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| On Green Dolphin Street | 
 enlarge | Author: Sebastian Faulks
Publisher: Hutchinson
Category: Book
List Price: £16.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  58 reviews
Sales Rank: 213001
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.3
ISBN: 0091802105
EAN: 9780091802103
ASIN: 0091802105
Publication Date: April 27, 2001
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: In stock ready to dispatch from the UK
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Fans will recognise Sebastian Faulks' focus on characterisation, historical context and the emotional power of his narrative in his new novel, "On Green Dolphin Street". Yet, in tone and setting, the story of one woman's attempt to face down death in the Cold War years marks a new departure for this bestselling novelist. It's 1959 and the presidential battle between Kennedy and Nixon is heating up. Just as the country stands between two men so does Mary van der Linden, the wife of a British embassy employee in Washington and lover of political newspaper reporter Frank Renzo. All three are damaged by their experiences of war; death and decay are everywhere: through the men's memory of war, Mary's dying mother, van der Linden's declining health and the readers' knowledge that in only a few short years Kennedy will be dead and Nixon disgraced. Previously, Faulks has described in bloody detail the horrors of the trenches and the brutality of the battlefield. Here he comments on the hollowness and politics of war and the human cost. With the personal mirroring the political so closely, the inevitability of the doomed love affair at the centre of the novel hardly inspires one to great heights of empathy. Consequently, the characters' fervour often falls flat: "He raked his fingers through her hair, down to the skull, as his body filled hers. All the way, he thought, I will go all the way, till I find her; and with her head between his hands he too let out a cry, because he felt pity for her soul." Faulks, whose previous novels have included bestsellers Birdsong and Charlotte Gray, has the capacity to sweep his readers up in his historical sagas and excels in his unflinching treatment of war. Unfortunately, the switch here from the battlefield to the political arena is not as compelling and, considering he is writing about one of the most exhilarating periods in US history and its most exciting city--New York (something Douglas Kennedy captured far more successfully in The Pursuit of Happiness), On Green Dolphin Street simply does not leap to the same heights as his earlier novels. --Alex Freeman
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| Customer Reviews: Read 53 more reviews...
 Dappledwood August 28, 2008
This book was picked up with much anticipation - I had lived through this time and Birdsong is already a classic.
But the tedium of American politics and the vacuous lives of diplomatic socialites was just a big yawn. Mary the wife is a hopeless wife, mother and daughter - she watches her husband sink into alcoholic despair and decides to have an affair, ignoring his cries for help - her children who she seems to have no warmth for and who we know nothing about, are dispatched to school in the UK - she SAYS she is writing a book but doesn't. Eventually she ends up in Moscow. Is this to be the exciting bit? No. She buys food, gets a bit lost and then goes back to the UK without incident. What a waste of time reading this. The love affair blows hot and cold and the only interesting bit was when her mother died. I am surprised I finished it!!!
 You have to have been there... July 11, 2008
The book starts slowly and could be described as somewhat cold, or perhaps detached throughout - surreal maybe. However this provides the appropriate ambiance to allow the rest of the story to unfold and the characters to nestle. I did not find the characters two dimensional or the story fanciful and believe it or not the atmosphere created, no matter how dry and uncomfortable at times, is in fact astoundingly realistic. I am fairly sure that you can either relate to the subject matter and emotions conveyed or you cannot. This is a book that frustrated me to begin with, but I ended up vanishing into and had a hard time leaving alone after it was done. Those who put Birdsong onto a pedestal (yes, I loved this book)and regard it as a benchmark I would argue are missing the point entirely. It is cold at times; almost mechanistic. Characters are detached, fragmented, full of contradictions and at points appear irrational. But I can say from personal experience that Faulks' portrayal of the main plot is about as realistic as it is possible to get. Cliches are not necessarily a sign of inaccuracy, but in this case - as I read it - a very clear indication of the veracity of this book. Faulks has either been there himself or done very detailed in depth research to have been so insightful. This is far too well written to have been the product of a sharp mind and nothing more. I regard it as having much more in common with Human Traces than Birdsong. Both OGDS and HT are less 'comfortable' than Birdsong, which at times skates on the edge of parody and predictability, and to me represent even greater insight and depth. Getting there demands a lot from the reader; a lot of reflection and a willingness to engage absolutely. In short I regard Birdsong as brilliant but somehow less mature than either OGDS or HT. These two plumb greater depths, but are not nearly so pretty about doing it. HT could be regarded as lazy and soothing (sadly,some would say dull...)whereas OGDS has some of the same crispness unsentimental truth about it as Engleby. In this regard one could regard HT, OGDS an Engleby as having a gritty truthfulness that highlights a slight over sentimentality or romanticism in Birdsong.
Everyone sees love differently. Some have a greater capacity for it than others. Some balance passion with reason, whilst others cannot and don't wish to. There is much in the book that you just wont recognize unless you have been there, but for those who have found love and understanding in love that can only be described as existential, stretching the concept of self to bursting point, expect it to cut deeply. This book resides entirely in that last 1% of compulsive, passionate, at times irrational yet heartfelt, absolute need.
I would have given it five stars, only the first 50+ pages were a little hard work. Faulks is not only an exceptional writer, he also possesses exceptional understanding of humankind.
PS if you did not get on with Human Traces, which I regard as the best I have read so far from Faulks - this is probably not for you.
Behind the Diplomatic Glamour December 22, 2007
I'm a great fan of Sebastian Faulks and I wouldn't compare OGDS with his novels depicting wartime, but take it on its own merits. The backdrop is the glamourous life of the diplomatic service in 1959/60, at the time of the forthcoming Kennedy/Nixon election. The main characters, Mary van der Linden and her husband, Charlie, working at the British Embassy in Washington, seem to have it all: two lovely children, family happiness and a continuing round of parties - the good life. Then along came Frank Renzo, a seasoned American journalist. The story moves between Washington, New York and London, where Mary's parents live. In telling the story, the author touches on a number of important subjects, including the problems faced by men returned from war having seen things men shouldn't have to see, yet expected to pick-up and carry-on with life as normal. The emotional scars, however, are always near the surface - even 15 years down the line. The 'good' wife, who had always been snow white, but who found herself drifting. I was surprised and quite impressed that a man could offer such insight into a woman's feelings regarding an illicit love affair. Not only regarding the love affair, but also the Mother-Daughter relationship when faced with the mother's imminent death due to terminal illness, and the subsequent dynamics of her relationship with her father. Then there was Mary's 'mission of mercy' visit to Moscow! I was really gripped by the description of Communist Moscow at that time - its sinister environment, and the coldness of a Moscow winter could almost be felt. Different from his other books, but I'm glad I didn't miss it.
There might be a good book in here somewhere December 17, 2007
At times this book is well written, erudite, and insightful, mainly when Faulks is dealing with war, school, nature, and how children smell. Unfortunately, these are brief episodes. Too brief when set against the turgid prose, the butterfly plotting and the countless behavioural oddities of the characters.
A large part of the book focusses on the character a of Mary who, married to a diplomat, encounters what might be fairly thought to be many emotional upheavals (death, serious illness, financial problems, more death, love, family breakup, disgrace etc. etc.) with a quite dissociated demeanour. This may be an intended reflection of her character but the rote approach to characterisation (check out the passages about clothes - writing about women by numbers or what!) suggests otherwise. Other characters seem similarly flat.
The candid and lucid examination of the emotional mechanics of infidelity is about the only part of the characterisation that rings true. It is unedifying but has the tang of believability.
The plot leaps about from affair to addiction to politics to war to diplomacy. I was constantly expecting some unifying theme or revelation. Alas it was not to be and the book fizzled out in bathos. Possibly the most stupid ending since Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Very disappointing October 9, 2007
Like many other reviewers on here, I thought 'Birdsong' had some merit with its brilliantly researched and vividly painted WW1 setting, though I was left with the impression that he's probably a better journalist (his original trade) than he is a novelist.
I found this one a trial though. I have a personal policy of never allowing myself to leave a book unfinished. From time to time, I get to the final page and regret my Virgoan self-discipline. The historical context in this one is of minor interest to most people, unlike WW1 which seems to fascinate us more as the years go by and as family research leads more of us to want to understand the experience of our near ancestors. The story, such as it is, is painfully slow and less 'subtle' than downright dull. The dialogue is unnatural in the extreme, and his writing style is unnecessarily tortuous; I yearned for a noun that was not qualified by at least one superfluous adjective.
Read 'Birdsong'; don't let your Virgoan self-discipline get the better of you on this one, though.
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