Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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40 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a super start, 12 Nov 2004
Whereas McCall's delightful character, Precious Ramotswe, views the world in a rather simplistic, "black-and-white" way, in "The Sunday Philosophy Club we are presented with Miss Dalhousie, whose perspective on the world is far more intellectual, governed by her enthusiasm for philosophy, and as the editor of an erudite publication entitled, "Journal of Applied Ethics". She sees plenty of moral dilemmas around her, very much a consequence of her philosophical approach to life. She is both fascinated and concerned with those people she meets in her daily life. A sub-plot involving her niece draws out the empathy she feels towards others. In the main plot, as a chance observer to a violent death, this Scots lady finds herself being drawn by default rather than design into detective work. She is determined to get to the bottom of this awful tragedy, which is resolved quite beautifully in the final few pages. This is not the ending that the reader would expect if Precious were in charge of this case, which is just as well if McCall wants us to view them as different characters, and not in competition. They are indeed quite different, and McCall succeeds admirably in beginning to present us with a very believable and likeable person in Miss Dalhousie. He seems to want the reader to remain guessing about much of her personality, giving just enough to make her appear "solid" and real, yet also tantalising about other aspects of her personality. At times she seems a "40-something going on 80" , her behaviour appearing to be that of someone much older, yet we also hear her musing about the possible romantic and sexually charged feelings she may have towards her niece's ex-boy friend. Little is mentioned about the "Sunday Philosophy Club" itself, but no doubt Alexander McCall Smith will fill in these frustrating gaps in further episodes with this intriguing lady. This book was a joy to read, and I look forward to the next instalment.
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24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Isabel isn't Precious!, 6 Oct 2004
By A Customer
Mma Ramotswe was always going to be a hard act to follow and, wisely, Alexander McCall Smith has set his new series as far away from Botwana as possible. I anticipated that his new heroine would share some of Precious Ramotswe's intuitive understanding of human nature. However, Isabel Dalhousie is an academic - a philosopher, much give to musing over the dicta of Hume, Kant et al. Quite hard for the ordinary reader to relate to. She's a very privileged woman, even by the standards of Morningside (the 'posh' part of Edinburgh) where ladies who lunch lurk behind the net curtains and no-one would be seen dead sending their kids to a state school! The world of academe, the law and high finance is a far cry from the dusty streets of Gaborone - so why did this Scots reviewer feel so much less at home in the Scottish capital? The characters seem to me to lack warmth (mind you, so does Edinburgh) and his ear for dialogue seems to have deserted the author, even in Isabel's exchanges with her beloved niece, Cat. Even in Edinburgh, surely they don't use the impersonal 'one' all the time! There is quite a lot of interior monologue with the heroine mulling over the situation and thinking about her past (not all past) love of a husband long gone to California. The one character who, I thought, had the potential for development and more humorous treatment, is Grace, Isabel's housekeeper, devoted to her employer and to Cat, but never mincing words or shrinking from expressing an opinion - also a severe critic of Edinburgh's public transport!
In short, I was disappointed with this novel because I couldn't relate to the characters, nor could I get excited by the plot which wended a rather wearisome way through the novel and was occasionally lost sight of completely while Isabel interfered with her niece's love life.
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38 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Sunday Philosphy Club, 17 Nov 2004
This was a superb book from begining to end. Contrary to the other reviews posted here, I found the book engaging and perfectly paced. The characters are sympathetic, human and vivid. The most refreshing aspect of this book, something that it shares with the Mma Ramotwe series, is the variety of moral and ethical dilemas faced by the main characters, engendering a moral framework with which to measure ones own life. The book is thought provoking and philosophically enlightening.
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by Alexander McCall Smith
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