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Summary: Warm Memories
Review: Growing up as rather a bookish only child I would read anything I could lay my hands on. Growing up in South Africa without television also strengthened the reading habit. My first encounter with "I capture the castle" was as a serialised version on the radio and I couldn't wait for the next installment. Of course I subsequently read the book - five times. To this day, the story of Cassandra rates as one of my top ten reads of all time. It has an innocent charm not often found in many modern publications. So if you are after a good old-fashioned, yet timeless read I can highly recommend this title.
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Summary: Pleasant reading
Review: I feel almost churlist for not liking this book as much as I had anticipated. Oh, it's well-written and pleasant to read, with the usual assortment of eccentrics that only English authors seem to be able to create. Unfortunately, I couldn't really get interested in what happens to the characters in the story, even though I tried very hard. It's a good book to spend some quiet time reading, and it will relax you with its language and languid pace. Perhaps it's finally showing its age, being over a half-century old, and seemingly rooted in another world and time entirely. Don't be put off by what I say; read it and make your own determination. You may enjoy it very much, that's the beauty of literature; one size definitely does not fit all!
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Summary: My Top Ten Favorite Book..!
Review: I got his book out of the library last year thinking it would be an amusing little romp. Boy was I wrong,it was all that and more! This is a book that if I see it mentioned anywhere, my eyes tear up(corny but true..) My mom enjoyed it as well,she usually prefers celebrity tell-alls but she really got into this story.I hope to pass on my copy to any female offspring I might have someday,(and nieces as well..!) Males too,so they can understand how our minds work!(lol) Enjoy..!
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Summary: *groan, sigh*
Review: My best friend lent me this book promising it would be great. Don't tell her, but I hated it. I was going to give it one star, but I must admit the author does a good job at painting the characters and bringing you into the story. The first half of it is sooo boring, but by the second half you can't stop reading it. And then the ending is totally unfufilling! I was soo frustrated like, "What? This is the end? That's what happens? I hate this book!" Well, you might like it if you like romances, but sorry, I'm into sci-fi, fantasy, and adventure. Mystery, too. Don't buy it, just get it from the library and if you like it buy it.
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Summary: I hate to admit it but this book grows on you.
Review: I read 'I capture the Castle' over a year ago and enjoyed it even though (forgive me for using the 'R' word) it is a romance, which I don't usually find too interesting. What I find amazing is that it has stuck in my mind like the contents of a child's treasure box. The setting of the castle is as clear in my mind today as it was when I read about it and it gives me a pang of regret to realize that it is only a place of fiction and not one I can ever lay eyes on. In truth, though, it appears more vividly in the imagination that it ever could if it were made of mere stone. Seldom has a title of a book been so apropos. I would say more about Dodie Smith's portrayal of the characters but others have done so. I do regret that she didn't leave the world with more of her books. I can't wait to introduce my daughters to it.
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Summary: A seductive, glowing book
Review: This is a "small" book. The scene is circumscribed, the characters few, and the action minor. Yet is is a beautifully written, achingly real book about the passage from girlhood to adulthood. And in the end, the story seems bigger than it is. My only complaint about this book is that I can never again read it for the first time.
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Summary: Dodie Smith Does it Again
Review: This book is Fantastic! The story Takes place In an old English Castle. Cassandra Mortmain, a Writer-to-be, tells the story of her Family. She tells of how her Beautiful Sister Rose was mistaken by a bear, Her Midsummer Rites, and her own first descent into Love... This book is Fabulus for readers of All ages. With over 300 Pages,it's hard to believe You read it, come to the end and still want more!
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Summary: Capture My Heart
Review: I thought this book was truly wonderful, even if the ending was a bit sudden. This is a story about two young women who live in an old castle with their father Mortmain-who was a writer, untill he went to jail-, and their step-mother Topaz-who was a model for artists. The story takes place near London. I'm sure any ambituos young reader will like!
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Summary: magical, delightful, all you could ask for
Review: Of course, the whole time I could not understand why Cassandra did not love madly Stephen (how could the reader not?) and instead Simon. But I suppose that is the way of things, as different people fell in love with other people throughout the book. The best part of this novel - aside from its all-over dreamy, magical feel (& no, there is no magic in this book, it is just the feeling) - is the characters. Wonderfully unique, and very real, you find yourself caring for them, despite their faults, as people close to you. And I adored the concept of her father's novel, ingenous. But most of all, this novel let me meet Cassandra and that is by far the most wonderful gift of all. What an enchanting character. Yes, buy this book.
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Summary: Ending jilts the reader
Review: I loved this book--up until the last chapter. It started out a perfectly beautiful little escapist story, filled with scrumptious images and a romance with life....The problem came when the author tried--exceedingly heavyhandedly--to turn it into a life lesson. The reader is driven up through luscious scenery to the top of a mountain, made spectator to a breathtaking sunset, and then dropped off a cliff. If you do insist on reading it, go back after you've finished and write a new ending.
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