The Whole Day Through

My fellow LibraryThing reviewers were not as enamoured with this work as I, but that's their loss, I think. Actually, as I have written previously, the appeal of Gale's writing to me is somewhat hard for me to understand, but more and more I am coming to the conclusion that it's due to he and I sharing a common experience or perspective of life in some way. He writes about stuff he knows and I find great resonance in that. Perhaps it's more than that - I suspect he's writing about lives that I aspire to live. The dominant role of music, the peripheral influence of the church, the aging and decay of our parents' generation, the connection with the land, western middle classes, sexual identity, educational elitism - all these themes show more regularly crop up in his books as they also appear as influences in my life. Reading his books is like having a chat over coffee with someone who knows my life well and who asks me questions that make me think more about the whys and wherefores of how I'm spending my days. The particular issues in this work that I connected with most were the aging, decaying parent; and what might determine who we marry and whether the marriage 'lasts' - and in what form it lasts. I also mark out my day with eating/drinking occasions, similarly to the way the day is divided up in this book. show less

It just goes to show you can't judge a book by its cover. Looking at the front of this one, I would have probably thought....hmm, safe, middle-class, something the Women's Institute would approve of.....I certainly wouldn't have expected it to broach the subject of pubic lice over muesli and chopped banana (which of course it did).

Gale's excellent 'Notes from an Exhibition' is one of my fave books of all time, and a hard act to follow - not surprisingly this fell a bit short. The idea of setting the story over a single day was interesting but I felt it crowded the narrative a bit, and it was sometimes hard to work out whether events described were happening in the past or the present. I didn't think the characters were as well drawn, show more either.

On the other hand I thought the ending was handled really well, and the 'twist' was well thought out. I would stil go on to read all his others, he's such a good writer show less

As I was reading this, I felt this wasn't Patrick Gale at the top of his form. It's a cleverly crafted book, exploring a love affair between two people who'd been in a relationship at University, where they had eventually split up, through the passage of a single day. This was a successful device, through which we learnt the back stories of the main protagonists - all believable, flawed and individual - and began to understand what made them tick. I could have done without some of the discussion of the research into HIV and into Laura's mother's academic career - it seemed unnecessary, but this is a minor quibble. The book redeemed itself in its ending, which brought all the strands together in a believable way. I'm holding back on the show more adjectives, not to be guilty of a spoiler alert. I'm giving this book three stars, because I hold Gale to very high standards. Written by someone else, I might have given it four. show less

This is the story of Laura who gives up her life in Paris to care for her aging mother, an academic. On her return she runs into Ben who was the love of her student days until he suddenly broke off their relationship and married someone else. They have a second chance at happiness as Ben's marriage is floundering but will they be able to take up the opportunity. The story is revolves around the events of a single day, with flashbacks as well to what has happened in the past and this makes it a little confusing at times. It is a short novel and the characters are quite well drawn. It shows two people wilingly caring, for an aging mother in Laura's case, and a disabled brother in Ben's. It paints a very detailed picture of what life is show more like for Laura's mother who still has an active mind but whose body will no longer let her do the thngs she once could. It was a good read, sensitively written, thought provoking at times. show less

Patrick Gale is always worth reading, even on one of his off-days, and there's a lot of good stuff in the detail of this book. However, I didn't think the book as a whole was quite up to his usual standard. It feels rather too much like the usual formula, shaken up a little bit, but without the original twists that normally distinguish his books. We have had a whole string of novels from him that are based on an Affliction, a Middle-Class Eccentricity, and an Old Flame reappearing. If it isn't osteoporosis, it's schizophrenia or Alzheimer's; if it isn't naturism it's Quakerism, organic food or amateur music-making.

From Gale's endnote it's clear that the central situation this time is taken in part from the experience of his own family show more (perhaps that's why he's started calling his fictional version of Winchester "Winchester" rather than "Barrowcester"), so it's maybe a bit unfair to criticise him for this, but unfortunately he's queered his own pitch with his past work.

The structure of the novel, fitting events from an extended period metaphorically into the course of a single day, is quite neat, but not enough to make it really exciting. A nice comfort read, pressing a lot of the right buttons for liberal-minded modern readers, but no real challenge. show less

This is the first book I have read by this author. I suspect not his best. I found it light and easy to read but the only character who was clearly portrayed was Professor Jellicoe. The plot takes place over one day, in theory, in the lives of Laura Lewis and Ben an ex boyfriend from university days. However, the layout of which events actually occurred on that day became very blurred and confused in my mind. I see from other reviews that I wasn't alone in this. I didn't feel any empathy for either Ben or Laura either and the story doesn't really go anywhere nor did the characters progress. Disappointing.

Patrick Gale is a reliably good read. The story flows and draws you along. Laura and Ben were lovers at Oxford. The affair was benignly opposed by their friends and ends abruptly (we find out why in the novel). Then they meet by chance in Winchester. The affair is rekindled and each has to learn how the other has changed over the years. I am always left wanting to read another of his novels.