Jim Powell (4) (1949–2023)

The Breaking Of Eggs This was the monthly book in the Book Discussion Scheme that I belong to.
 
I did not enjoy reading this book because the main character is so annoying that every page grates. I wanted to shake him and shout in his face, 'Wake Up!"
 
If that was the authors intent then 'well done that man'.
 
It was the same considered opinion of the others in the group too. Only one person actually enjoyed reading it. What really astounded me though was the discussion that followed about this book. I have  never heard my group talk so long or in such depth about any book before. Whatever you have created Jim Powell it sure has a powerful effect.
 
Obviously well written and  crafted but would I recommend it to anyone?
 
Maybe, depending on the person. I am an immigrant to this country (New Zealand) so I could relate to some bits quite strongly, especially on the subject of where one feels that home is. I think anyone with an interest in politics would like it, or maybe I should say, be able to appreciate it.
 
Challenging but brilliant… (más)

"My dam had well and truly burst...water seeping beneath the carapace into the furthest recesses of my life", July 27, 2016

This review is from: The Breaking of Eggs: A Novel (Paperback)
I really enjoyed this book - a gripping storyline and very intelligent writing.
Narrated by Feliks Zhukovski, a curmudgeonly elderly bachelor who has lived in the same rented Paris apartment for the past 36 years, the reader is aware from the first sentence that an interesting tale lies ahead: "I suppose that Madame Lefevre was the catalyst for most of what happened next".
Feliks, a "leftist"/ communist runs his own travel guide to the countries of E Europe. For all these years he has been regularly visiting Poland - his homeland - but has never made contact with his mother (who sent him away) or older brother (who abandoned him.) Feliks' take on his family history, like his left-wing political beliefs, are set in stone.
But his life is about to turn upside down: "I had to deconstruct and then reconstruct my intellectual viewpoint, my attitudes to the exterior world in which I lived... If this were not enough, I had to do the selfsame thing with my most deeply held emotions."...… (más)

I began this book with high hopes after hearing that it was being read by Toby Jones as BBC Radio 4's book of the week. It starts ok with the set up that the narrator has made some terrible speech on his 60th birthday to his family. He seems in trouble, and is soon sacked from his job selling futures in the city. This coincides with the crash of 2008. He swiftly becomes an unreliable narrator both to his wife and to the reader; implausibilities pile up and the tension goes out of the novel. After a quarter of it (and it is only very short) I skipped to the end and got the pay off. Was it worth it? No spoilers but look at my rating.… (más)