Rating: 
Summary: One Word. "Scope"
Review: I absolutely loved this book. Phillips wrote an amazing debut novel of a modern day 'lost generation.' The characters of 'Prague' hint of the same overtones of searching and self-absorbedness those of as classic Jazz-age novels of Hemmingway and Fitzgeraled. The book is set in Budapest in the early 90's, after the great struggle [and triumph] against Communism. Phillip hints at and guides the reader to seeing that this book could be set in any western European City after the First World War Phillips has the ability to paint a very broad picture in the [relatively] simple, yet elegant storyline of journalist John Price's search for a sense of self and his place in the world in post-communist central Europe. The only thing that prevents me from given this book 5 stars is prose which wanders and is not always necessary and really slow the book down.
Rating: 
Summary: Vastly Over-rated
Review: Here's a case of PR triumphing over content. It's a debut, he's young and photogenic, and the critics go into rhapsodies. Yet the book is 100 pp. too long, and its focus is off. The only truly interesting people are the minor characters, the Hungarians. The Americans are boring and empty. Yes, that may be the point, but writing a boring and empty book about such types is, well, boring. And did I mention empty?
Rating: 
Summary: Prague, another take
Review: I already commented on this book once -- and after a closer reading and a few more reviews to open my mind, I'm still stuck at two stars -- a rough combo of 4 small stars for episodic, descriptive proficiency and a fat 1 star for tying all of it together into a readable novel. I still think Phillips is very perceptive in identifying some of the sort of people who were "over there" in the early days, before the expat-tourist onslaught, but I still have to say -- if you're looking for a story that hangs together and is enjoyable to read, this ain't the book. As an aside, I might mention that my experience in Central Europe begins soon after the "revolutions," in Prague (with only one visit to Budapest, for reasons of money and distance) but mostly in relatively isolated brown-lignite coal/uranium country in far-north Czech (one year) and bucolic, post-Sudeten far-south Czech (four years). All this may have colored my view of most expat lit as facile and overwrought (unless there's a story to tell). But in 1990, tickets to Prague and Budapest were, in fact, pretty cheap (and rarely one-way, incidentally) -- or better, you could train in from Germany -- the countries were fresh in a run-down way and exciting, and no retrospective overintellectualizing can ruin the fun we really had or are having. I just hope Phillips wasn't one of those I met who zipped over to write "The Novel" and zipped out when the glamour faded.
Rating:
Summary: Like Chalk Pastry
Review: The book provides a number of colourful descriptions of the city that was also my domicile for 4 years. However, such attractive appearances, like many things in Budapest (the pastry, the cuisine, the storefronts, the women, the building facades), are really just masks over deficiencies of substance within.
Rating:
Summary: Chill, Donald Frades
Review: I've only spent one day in Budapest and much more time in Prague (that's no claim of uniqueness by far), but I could see how Mr Phillips could have felt the way he did in the book. Budapest was indeed a bit on the sleepy and provincial side, while Prague was the place to be. If anything, I enjoyed the concept of contrasting the two places. The best think about the book though, I agree, is Phillips' ability to play with words and storylines, which alone made reading it at least a little bit of an exciting venture. And another thing--we must remember that this novel covers the years 1990 and 1991, which was immediately following the thaw and the Wall, and I'm sure not too many expats were out there "with cheap tickets" at that early point. Maybe Mr Frades was one of the millions of "tourists," who doesn't feel comfortable with the description of his pseudo-adventures that in fact only gathered steam later in the decade.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant writing and better than the reviews
Review: The reviews and the blurbs focus on things the book is not even about - it's not a Fitzgerald thing, it doesn't define a generation - it's better than all that. It's fabulously beautiful writing, original in its voice, and compelling to read. Plenty of meaning and food for thought. A great read!
Rating:
Summary: some good parts
Review: While not worth reading it has a few cool parts, especially if you spent your post-college days in Hungary or Czechoslovakia. Unfortunately, this book is way too long. Honestly it would be great if it were 1/10 as long.
Rating:
Summary: A book with the atmosphere of Budapest itself
Review: 'Prague' is not an easy book to characterize, but neither is the time or city that it attempts to re-create. The character descriptions, the non-linear writing sequence, the heavy reliance upon historical exposition (often at the expense of current events), should not necessarily be interpreted as poor editing or non-committal writing. Rather, they serve to re-create North American impressions of Hungary and the experience of living there, regardless of whether one relates to the characters or not. I lived in Budapest in the early 90s, and the descriptions of the city and atmosphere are dead-on, down to the descriptions of the jazz club (which could have well been based upon the now-defunct Black & White Club in Pest), or the gritty, faded restaurants which served goose-liver and canned corn on pizzas. People who travelled to Budapest generally either loved it or disliked it almost immediately- the polarization of opinion was remarkable- and I am not surprised that reaction to this book may fall into a similar pattern. I do disagree with media reviews that characterize the book as a GenX tribute, because personally I never related to the GenX tag and it was merely coincidental that the term emerged at the same time as the fall of communism. Rather, the characters were merely (and typically for expats) attempting to attribute more self-importance to their experiences. Personally, I find this to be one of the most intelligent and original books that I have read in some time. It does not describe my own experiences in Budapest, nor did I even like most of the characters (that may be the book's one real similarity to 'The Great Gatsby'). But for painting a canvass of what was the uniquely and enchantingly morbid Hungary of the early 1990s, 'Prague' is a wonderful piece of work.
Rating:
Summary: Plaque
Review: I am sure Knopf had a very good reason to promote this novel, one that I accept as a mystery. The prosaic style made me feel as if I were moving very slowly in a dream where nothing happens. And coincidentally, nothing happens for long stretches of this book, as though the author had suddenly decided to just go freestyle with a typewriter and a hookah pipe. I found myself wishing to fall into a coma so as to liven things up a notch. Great reading for the person who wants to look as though they are international scholars.....and yet, there were moments of surprising plot twists. It would have made a splendid comic book....
Rating: 
Summary: Good, But Far from Great
Review: There is something to this book, but not as much as the glowing reviews suggest. The pace is slow, the characters eventually real and the atmosphere very strong. But there is something missing here also. I think it is purpose. At the end I didn't care much about the people and I don't know that I should have. I even think the author may have intended me not to care. He is an interesting writer but I belive that th reason one reviewer feels that he has read 50 books by him already is that it is often derivative. Chabon is in here (but comparisons with Chabon are way overdone). There is even some Graham Swift in here. But those are two authors who always make you care or give you comething to care about. Without that I just don't see the point of this book.
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