Rules of Civility discussion

My answer to favorite character-- Wallace.

He has new novella coming out soon - EVE IN HOLLYWOOD. Per author..  "Near the end of RULES OF CIVILITY, Evelyn Ross boards a train from New York City to Chicago to visit her parents, but never disembarks. Six months later, she appears in a photograph in a gossip magazine exiting the Tropicana Club in Los Angeles on the arm of Olivia de Havilland. This series of six interlinked stories follows Eve from the dining car of the Golden State Limited to the heart of old Hollywood." Sounds good!

Eve in Hollywood is already available, but in Kindle Single format only.

I don't use Kindle, love a book in print. Though having schlepped 3 hard-covers in luggage recently, I can see why they're popular.

I too LOVED this book! I love books set in the 1920's/1930's......another book which I am just finishing and also LOVE is a new book called The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell.

Also set in this time period!

i was completely captured with the first act! Enjoyed it thoroughly!

I don't know if novels set in 1920's and 1930's qualify as historical fiction yet?

I absolutely loved it. At the top of my list!!

Beautifully written!

Page 1, Preface... "In 1950s, America had picked up the globe by the heels and shaken the change from its pockets. Europe had become a poor cousin - all crests and no table settings. And the indistinguishable countries of Africa, Asia and South America had just begun skittering across our schoolroom walls like salamanders in the sun." What?? They didn't teach much geography at Yale and Stanford, I suppose. Editors asleep at the wheel as well? I'm not sure I can get past this glaring error in the first page of this 4+ star rated New York Times Bestseller. It's absurd. Someone actually quotes this passage in a review as an example of his brilliant writing!

It was a different era then ........Africa, Asia and South America were too foreign and far away.....and unknown.

Yes, we know that Africa, Asia and South America are not countries but you can read it as the countries of those continents were indistinguishable. I think that was what he was saying.

Barbara wrote: "Yes, we know that Africa, Asia and South America are not countries but you can read it as the countries of those continents were indistinguishable. I think that was what he was saying."

Oh, right! Thanks for the lightbulb Barbara! This is what I get for reading/writing past my bedtime on the last day of vacation - ha! I was ready to draw and quarter the book, but turns out I just didn't have my lights on. Thank goodness I'm the idiot - ha! ;) I knew there had to be a reason.

Leslie wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Yes, we know that Africa, Asia and South America are not countries but you can read it as the countries of those continents were indistinguishable. I think that was what he was sayi..."

I don't know you personally but I'm pretty sure you are not an idiot :) Did you like the book?

Barbara wrote: "Leslie wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Yes, we know that Africa, Asia and South America are not countries but you can read it as the countries of those continents were indistinguishable. I think that was w..."

Thanks, but sometimes I am. I knew someone would rescue me. :) I just started the book. I seriously couldn't get past that line, it just floored me. In my work this happens too, where I hear something and no matter how many times I listen, it gets stuck as something ridiculous and it won't budge. That's an slight exaggeration in this case, because I did continue on a bit. I've been reading a lot of Patricia Highsmith recently, who is the polar opposite of this more flowing/lyrical type prose, so it is a bit of a jolt, and probably what hung me up. Highsmith is very direct, but still complex in her story and character building. This story is going to require me to slow down a bit if I'm going to enjoy it, and my hope is that he isn't covering up weak characters with fancy pants.

I might be better off listening to this book rather than reading it to myself.

Leslie wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Leslie wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Yes, we know that Africa, Asia and South America are not countries but you can read it as the countries of those continents were indistinguishable. I ..."

I hope you enjoy it. It's been almost two years since I've read it but it's one of my favorite books. I'll look into Patricia Highsmith just to compare.

Barbara wrote: "Leslie wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Leslie wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Yes, we know that Africa, Asia and South America are not countries but you can read it as the countries of those continents were indist..."

"The Talented Mr. Ripley" = Patricia Highsmith. She wrote a book called "The Price of Salt" which I just finished, which is being made into a movie coming out next spring, I think, with Cate Blanchett as "Carol" (and apparently it was the basis for Thelma and Louise, and also inspiration for Nabokov's "Lolita.") She also wrote "Strangers on a Train," which of course Hitchcock turned into a movie (the book is supposed to be better). I can't put a finger on her. I don't know why I even like her books, but they stick with me. Her tension building is some of the best I've read, but I scratch my head at why, and why the story even grabs me, because it's usually about "nothing." Her writing has been described to me as "claustrophobic," and I can't disagree, but it hooks me.

The description of this book (Rules of Civility) vaguely reminds me of Memoirs of a Geisha, which is also a very feminine character and female world written by a man, and I liked that for what it was. Had its flaws, but was a nicely written and interesting/unique story.

Barbara wrote: "I hope you enjoy it. It's been almost two years since I've read it but it's one of my favorite books."

Well...it is done. I would say overall I'll give it 3 stars. If I were feeling generous I could give him an extra star for this being his first book, but since for his fist book he has plunked himself down into some pretty stiff competition in the genre, I'll stay at 3 overall. The problem I have is that there didn't seem to be much reason fleshed out for the drive of the plot. Average middle-class blue-collar-raised downtown girl with above-average ability to maneuver through upper-class white collar very snobby 1940s up-town society? And a well-read bookworm? It was overall too simple and neat. And the rebellious Eve was equally underdeveloped in terms of understanding her motivations and actions. That I was able to reconcile by means of his choice of telling the story from Katy's perspective. That made some sense anyway. He had the added challenge of writing female characters as a man and he did stumble a few times, but I wasn't going to nitpick that as much. He bit off a little more than I think he could chew in his first go, so I'll cut him some slack and say...

I think he has a fine way of writing, but he needs to work on his edge and his development a little bit. If it comes to him he could be very good. If it doesn't, he will remain just competent, readable, not particularly memorable or anything I would seek out. He'll keep selling books because it looks like he produces what editors/publishers think they can market, and if that's all that motivates him, he'll do fine. If he wants to be a great writer, he's going to have to push himself a little bit.

This is not a 5-star book, in my opinion. If one really liked the story enough to forgive the flaws, it could squeak in at a 4, but I think my 3 is pretty fair. :) And I did enjoy the story. I am glad he didn't make unlikeable characters, as is often the case for some reason for stories set in this era.

Leslie wrote: "Barbara wrote: "I hope you enjoy it. It's been almost two years since I've read it but it's one of my favorite books."

Well...it is done. I would say overall I'll give it 3 stars. If I were feelin..."

Thanks, Leslie for sharing your thoughts on the book. What I really liked was the theme that we all present ourselves to the world in a certain way. Sometimes it's who we really are and sometimes it isn't. Katy was an open book; honest, intelligent and ambitious. She and Eve were both besotted with Tinker who wasn't at all who he was pretending to be, except during the private conversations he had with Katy. Turns out Eve wasn't really in love with him, just "his" money and false persona. He and Katy had a more real connection. And Katy ended up, happily, with Val who wasn't the type of person he was "supposed" to be as a member of the upper class. My degree is in Sociology (although I don't work in that field) so I think that is the lens I was looking through when I read the book. I loved the writing style and the connections that ran throughout the story. My favorite quote is:

“As a quick aside, let me observe that in moments of high emotion....if the next thing you're going to say makes you feel better, then it's probably the wrong thing to say. This is one of the finer maxims that I've discovered in life. And you can have it, since it's been of no use to me.”

Barbara wrote: "“As a quick aside, let me observe that in moments of high emotion....if the next thing you're going to say makes you feel better, then it's probably the wrong thing to say. This is one of the finer maxims that I've discovered in life. And you can have it, since it's been of no use to me.”

That was a good one :) I appreciated that Towles stayed true to the perspective, and didn't let anything into the story that could not have been known by the protagonist. That did help to create the tension in trying to understand the motives of Eve and Tinker. Many authors make the mistake of stretching the perspective too far outside the realm of possible knowledge of the protagonist when using first-person narrative, so that was worth a star. ;) I think he could have done better with the setting though. It could have happened in any big city, but he made such a to-do about it being New York and his love of the city, and then didn't give it, at least for me, much of a New York feeling. I don't know what could have been different, but it just didn't resonate for me.