Mr Golightly's Holiday

Rating:
Summary: A stellar novel
Review: I agree with the reviewer who has been recommending this to everyone. It's brilliant. Clever, funny, wise, deeply profound and highly original. Ms Vickers writes in a quiet, understated Brit way. Don't be fooled. There's a savage understanding beneath that decorous facade. And the ending is a tour de force. Bravo, Ms Vickers and may you continue to 'go lightly'!

Rating:
Summary: Delightful!
Review: I have been talking this book up to everyone I know because it is the best book I have read so far this year. It is absolutely delightful and I can't understand why it hasn't gotten more "press". It is a clever, sweet, kind book with depth and humor and I enjoyed reading it (twice) immensely. Regardless of your faith or religious background, I think everyone would enjoy this novel and get something out of it. I will definitely be looking for other books by Salley Vickers.

Rating:
Summary: Divine Intervention
Review: Salley Vicker's, latest book is best read by knowning who Mr Golightly really is; otherwise, you might have to read the second time which isn't a bad idea. At first, I thought he might be a drifter, escaped convict from the prison or a person running away from something. For those, that really want to savor and enjoy this book to the fullest, I will give away the secret that Mr Golightly is definitely the author of original bible and universal creator come back to earth to see how humanity is doing in a moor village of Dartmoor in southern English, a typical English village where the pub is central to everything going on. The reader moves in too and meets all the characters of Great Calne and their vicissitudes of everyday events.

Since I had to read to the last chapter to know who Mr Golightly was, I felt I missed the subtle humor of the characters especially the village lady vicar that saw her mission as reforming everyones sexual behaviour. The vicar was sure that Mr Golightly must have a problem as a single man and showing up in their village to rent a cottage. Now if the universal creator has a problem, then the vicar really needs to revise her job description as spiritual adviser.

Do we need a new edition of the bible today or are the characters in the original still current in our 21 century? Problems still the same? Mr Golightly isn't pushy, but has a gentle, compassionate interest in everyone in this place.

So get a good glass of your favorite beverage and sit back and enjoy this intelligent, descriptive, vicarious trip to Dartmoor. There is no rush to go anywhere as I haven't given everything away. The reader will be immersed in the mist and moors to decide if they agree with what happens at the end.

Rating:
Summary: Clever and thought provoking, but.....
Review: Salley Vickers' story of Mr Golightly's holiday is a gentle and clever book which allows us all to consider the nature of faith and how God may view the complicated every day lives that we all lead. The characters are interesting (if a little pallid) in their routine kinds of lives; the village is believable, and if you don't know the key to the story you can have a bit of fun trying to work out who Mr Golightly is, what is his business, and why has he lost his only son (not really too difficult to work out).

However, it is that very gentle cleverness that means that this book is somewhat slow at times, and in places I felt this rather hard going. I also felt the ending somewhat contrived, almost as if Ms Vickers wasn't sure how to finish the book.

It is certainly an entertaining read, and a good story, but I feel that it fell somewhat short of its potential. I feel that Ms Vickers' undoubted writing talents are better portrayed in "Miss Garnet's Angel", which is a far superior book.

Rating:
Summary: Delightful!
Review: Sally Vickers lastest book has many subtleties: what appears on the surface and lies beneath. Mr Golightly's Holiday challenges some of your beliefs particularly modern day Christian faith. The book is beautifully descriptive and intelligently written and might even welcome a second reading.

A vicarious trip to southern England where life is centred around the pub is quaint compared to the north american style of living. People there are so busy with their own lives that they don't realize who Mr Golightly is and he doesn't want them to know either. That is another subtlety to be solved.

I wanted to know many of the characters in more detail, particularly Ellen and could have used more pages and time. I am sure that a book club would have much more discussion on the history of the Moors which are fascinating and the people. Always felt there was a hint of Thomas Hardy's, Return of the Native in this book from a geographical position, a little mystery and mystique in those Moors. Readers will find that Mr Golightly isn't so light in its parameters and perspectives although he does step lightly.