Rating: 
Summary: BORING!
Review: We selected this book for my book group, which includes a diverse group of women and men. We were all very disappointed by this novel. We found it overwritten, boring, and pretentious. Also, there's no real story here; it seems more like a writing exercise than a novel. We read some great books in our group. Forget PRAGUE. Check out the following--all strong books with a central story, careful writing, and complex characterization--DISGRACE, by J. M. Coetzee; LIFE OF PI, by Yann Martel; MIDDLESEX, by Jeffrey Euginedes.
Rating:
Summary: It is not Prague but Budapest
Review: Arthur Philips may be an excellent writer, and his book "Prague" could very well be a masterpiece, but unfortunately the author chose "Prague" as a title for a story happening almost entirely in the Hungarian capital, Budapest. Some would consider the title as some sort of a poetic twist or a cynical yet very meaningful wink at the reader as much as at the Hungarians themselves for Budapest, unlike Prague, has been descending smoothly into realms of poverty, decadence and extreme nationalism ever since the collapse of the communist regime. However, this is not the case. On a long interview for the Hungarian commercial television channel, TV2, Philips confesses that the choice of "Prague" over "Budapest"--not to mention the choice of the book cover--was made so that the book could be better sold. In his view, most Americans know absolutely nothing about Hungary in general and Budapest in particular. Prague, he says, is more familiar and hospitable to the American tourist than Budapest. Reality may be tough, Mr. Philips, but so is literary integrity.
Rating: 
Summary: Falls Apart Halfway through
Review: While the first part of Prague consists of
a series of delightful, wonderfully written
vignettes and observations about expat life, going
back and forth between its small group of central
characters, the novel falls apart once it
introduces -- or, more to the point, *forces* upon the
narrative -- a superficial plot relating
to the aquiring of a Hungarian publishing house.Perhaps the author was worried that simply following
these characters around through their own lives and letting their own actions determine plot wouldn't be
"meaningful," or interesting enough. In any case, the result is that much of the material after
this plot is introduces feels rather contrived. Nevertheless, I'd recommend this book if you don't mind
stopping in the middle of it, or trudging through an unengaging last half. Hopefully, Phillips' next book will pay-off on the intial
promise of this one.
Rating:
Summary: What happened to Story?
Review: Keeping in mind this is a debut novel, I kept trudging through it, looking for some reason for all the glowing reviews. I didn't find much, besides look-at-me prose and characters with interesting names. Plot? Conflict? Reason to turn to the next page? Couldn't find those. I can't give this one star because completing any novel is difficult, and it isn't Mr. Phillip's fault that all these "professional" reviewers pulled our legs. He's trying to make money and he's surrounded himself with enough "yes" people to let such drivel pass unprotested. But he should keep in mind Hemingway's advice that a writer needs to have an excellent "bullsh*t detector" because his book reeks of it.
Rating: 
Summary: Criminy!!! One-star reviews?
Review: Musta fallen into the hands of a particulary large and dimwitted book club, or else all the author's vanquished Jeopardy foes are out to nail him. The book is really worth at least 3 1/2 stars, specially fer being a daybiew. It's clever and quite accurate in its portrayal of young Americanos on the loose in the former Soviet Bloc c. 1991. Some of the reviewers say they can't understand why the characters act so dad-gum nasty. It's all there in black n white, folks-cheap hooch, sex, an unhinged capitalist mindset, etc., etc. The book falls down a bit as it narrows its focus to a business deal/scam involving a young Hungarian/'Merican biz wiz trying to take over/sell off an august Budapest publishing house. This subplot took over the book and tended to drag the shebang down for long stretches that reminded of a Michener historical novel. I would have preferred a more comic, more ambiguous close to the book. Still, better than most of the recent crop of E. Euro fiction. And if you were there or some place like it, definitely worth it.
Rating: 
Summary: A Very Different Opinion
Review: Wow, it looks like I'm very much in the minority on this book! I am used to that, but usually it's the other way around -- I find myself seriously underewhelmed by the latest "it book". I guess I'll open with the most controversial item -- I loved this book! No, it's not a perfect book, but the writing is just beautiful. The descriptions may be wordy, but after finishing Prague I could see myself on the streets of Budapest and I knew I'd immediately recognize each character if I bumped into him/her on a Buda ut. Who cares if the characters aren't likeable? So what if they don't figure out their life purposes in the span of a few hundred pages. There's no grand ending to neatly wrap up the fate of 1990s expats -- shocking! I'll admit that there is no sigh of contentment at the end of Prague akin to Jake's exit in The Sun Also Rises, but why does that matter so much? Furthermore, why is everyone in such a snit about the setting being Budapest rather than Prague? It may have been a cheap gimmick (as some contend), but I liked it. Now that I've attempted to defend Prague, I'll just say why I liked it.
First, the writing -- it sucked me in and kept me there. I had to use a dictionary a few times, but it was worth it. Prague is one of the rare books that made me want to flip back to page one and start over when I finished. In fact, I did reread the opening few pages upon finishing the book. The last book that made me do that was The Secret History (talk about nasty characters!). I will admit that I didn't care for the digression in the middle dealing with the history of the Hungarian Revolution and the Horvath press, but that was over quickly enough. I think a lot of the "pace" complaints might be due to the historical sidetrack.
Second, I thought the characters WERE interesting. Lots of folks are harping on the boring characters and while I didn't "like" them in the sense that I would want to be best buddies with them, I did find them interesting. I thought Phillips did a nice job of building each character (except maybe Emily) so that his actions, if viewed in isolation, seem strange and perhaps immoral, but if viewed in the context of the character himself -- well, each action is understandable and perhaps even inevitable. I reallly did feel that I knew each character (again with the possible exception of Emily) by the end. In fact, I actually felt sad for all of them. With most books my overall reaction is mostly influenced by plot details, humor, pace, etc., but the setting and the characters made this book. I really do think it was my favorite book of 2002. Others may disagree, but I certainly think it deserves better than it's getting here.
Rating:
Summary: Actually, it's a page-turner
Review: Just wanted to raise the rating of this very fine (but not perfect) novel and make a few points: 1. I, for one, found this book so gripping that I stayed up all night to finish it in one sitting. I literally couldn't put it down. At one point, I thought about going to the kitchen for a glass of water, but decided that I'd rather stay thirsty and read. Now, I'm probably the ideal reader for this particular novel (male, American, white, born in the early '70s, spent time in Hungary in the '90s, now in English grad school working on a dissertation that is, sort of, a history of nostalgia), but I think anyone can admire Phillips's cleverness, his mastery of irony, and his deep emotional concerns. 2. That said, the emotions that concern him most deeply are narcissistic longing and nostalgia. If you don't find solipsism interesting (as a topic of conversation, if not as a way of life), you probably won't like this much. But if you like, say, _Tristram Shandy_ or Salinger's Seymour stories, or maybe _Infinite Jest_, or _Midnight's Children_, you'll probably love it. 3. That is to say, Phillips is at his best with the deeply personal stories of people locked in their own minds. In contrast, his much-lauded attempt at history strikes me as irresponsible. The twentieth-century-Hungary-as-seen-by-Imre-Horváth bit seems to me every bit as dishonest as twentieth-century-America-as-seen-by-Forrest-Gump: a self-serving recapitulation of generational clichés. That this sort of history seems to have quite a bit of currency in Hungary doesn't make it good. Anyway, that's my 2 fillérs.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful prose, not so interesting story or characters
Review: I believed the blurbs on the book that this was, finally, writing akin to the lost generation of ex-pats after WWI. I was sucked in by the hype, hoping for a book that would speak to my generation, and perhaps start a New Thing. But I hope it does not, for if it does, the new thing is only that of self-centered "Hey look at me!" gee-whiz-bangery. I will say, the prose in the book is beautiful. Phillipis is an artist with words. But the "Hey look at me cleverness!" of his writing style wears thin quickly, and one soon realizes that excessive detail and flowery prose is all he's working on, and the book eventually becomes tedious. Unlike that initial set of ex-pats, Phillips is unconcerned with story, and more concerned with making sure we all know how clever he is with word usage. He should have taken the attention to detail and florid prose of the first 20 pages, and smeared it out over the whole thing to make the cleverness part less dense. Then he would have had more room to develop characters that we would care about, situations that are interesting, and a story that is compelling. Sadly, as much as I really, really wanted to enjoy this book and be excited by it, I enjoyed it only minimally, and am not excited enough about it to recommend it to anyone. It wasn't a waste of my time, but I would rather have read something else. perhaps Phillips will lose his self-absorption, and turn out better books later. He appears that he might have the skill to do so.
Rating:
Summary: Could have been better
Review: There is a point in Prague where one of the characters, a newspaper columnist, begins to write something with a good premise. But no sooner does he reach his peak than he is hit with writer's block. He hopes to regain his writing ability, to no avail. And that is essentially what happens to this novel. The Prague's premise was captivating. The story of five North American ex-pats living in Budapest in the early nineties enthralled me. The characters are interesting, and the writing is wonderful and so evocative of that time and place. But then the novel loses its magic somewhere in the middle. At that juncture, the story is flaccid and the characters are wooden. There is a particular scene in which the author introduces a character in a very long sequence that bothers me. The introduction of said character should have been better. There are other inconsistencies in this novel. Finishing this novel was a chore. Alas, it is still worth reading, if only for its brilliant premise. Just don't believe the hype.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Beginning but Then??
Review: Rarely does one read more than 300 pages and wonder what? What was the point? Was there a point? While I hate to admit this and fear that I might have missed something, I'm not sure what I just finshed reading in this book. The protagonist (John) shows up in Budapest to hang out with his brother and a few other Amercian and Canadian expats who all have legitimate questions about life and their direction. That's the hopeful beginning of this book (which is set in Budapest and not Prague) and could have kept my interest. Unfortunately characters come and go in this book and in the end, almost everyone ends up disappointing you. Somewhere in the middle of the book is the rebirth of a Hungarian publishing house after the fall of Communism. While that sounds hopeful and uplifting, even the means of how it is reborn is somewhat shady and ethically challenged. Perhaps this is kind of the theme for the entire book. Life after Communism is full of promise and ideals but in the end, people do take liberties and look out for themselves. The same thing happens with many of the relationships between the characters of this book too. That's why I came away from the book disliking most of the people and wondering why I spent the time and effort to read the book. In short, I hope you didn't find this review confusing and pointless, but if you did, it only reflects the lack of purpose and direction with this book.
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