Intense, ominous prose. As Sophie talks to each character that inhabits her world, we see how they all seem to orbit around each other, with little meaningful or gratifying connections being made. Precise observation. Lost my original moving house so bought this as my replacement. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations
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It is difficult to believe that "Desperate Characters", originally published in 1970, was out of print more than a decade. Just how fragile is the life we want for ourselves?
I think this story, which presents the world, the characters, the setting and the interactions in almost neutral, journalistic style, challenges the reader to understand the dystopian world of Sophie and Otto.
This is a well crafted novel with economic and precise descriptions and dialogue. "Ford's novel finds its center of gravity at the intimate human level." Everyone should read this book.
Perfect condition and arrived in a very timely manner considering what’s going on in the world.
Please try againSorry, we failed to record your vote. So far, so good. You won’t read this novel for plot, but for tone and stylish prose. A slice of life, glimpse of relationships, that evokes time and place
In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.Value-priced, preferred choice for today's students, educators, and classic literature lovers.
Large number of women characters (with the usual bed hopping) but woefully inadequate character development. You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.Something went wrong.
I went digging in my “To Be Read” stack this week and finally took a moment to read this short novel published in 1970.Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2016 Perfect condition and arrived in a very timely manner considering what’s going on in the world. Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App.
desperate characters a novel Download desperate characters a novel or read online books in PDF, EPUB, Tuebl, and Mobi Format. The Sleep Experiment: An edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller (World's Scariest... Amazon calculates a product’s star ratings based on a machine learned model instead of a raw data average. Please try again how this she and Otto are disconnected from each other and the world around them - leaving them feeling isolated and dissatisfied - with no sense of how to make life better. No point me rehashing further the very high praise of the great and the good. A slice of life, glimpse of relationships, that evokes time and place Like many American novels now it is highly filmic or play-like but that's no criticism; it's a form that concentrates prose and makes every word work. And it is impossible to overlook the horribly dated 1960s racism and homophobia in every chapter. If nothing else, Fox illustrates the isolating quality of the 1960's New York suburbs that despite being surrounded by neighbors and friends, each person seems to stand alone - disconnected from the rest. Love this book. It is a short novel which corresponds well to its concentrated scope in terms of time, place, and situation as well as Fox's ability to select the single word or detail to explain or illustrate larger meaning to the reader. If you’ve never read it, or if, like me, it’s been a while since you did, now is an excellent moment to pick it up.”
We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. The story is interesting and cohesive, the characters feel recognisable and real, the writing is masterful. A series of apparently small incidents (Sophie is bitten by an alley-cat, their house in Long Island is burgled and trashed, Otto splits with his business partner) risk turning Sophie from an outward-looking liberal type, wanting to think the best of people and things, to a fearful focus on desperately defending her own. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.This shopping feature will continue to load items when the Enter key is pressed.
It is a rare treat.
Other characters are also either still struggling for their ideals, have recently given up on them, or are relentlessly on the make. Very happy with it. Narrator, Tony Roberts, was the only good thing about this disappointing audiobook… All these things taint "the good life" we work so hard to achieve.
Paula Fox never seems judgmental of her characters
If it were possible to give a book six stars, this would be the book. To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number.
Childless Otto and Sophie Bentwood are late '60s yuppies living in a rough but gentrifying district of New York.
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I agree with whoever suggested reading the Intro after the novel btw.