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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wit and a love for the English language,
By
This review is from: The Liar (Paperback)
I put myself at a disadvantage by reading Stephen Fry's second novel, The Hippopotamus, before reading The Liar. In so doing, I fostered expectations that The Liar would not live up to. The Hippopotamus is a much funnier, racier and scathingly witty work than Fry's first novel. But, after the initial shock of having my expectations dashed, I was rather pleasantly surprised at how engaging, charming and unpredictable this novel is. Well, okay, I wasn't really all that surprised. Stephen Fry is so good a writer that one book--one chapter in fact--is enough to convince you he is unlikely to disappoint. Fry writes with such clarity, flare and adeptness that one is left basking in the sheer joy of the English language. Fry lifts the veil of dreadfully dry, pretentiously hip, consciously urban and premeditatedly mainstream English that dominates literature today to reveal a language that is once again fresh, smart, vibrant, intellectual and tantalizingly naughty. Delightful! Forget that The Liar is chock full of sordid trysts (real, imagined and fabricated), homosexual and bisexual liaisons and scandalous accusations about the sexual traditions of English public schools, this is a masterful book in language alone. But if that is not enough for you, The Liar is also an exciting and maze-like blend of international intrigue, murder, teenage male prostitution and the coming of age of a pathological liar of the first degree. Or is it? You're never really sure which way's up in this book until Fry brings things to a last-minute wrap-up that would be the envy of even the most devious mystery writer. Is the Liar funny? Yes, but in a wholly different way than The Hippopotamus. It is possibly a more conventional a novel than the one immediately following it, less bizarre in its plot and less mysterious throughout. But in construction it is more compelling, intermingling episodes from different times in the Liar's life in such a way that the act of story telling itself entices the reader on. Add to that the espionage theme and the appalling escapades of Adrian, the Liar, and you end up with a novel that is hard to put down, is a smart and witty read and completely worth your time.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
PAGLIACCIO,
By DAVID BRYSON (Glossop Derbyshire England) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Liar (Paperback)
The Liar is the first novel that Stephen Fry wrote and the second of his novels that I have read. Over the last 15 or 20 years he has of course become familiar from television as a comedian and comedy actor, as large as Oscar Wilde and with a flippant urbane wit nearly to match.A born entertainer, one would say, full of zest for and enjoyment of what he does, and a bit of a toff with it. However when I first read his The Stars' Tennis Balls I sensed something else entirely. My reaction was `This man is seriously not right', and it came to me as no surprise recently when he let out that he is a manic depressive. You can already sense the problem in The Liar. It is largely autobiographical obviously, and just as certainly embellished too, I should say. The hero and the author are carried along on a torrent of their own phenomenal articulacy and imagination. Experiences and ordeals that would have had most of us in permanent psychiatric care seem to leave no lasting mark so far as this narrative is concerned, but the underlying nihilism is unmistakable as well. Fry's genius is a gift of the gods, but like most gifts of the gods it comes with a heavy burden attached. When the effervescence boils down, as it sometimes must, the vessel is empty. The style is not just the man, the style is the man's whole world. The most elite English education is the scaffolding that supports Fry and his hero. Their patois is a joy to listen to, and the author's satirical ear is acute. He has not only the idiom of the English public school to perfection, but also the jargon of Cambridge professors arguing as well as the strange lingo in which examination questions are framed. None of these are targets for Fry in any sense implying hostility. He is a liberal, not a revolutionary, and he laughs because otherwise he might weep. All the same, it would be leaving an utterly false impression to suggest that there is any tone of gloom to this book. It's funny, sometimes hilariously funny, and it is damnably ingenious. I will go further - there is a real feeling of kindness about Fry, and cruelty is absent altogether. This book involves people being murdered, but the sense is no more gory than in Agatha Christie, and the Christie-style denouement with the master-mind explaining the intricacies of what has happened is clever beyond anything Christie could do. Is he perhaps too clever by half? Not for me, but very likely for his own good. He remains an entertainer of genius, his heart is obviously in it, and I feel it's a good heart too. This is what he does because this is what he's good at, and I have not read a book that entertained me quite so much for quite a long time. Put your Family Values in a jar with the lid firmly on, of course, when you read Fry.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stephen Fry excels in all he pursues,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Liar (Paperback)
This is very well-written book, well within the tradition of great British comic authors - in particular, P.G. Wodehouse. The book is admittedly difficult to follow in the beginning, as there are two separate story lines w/o much prelude or introduction. However, the payoff at the end is worth it. Fry's elegant and easy-to-read prose is more than sufficient to keep you turning page after page. The ending was fantastic, not because of what happens, but because of the feeling you are left with... not to mention the epiphany that hits you at the very end. Definitely worth a read. Having read this book, I intend to read his other novels. I also recommend his autobiography, "Moab is My Washpot", another joy to read!
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