On Green Dolphin Street |
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Sebastian Faulks
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Pages: 352 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 0091802105
Pub: Hutchinson
Pub date: 2001-04
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 288396
Editorial Review:
Fans will recognise Sebastian Faulks' focus on characterisation, historical context and the emotional power of his narrative in his new novel, "On Green Dolphin Street". Yet, in tone and setting, the story of one woman's attempt to face down death in the Cold War years marks a new departure for this bestselling novelist.
It's 1959 and the presidential battle between Kennedy and Nixon is heating up. Just as the country stands between two men so does Mary van der Linden, the wife of a British embassy employee in Washington and lover of political newspaper reporter Frank Renzo. All three are damaged by their experiences of war; death and decay are everywhere: through the men's memory of war, Mary's dying mother, van der Linden's declining health and the readers' knowledge that in only a few short years Kennedy will be dead and Nixon disgraced.
Previously, Faulks has described in bloody detail the horrors of the trenches and the brutality of the battlefield. Here he comments on the hollowness and politics of war and the human cost. With the personal mirroring the political so closely, the inevitability of the doomed love affair at the centre of the novel hardly inspires one to great heights of empathy. Consequently, the characters' fervour often falls flat:
"He raked his fingers through her hair, down to the skull, as his body filled hers. All the way, he thought, I will go all the way, till I find her; and with her head between his hands he too let out a cry, because he felt pity for her soul."
Faulks, whose previous novels have included bestsellers Birdsong and Charlotte Gray, has the capacity to sweep his readers up in his historical sagas and excels in his unflinching treatment of war. Unfortunately, the switch here from the battlefield to the political arena is not as compelling and, considering he is writing about one of the most exhilarating periods in US history and its most exciting city--New York (something Douglas Kennedy captured far more successfully in The Pursuit of Happiness), On Green Dolphin Street simply does not leap to the same heights as his earlier novels. --Alex Freeman
Reader Reviews:
Very disappointing (0/0 people found this helpful)
Like many other reviewers on here, I thought 'Birdsong' had some merit with its brilliantly researched and vividly painted WW1 setting, though I was left with the impression that he's probably a better journalist (his original trade) than he is a novelist.
I found this one a trial though. I have a personal policy of never allowing myself to leave a book unfinished. From time to time, I get to the final page and regret my Virgoan self-discipline. The historical context in this one is of minor interest to most people, unlike WW1 which seems to fascinate us more as the years go by and as family research leads more of us to want to understand the experience of our near ancestors. The story, such as it is, is painfully slow and less 'subtle' than downright dull. The dialogue is unnatural in the extreme, and his writing style is unnecessarily tortuous; I yearned for a noun that was not qualified by at least one superfluous adjective.
Read 'Birdsong'; don't let your Virgoan self-discipline get the better of you on this one, though.
Beautiful (0/0 people found this helpful)
I read On Green Dolphin Street having only read Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks before. I found his writing truly beautiful and he fully immersed me in his fictional world. I had a lot of empathy with the characters and the book was very atmospheric.
I would strongly recommend this book to any open minded person. Everyone I have lent the book to has enjoyed it thoroughly and for different reasons.
A good holiday book but not remarkable (0/0 people found this helpful)
I picked up this book at the station shop when in a rush for something to read on a long train journey. I picked it out because I had recently read and enjoyed Birdsong (by the same author). Having read several of Faulks' books it seems that they run to a formula, troubled relationships with particular historical events used as the back-drop, in this case the Kennedy/Nixon 1960 presidential election (amongst others).
Overall the book is entertaining and has enough depth to keep you interested, however it does not have anything particularly profound to say on any of the subjects it addresses. Although the setting is vivid the story itself has a somewhat "generic" feel about it.
LIKE A DRY MARTINI NEITHER SHAKEN NOR STIRRED (1/2 people found this helpful)
I was bought "On Green Dolphin Street" by my wife - knowing how much I enjoyed Birdsong, the latter being one of the most profound and moving books I have read. I found On Green Dolphin Street a dire plod a stroll in the park, a book to read after the excitement of the obituary in your local paper. The book gives a glimpse into the events of the late 50`s the run-up to the election of Kennedy. The whole thread being the moral dilemmas of the adulterous wife of an alcoholic junior diplomat. She gradually falls in love with a newspaper journalist covering the election and has an affair with him. She has spurious pangs of guilt and mis-placed loyalties she lingers on (and on, and on) whether to run away with her lover or stay with her now ailing husband and two children - and that`s about it! This book was a dissapointment and not in the same league as Birdsong. I would guess this book would suite the female audience and may strike a few memorable chords for the divorcee or adulterer. I am eager to read more of Sebatian Faulks, I know he can do better. I want more Birdsong stuff!
Could do better (1/1 people found this helpful)
This is the first Faulks novel I have read, so I cannot tell whether it is an improvement on earlier books. If you are interested in the minutiae of life in the USA around 1960 as it involved political commentators and the Nixon/Kennedy election, then this will appeal to you. Otherwise, I'm afraid, you will find it difficult to empathise with any of the three main characters: a British diplomat and his wife & the man who becomes her lover, an American journalist. They all drink a lot, eat a lot, behave cynically and are generally pampered, cosseted and thoroughly turned in on themselves. Perhaps that's the impression the author intended to give - in which case he can count this book a success. But, in the end, the effect is that the reader doesn't really care what happens to any of them.
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