Rating: 
Summary: Unsolved Mystery of a Human Being
Review: A reading of this book resembles a leafing through an album of old photographs dedicated to some unknown man named George Hardy. Each of the three narrators, who were once connected and loved him (though in different manner and degree), shows two pictures and tells their prehistories. The image of Master Georgie as a respectable, decent man turns into a central figure of such a weird sexual and family conundrum that it will take some time to perceive; an affectionate son turns into a frigid father and lover; a drunkard into a brave surgeon of the English army during the Crimean War; etc. The book ends in horrible bloody scenes of the senseless war carnage. Ms Beryl Bainbridge does not give an opportunity for George Hardy to speak, so we close the book but still do not understand who and what was George and why these three persons were so devoted to him. Just as in a real life: people come and go, we think we know them, but we usually know only their external appearance, and their essence remains a mystery...
Rating:
Summary: Crime of Crimea
Review: At first, I was going to tick Beryl Bainbridge off for writing too well, too literary. I thought it nonsense that an illiterate girl in nineteenth century Liverpool could never write such exquisite prose as evidenced in this novel, and that this was a case of the authorial voice being too strong. As it happened, I couldn't have been more wrong. This novel is narrated by the close acquaintances of 'Master Georgie' (although some are closer than others), starting with the illiterate Myrtle. Immediately we are drawn into the action, as this sequence of a photograph being taken will resound throughout the novel. 'Master Georgie' is incredibly subtle, and it is only by looking back over it that you begin to appreciate that this is the most suitable of beginnings. Here is where Myrtle begins on her road to becoming a lady. And what an unsavory road it is, as Myrtle's help is initially required to cover up the manner in which George Hardy's father has died, and leads to the bloody battlefields of the Crimea. Also assisting with the cover-up is the duck-boy and street urchin, Pompey Jones and the pompous Dr. Potter, whose narrations are by far the best. George Hardy himself is an ambiguous figure, seen only through the eyes of others. It may be a fault that we never really get to know him. This is a novel of cameras, carnality, and carnage. The dreadful shadow of history is cast upon it, with the famous charge of the Light Brigade lightly alluded to. One almost expects to run into a lady with a lamp at every corner, but fortunately, Bainbridge avoids this excess. She takes events frozen in time, such as the front cover's photograph, and brings them into life and death, and maybe even beyond. The camera never lies... Or does it? Bainbridge fervently burrows into the psyche of characters, enabling them to bring about apparitions vivid enough to be captured by film. In my mind's eye, I see Bainbridge pouring over ancient photographs from the Crimea, trying to put names to faces and to see if she could walk around in their bloody shoes. She succeeds. If I'd have been on 1998's Booker panel, I know I would have placed Bainbridge before McEwan. And the reason wouldn't have the desire to give her a consolatory, but demeaning, long service award. In this instance, 'Master Georgie' speaks for itself.
Rating:
Summary: Bainbridge does it again
Review: Bainbridge is simply a genius.Master Georgie is a classic.An entralling read,full of off beat characters whose hope and dreams are tragically mistimed.Their miserable lives entwined poetically reaching a climax in a wasteful war. A brilliantly gripping ripping yarn of a story subtly and savagely told by a master.
Rating: 
Summary: Dark, Subtle and Sophisticated
Review: Beryl Bainbridge has to be one of the greatest of all English authors. All of her books are superb and Master Georgie, her third book of historical fiction, is different, but no less superb, than the two preceeding. I think Master Georgie has not been praised quite highly enough because its subject matter may be less familiar to Americans than Bainbridge's two previous historicals. As a European, however, Master Georgie is definitely my favorite. It is quieter and more subtle, but I think it has much more emotional depth.Bainbridge is always a little cryptic with her subject matter and Master Georgie is no exception. Don't let this put you off the book, though--the undercurrents of energy and intrigue make this short book riveting and well worth anyone's time. The protagonist, Master Georgie, is actually George Hardy, a Victorian English dissolute and surgeon who, one day, decides to pack up his family and head for Turkey. Although his intentions are to provide medical care to the wounded during the Crimean war, we all know things rarely go as planned. Suffice it to say that Murphy's Law holds just as true for Master Georgie as it does for us. The battlefield scenes are some of the best I have ever read, not surprising with Bainbridge. Although the scenes are brutal and sometimes even gruesome, this marvelous author has managed to infuse them with a sardonic wit that rivals anything I have ever read. Bainbridge is true to her subject matter in these scenes. Bainbridge chooses to forgo romanticism in favor of the reality of confusion and futility that surely must have existed on the battlefields of the Crimea. Lest you think she's making fun of her subjects, let me tell you she most assuredly is not. She is compassionate, but she wisely keeps that compassion from coloring the facts. I think she is simply interpreting events with her own brand of intelligence and irony. Master Georgie can meander at times, but Bainbridge has even this meandering under complete control. She also tempers it with vivid details. We really feel as if we are reading an actual eyewitness account to the war. Master Georgie is a short book, really more of a novella than a novel, and you can easily read it in one sitting if you so desire. Don't let its length fool you, though. Master Georgie is a dark book and one that really packs a punch. It is stylish, sophisticated and sardonic. In short, it is a book that is worthy of all the praise it has garnered.
Rating:
Summary: An engrossing novel about love and war
Review: Geroge Hardy, a surgeon and amateur photographer, discovers his father dead in the bed of another woman and hastens to bring the body home before his mother learns of it. Three people help with this task, and their lives are irrevocaly changed because of it. The story is told through the eyes of those three people close to Master Georige. The first is Myrtle, a young orphan who is accepted and raised by the Hardy family. She immediately falls in love with Georgie, a love that will carry her from the streets of Liverpool to the battlefields of the Crimean War. Next is Pompey Jones, a young street boy who helps move the body of George's father and then discovers George's passion for young men. The last is Dr. Potter, a family friend who follows George all the way to the Battle of Inkermann, never understanding George's aversion to women or why he wants to attach himself to a unit during the awful war. Through their eyes, we watch George change from a young doctor in England dealing with his father's troublesome death to the hardened field doctor trying to save lives during a time of war. This is a fantastic historical novel, with some of the most descriptive war scenes I've read in quite some time. Bainbridge makes you feel the confusion, fear and dread that the soldiers faced both due to battle and due to disease. At the same time, she shows how one life can effect others, either for better or for worse. A highly engrossing novel.
Rating:
Summary: An engrossing novel about love and war
Review: Geroge Hardy, a surgeon and amateur photographer, discovers his father dead in the bed of another woman and hastens to bring the body home before his mother learns of it. Three people help with this task, and their lives are irrevocaly changed because of it. The story is told through the eyes of those three people close to Master Georige. The first is Myrtle, a young orphan who is accepted and raised by the Hardy family. She immediately falls in love with Georgie, a love that will carry her from the streets of Liverpool to the battlefields of the Crimean War. Next is Pompey Jones, a young street boy who helps move the body of George's father and then discovers George's passion for young men. The last is Dr. Potter, a family friend who follows George all the way to the Battle of Inkermann, never understanding George's aversion to women or why he wants to attach himself to a unit during the awful war. Through their eyes, we watch George change from a young doctor in England dealing with his father's troublesome death to the hardened field doctor trying to save lives during a time of war. This is a fantastic historical novel, with some of the most descriptive war scenes I've read in quite some time. Bainbridge makes you feel the confusion, fear and dread that the soldiers faced both due to battle and due to disease. At the same time, she shows how one life can effect others, either for better or for worse. A highly engrossing novel.
Rating: 
Summary: ugh...I think I'll skip dinner.
Review: I found this a very disturbing book of the type that you like against your own best instincts. I'm not saying it's bad, no. I'm just saying that if you want a nice, friendly, romantic (within reason) war book, look somewhere else. Children shouldn't read this, but it's good. Forgive me if I'm making no sense, but this is a very tricky book to review.
Rating:
Summary: Too many unanswered questions
Review: I know Beryl Bainbrige is a great writer but...this was my first Bainbridge novel and I didn't enjoy it very much. Am I not getting it? I have so many questions unanswered by this book. Why were Dr. Potter and Myrtle suffering through the Crimean war when they didn't have to be there? Was it Myrtle's utter devotion that kept her there? Why was Potter there? Were they camp followers? Also, did Myrtle bear Georgie and his wife's children for them because the wife couldn't? Or am I dreaming? There seems so much allusion in this book and I feel dumb for not getting what the other reviewers are getting from it. For me, it wasn't clear or easy to follow and I am not a stupid person. I'm a bit disappointed but will try another book of hers and hope that I will enjoy it more..
Rating:
Summary: Viewing the Man in the Photograph
Review: In a revolving first person narrative, three people who are close to George narrate the events of their mid-nineteenth century life. These narrations center around photographs taken at certain points. Through the course of the novel the idea of an image taken is made increasingly more complex as is the mystery of George who is most often portrayed idealistically as a man of high knowledge and wisdom. Through the carefully written language of the narrative, there are surprisingly human incidents and facts revealed that are startlingly human. These are placed in the frame of the historical context leading to the war between England and Russia. The gruesome events of the war that follow strip each of the three characters of their pretence and leaves them yearning for the image of their lost ideal, Master George. This is a fascinating experiment in looking at ways of perception, the identities they fashion for people and the personal impact of assumptions about other people's identities.
Rating:
Summary: Historical fiction
Review: Master Georgie is a novel set in the time of the Crimean War. Through the eyes of three people close to Master Georgie, Myrtle, a girl believed to be Georgie's sister, Dr. Potter, a geologist and Pompey Jones, the photography assistant, we follow him from Liverpool to the battlefield of the Crimean War. This way to write about a person and his happenings is well known through Ian Pears An Instance of the Fingerpost. And can be a perfect way to keep the readers interest and also the readers capability to live with the story. But Beryl Bainbridge do not master this art in this book. The language is too flat, without feelings, and the plots are sometimes too cryptical to be understood. I had to read several parts more than once to be able to understand what it all really was about, and to understand which lenses where used. Still the book has some good parts, among them are the battlefield scenes. And I also like the way Bainbridge use the meaning of the photography, to let us see snapshots of Master Georgie's life, using other people as lenses, as cameras. The book is a short one, less than 200 pages, and the surprising ending helps to give meaning to the story. Britt Arnhild Lindland
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