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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Compelling, but characters are a let down, 26 Jun 2004
The Memory Game is a startling and incredibly well written novel. The characters are described with great clarity and are unique and the plot is clever with several deft twists. The quality of writing is impeccable, and everything is explained in a beautiful, lyrical style. Why, then, only Three Stars?The characters may be original and three-dimensional but most are unlikeable. The very British word 'pompous' describes them all perfectly. I almost stopped reading halfway through because the characters were all so self-absorbed and stereotypically 'upper class' in an irritatingly bohemian way. The past and present actions of all the characters were made up of a mass of illicit affairs, broken marriages, secrets, lies and arguments. The one act that really underlined to me why I disliked them all so much was when Jane's brother decided to make a documentary about them all and despite initial protests they all took part in it - it was such a cold blooded thing to do and seemed so pretentious. The complex web of infidelities also wore thin, it got to a stage where there were so many affairs between different members of the same family that it was difficult to recall them all. To some extent, I came to sympathize with the narrator, Jane, although I thought she was insufferable a lot of the time. The book was written in a first person narrative but I could not relate to nearly all of her life experiences. Even her love interest, Casper, managed to irritate me. Why the hell would any sane person want to name their daughter Fanny, which refers to a woman's genitals in Britain? Overall The Memory Game is a competent thriller with a shocking, albeit thoroughly depressing, ending. The one thing that really shone out at me was Nicci French's writing style which was faultless. Often a new paragraph would start with a surprising opening line that would draw me in and keep me hooked. JoAnne
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by Nicci French
by Nicci French
by Nicci French
by Nicci French
by Nicci French
