Customer Reviews

New Cardiff

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

 

 

"New Cardiff" describes the American vacation of London artist Colin Ware, who flees a failed love affair and finds himself washed up in the small town of New Cardiff, Vermont, home to an assortment of strange Americans and a struggling tourist industry. He manages to forget his troubles briefly, sketching townspeople and developing a relationship with another woman, but when his old girlfriend journeys from England to retrieve him his new life goes suddenly awry.

This story has much going for it. It's a classic love story complete with jealous rivalry, a long journey, and the promise (or threat) of marriage, but with quirky and entertaining plot twists to keep it fresh. The dialogue is rapid and often witty. The residents of New Cardiff are an amusing set of characters and provide comic relief.

But there's nothing in the story to provide comic relief *from*. The author never really gets into his story. The book is - despite its heft - actually quite short, with lots of blank space on each page, and is almost entirely composed of dialogue. The limitations of this format - no description or exposition - nearly overwhelm the story, and make any exploration of the characters or of the larger themes of the book impossible.

The book's continuous banter is surprisingly easy to read, and a hundred pages can fly by in an hour. But this ease and speed have a price: the whole book - all 354 pages of it - can be read in an evening and forgotten by the next morning, a frivolous waste of a story that could be so much more interesting.

Charles Webb is best known for writing the soulless novel that inspired classic film "The Graduate." In "New Cardiff" he tackles a somewhat softer story, but his minimalist writing and flat supporting characters make it a story as light and forgettable as a breath of smoke.

Colin Ware is an English guy who has just been dumped for another man. Miserable, he decides to get over her (in the tradition of old novels) by going to the US, and somehow ends up in the dinky Vermont town of New Cardiff. The inhabitants are a bit odd but friendly, and Colin befriends quite a few when he sketches their portraits. He also becomes acquainted with Mandy, a smart, supportive young woman who starts giving him therapy for his broken heart.

But then Vera -- the woman who dumped Colin -- comes onto the scene. She reveals that the guy she supposedly dumped him for was all part of an elaborate joke. Colin forgives her for her involvement in tricking him, but now he's got an awkward love triangle to deal with. Vera is determined to scupper his new relationship with Mandy, and Mandy is saying that she never wants to see him again.

"New Cardiff" starts off on a promising note, with a guy going to new places to mend his broken heart. And the basic plot is a classic one -- a love triangle where the third party has to deal with old and new lovers, as represented by the countries they come from. But it feels instantly forgettable. Webb adds nothing new to the tale, and despite being around 350 pages long, the story itself is very short.

But Webb's writing is not up to the task -- it's suspended somewhere between bland screenplay and not-detailed-enough fiction. No descriptions, little action -- just page after page of dialogue. And the dialogue isn't exactly Shakespeare either: "It doesn't really show." "It doesn't?" "We've had worse." "Than this?" "Much." There are stretches of dialogue that are ALMOST witty, but they fall short because they are so underwritten.

And as a result, the characterization suffers. There's plenty of chemistry and cute bits between Mandy and Colin -- although his tale of first having sex with Vera is cringingly bad -- but unfortunately Vera is a cardboard cutout. The villagers also are bogged down with basic personalities and nothing else-- the nosy guy, the Jesus freak, and so on.

"New Cardiff" suffers from a terrible case of underwriting and an overabundance of cliches. While it has some cute moments, it's underwritten and overlong, and nothing you'll remember.

Webb likes his love triangles. New Cardiff is the fourth Webb novel I've read, and I'm sure i would have liked New Cardiff more if i liked The Graduate less. It was similar in many ways, a quick read, beautiful characters that you felt you knew but a third of the way in i could have guessed it was going to be made into a movie. It had me giggling early on but i doubt i would have been doing so if at the time of reading i wasnt myself a stranger living in a strange land called america, desiring to drive on the left side of the road and regularly finding myself having to search for words that make sense to those around me. The novel begins to dry up somewhere around the time Vera enters the picture, and dies altogether before the book ends. Something isn't right about this one, and this feeling is stronger than ever after having learnt it's about to be made into a movie. Colin Firth is great, i mean he is Mr Darcy, but c'mon.. anyone would think hugh grant and colin firth are the only actors with a british accent. If you like Nick Hornby novels you'll like New Cardiff. But, if youre expecting the graduate.. do not, you'll be disappointed. Ah hell, maybe it was fantastic but just not for me, but i suspect this isnt the case.

This book is a joy. New Cardiff is almost entirely dialogue, with sparce description. Every detail is poignant, nothing is gratuitous. It may be hard to imagine that a book in which the storytelling is so simple could infuse it's characters with such complete personalities and so much truth. Webb knows his characters so well that it only takes a few words to make them come to life.
New Cardiff is a romantic comedy, so if you're looking for a book which boasts profound social commentary,(not to say that his observations of american culture aren't precise and hilarious, Webb has a sharp, artistic eye) this is not for you. Webb doesn't boast anything at all.
Webb's gift for not taking himself too seriously may cause some readers not to take this delightful novel seriously. There are those who say the work of Jane Austen is trivial, so I suspect that this book, for all it's humor, inteligence, irony, and exhilerating lack of vanity, will face similar criticism. But in this readers mind, there is nothing less trivial than love, art, or laughter.
I am so pleased to know that there is a movie being made with Colin Firth and Heather Graham in the lead roles. Inspired casting!

This was such a fun read, very quick with immediately engaging characters. It is a lot of dialog so if you like Nick Hornby's "About A Boy" or similar type novels then you'd probably enjoy this one too.

After watching the rather splendid movie adaptation from this book (renamed hope springs), I decided to purchase this vocal book. The premise for this book is around an English character who, after breaking up with his partner back in England, travels to a small US town where he falls in love, only to have he's ex partner come back into their lives. Although this book can be dialog driven at times it is still an easy fast flowing book that, as long as you are not looking for any great meaning, should enjoy.

Here is a novel that reads more like a play. It has virtually no narration and all dialogue. It is about an English gentleman (Colin) who gets dumped by his girlfriend (Vera) and comes to America to forget her. He somehow ends up in the small New England town of New Cardiff. He claims he stopped there because the town monument looked fascinating. Wherever Colin goes in the town the people are very friendly and curious about him. Every time he sees an interesting face he wants to sketch that person's portrait. The author does something quite interesting by including the sketches of each person in the book (reminiscent of Jack Finney's "From Time to Time"). Colin is "fixed" up by the owner of the Inn where he is staying, with a troubled woman who is a massage therapist in a medical facility (Mandy).

Mandy's skills help her to immediately help Colin forget Vera. Some of their dialogue exchanges are hilarious, reminiscent of Benjamin's and Mrs. Robinson's in "The Graduate" (of course that was by the same author). The plot gets interesting when Vera suddenly arrives and announces that she never really dumped Colin but through the influence of her sister, played an elaborate joke on him. So begins an interesting triangle.

The book is a lot shorter than it looks because it is mostly dialogue, which takes up a lot less on each page than a normal narrative story. Also, the dialogue for the most part is interesting and "different" from most books, which makes this a fun read.

I almost passed this book up after reading some pretty negatives reviews on it here at Amazon.com I'm so glad I didn't! This is a very funny, very engaging story. Yes, it's true, there's no deeper meaning or hidden agenda, but the concentration of the comedy and the unique way in which it is presented is what makes the story so enjoyable. Webb doesn't clutter up the story line with descriptive narrative. Instead, he focuses on the dialog that makes up everyday life and omits nearly everything but the bare essentials. This keeps the story strong and consistent and anything but boring.

Colin Ware is an English artist who finds himself in the rural town of New Cardiff, Vermont after Vera breaks his heart by marrying someone else. Mandy Martin is a depressed, nursing home aid who is obsessed with the good times high school gave her. Colin and Mandy begin a sweet little relationship and all is going along quite nicely... till Vera shows up. Webb makes it impossible for the reader to feel anything but pride and sympathy for Colin and his sense of humor in character interaction is priceless. I will read this book over and over... it is a gem.

To be frank, I am baffled by the praise this book has received. I was "forced" to read it for a book club and found it to be completely unenagaging. When one runs across a book written in such simple language the reaction is to find within the lines some deeper/hidden meaning. Unfortunately this was not the case with "New Cardiff". A third grader could comprehend the complexities laid out on the pages. A quick read is one thing that can be memorbale for many reasons (try Joyce Carol Oates "Beasts"), but Webb's attempts in New Cardiff are simply forgettable. If you choose to take a stab at this one, please don't invest, because my prediction is within the first 7 pages a reader will be ready to abandon this work of fiction. You can borrow mine.

This is a light read, breezy, and very entertaining story. Although the outcome is predictable, Charles Webb keeps you focused on dialogue and character development.

Can't wait for the movie!