Particularize Books Toward This Perfect World
| Original Title: | This perfect world |
| ISBN: | 023074401X (ISBN13: 9780230744011) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Suzanne Bugler
Hardcover | Pages: 298 pages Rating: 3.48 | 1117 Users | 127 Reviews
List Epithetical Books This Perfect World
| Title | : | This Perfect World |
| Author | : | Suzanne Bugler |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 298 pages |
| Published | : | March 5th 2010 by Macmillan Publishing Co. |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Contemporary |
Ilustration As Books This Perfect World
This book worried me, before I even opened the first page, as having been bullied many times during my youth and even beyond, I knew it was not going to be a comfortable read. As it was, I found myself examining my own behaviour and asking the question, have I ever been the perpetrator of bullying, rather than the victim? The answers were not always the ones I wanted to hear and were certainly not a palatable thought.The characters, none of whom were particularly likeable, are well formed, complex and focused, standing up well to close inspection, in this emotionally draining story.
The central group of characters, in Laura's high flying world, operate a filtering system for would be members, both for themselves and their children, excluding those who are 'not the right sort'. Behaviour which they see as totally acceptable, only serves to make them appear shallow and insubstantial and is to me, a reflection of their intrinsic values, which are self-centred, egocentric and selfish, existing only to jostle for position as top dog within the group. This group of course, includes Laura, for whom this behaviour is only an extension of her childhood days, although she just doesn't seem to comprehend that bullying comes in many different guises and her participation in this selection exercise is only an extension to the physical and psychological bullying of her youth.
The long term consequences of cruelty, to both the victim and the perpetrator, only start to become apparent to Laura, when her nemesis from childhood days, Heddy, reappears in her life in dramatic and compelling style, making you almost afraid to keep reading, but knowing that Laura has to confront her actions head-on, as she moves towards a form of redemption.
In Heddy, Suzanne has crafted a complex and sad character, who spent her youth trying to emulate and befriend Laura, receiving only ridicule and hurt in return. Even now, when she has been thrust back into the path of her torturer, she is crying out in vain to gain acceptance for who and what she is, but is unable to overcome the self-loathing that has been instilled in her by the treatment she received so long ago, at Laura's hand.
Heddy's mother, Mrs. Partridge plays mind games of her own with Laura, as she attempts to force the two women together, into the friendship she thinks they should have. Switching subtley between role of concerned mother who wants her daughter to have friends and a social life, to becoming Laura's accuser and voice of her conscience as she lays the blame firmly at Laura's door, for Heddy's current plight. Suzanne has done an excellent job with this 'Jekyll and Hyde' character, on the surface meek and desperate, whilst in truth being creepily manipulative.
There are powerful and vivid observational scenes, as the cracks in Laura's world become chasms, with the consequences of her actions being dramatic and permanent. The relationship with her husband deteriorates drastically, when Laura strips away the veneer of their marriage, to expose his true feelings, where status and appearances are everything he needs to climb higher up the social ladder, at the expense of a lasting and loving relationship with his wife and children.
Laura harks back to childhood days and begins to examine her relationship with her parents, realising that all is, and never was, quite what it seems. She rushes in to confront them, unaware that her world is about to come crashing down around her again, when the true extent of their deception is revealed, leaving her broken, ashamed, racked with guilt, and most importantly, for the first time ever .... Alone and unwanted!!!
This is a compelling and beguiling tale, intertwining past and present, but with the basic premise that hurt engenders hurt, becoming an ever-increasing vicious circle, that is only to be broken in a dramatic and life changing way.
It also closely examines guilt and the fronts we put up in life to fit in and to protect ourselves.
This is one of those books which would be ideal for a book club debate and discussion, as there are so many facets to the story line and characters, which can be interpreted in a myriad of different ways by the individual reader.
Rating Epithetical Books This Perfect World
Ratings: 3.48 From 1117 Users | 127 ReviewsAssessment Epithetical Books This Perfect World
I did not expect to like this book. I read it because it was chosen for a book club I belong to. I actually found it incredibly readable - so much so that I read it in one day! And the story told is terribly touching. It is one of those stories that is about being human and being fallible, and about the way that as fallible humans we can do horrible things. Sometimes that we realise are horrible, and sometimes that somehow we manage not to see. As a result, this book is heavily about guilt andA good book to read with a very real story line,I did find it a little slow going in places but it didn't spoil the book too much for me. Well written.
This book worried me, before I even opened the first page, as having been bullied many times during my youth and even beyond, I knew it was not going to be a comfortable read. As it was, I found myself examining my own behaviour and asking the question, have I ever been the perpetrator of bullying, rather than the victim? The answers were not always the ones I wanted to hear and were certainly not a palatable thought.The characters, none of whom were particularly likeable, are well formed,
What a thought-provoking read!This book is well written and very engaging.Despite not liking the protaganist Laura at the start of the book it was a compelling read. The stories of life in the playground were uncomfortably realistic as were those of the "school mums." I am sure we all know or have known people like these.The book is really about the consequences of our actions, Laura has to atone for her actions as a child and in the process quesitons her current life.This is not an easy book to
At the age of thirty-six, Laura Hamley lives the life of a stereotypical yummy mummy married to a successful lawyer, attractive children, yoga classes, paninis and air-kissing and dinner parties with friends. She has attained an aspirational dream of the times, but a phone call threatens to dredge up her past. The caller is Violet Partridge, whose daughter, Heddy, went to school with Laura. Heddy has been placed in a psychiatric institution, and Violet wants to get her released; perhaps Laura,
Laura Hamley has everything - a perfect life, good husband, beautiful children and supportive friends, but old memories are reopened when she receives an unexpected phone call from the mother of a girl she once bullied at school. Laura has managed to successfully block from her life all the unpleasantness which was associated with her unusual relationship with Heddy Partridge, but when Heddy's mother asks for Laura's help in getting Heddy released from hospital, Laura must face the hidden demons
The twist at the end made the slow pace of the book worth it. I felt the pain of the story and the disgust the main character felt towards her peer. It's a story that really makes sense once you finish it. It just makes a bigger impact when you get to the end and then you see why everything happened the way it did. This book made me contemplate about life and how we shouldn't judge events that happen as a single but rather as part of a puzzle. Maybe your life won't make sense in your 20's but
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