The Liar

Stehen Fry is undoubtedly loved by most of us, bemoaned only by those jealous of his status as polymath and (dare I make him blush) 'national treasure'. Stephen comes hurtling onto the literary scene with his cracking first novel 'The Liar', a semi-autobiographical work. I recommend that any prospective reader consider first 'Moab is My Washpot', Stephen's autobiography -The temptation arises, otherwise, to believe that some of the terribly wild fictions of 'The Liar' are in fact autobiographical.

As usual, Stephen's way with words is delightful. Turning on comedy and suspense alike with effortless ease, as the narrative twists between the absurd and the down right probable (to just the degree that one expects from a good novel). His handling of narrative is so relaxed as to give the reader the impression, as Hugh Laurie indicates in his comment on the jacket, that Stephen managed to put the whole thing together in a couple of wet wednesday afternoons; wet wednesday afternoons well spent, I say.

From the book's friendly and eccentric cover, to Stephen's fabulous deployment of the English language this novel is a winner. Five stars.

A L Harnett

It has Trefusus, what more does one need? (0/0 people found this helpful)

I first read The Liar when it was new and recently picked it up again when at a loose end. I'd forgotten how terrifically enjoyable it is, such fabulous characters; Trefusis of course and a strong streak of autobiography with Adrian Healey standing in for the young Fry - there's even a Hesketh Harvey. The book is nothing special, really, I suppose, it's not especially literary or original but it's made of pure Fry; the story's driven by that clever, witty, knowing voice. A wonderful piece of storytelling and a cracking good read.

Not his best (0/0 people found this helpful)

Having read a number of Stephen Fry's books I was looking forward to this one when I got it in the post.
It starts off really well, mixing the humour, brilliant language and stories together flawlessly.

Then it begins to jump into different times - Its not always easy to tell its happened until you see a character from one of the three timings speak.
When you break through into a more set time-zone and the reason for the jumping is explained, it all works much more smoothly.

The end is great, funny and clever - even if a little confusing, and a bit ludicrous - its still funny.

Good book, but unfortunately not on par with his other books.

SUPERB STUFF! BUT I WISH... (0/0 people found this helpful)

I wish someone out there in publishingland would get this novel released plus 2 other of Mr. Frys novels (The Hippopotamus-Stars Tennis Balls ...to name a few)as unabridged versions on CD!

They are only available on cassette? A truly terrible thing indeed, as I've practically played they life out of them and they are an inch away from snapping!!!

Truth Hurts (0/0 people found this helpful)

Stephen Fry's `The Liar' is a difficult book to get a handle on and it's pretty clear that this is done on purpose by the author - what is truth and what is a lie? The book itself is intelligent and well written as you would expect from someone like Fry. However, intelligence can easily go over some people's heads. In the case of `The Liar' some of the elements of the book are lost in the non linear format. The book is told during the main character's, Adrian Healey, present and various moments in his past. Once you get used to the chapters moving around in time things do start to be clear, unfortunately, this may come too late for some people.

Healey is not a particularly likable character as he is a compulsive liar, but I found him interesting to read about. The book seems to move from an apparent autobiographical style to a more fictional one. The area that may put off most people is Fry's description of Healey school days at an all boys boarding school. Fry is not a man to shy away from the sexualisation of youth and he does not here. The book is quite lurid, but I imagine anyone attempting to read a book by Fry would already be prepared for this. Overall, I found the book interesting and funny in moments. The irregular narrative structure does work, however it fails to mask the fact that the actual story itself is not that good.

Stephen Fry

Reader Reviews:

A cracking first novel (0/0 people found this helpful)

It has Trefusus, what more does one need? (0/0 people found this helpful)

Not his best (0/0 people found this helpful)

SUPERB STUFF! BUT I WISH... (0/0 people found this helpful)

Truth Hurts (0/0 people found this helpful)

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