With Your Crooked Heart

With Your Crooked Heart

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His much younger brother, Johnny, is a reckless and not very successful crook. Paul swore to look after his little brother, but how long can Paul protect Johnny from the consequences of that reckless behaviour? The other characters in this story are Louise, former beauty and current alcoholic, who was married to Paul, but also loves Johnny, Sonia, currently married to Paul, but only loves herself, Anna, the resul Paul is a level-headed, successful, but possibly somewhat dodgy, property developer. The other characters in this story are Louise, former beauty and current alcoholic, who was married to Paul, but also loves Johnny, Sonia, currently married to Paul, but only loves herself, Anna, the result of one incidence of sex between Louise and Johnny, but currently living with Paul and Sonia, and Anna's friend Dave.

The book is mainly about the interactions between them all and what they think and feel about each other, but I did not like or care about any of them, not even the most sympathetic youngsters, so the dramatic ending all fell a bit flat. The book is well written and the characters are given sufficient depth and background to explain their sometimes illogical actions, but the author has written several better books.

Mar 14, Tony Summer rated it did not like it. This is the dullest book I have ever read to the end. But I persevered with it because she had created enough interest in the characters for me to want to find out more about them.

There are ingredients that could make this a very interesting book. There is the hard-working entrepreneur who has two wives one after another and a paternal concern for his much younger brother. There is the first wife, who is mother of his daughter, who slides into alcoholism. There is the second wife, who has litt This is the dullest book I have ever read to the end. There is the second wife, who has little interest in the stepdaughter and whose interest in the entrepreneur is primarily in the material comforts he can provide. There is the younger brother who shuns the opportunities for legitimate business success that his brother offers him and prefers instead to get mixed up in criminal activities.

With Your Crooked Heart by Helen Dunmore

And there is the young daughter, re-located from London to Yorkshire, and her new, male playmate. But this is all laid before us in a kind of soap-opera style, as though these things just happen. We never get below the surface to find out what makes these people tick. And how did it come about? Why was the younger brother such a self-destructive idiot? How did the family break-up affect the daughter psychologically? If George Eliot had written this novel we would have come away with some insight into these things. A major reason for the dullness of the book was the attention given to descriptions of inanimate things, such as rooms, furniture, gardens, flowers, views, etc.

Finally, I noticed that Louise sometimes drank whisky and sometimes whiskey. I suppose an alcoholic would not be too particular; but, usually, people who like Scotch tend not to be fond of Irish, and vice versa. An intriguing tale of the relationship between Louise, married to Paul but also close to Paul's younger brother, Johnnie. As Louise and Paul drift apart, Johnnie comes more into her life but his involvement with the criminal fraternity has left him, and the people around him, vulnerable. A well-written and very readable story with a shocking ending - really enjoyed this one: With your Crooked Heart Very enjoyable read although I felt the characters were not entirely convincing.

Penguin should be ashamed of the lack of proof reading on the kindle book, numerous misspellings. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Oct 12, Natalie rated it really liked it. I love Helen Dunmore's dreamy, poetic, almost gothic writing style.

If you are looking for plot, narrative tension or suspense her work won't be for you. But if want beautiful imagery and closely observed studies of human nature, you'll struggle to find better. With Your Crooked Heart is a family story focusing on two brothers, successful businessman Paul and his criminally-inclined younger brother Johnnie. Louise married Paul but Johnnie is the father of her daughter, Anna.

The novel charts the I love Helen Dunmore's dreamy, poetic, almost gothic writing style. The novel charts the family's self-destructive disintegration, with a non-linear structure given from multiple viewpoints. The dialogue in the novel is extremely well-observed, especially in the child characters - people actually do speak like this.

My favourite moment was when Paul was showing his new Russian telescope to Johnnie, and complained that although the instructions were translated, 'all the thinking's been done in Russian.

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The floaty, almost insubstantial nature of the plot inclined me to a three star rating. However, the unexpected, moving ending, and the sheer beauty of the language made me feel generous. It's a low four stars though. More like a 3.

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Jan 13, Lynn added it. I am an official Helen Dunmore fan, if there is such a thing. Her style is so lyrical, which gives special depth to the difficult characters she creates. In this one, we get such a rich picture of the characters' early lives, and we can see how they were shaped by them. With Paul, he had to be the man too early and protect his brother Johnnie. Consequences ensue because Johnnie's hard to protect from himself.

With Louise, she had a loving relationship with her father, who showed her the Thames a I am an official Helen Dunmore fan, if there is such a thing. With Louise, she had a loving relationship with her father, who showed her the Thames and how it "worked. And with little Anna, her parentage is confused, as are her parents. We can hope for her, but we worry. Such inept adults and parents, except for Louise's dad.

In addition to character and style, I admire Dunmore's plotting. She never tells us more than we need to know, and she ends a novel before the characters lives at least some of them are completely mapped.

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We don't know what will happen with Paul and Anna, but we can make a reasonable guess. I like that technique, as if we've entered people's lives, and they will go on without us. Difficult characters, but well worked out and reasonably resolved. Sep 23, Ilinca rated it it was amazing. I found this book extremely touching. The base of the story seems to be banal, but I think it is in everyday people we find ourselves.

The characters are flawed, probably living and breathing next to you.

Her writing style is poetic, but it has a strength that comes from within - not to be seen everywhere. My personal favourites were the comparisons and similes regarding cats - their sensuous movements, the way they watch and catch the prey, their empty eyes - she has definitely studied their be I found this book extremely touching. My personal favourites were the comparisons and similes regarding cats - their sensuous movements, the way they watch and catch the prey, their empty eyes - she has definitely studied their behaviour in depth.

KIRKUS REVIEW

Dunmore draws a bridge between the Louise and the reader through her intimate 2nd person narrative. A beautiful piece of writing. Both books I have now read by Helen Dunmore confirm the same thing. That the story she tells isnt always that strong, but the way she tells it more than compensates. The essential components in this novel were all quite average - brothers making money, one straight, one crooked. The woman between them, her child. The highs and the lows. But Dunmore keeps shifting the angle of perception, you never know where you will be looking from next, and this keeps up interest and offers unusual and striking Both books I have now read by Helen Dunmore confirm the same thing.

But Dunmore keeps shifting the angle of perception, you never know where you will be looking from next, and this keeps up interest and offers unusual and striking insights.

Jul 15, Lori Bamber rated it really liked it Shelves: On the cover, the Mail on Sunday is quoted: The theme of mothering runs through this difficult story, but it is desperate and biologically driven; despairing motherhood. I was mesmerized by the characters from th On the cover, the Mail on Sunday is quoted: I was mesmerized by the characters from the first paragraph, and the language is clear and precise.

Dec 08, Laura Alderson rated it it was ok. This book was difficult to guage for me. HD kept changing the narrative voice, sometimes using the 2nd person, and I couldn't work out at times who was narrating or being addressed. The story was really a very slim one and it didn't keep my attention.

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You understand early on that Louise conceived by her husband's brother, and then became an alcoholic. Then not a lot happened until the end when it suddenly got very dramatic. In fact I wasn't even sure what happened to the children at the end. All This book was difficult to guage for me. All in all, a bit of a let down. With Your Crooked Heart also goes beyond this alchemy of poetry and plot: Helen Dunmore is an amazing writer in my opinion.

Jul 13, Rachel added it. Another enjoyable novel from Helen Dunmore. It's told in a fragmentary way in the voices of a number of the characters. It explores flawed characters related to Louise, alcoholic mother of 10 year old Anna. Gradually a picture builds up of how the various protagonists got themselves into their current situations and there is a shock ending. My memory being what it is, I had very little recollection of the story, and time passing, lots more books read, has made me more appreciative of the clarity and power of Helen Dunmore's writing.

This, detailing the fortunes of descending and ascending characters, delivers entertainment throughout and a gut kick of an ending. Jul 17, Alarra rated it liked it Shelves: Dec 25, Amy rated it liked it. Helen Dunmore is also a poet. It was a love story and the object of affection was Johnnie. Sadly no matter how much others loved Johnnie their love couldn't save Johnnie from himself and ultimately it cost them all dearly.

I usually absolutely love Helen Dunmore's books, and in this the prose was beautiful, but the story didn't carry me along. I didn't feel an enormous amount for what happened in the end and I think I was meant to. A Spell of Winter was much better. Die Stimmung in diesem Buch ist klasse. Auf jeden Fall ist es ein empfehlenswertes Buch.

Didn't really understand this book, but I enjoyed it. Jun 16, Beverley rated it really liked it. A prolific writer, Auden was also a noted playwright, librettist, editor, and essayist. Generally considered the greatest English poet of the twentieth century, his work has exerted a major influence on succeeding generations of poets on both sides of the Atlantic. Auden served as a c hancellor of the Academy of American Poets from to , and divided most of the second half of his life between residences in New York City and Austria.

He died in Vienna on September 29, On the Frontier The Ascent of F. From Another Time by W. Auden, published by Random House. Auden, renewed by the Estate of W.

Used by permission of Curtis Brown, Ltd. Auden was admired for his unsurpassed technical virtuosity and ability to write poems in nearly every imaginable verse form; his incorporation of popular culture, current events, and vernacular speech in his work; and also for the vast range of his intellect, which drew easily from an extraordinary variety of literatures, art forms, social and political theories, and scientific and technical information. Leave this field blank.

Auden , - And down by the brimming river I heard a lover sing Under an arch of the railway: Life remains a blessing Although you cannot bless. In Memory of Sigmund Freud. When there are so many we shall have to mourn, when grief has been made so public, and exposed to the critique of a whole epoch the frailty of our conscience and anguish, of whom shall we speak?

For every day they die among us, those who were doing us some good, who knew it was never enough but.

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