The Booker Prize-winning author of Moon Tiger now offers a rich confrontation with the mystery of London, with the buried lives that make us what we are, and evokes a varied, contemporary cast of characters. "A novel of lapidary brilliance . . . full of depth and color--a gem."--Cleveland Plain Dealer.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
London architect Matthew Halland recovers from a traumatic divorce and muses about the nature of time in Booker Prize winner Lively's ( Moon Tiger ) elegant and satisfying novel.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Architect Matthew Halland is tuned into the physical world. London's night sky asks him unanswerable questions about time and space. The dilapidated old buildings and blackened brick walls resound with human experience. Everything Matthew knows of London pulls him out of its present and into its past, leaving him spellbound by the realization that some things will never change for its inhabitants. Matthew is surrounded by family and friends, rivals and colleagues, but none is as aware as he. Like countless Londoners before him, he is tested by the pressures of city life, and his knowledge of the past sustains him until a chance meeting with Sarah Bridges focuses his sights on the future. Lively's narrative is a tribute to late-20th-century London. Matthew, who shares the author's fascination with collective memory and time, seems more real than the typical inhabitant he represents. Highly recommended. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/91.
- Janet Wilson Reit, Univ. of Ver mont Lib., Burlington
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
- Janet Wilson Reit, Univ. of Ver mont Lib., Burlington
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Travelogue Through the Streets of London,
By
This review is from: City of the Mind: A Novel (Paperback)
Matthew Holland is an architect in his beloved city of London.Penelope Lively has written a travelogue through the streets of London. We meet Brick Lane and King's Cross and so many of the famous streets and places that regale us of London. Matthew is recently divorced, two years. He and his ex-wife, Susanhave a daughter, Jane. They love her tremendously, and both are worried how this divorce has affected her. They are trying to move on with their lives as difficult as it seems. Matthew is involving himself in his work and his new projects. He is busying his mind and his body. All the while he is also looking at the future. Around every corner of London he is searching for something, Is it himself or is it his life that he is searching for? Into this lively part of Matthew's life the London he loves, Penelope Lively inserts scenes from the past. As Matthew constructs his new buildings, Lively inserts layers of history with stories that reflect the past. This is, in part, disconcerting, to have the story flow and then a new short story inserted. But, as the book proceeds we get used to this. Matthew meets a young woman at a sandwich Shoppe. She is short of money, and he pays for the meal. He notices how pretty she is, but she moves out of his life. He thinks of her off and on, and the next time he goes into the shop he asks the shopkeeper who this girl is. He leaves his card, just in case she stops by. In the meanwhile he goes on with his life and his buildings and raising his daughter, Jane. He meets a rather unsavory character who buys land in whatever manner he can, and then builds whatever he wants. Matthew understands this is not the life he wants and this character has an unsettling effect on him. However, this man represents to Matthew the ugly side of London and he can move on. He and Sarah, the young woman in the sandwich shop do have a relationship. Will they fall in love, and will Matthew find the happiness he deserves? This was not the type of novel I usually enjoy, and it was fragmented in several instances. I have enjoyed others of Penelope Lovely's books more than this one. This was a book to be enjoyed, but the character storyline was missing. I do want to reiterate though, that the reader who hasn't discovered Penelope Lively is missing one of the best contemporary novelists of our time. prisrob
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not Her Best Work,
By
This review is from: City of the Mind: A Novel (Paperback)
I have spent the last 10 months reading the Penelope Lively books and have found some delightful; others, good. This book is one that I started reading, then set aside because I simply could not get into it. I recently picked it up and began reading it again. It is quite boring and very disjointed. Time to throw in the towel and move on. I'm sure the next Lively novel on the list will reconnect me with the talented writer that she is. Just FYI, my favorite Lively novel so far is The Photograph.
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