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The Rules of Engagement (Hardcover)

by Anita Brookner (Author) "We met, and became friends of a sort, by virtue of the fact that we started school on the same day ..." (more)

1.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

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Product details

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Viking (3 Jul 2003)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0670914363
ISBN-13: 978-0670914364
Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 14.2 x 2.8 cm

Average Customer Review: 1.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 791,759 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category:
#59 in Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > B > Brookner, Anita

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Product Description

Review

This is Brookner's 22nd novel, and, as one might expect, it deals splendidly with human relationships. Elizabeth and Betsy are old friends dating back to their schooldays. Elizabeth's mother disapproved of their friendship, moaning at her daughter, "Can't you find someone more suitable?" Meaning someone richer, more fortunate, more useful. But Elizabeth is her own person, and she goes off and marries an older man, Digby, who is rather dull and boring. Elizabeth has no children, and embarks on an affair while Betsy seems to find romance in Paris. It is a clever, entertaining novel, beautifully observed.

Product Description

'I have come to believe that there can be no adequate preparation for the sadness that comes at the end, the sheer regret that one's life is finished, that one's failures remain indelible and one's successes illusory.' Elizabeth and Betsy are old school friends. Born in 1948 and unready for the sixties, they had high hopes of the lives they would lead, even though their circumstances were so different. When they meet again in their thirties, Elizabeth, married to the safe, older Digby is relieving the boredom of a cosy but childless marriage with an affair. Betsy seems to have found real romance in Paris. Are their lives taking off, or are they just making more of the wrong choices without even realising it?

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First Sentence
We met, and became friends of a sort, by virtue of the fact that we started school on the same day. Read the first page

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	54% buy the item featured on this page: The Rules of Engagement 1.8 out of 5 stars (9)
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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(7)

Average Customer Review

1.8 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brookner is back!, 14 Jul 2003

By	Daniel Elliott (New York City) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is another triumph for the author. I did not much care for her last effort (the only one out of a then 21 novels). This is vintage Brookner: lots of moral ambiguity, incisive writing, wonderful characters (Elizabeth, Betsy and Digby and Nigel), long lonely walks, and the marvelously predatory Edmund and Constance. Elizabeth, the main character, is an issue from a disastrous marriage, a first in the Brookner ouvre if I remember correctly. This then is the basis for a lot of exposition on "damage" which rounds out the novel nicely. Among the other motives is the idea of childhood and youth friendships which resonates throughout. The sex scenes are more frequent, detailed and even steamy--but remember, this isn't Judith Krantz. This is certainly worthy of a reread soon.

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars torpor inducing dishwater dullness, 20 Dec 2007

By	Misty (London) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rules of Engagement (Paperback)

I'm not often moved to write a review, but this book was so dull i felt moved to warn other potential readers. The characters are vacuous and at no point do i feel sympathy with any of them. The miniscule plot is hidden under reams of overdone pretentious philosophical ramblings on the part of the main character, who is so uninspiring i can't bring myself to use the term heroine. Like several other reviewers i consider myself fairly easy to please, and very rarely can't finish a book, but i have to admit defeat on this one.

If i could give it 0 stars i would.

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6 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointment, 16 Sep 2003

By	carolyn hockley (Ipswich, Suffolk United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

I was first attracted by the topic of this book but never managed to get into it. Even worse, the more I was reading, the more I grew to dislike it! The characters are dull, boring, too self centred and the plot, well, is there one? Also, the style is convoluted and pompous. I do not like the way it depicts women either as victims with no hope for a brighter life or as manipulative witches like Constance. Men are not better though!!! They are either cheats or dull old bores. I am normally an avid and easy to please reader, but this is the worst book I have read in years!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Painful
This is a painfully boring book to read. The author appears to have gone a bit crazy with the thesaurus which gives the narrator's voice far more intelligence then her narrow... Read more

Published 12 months ago by Mrs J

1.0 out of 5 stars Elizabeth, get a job!
As one of the other reviewers commented, I rarely write online reviews. But after reading this book, I'm looking for someone to give me my weekend back. Read more

Published 17 months ago by Huish

1.0 out of 5 stars Awful. And I never have said that about any book I have ever read!
This book was really, really boring. Nothing happens, the characters don't really develop, the language is very pretentious (the author must have used a dictionary to deliberately... Read more

Published on 1 Aug 2006 by M. Cordon

4.0 out of 5 stars Pengiun: how the mihgty are fallen!
The cover puff from the Spectator immediately attracted me to this book - though perhaps not for the right reasons. It reads: "Splendid, melancholy . . . Read more

Published on 7 Feb 2005 by Margaret Shiels

1.0 out of 5 stars Dreadful
One of the worst books I've read in ages. The author spent too much time describing the thoughts and feelings of the main character and did not pay enough attention to the plot... Read more

Published on 15 Oct 2004 by Mrs. L. Anastasi

1.0 out of 5 stars BORING
I just couldn't get into this book. Pages and pages of the heroine's thoughts, and infrequent action. A good plot, but could have been handled a lot better. Read more

Published on 27 Dec 2003 by Joanne

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