Beautiful Ruins in Pick-a-Shelf

Feb 25, 2015 Joanie rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2015-book-club-challenge, 2015

I have had this book on my list for a while but I shied away from it. As much as I was intrigued by parts of the description (an elderly Italian man searching for the American actress he met 50 years ago) I was also put off by other parts (sweeping book that scans decades with more than 50 characters including Richard Burton-meh) but I needed a book that takes place somewhere I have always wanted to visit so I decided to give it a whirl.

Yes, the book does scan decades and does involves lots of c ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jun 09, 2015 Catsalive rated it did not like it

Shelves: 2015

How disappointing. I really tried to like this book but couldn't do it - I felt it repelling me from the first chapter for some reason & I never recovered from it. I'm too old to force myself to finish a book I'm not enjoying, so I didn't, but I did give it a good try & skimmed quite a bit to ensure I got the gist. I've read a lot of good reviews & feel I must have been reading a different book.
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/1... ...more

1 like · Like · see review

May 14, 2012 Tara rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction

This book was wonderful.
I never gave Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton's love affair much thought. Yet, this story and its host of flawed but likable characters made me curious about them. You see, this book is all about the beautiful chaos of life and how what we do and the choices we make affects not only those we know and love, but reverberate and affect others.
In the present, we meet Michael Deane and, his assistant,Claire. Michael is a successful producer who has tried to stall aging wi ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Aug 04, 2013 Ozma rated it it was amazing

Shelves: book-club-pick, signed-by-the-author

I loved this book. It was a delight to read. I read before bed, and I couldn't wait to get to bed to keep reading this book. It's evocative of a different time as well as perfectly capturing our own times. My favorite part is the intro to the female movie assistant character, where the sprinklers (watering the rock garden of her condo building) wake her up, seemingly whispering to her, psssstttt. I wish Mr. Walter would write a book just about that character. I was surprised a man wrote her char I loved this book. It was a delight to read. I read before bed, and I couldn't wait to get to bed to keep reading this book. It's evocative of a different time as well as perfectly capturing our own times. My favorite part is the intro to the female movie assistant character, where the sprinklers (watering the rock garden of her condo building) wake her up, seemingly whispering to her, psssstttt. I wish Mr. Walter would write a book just about that character. I was surprised a man wrote her character actually. The character was so the modern woman, trying to get ahead in her career, re-assessing her personal life constantly, air-punching her way through a thankless job waiting for the big break. I should also clarify that one star (maybe 1.5) is simply because I met the author at a book-signing, and he was such a neat guy, very down to earth, very humble about his writing, and, despite the awards and praise he's received, very much a friendly, warm person who loves stories and story-telling. The things I didn't like were that the constant romance around Dee Moray, while understandable due to her striking looks, seemed a bit too nostalgic at times. There was a constant, oh, I remember this so fondly, it was such a perfect moment, she was so lovely. I also didn't totally get the Dee-Pasquale scene in the shooting pit with the cave paintings. It was a little heavy with sentiment. I think I would have understood it better had I not been in such a rush to finish and find out what happens. There's a late chapter where basically all the events of the book are summarized. So I am going to read that again because there is obviously some meaning in the way the relationships were formed and played out. I also did not like the penultimate (or close to penultimate) chapter where everything is nicely tied up, somewhat in a cliche manner. There's a change by one character , in particular, that I wasn't buying without more explanation. However, having said all that, I can see why Walter ended things that way, and I am all for happy endings every now and then! Not every book has to end tragically. The really amazing part of the book is how one can identify with many of the characters and their hopes and dreams, their disappointments. The scene where Pat calls home, and his ex-wife/still friend to his mother answers, and what she tells him--so well-written, so apt. That part will take your breath away. I also loved the movie producer character. Not sure if it is an homage to Robert Evans, but, if so or if not, he's a great character. I can't wait to see a movie version or if Walter will possibly write a book just on the female movie assistant or the big time, plastic-surgery'ed movie producer. ...more

Like · see review

Dec 27, 2013 Joanna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, 2014-read, bookclub-grasslands

I listened to this book as it was the April selection for my bookclub. Overall, I was impressed with the author's technical writing ability, but not all that moved by the actual story or any of the characters. The descriptions of place, especially of 1960s Italy, were excellent. The characters seemed like real people. Indeed, perhaps the characters came to seem real to the author as well--he writes an epilogue that reads like the end of a documentary where little snippets of what happened to tho ...more

Like · see review

Nov 01, 2012 Nicole rated it liked it

Shelves: 2012

Mixed thoughts on this one. I really liked the story when everything converged in modern day, but it had A LOT of back story, some which I could have done without. I also hated the last chapter, not so much the conclusion to what happened to the individual lives, but the jumbled mess Walters made in telling it.

Like · see review