Well what i think is
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I just wanted to say that i loved this book. Yes the ending is odd, but i loved the whole book including the ending. Whats wrong with a book finishing differently to the others hes written. I thought it was a brilliant read, as are his other books.
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Loved it
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I have never read any of Douglas Kennedy's books before and I absolutely loved this one. I couldn't put it down, it was so intriguing. I was surprised to read the reviews on this site and see that they were all negative, but it's made me more determined than ever to read some of his other books if they're even better than this one!
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The Woman in the Fifth
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Unbelievable. I was so disappointed with this book. The story was so far fetched and I am a huge fan of Kennedy's, read a lot of his books and highly reccomend them but, no this one.
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Bonkers. Ludicrous. Preposterous!!!
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Have to agree with the consensus here, though I disagree that Kennedy's previous works have carried credibility. I've enjoyed them as escapist page turners, but he's got previous form in asking us to believe that a person's life can be ruined (sacked from job, sued for millions, criminally charged) for minor, human, personal transgressions that in fact would be of no interest to the media, the police or the wider community.
I personally don't buy it but am willing to suspend belief to enjoy a satisfying, rollicking read in which it all turns out ok in the end and the riches to rags storyline is reasuringly rectified.
This just isn't a good read. OK, the beginning is. I really loved Harry's arrival in Paris and the vivid descriptions of his fever, and the characters he encountered in the grotty hotel. But he lost me at the point when he described his day as being budgeted down to the last euro, and then said that his daily itinerary including multiple cinema trips that were apparently and inexplicably free.
He also has previous form in telling but not showing. Many of his male leads have talents that we are asked to take on trust: edgy, award winning comedy writing, novel writing, film knowlege, photography etc. We are simply told that these talents exist but are given little evidence of them. Harry is a talented writer but so little of that comes across in his verbal style that it feels a bit insulting to simply accept that he is an edgy, cool, whisky-slamming, tough talking, film obsessing hard guy when he just talks straight to us in a 'I did this and then I did that' fashion with no character or verbal quirks to speak of.
The dialogue with Margit is excruciating - they basically shoot verbal arrows at each other like schoolkids pretending to be hip 'left bank' intellectuals, with much arching of eyebrows and 'bravo'ing.
Another reviewer mentioned that Harry makes stupid choices and this was indeed the absolute hardest part for me. In exactly the same way that the lone teenage girl will walk out into the woods in the dark in a horror film, Harry cheerfully and with absolutely no explanation walks into situation after situation that a normal person would run screaming from. Even when his precarious situation melts down around him and he is under immediate threat, he continues to turn up to his illegal job and put himself directly at risk. Because he 'doesn't care any more' apparently.
I won't even dwell on the truly bonkers exlanation for the madness Harry experiences. It's a 'deus ex machina' of the most obvious sort, and makes the reader feel insulted and cheated. Lke other readers here, I kept on with the book, hoping that an earth-based explanation would be forthcoming but it wasn't and the book just tailed off in a random place.
I buy most of my books in charity shpos, and pass them on when I'm finished, so I'm happy to re-donate this one. If I'd paid for it brand new I'd be tempted to 'turn this review into a letter' to borrow a device of Kennedy's, and ask for my money back, and indeed my time, if all reality and earthly considerations are now out the window.
Two stars for the great beginning only.
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oh my goodness - you must read this!
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It was a miserable evening and I was all set to sit down to a good book and forget my woes, as two days earlier had damaged my finger through no fault but my own. I had visited the library that day to grab some books and hopefully stay away from the public house where the `said' incident had happened. The first book I picked up was Douglas Kennedy's book "The Woman on the Fifth". Anyway, this author, Kennedy, ruined my life. Firstly, I stayed in for two days trying to finish it and then trying to get on with my life, putting it down because I wanted it to go on forever. I really wanted to meet Harry Ricks and give him a really big hug - he needed it, his life was a mess and he just needed a break. The characters in this book just seemed to encapsulate me and take me to a very scary place I wouldn't technically want my enemy to be left in. Secondly, when I finished this book I was drained - it wasn't a let down but this character had a big sense, of what seemed to me personally, acceptance. He accepted his own failures, the incidents that were occurring around him, his judgements, and acceptance of what really happened in his life - at the end. You must read this book because its life aspiring - it takes one into a world most weird and then dumps you in an abyss of empityness (for the character too). That's a good thing ok - so read it!
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