2008-09-29 These Foolish Things

"Follies" ends up being a page turner only after about a third of the way through. Somehow the early scenes just don't grip.

I think part of the problem is that this book is now showing its age, and what seemed to be a portrait of three independant women twenty-five years ago is now rather dated. The women are dominated by the men in their lives, and Rosie Thomas writes as if all Chloe and Helen want is to be taken roughly to bed (until they find their true love).

There is an element of the "Sloane Ranger" style of the early Eighties about it in the jeunesse doree of Oxford University here. She paints a feeling portrait of Oliver the aristo running to his doom, and Pansy is probably the most contemporary of the female characters. There's always a feeling of how things are being tied together within the narrative, though.

I did enjoy the "As You Like It" line in the plot, and the episode in Venice. However, other parts felt like a mid-Eighties mini series on ITV.