- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Doubleday; Export ed edition (5 Jun 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0385604874
- ISBN-13: 978-0385604871
- Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 13.4 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,377,003 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Alentejo Blue
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Product Description
Review
Well written and often entertaining...a perfectly pleasant read. --The Daily Telegraph
Compelling, atmospheric and elegantly written. --Tatler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Compelling, atmospheric and elegantly written. --Tatler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Daily Telegraph
'Well written and often entertaining .... a perfectly pleasant
read.' --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
read.' --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Having loved Brick Lane I was very eager to read this but it was a huge disappointment - so much so that I don't normally write reviews for Amazon but I am compelled to say "save your money!"
This book comes with a very big "So what?!" It reads like a random collection of short stories which are badly thought out, lacking in plot and with weak characters. There are character links between the stories but they are so shallow and predictable.
Like most books I read, I could not wait to finish this book- but for all the wrong reasons - it is boring and I actually became desperate to get my teeth into something decent and revive my dying brain cells.
As for the insight to the Alentejo region.... it feels like Ms Ali was struggling for an idea for her second book, and so whilst on a two week holiday to the region she came up with the not so bright idea of Alentejo Blue. My cat's water bowl has more depth and her research appears to be nothing more than hiring a villa in the region for a fortnight and walking around blindfolded with ear plugs in.
Sadly, we see this all too often... great first novel plus a two book deal / huge pressure to deliver to the same level equals total flop.
It is no great surprise to say that I won't be recommending this to anyone.
This book comes with a very big "So what?!" It reads like a random collection of short stories which are badly thought out, lacking in plot and with weak characters. There are character links between the stories but they are so shallow and predictable.
Like most books I read, I could not wait to finish this book- but for all the wrong reasons - it is boring and I actually became desperate to get my teeth into something decent and revive my dying brain cells.
As for the insight to the Alentejo region.... it feels like Ms Ali was struggling for an idea for her second book, and so whilst on a two week holiday to the region she came up with the not so bright idea of Alentejo Blue. My cat's water bowl has more depth and her research appears to be nothing more than hiring a villa in the region for a fortnight and walking around blindfolded with ear plugs in.
Sadly, we see this all too often... great first novel plus a two book deal / huge pressure to deliver to the same level equals total flop.
It is no great surprise to say that I won't be recommending this to anyone.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have to admit I only bought this book because I loved Brick Lane so much. I have never been to Portugal so have no idea if these interlinked stories are representative of a way of life. However, I did enjoy it. This is a very different book to Brick Lane - rather than being drawn into a very tightly knit family - here we are given a brief but intense look at many different people all linked by the village they live in (or pass through). There is no logical conclusion to the stories we hear but the lack of a contrived ending only makes each story more believable. They are not written as separate short stories but Ali has shown that her writing skill could be used in this medium. A page turner but a very different experince to Brick Lane.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Alentejo Blue is certainly a work of fiction which runs for just shy of 300 pages - but that isn't enough to make a novel. It's really more like a collection of short stories all set in the same rural Portuguese village. There is occasionally some wonderful use of language in the description, but this fails to make up for the fact that it just doesn't hang together. I can't help feeling that it would have been a more absorbing and satisfying read if more time and attention had been given to fewer characters, rather than skimming the surface and risking stereoptype and characature in the process. Or perhaps the range of characters and perspectives would work if there were a strong plot driving there interactions, but ultimately this is a book about a place where nothing happens. I hope Ali can pull something rather meatier out of the bag for her next offering.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
save your money!!
After Brick Lane i thought i would read this book and what a disappointment
After reading the first 2 chapters i gave my copy (signed) to the Hospice shop and hopefully... Read more
After reading the first 2 chapters i gave my copy (signed) to the Hospice shop and hopefully... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mr. P. M. Hyde
A collection of stories, some good, some boring
As others have pointed out, this is not a novel but a collection of short stories that have in common their Portuguese location. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Phil O'Sofa
One book wonder
Boring, don't do it. I gave it up a quarter of the book in. She obviously needed to fulfill her contract obligations and squeezed this one out.
Published on 24 Jan 2010 by Jessica
Prepare for reader excitement to reach Ovaltine levels
At the end of reading this book, and skimming some of the more tedious chapters... something I rarely do... Read more
Published on 30 Sep 2009 by abegoa
Boring....
I was desperate to finish this book simply because I wanted the misery to end. I found it incredibly dull; it wasn't well-written and was a collection of short stories about people... Read more
Published on 29 Aug 2009 by BM
Fragmented
Overall, a rather disappointing book, though the writing is quite good and there are particularly good passages/sections throughout. Read more
Published on 9 Feb 2008 by BookWorm
How does she do it?
This book is awesome. I'm a Brit living in Canada but have been intimately connected with the south of Portugal since the 60s.
I can't begin to fathom how Monica Ali did it. Read more
I can't begin to fathom how Monica Ali did it. Read more
Published on 12 Dec 2007 by Nicholas Boothman
A Tour-de-Force
Quite simply, Monica Ali is probably the best writer of fictional prose in English today. This book stretches further in scope and ambition than Brick Lane and is quite... Read more
Published on 16 Sep 2006 by Jerry Lieber
Beautiful title, disappointing story.
I've bought this book on title alone, expecting a poetic and bucolic capture of people, costumes and landscape of this beautiful region in Portugal, instead the book revolves... Read more
Published on 10 Sep 2006 by E. J. L. Marques
Just boring
As I was born and bread in a tiny village in Alentejo (Canhestros), I couldn't help buying the book and see how others would portray my beloved province. Read more
Published on 25 July 2006 by A. A. Raposo
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