Rating: 
Summary: You Can't Judge a Book By Its Cover
Review: Ah, one hopes there is a special place in Hell for the blurb writers and their kin who mislead us into purchasing their products. Prominently displayed on the cover of my paperback copy of Michael Palin's Hemingway's Chair are the words "His Hilarious Bestselling Novel"--and knowing Palin's work from Monty Python, I bought the book expecting a laugh riot. Instead, I got a charming and quirky character study of lonely people in everyday situations, and not a dead parrot to be seen. It would be totally unfair of me to judge Palin's writing by my inappropriately targeted expectations--after all, he didn't write the blurb, and to expect that all he can ever do is more Pythoneque humor would be to do him a great disservice and ignore the fundamental need for change that all humans have--but nonetheless I read the entire book waiting for the big laugh payoff that never came. Of course I was disappointed--in fact this book is by far more tragic than comic. There are moments of dry wit, but this tale of an underemployed postal worker aspiring to the all-too-flawed greatness of Ernest Hemingway grants its antihero a Pyrrhic victory at best, and is much more a contemplation of the smallness of our lives rather than a heartwarming and uplifting tale of greatness achieved. As such it is worth a read, once you've caught up with all the other reading you'd like to do.
Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable, easy read.
Review: An enjoyable, easy read. Palin touches on issues about government privatisation, and economic rationalism, and corporate greed, set in rural England in the 90s. A pleasant account of a little guy against some corporate thugs. There isn't too much humour, but neither is the book a heavy political tract. The major personality theme of Hemmingway seems to get lost sometimes, and is an occasional distraction from the main story, but Palin makes a good attempt to bring the two together.
Rating: 
Summary: A story that might be any of us
Review: Hemingway's Chair is the story of a man who is a true fan of Ernest Hemingway and how this passion percolates through his life. Martin is an assistant postmaster in a small English town. He doesn't own a car, he uses a bike. He lives with his mother. In short a man who would seem to be quite constrained in his outlook. But this passion for Hemingway is quite at odds with the man we would pass in the street or buy stamps from at the post office. It is this passion that feeds the story that Palin tells with great skill.The writing of Michael Palin is quite at odds with the man of Monty Python skits. For me, Palin struck a chord that might be there in all of us. A desire to be in the same room with a great figure. Palin's charecter to me, doesn't want to be Hemingway, rather he would be quite happy just being in the same room with him. Seeing him, listening to him, basking in the relected glory of the man. Is this a religious zeal? I don't think so. Rather it is almost a love of the man and all he stands for. Palin's cahrecters are all believeable. We all know the bustling new boss who wants to drag a perfectly serviceable work situation into the fast lane of the GPO. To him, this is his opportunity to excel and move up the ladder of success. No matter that there are people already in place who have long service in one office, know all the customers, thier children and their varied stories. To the boss, this is of no value; streamline, moderinize and economize are his watchwords. I don't like him. He ignores the history of the people around him and the place in which he is in the process of destroying. The rest of the charecters are just as true to life, including the American woman who intrudes on Martin's life and eventually awakens in him a Hemingwayesque way of dealing with the turmoil that has so changed his life. I found this to be a book that made me think, not just about Palin's charecter, but my own outlook on life. It is not a book for someone who is looking for a printed version of the goofy charecters from Palin's sketches. Rather it is a thought provoking book that will make you sit and think afterwards and even during your reading of it. This is not a quick read but it is engrossing. It is a book, I hope that people will revisit periodically for a recharge in their batteries, the better to deal with reality.
Rating:
Summary: Done up like a dog's dinner
Review: I have long enjoyed Michael Palin as an actor, comedian and world traveller. I was not expecting much from him as a novelist, however, thinking he would be predictably zany and lightweight. It was a very pleasant surprise to find a book about ordinary people with secret lives -- a topic that always hooks me. Very well written, with British characters that ring true to my experiences in England, I truly enjoyed this book.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Read, with Powerful Images
Review: I kind of wish they'd released this under a pseudonym. (Kind of. There are lots of great, unknown books around.) Deal with it; there ain't no pythons in Theston. (Must be part of that St. Patrick deal.) Palin's style, here, reminds me most of Robert Coover in "The Universal Baseball Association" (also a great read, with a similar sort of spiritual-development-through-fantasy/admiration theme going on.) The book's tightly, carefully crafted, which is also good for we plot-mongers who are fed to the teeth with either exploitative, violent crap and/or the formless, self-indulgent not-quite-poetry stuff that sometimes passes for "real" novels. This one's a must read also, for those of us looking (begging, hoping, praying...) for characters beyond the same ol' stereotypes. There isn't a flat, inhuman, dissed character (male or FEMALE!) anywhere in this story -- even the "bad" guys are complex in motivation and thought processes.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable read
Review: I was surprised that this was written by the same guy that was in A Fish Called Wanda and Monty Python. What a great talent he has. This story is an enjoyable read with unique characters and a wonderful plot. The character of Ruthie is a hoot. It's a quick read and well worth it.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I was very disappointed in Hemingways Chair. A sad loser, devoted to his employer, gets messed over, loses job, girl, and
prospects. I'm a devoted Monty Python fan, and found this book
depressing and dull.
Rating:
Summary: Summertime Read
Review: I've been buying copies of this to hand out to friends in search of a good summertime read. It's wonderful fun, and I can almost picture it as the movie it deserves to be. They should stock this at the Hemingway House in Key West, but they don't. Instead, create a bit of fun for yourself. Make yourself a Cuba Libre, grab this book and find yourself a hammock. You won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Summertime Read
Review: I've been buying copies of this to hand out to friends in search of a good summertime read. It's wonderful fun, and I can almost picture it as the movie it deserves to be. They should stock this at the Hemingway House in Key West, but they don't. Instead, create a bit of fun for yourself. Make yourself a Cuba Libre, grab this book and find yourself a hammock. You won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Snoozer
Review: Palin turns a nice phrase a few -- and I do mean few -- times in ways that remind you of his wonderful wit, but overall this is a pretty simplistic plot-driven story with a fairly uninteresting plot and characters that don't hold your attention for a moment after you put the book down. Put another way, for the last 80 pages the only thing I felt was an earnest (no pun intended) desire to be done with the book so I could move on to something else -- hardly a good sign.
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