Hemingway's Chair

Rating:
Summary: A quiet tale, filled with Palin's acute observations.
Review: Palin's writing can be as acute and filled with humor as his travel adventures around the world. It's as if you are looking over his shoulder, watching and listening to his commentary as he spins this quiet tale. You will love his characters, and want to pay strict attention to his descriptions of scenery and his characters. I've never read anything by Palin, but I've admired his work with Monty Python and have enjoyed his video, travel adventures as presented on PBS. You will love this book.

Rating:
Summary: Read this book, preferably every page!
Review: The novel was hilarious, touching, and sporadically asphyxiating, which I mean in a good way. I was wary of this read, having seen a review in the Gainesville New Times by Allison Silverman which said, "Michael Palin should have left this novel in the Arctic Circle," but I found her to be wrong. Dead wrong. This was a delightful and whimsical read that left me wanting more chapters, or at least thicker pages.

Rating:
Summary: Very engaging characters
Review: The people who populate the seaside village of Theston in this story are so real and down to earth that I felt sad to say goodbye when finished. The characters are extremely well "fleshed out" . At times very funny and at times quite dramatic. There are similarities here to the movie "Waking Ned Devine" although the plot of this book is very original. The ending is slightly disappointing but it is a very entertaining read.

Rating:
Summary: Interseting reading but left with questions in the end
Review: The story line is interesting and brings you along very nicely in the beginning with a kind of slow pull but towards the end it quickly speeds up on several of the stories going on and I felt lost several times. I had to reread several paragraphs due to getting lost and losing the story line. Towards the end Mr. Palin no longer lets you in on what is going on in the character's head. I also would have liked to seen a more complete conclusion to the book. What happens to the rest of the characters in the end? You are left to draw your own conclusions. I am a Michael Palin fan (for the most part) and the book did provide some enjoyable reading but overall I felt disappointment in it.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing started off well-went nowhere.
Review: This book started off well, then took so long to get anywhere, by the time that it did I didn't care any more! Palin's quirky humour has been put to much better use. Several of the early characters were abandoned, and I struggled to stay with the book... to the rather disappointing end.

Rating:
Summary: Book is a lot of things
Review: This book was a fun read. A slice of life story, character study, pro & con Hemingway critique, look at British society from the inside and out..., good stuff. I lived in Key West Florida for six years and can tell you that the main character does indeed live, a thousand times over, in various forms and makes yearly pilgrimages to Key West. There were some laugh out loud moments that are to be expected from Palin, but also a bit spice some might not expect. Very enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: Palin has a creative story telling talent
Review: This book was purchase based on what I knew of Palin from Monty Python, various movies, and most recently Full Circle on PBS. I had no idea what kind of a writer he is and I am pleased to find, a very good writer. I enjoy Palin's wit, I have an interest in Hemmingway, and I enjoy English mannerism, so this book keeps my interest. This novel actually reminds me of the cute movie Palin did with Maggie Smith about hiding the hog during WWII (name slips me). It's a fast moving novel that entertains.

Rating:
Summary: Five stars aren't enough!!!
Review: This book, while a backwards biography of Hemingway, is an excellent example of Michael Palin's multitude of talents. He writes, he acts, he sings. If he cooks and cleans, I'll steal him from his wife. I'm only kidding! I bought my first copy of this book back in April, 1998, and I have read it at least monthly, each time finding something I missed the time before. Not many books have had that effect on me. As an avid Python fan and American Anglophile, I found that this book has only made me crave more!

Rating:
Summary: Ordinary people whose lives are disrupted -- very real!
Review: This delightful story takes place in an English shoreline town that's just a little bit stuck in time. A new Postmaster comes in and, Martin, a Hemingway affectionado who thought he was next in line for the position, finds his life becoming decidedly unpredictable. The American lady, Ruth, who is in town researching a history of the women who loved Hemingway, in her travels finds a chair that had belonged to Hemingway himself. Love (or what is imagined to be love)... lost Love (or shared interest, which should be the base of love) found. Shady dealings. A bit of blackmail. And the chair... is it haunted? Does it contain a ghost? Is Martin delusional? All of the above or none of the above? The reader will have to decide. No matter what the reader decides, s/he should find the book charming in its honesty and realism -- and perhaps, like I do, may discover a desire to read "For Whom the Bell Tolls."

Rating:
Summary: Ordinary people whose lives are disrupted -- very real!
Review: This delightful story takes place in an English shoreline town that's just a little bit stuck in time. A new Postmaster comes in and, Martin, a Hemingway affectionado who thought he was next in line for the position, finds his life becoming decidedly unpredictable. The American lady, Ruth, who is in town researching a history of the women who loved Hemingway, in her travels finds a chair that had belonged to Hemingway himself. Love (or what is imagined to be love)... lost Love (or shared interest, which should be the base of love) found. Shady dealings. A bit of blackmail. And the chair... is it haunted? Does it contain a ghost? Is Martin delusional? All of the above or none of the above? The reader will have to decide. No matter what the reader decides, s/he should find the book charming in its honesty and realism -- and perhaps, like I do, may discover a desire to read "For Whom the Bell Tolls."