Customer Reviews

London Transports

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I had never read anything by Maeve Binchy before this. After I had Lasik surgery on my eyes, I couldn't read for the first week, so I checked out this book-on-tape from the library thinking that if I didn't like her writing, I could just turn off the tape and return it to the library. However, this collection of stories was brilliant. Also, Kate Binchy is a wonderful reader. She pauses at all the right moments to allow you to ponder what you've just heard.

LONDON TRANSPORTS is a collection of 22 stories that you'll want to ravenously devour. The stories seem to be just a page in someone's life. However, they leave a lasting impression on your mind. The twist in the stories are not the conventional type; the twist is the way that the character thinks and handles the situations that are thrown at them.

Some of the more memorable stories includes a 28-year-old virgin who goes to a sex shop to find a manual for people who've never had sex. Because she's embarrassed, she says that she's a nun looking for information for her 28-year-old virgin neice. Another story has a young woman looking for an apartment and finding an amazing apartment belonging to Marigold, a wheelchair-ridden gold-digger. But the apartment is so amazing that the young woman doesn't care that Marigold may take everything that has ever belonged to her.

Maeve Binchy has a gift for painfully realistic character creation. I imagine her sitting on park benches and making up stories about the people who walk by her. One thing that struck me as odd is that almost every story assumes that everyone in London is having an extra-marital affair. Maybe I'm naive to think and hope that this isn't based in reality. However, according to an Irish co-worker who happens to be a distant cousin of Maeve Binchy, Maeve and her husband live in separate countries. What does this mean about their own fidelity? I can only guess.

I'll definitely be reading more of Binchy's works after this. I can hardly wait to start.

Another wonderful collection of short stories written by the masterful Irish author - you will be very captivated by them. Another helpful reviewer has warned readers that "London Transports" is the American title given to "Victoria Line, Central Line", so if you read one, you read them both. I got the British title, and by comparing the table of contents of "London" with the ones in "Victoria", found out that there are actually 2 stations missing in the American title: Tottenham Hale and Vauxhall. It's worth purchasing "Victoria" then, since each line written by the talented hands of Mrs. Binchy cannot be missed by avid readers - we cannot afford such loss.

Maeve Binchy is, by far, my favorite author and I find it difficult to criticize anything she writes. London Transports was definitely a readable collection of short stories, although it wasn't her best. She repeats herself in one story...it shows up later in The Return Journey. On the plus side, however, some of the stories deal with topics not presented in her other books. They shine with Binchy's wit and style that I always enjoy in all her books, and I never thought once about stopping. If you are a die-hard Binchy fan who has made it your goal to read all her works (like me), go ahead and read this book. It's worth it.

Maeve Binchy is a master at creating interesting characters and sketching out plots. In this book, she does it 22 times and manages to make each story contain a universal truth or moral. The main characters either remain blissfully unaware of the truth they are illustrating or have an "ah hah!" moment by the end of the story. The frustrating part of the short story genre is that readers would often like to hear more about the characters and see the plots more fully developed. Her novels, which knit together disparate characters into a pleasing whole, are more appealing to this reader, but if you enjoy Binchy, this is still worth a read.

Maeve Binchy delivers an impressive collection of short stories with London Transports. Each story is based on a particular area in London -- Notting Hill Gate, Holland Park, King's Cross, etc. -- and the stories, from a compulsive shoplifter to a woman's affair with a married man, are poignant, lucid and memorable. Having read Quentins, I was compelled to read another Binchy book. I'm glad I did...

I found this to be a great read. Binchy knows how to tell a good story with a light touch. The short story format lends itself to short reads or long periods.

I am an avid reader of Binchy, and having read most of her latest work, I wanted to check out the earlier stuff. It was well worth it! Anyone looking to read everything they can by Binchy will delighted by these tales of London, each named for a different stop on the train line. Each tale takes a glimpse of everyday life from an affair to a new apartment. A must read for Binchy lovers!

This book is disappointing in that it is a collection of short stories instead of Binchy's classic epics. Just as the reader gets involved in the character or plot the story ends and proceeds to the next one. Binchy's books that stick with one grand story is definately better.

Great Book to read in the tub and forget about your own life. Bincy blasts you in and out of the lives of strangers. Strangers who you can identify with on some level in each story. Somehow you end up wishing the short stories were each one book.

Even those of us who love to get lost in a good, long read, often appreciate the short story as a change of pace. I felt as if I too were journeying through London on the Tube, peeking into the lives of my fellow (or should I say "sister" ) commuters. This book is for everyone who ever sat bored on a train, imagining storylines for everyone sitting nearby!