d have missed a rare treat.

James Collins writes with the same detachment and attention to detail as Jane Austen, but his characters, relationships and predicaments are thoroughly up to date. From promiscuity to trophy wife to lifelong love and devotion, every shape and form of marriage is represented. And the show more path of true love is ever tortuous, running through coincidence, calamity, and the capriciousness of fate. Near the end of the book, with too many pages to go, I thought all was about to be revealed between the two love-birds, but a final twist threatened to unravel everything. I found myself wondering how the author would bring it all together, but I knew for sure he would. And of course, he did.

This book is truly a comedy of errors, Shakespearean in its scope, Austenian in its charm, and thoroughly modern in its characters and its world. A fine fun read, and it’ll surely make a fine fun movie one day. show less

In his debut fiction effort Collins takes what should be a simple story – boy meets girl, boy loses phone number, boy finds girl – and teases it along with nuance and finesse to create a wonderful tale of coincidence, miscommunication, and fate. Like a thrilling Shakespearean romantic comedy we meet a full cast of characters that the omniscient narrator develops with great insight and depth and we read with great anticipation as they bounce their way through life like pinballs when the machine is on full tilt. When Peter meets Holly on a transcontinental flight his romantic ideals are finally realized. While both are a bit shy and reserved, they instantly connect and their dreams of true love seem all but fulfilled, until Peter show more realizes he’s lost Holly’s phone number and doesn’t know enough about her to ever find her again. When, several years later, Holly shows up on the arm of Peter’s best friend the romantic roller coaster is set in motion. Lives intersect, but circumstances prevent connection. Lives reconnect, but fate intervenes. Will Peter and Holly ever unite, or were they really not meant for each other? Bring in a scheming boss, a philanthropic tycoon, a compassionate stepmother, and a bolt of lightning and you’ve got an emotional mix that thrills right up to the last page. As quoted by author Larry Doyle, “James Collins is the new Jane Austen, only taller.” show less

I read a lot of buzz about this book in the papers, and I was anxious to read it since it was billed as better than the average chick lit. As chick lit is a guilty pleasure of mine, I was interested in something that would make it a little better.

I have to admit, I was disappointed at first. The prologue is great, but then the novel drags, switching viewpoints from character to character. I found myself saying "why do I care what this person thinks, and why does the author go into so much detail about everything?" But then the plot started moving, the pace picked up, and I really enjoyed the end of this book.

If you need a fast read, this is not for you, since you probably won't make it through the first couple of long chapters. But if show more you're willing to stick with it, the end of this book is as satisfying as the best chick lit i've read. Parts of the book are a bit unbelievable, but so is most chick lit, right?

I'm looking forward to future books from the author. show less

Intricately designed first novel uses multiple points of view allowing the reader to feel within the inner circle, knowing all the secrets, waiting for the main characters to learn them.
Peter and Holy meet cute on a plane. Boy loses phone number. Both are upset by loss of contact. Fate? They both seem to believe in it. But fate takes a meandering road for these two.
Secondary characters are extremely well-written - having agendas of their own. I found myself caring less about Peter than the others who surround him.
The female characters are especially well written by a male author. I really felt I knew them.
While the scenes at Peter's job seemed very out of place until later in the novel, his coworkers are interesting characters.
One show more problem scene for me was the dinner party at the boss's house. Peter holds his own in an extremely varied table discussion. I had no idea he had such knowledge and it made him seem suddenly larger than life. Did I believe that he knew so much about so many topics? I had no inkling of his stores of information prior to that scene.
Holy is painted so perfect as to be almost imaginary (yes, I am aware that she is just that). But could she be that blind to Peter's feelings?
I found myself really interested in other characters: Peter's wife Charlotte, Charlotte's step-mother Janet, Peter's boss Arthur. Even Jonathan - the best friend; the one who got the girl; the one with no morality. He is interesting in a car crash way. Ramifications of his actions flow through the story long after he departs. So many people allowed their lives to be drastically affected by this one flirtatious womanizer.
The novel's title comes from a poem Peter recites at the aforementioned dinner party. It speaks of not trusting intense feelings toward anything - art, nature, love. For a romantic like Peter, seems an unusual choice of poetry to retain in memory. Is the poem real or part of the novel? May need to research that question.
All in all, a pretty impressive first novel. Keeps the reader's attention focused and forces one to think and rethink possible avenues to be traveled.
Spots of humor, especially the slapstick in waning chapters, made me laugh out loud. Always a good sign. . . show less

Mixed feelings on this one.

I loved the premise of somewhat star-crossed lovers meeting on an airplane but I struggled with almost everything else. To me, the writing seemed stiff and repetitive and the main characters seemed weirdly one dimensional. I felt like I knew more (and more importantly cared more) about the secondary characters than I did about Peter and Holly and I'm not quite sure why. Holly in particular was just "beautiful and good" and we were told that a hundred times.

I suspect that this would be a pretty good chick flick.

3.5 stars

Peter always wanted to meet a girl on a plane and fall in love. He meets Holly and does just that, but then... he loses her phone number. Fast-forward 12 years, and Peter is engaged to Charlotte, but he's still in love with Holly, who now happens to be married to Peter's best friend, Jonathan.

I liked this. I could have done without most of Peter's work turmoil, though some of that does play into everything else going on a bit later, but not all of it. The book does follow different characters through different parts of the book, which is kind of interesting, so the reader knows what is going on with everyone.