- Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books; 2nd Edition edition (1994)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140244174
- ISBN-13: 978-0140244175
- Product Dimensions: 17.3 x 11.2 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,485,254 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Few authors could successfully create a coherent novel by combining such diverse elements as an early attempt at 'heavier-than-air' flight, a series of murders, a doomed love affair, life in the colonial Philippines, and medical advances at the turn of the century. William Boyd is one of those few who can, and the result is an original, quirky novel.
As with all of his books, the writing is excellent, every phrase hitting the mark, encompassing both tragedy and comedy with equal skill. Boyd's originality means you can never quite predict exactly where the story is going. His characters are simultaneously infuriating and likeable, and always very very real.
My main criticism of the book lies with the sections set in Los Angeles, which I didn't think quite worked. It would have been better to launch straight into the story proper and leave out the cloak and dagger beginning, and use a simpler way to relate the ending. The end of the story also seemed a bit rushed and left too much unanswered.
But overall another great read from William Boyd - not his best, but still better than most other recent novelists!
As with all of his books, the writing is excellent, every phrase hitting the mark, encompassing both tragedy and comedy with equal skill. Boyd's originality means you can never quite predict exactly where the story is going. His characters are simultaneously infuriating and likeable, and always very very real.
My main criticism of the book lies with the sections set in Los Angeles, which I didn't think quite worked. It would have been better to launch straight into the story proper and leave out the cloak and dagger beginning, and use a simpler way to relate the ending. The end of the story also seemed a bit rushed and left too much unanswered.
But overall another great read from William Boyd - not his best, but still better than most other recent novelists!
26 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Deeply touching
In the Blue Afternoon, William Boyd paints a vivid picture of the Philippines in the early part of the 20th century. And within that picture is a touching love story.
So emersed was I in the Philippines, that when the story 'returned' to 1930's Los Angeles it was like emerging into daylight from a darkened room. It takes some minutes of blinking to reorientate.
There are debates about the storylines and the need for the beginning and end, but none of it bothered me. This is simply a very good story, written about a distant place and time with impossible clarity.
William Boyd is an extremely talented author, and this is as good as he has written.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book sucks you in with its detailed melancholy -- a melancholy that crescendos to a most heart-breaking (and yet strangely satisfying) conclusion. Boyd has done it again -- another unique, emotional journey, with translucent craftsmanship that you can only admire as your emotions are toyed with, your preconceptions smashed against various twists and turns, and then totally immersed in a world that you have to believe Boyd knows instinctively -- and from long and deep experience. Who cares if the historical mesh that pulls it all together is invented or completely and utterly factually correct? (Although you believe everything Boyd tells you, of course!) Another masterpiece from the man who appears to have no end to his inventiveness, and no tell-tale style except perfection.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Very original
You might not like all of William Boyd's novels, but you can never criticize his work for lacking originality or interesting characters. Read more
Published 6 days ago by Blue in Washington
Enjoyed this
Not as good as An Ice Cream War, The New Confessions or Any Human Heart but head and shoulders over the last few he's brought out. Read more
Published 1 month ago by PJ Sturdee
Highly enjoyable...
Although this is a relatively short book Boyd takes an ambitious sweep from 1930s California back to the Philippines of the 1910s then forward again to Lisbon of 1936. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Wynne Kelly
Just couldn't finish this
Another unfinished book, maybe it's me but I've had a few recently. I have really enjoyed 2 of William Boyd's other books but this just didn't grab me. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Manda Moo
Slow starter but OK -ish
Being a William Boyd fan I was surprised a little at how slow this book was to start with as usually his books grip you very quickly and the only book of his that took me forever... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Ms. L. Nyoni
Sub standard Boyd
Having enjoyed Any Human Heart, Ordinary Thunderstorms, and Restless, I was very disappointed in this book as I was looking forward to a good yarn and a nice, easy, relaxing,... Read more
Published 8 months ago by M. Daly
The Blue Afternoon
Okay, this book is an oddity! It is one of the few books I have read that started off quite dry, dull and unispiring but ended up a real exciting page turner. Read more
Published 19 months ago by SoniaM
Daft but not Dull
I've really enjoyed all the William Boyd books I've read... except this one.
The character of Kay is out of step with her time. Read more
The character of Kay is out of step with her time. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Lovereading
DON'T waste your money or your time on this
Kay Fischer, architect and heroine, is about as believable as a 4x2 from your local DIY. The opening section, which introduces her, takes up nearly a quarter of the novel. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Big A
An enjoyable read
This is an easy read with an original plot and I enjoyed it whilst I was reading it. If you fancy an unchallenging foray into nineteenth centry Philippines (which I found very... Read more
Published on 20 Sep 2009 by Alison McVey
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