Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 986-990 of 1016
 Totally satisfying August 1, 2008
Blue (Washington, DC United States)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book is both cleverly written and highly thoughtful in its substance. The story is presented in a series of letters--not always an easy device to carry off--between the book's chief subject, writer Juliet Aston, and an extensive network of old friends, lovers and developing acquaintences. The latter group is resident on one of the Channel Islands, Guernsey, abandoned by Great Britain to the Germans at the beginning of WWII, and it is the story of these increasingly lovable characters that "Guernsey Literary..." comes to focus on. More specifically, it's a collective account of how they lived and died under German occupation during WWII and the devices they created to survive. One of the latter, was the accidental formation of a book club that turns out to be a life-changing development for everyone involved.
The characters in this novel are gradually and endearingly presented and by the end of the book, the reader has been completely co-opted by them and, as some other reviewers have suggested, is strongly motivated to hop a plane for Guernsey to check in with the fictional cast. The principal character/letter writer, Juliet Aston, is given many of the best lines--always smart and funny--and her ultimate reward is what anyone would hope for.
This book has it all--history, tragedy, humor, romance, eccentricity, exotic locales and, above all else, great humanity. A wonderful book that will please any reader of good fiction.
If I could move to Guernsey and join the society, I would: It's delightful August 1, 2008
feminist military spouse (Akron, OH)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I received this book yesterday and read the entire novel in one sitting. Composed as a series of letters, it uses literary works as a means of at first connecting a writer in London with the villagers in Guernsey and then as a means of allowing the characters to develop and express complex emotions, however, it is in no way a difficult or overwhelming read, even if you aren't familiar with the authors quoted. Rather these letters are used in almost a vignette style giving you immensely detailed scenes of each of the characters lives.
The story begins shortly after the end of WWII. Juliet, is off on a book tour selling her collected articles from during the war, when she is contacted by Dawsey, a villager on Guernsey who bought an old copy of a book that she had once owned. He wants to know if she can help him locate more books by the same author. As they correspond, Juliet is slowly seduced by the island's story of survival during the war.
It is a story of hope and survival, even during the darkest of times. And it is in this story, recounted through letters, that this novel finds its strength.
I found myself inexorably bound to Elizabeth McKenna, who upon being caught by German soldiers after she and some friends stayed out past curfew eating a secreted pig makes up the story about the Guernsey literary society. It comes into existence as a way to cover their activities and eventually this society becomes a saving grace for a people worn down by war. Elizabeth is everywhere in the book and exeplifies a kind of great purity and goodness that seems to shine like a great light in the darkest of times. It is hard not to adore her, even though her letters are not present in the text. She is somehow the glue to them all and the key to their faith in humanity and their ability to rebuild their lives out of the tragedy of war.
Because there is no narrator, so to speak, this novel requires you to imagine Juliet with her fingers cramping at a writing desk penning letters, but after the first few, it is not that hard. I found it immensely enjoyable to be able to tailor my vision of the characters to fit my desires for the work. The literature references are sometimes obscure, which makes it more difficult to tease out their meaning and import in the text, but it doesn't detract from the novel signifcantly. Rather, on the whole, I was absolutely entranced and more than happy to pick up and visit Guernsey if the Literary and Potato Peel Society in fact existed.
This was the most delightful afternoon read I have had in years.
Deserves to be on the best seller lists August 1, 2008
Stephen Kalman (Hawley, Pa USA)
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Delightful. Engrossing. Funny. Poignant. Happy. Sad. Read all the 5-star reviews and pull out all the best adjectives and you still won't have a grasp on how much I liked this book.
Others have described the plot so I won't rehash it here. I will say that I picked up the book after dinner, went to bed an hour later than usual, got up two hours before dawn and finished it by breakfast. If this were the first in a series written long ago I'd be ordering all the others for overnight delivery; I just didn't want to stop reading it.
Some specifics: The characters are very well drawn. The letters that they write to each other are open, honest and insightful. The people are real; some are heroes, some villians, some victims and some are fools. I'm a photographer (by hobby) and the authors' descriptions of the Channel Islands made me want to go and visit as soon as possible.
Thank you, dear ladies, for a very enjoyable read. Please do write more, soon.
The Book of the Year for Book Clubs July 31, 2008
Lesa Holstine (Glendale, AZ)
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
I predict that his small gem of an epistolary novel will be this year's book of the year for book clubs. Who can resist author Juliet Ashton's correspondence? Notes are exchanged between Juliet, her publisher, her best friend, and new friends on the island of Guernsey.
I'm sure most readers had no idea that Guernsey was occupied by the Germans for five years during World War II. This beautiful book allows the islanders to tell of their lives during those years, the ugly parts, but most of all, their spirit that kept them alive, and allowed them to form their literary society.
The spirit of one of the islanders, Elizabeth McKenna, hovers over the story, as the reader anxiously awaits her fate.
World War II, letters, a little romance, suspense, book talk, and island life during the Occupation all make this a meaty book for book discussions, despite the small size. It's for every reader who loved 84, Charing Cross Road.
A quote from the book sums it up beautifully. "Perhaps there is some secret sort of homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers." This book will find its perfect readers.
For anyone who loved 84 Charing Cross Road July 31, 2008
Vicki M (Louisiana)
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
If you love books, reading and wonderful characters who appreciate both this is the book for you. This will be added to my special list of favorites to be read again and again.
Showing reviews 986-990 of 1016
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