- Hardcover: 528 pages
- Publisher: Chatto & Windus (29 Mar 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0701180463
- ISBN-13: 978-0701180461
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.2 x 4.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 766,787 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
The Times
'Blake Morrison's ambitious state-of-the-nation saga...
brilliantly written, horribly truthful, utterly absorbing.'
brilliantly written, horribly truthful, utterly absorbing.'
The Times
"His filleting of the new Labour zeitgeist is so ruthless and precise that
one is torn between hilarity and despondency."
one is torn between hilarity and despondency."
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The book is written how a soap opera should be with all the day to day minutiae of life - showing how people deal with the big issues and that they are usually swamped by the little issues. Often the characters in the story are unable to see the consequences of their actions today (like real life) but the annual updates throughout the story show the consequences effectively.
The social and political setting was used well and (being in my 20s at the time) it felt familiar and comfortable.
The stories are intriguing and complex, leading the reader in one direction then turning you around to face the real story.
All the way through there are clues about the characters meaning that you are continually wanting to know more.
I was hooked to this book right to the last page and thought it could have gone on for another 500 pages.
The social and political setting was used well and (being in my 20s at the time) it felt familiar and comfortable.
The stories are intriguing and complex, leading the reader in one direction then turning you around to face the real story.
All the way through there are clues about the characters meaning that you are continually wanting to know more.
I was hooked to this book right to the last page and thought it could have gone on for another 500 pages.
11 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I really enjoyed this book and I also thought that it was very funny in parts. I was engaged in the stories of the five characters who are all inter connected in some way particularly Nat and Libbys story. Nat has absolutely no insight at all in respect of his selfish and narcisstic behaviour and I found him horrifyingly believable. I also liked the structure of the book which follows the characters over 5 years dropping in each year, it shows how their lifes and expectations change. The novel starts on election night 1997 and the initial surge of euphoria and optimism that followed New Labours coming into power. I would thoroughly recommend.
24 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This interesting tale of four writers of one kind or another, all middle-class or socially mobile, is set in south-east London. However as a 'local' I found nothing familiar about this area: you need more than a few placenames like "in Woolwich market" or "in Catford" to yield a sense of place. Topical references (presumably intended to evoke the zeitgeist following the new 1997 Labour government) get shunted into sub-clauses, while the protagonists busy themselves with the shenanigans of too many contemporary novels: adultery, the tedium of university teaching, it's a hard life in advertising etc. It's hard to care about any of these people except Harry, the black local newspaper hack, who is nevertheless burdened with stereotypical baggage. This could be any city in Britain. Coe's 'The Closed Circle' did it better, and with more political bite. There are a few inaccuracies in the decriptions of 'over the water', eg the precise location of factories in Silvertown, and the 'Wanstead Tree'. If Morrison intended south of the Thames to be symbolic, ie a liminal space, just as the characters (arguably) endure such a position, it's insulting to residents as well as hackneyed. Shame, I expected better from Morrison, a writer I admire.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A river runs through it (8/10)
`South of the River' is an insightful and often moving novel revolving around the lives and loves of several inter-connected, mostly South London-based characters. Read more
Published on 4 Aug 2008 by Demob Happy
Disappointing
I really found this book difficult to finish. In a word, it's boring. While the characters are interesting, the plot is slow and doesn't really lead anywhere. Read more
Published on 19 July 2008 by Redjamjar
Left me cold
Rarely have I struggled as much to finish a book or been so indifferent to its main characters. The novel starts off promisingly but descends into a meandering plot (and I use the... Read more
Published on 23 May 2008 by A Cerbic
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