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Amazon.co.uk Review
Sutcliffe deals with six young Londoners: three men and three women. All are somehow unsatisfied with their lives, but none of them are able to articulate quite what it is they are looking for. As a game of sexual musical chairs develops and a variety of lusts and betrayals both create and destroy relationships, we get to know Sutcliffe's sharply-drawn protagonists very well. We are even allowed to change our minds about them--something that is not common, even in novels considerably longer and more sombre than this. From the first conversation between Guy and Lisa (the first couple we meet), in which everything from omelettes to the voiceovers in Goodfellas are up for discussion, through a pub argument on the advantages of having sex with older women, Sutcliffe has our attention nailed to his quirky narrative. Although the requisite scene-setting is handled with equal adroitness (such as the offices of the struggling independent TV company Elemental Productions, for which Lisa and Josh, another participant in the La Ronde style erotic shenanigans, work), Sutcliffe's real strength is in the dialogue, such as Guy and his friend Graham discussing sex:
"The way she did it was incredible." "Why? What did she do?" "It wasn't what she did--it was how she did it. She is ... like ... older." "Older than what?" "Than us." "She's older? This is what you find so horny? That she's old?" "Not really old--it's not a necrophilia thing. She's just ... like ... 40 or something. Well-preserved. She's mature. I tell you, she makes Zoe seem like a baby. In every way. I mean--people our age are ... are just ... there's nothing to us. All we've got going for us is the fact that we haven't yet gone wrinkly."--Barry Forshaw --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
I think the real problem is that the characters just coast along without being particularly interesting or funny. I can vaguely remember William Sutcliffe creating some potential for the exploration of some pretty deep stuff during the middle of the book but then nothing developed - I wonder why not? Maybe the author just got bored and took it out on his characters?
If you are looking an easy read on a long flight then this book is as good as any - but if you're looking for something with a bit more spunk try William Sutcliffe's earlier book "Are you Experienced" .
Ultimately, I think the author is basically illustrating a London where there is a whole lot of style with very little substance. Everybody is jumping into bed with each other but the emotions and motivations behind their actions are base to say the least.
The only real criticism I have of the book is that the ending is too formulaic and neat. After portraying scenes of such chaos for so long, I find it a bit of an anti climax that all the loose ends are tied so neatly.
I think that the important thing is too take this book at what it is- a light yet enjoyable read.
- The way our own view of our selves, our personalities, our good and bad points can be so very different to the way other see them
- Relationships and the games people play when in, entering and exiting them.
And in addressing those things it really succeeds. It is certainly a quick read, but I think that is a strength rather than a failing. It's tightly written and packs a lot into a short text.
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