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Il bello della vita
La giovane Aurélie studia all’Accademia di Belle Arti di Parigi e conduce una vita abbastanza regolare. Fino a che il suo professore le chiederà di realizzare un bizzarro progetto creativo sulle conseguenze di alcune azioni e la combinazione tra volontà e casualità. Le conseguenze di un semplice gesto nel bel mezzo di una brulicante piazza parigina in un momento qualsiasi, scateneranno una serie di avvenimenti che trasformeranno per sempre la vita di Aurelie e quella di coloro che la circondano. Tra notti alcoliche, incontri con personaggi bizzarri e coincidenze esilaranti, Aurélie percorrerà le strade di una Parigi magica e imprevedibile. In questa folle, straordinaria avventura la accompagnano l’amica Sylvie e il professor Papavoine, suo tutor nell’originale progetto che ha dato origine a tutto.
383 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
37 people are currently reading
975 people want to read
About the author
Dan Rhodes
14 books198 followersIt should be noted that a recent Gallup poll revealed that there are an estimated 14,000 writers worldwide who share Rhodes’ name. He is not to be confused with the Daniel Rhodes who writes books about vampires, or the Daniel Rhodes who writes books about ceramics, or the Dan Rhodes who writes books about theology, or the Danny Rhodes who writes teenage fiction, or the character Sheriff Dan Rhodes in Bill Crider’s Western detective series, or any of the many other Dan/Daniel/Danny Rhodeses out there in bookland.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 162 reviews
June 26, 2013
This is really a 2.5. I'm giving it a 3 because I just don't like quirky comedy, and therefore I think my failure to connect with This is Life is in some sense just a category error - I probably shouldn't have read this book in the first place. This is one of those books that is is all about madcap gamine characters, all with tragic pasts, but all terribly good looking, with a penchant for getting into wacky amusing scrapes and comically droll misunderstandings on their way to neatly tied up happy endings.
For good measure, the book is salted with a great deal of scatological description, drolly (yes, that word comes up a lot in connection with my feelings about this book) phrased using infantile words like "wee" and "poo." If that doesn't make the book approachable and jolly enough for you, there's some really broad English/French humorous skirmishing, including mocking Carla Bruni and the euro. Oh and also a preternaturally good and adorable baby (just for good measure)!
Did I mention that this ready-for-filming comedy takes place in Paris? Of course it does. Not a very racinated Paris, but at least we know that Montmartre, the shopping streets of the Marais, and the Place des Vosges square are the novelist's preferred shooting locations.(To give you a flavor of the movie I think this was written with an eye to: Hugh Grant would be the male lead if he were 20 years younger (not sure who the contemporary equivalent is), Anne Hathaway would clearly play the female lead.)
How can I give this book which I obviously despised a 3? Well, because, as noted, I think on some level this is my fault for reading it in the first place. I hate rom-coms. I found Amelie saccharine (and this book is Amelie's wacky written-by-an-Englishman little sister). I like my French films dark and kinky, preferably with Jean Seberg in a striped top. I was never going to like this book. So, yes, ratings wise, I'm abstaining and copping out. It was quite readable. I'll give it that. And maybe you like drollery a la francaise. So, a 3 for now.
For good measure, the book is salted with a great deal of scatological description, drolly (yes, that word comes up a lot in connection with my feelings about this book) phrased using infantile words like "wee" and "poo." If that doesn't make the book approachable and jolly enough for you, there's some really broad English/French humorous skirmishing, including mocking Carla Bruni and the euro. Oh and also a preternaturally good and adorable baby (just for good measure)!
Did I mention that this ready-for-filming comedy takes place in Paris? Of course it does. Not a very racinated Paris, but at least we know that Montmartre, the shopping streets of the Marais, and the Place des Vosges square are the novelist's preferred shooting locations.(To give you a flavor of the movie I think this was written with an eye to: Hugh Grant would be the male lead if he were 20 years younger (not sure who the contemporary equivalent is), Anne Hathaway would clearly play the female lead.)
How can I give this book which I obviously despised a 3? Well, because, as noted, I think on some level this is my fault for reading it in the first place. I hate rom-coms. I found Amelie saccharine (and this book is Amelie's wacky written-by-an-Englishman little sister). I like my French films dark and kinky, preferably with Jean Seberg in a striped top. I was never going to like this book. So, yes, ratings wise, I'm abstaining and copping out. It was quite readable. I'll give it that. And maybe you like drollery a la francaise. So, a 3 for now.
January 4, 2021
4.5 Stars. A deliciously dark-humoured read with pleasing fairy tale elements. If you love Paris, the movie Amelie, dark humour, art and quirky characters, you'll probably enjoy this book.
November 2, 2012
In the spirit of full disclosure, I should start by saying that I know Dan Rhodes personally. We would sometimes get drunk together when we both lived in Edinburgh in the mid-2000's, and while that isn't always a reason for recommending somebody, in this case it is. Much of the enjoyment behind a book depends on how well you like the author's voice, and in this case I like the author's voice very well indeed. I even got to hear it in person on occasion. Sometimes it was a rather slurred version of Dan Rhodes' voice, but it was nonetheless the genuine article.
THIS IS LIFE is in many ways typical Dan Rhodes. It's funny, irreverent, quirky to the max, and utterly unlike anything else you'll read. I should point out that I don't think it's his best book. TIMOLEON VIETA COME HOME has that honor. But it's still a pretty fine novel, filled with jokes, bawdy humor, random shootings, far too many French people, and lots of faeces - much like Life itself. I'm sure that was Dan's intention.
I'd recommend that you go out and read it immediately, but if you haven't already read TIMOLEON VIETA then you should probably read that first. But do read them both. If nothing else, the author probably needs the beer money.
THIS IS LIFE is in many ways typical Dan Rhodes. It's funny, irreverent, quirky to the max, and utterly unlike anything else you'll read. I should point out that I don't think it's his best book. TIMOLEON VIETA COME HOME has that honor. But it's still a pretty fine novel, filled with jokes, bawdy humor, random shootings, far too many French people, and lots of faeces - much like Life itself. I'm sure that was Dan's intention.
I'd recommend that you go out and read it immediately, but if you haven't already read TIMOLEON VIETA then you should probably read that first. But do read them both. If nothing else, the author probably needs the beer money.
April 1, 2012
This is Life is a missing baby mystery and an enchanted Parisian adventure. Hand in hand with lovable heroine Aurelie Renard, you will see life as you've never seen it before, discover the key to great art, witness the true cost of love, and learn how all these things may be controlled by the in-breath of a cormorant. Chock-full of charming characters and hilarious set-pieces this is a hugely enjoyable novel that will make you see life anew.
I enjoyed this book. It’s not my personal favourite of his books—that would go to Gold actually—but it holds its own well. At 108,000 words it’s longer than his first three books put together (and his longest to date) and that’s part of the reason I wasn’t as fond of it but regular readers will know to shrug off my personal dislike for longer texts. It was apparently written, according to his blog, “in a frenzied twelve and a half week sitting.” I mention this without passing comment but reading between the lines I get the feeling he thinks this was a good thing.
You can read my full review on my blog here.
I enjoyed this book. It’s not my personal favourite of his books—that would go to Gold actually—but it holds its own well. At 108,000 words it’s longer than his first three books put together (and his longest to date) and that’s part of the reason I wasn’t as fond of it but regular readers will know to shrug off my personal dislike for longer texts. It was apparently written, according to his blog, “in a frenzied twelve and a half week sitting.” I mention this without passing comment but reading between the lines I get the feeling he thinks this was a good thing.
You can read my full review on my blog here.
June 8, 2012
A complicated and convoluted novel that interweaves the story of a young art student, a (seemingly) abandoned baby, a women so beautiful that all of her ex-boyfriends (and their mothers) tend to kill themselves or stalk her, the upstanding proprietor of Paris’ last genuine cinéma érotique (who has a particular fondness for sophisticated ‘girl-on-girl’ films and a lesbian daughter), a pair of Japanese tourists and their hapless translator, the world’s most acerbic art critic and perhaps the novel's finest creation, the mysterious performance artist Le Machine whose global smash-hit production Life has returned to his home town of Paris.
Rhodes's novels have always tended on the blackly comic sides of life, so it’s interesting to see that This Is Life is anything but a tragedy. This is actually an uplifting book about love and if you have the read the eviscerating short story collection Don't Tell Me the Truth about Love, yes I am pretty sure that this book is by the same Dan Rhodes.
This isn’t the perfect novel by any stretch. If I were the editor, I would have pruned a good hundred pages here and not damaged book. I’m primarily thinking of the sections that amount to little more than a dig at (now-former) President Sarkozy, Carla Bruni and Lady Gaga, and the asides that are in jokes and allusions to earlier books. However, it remains a really good book.
The macabre atmosphere of Rhodes’ earlier books has not been abandoned, and the wide cast of colourful, idiosyncratic characters benefits from an author that has chosen to be generous and forgiving to them (much more so than earlier works).
I very much enjoyed the evisceration of much of the modern art world. The proliferation of wanky conceptual ideas – “recontextualising found objects", "appropriating the now", "subverting the zeitgeist” – at the expense of “doing something really good and beautiful” annoys and frustrates me as much as it does the author, and for alone this is a worthwhile read.
Ultimately, this is an uplifting tale with plenty of positive messages and an (inevitably) happy ending. Highly recommended.
Rhodes's novels have always tended on the blackly comic sides of life, so it’s interesting to see that This Is Life is anything but a tragedy. This is actually an uplifting book about love and if you have the read the eviscerating short story collection Don't Tell Me the Truth about Love, yes I am pretty sure that this book is by the same Dan Rhodes.
This isn’t the perfect novel by any stretch. If I were the editor, I would have pruned a good hundred pages here and not damaged book. I’m primarily thinking of the sections that amount to little more than a dig at (now-former) President Sarkozy, Carla Bruni and Lady Gaga, and the asides that are in jokes and allusions to earlier books. However, it remains a really good book.
The macabre atmosphere of Rhodes’ earlier books has not been abandoned, and the wide cast of colourful, idiosyncratic characters benefits from an author that has chosen to be generous and forgiving to them (much more so than earlier works).
I very much enjoyed the evisceration of much of the modern art world. The proliferation of wanky conceptual ideas – “recontextualising found objects", "appropriating the now", "subverting the zeitgeist” – at the expense of “doing something really good and beautiful” annoys and frustrates me as much as it does the author, and for alone this is a worthwhile read.
Ultimately, this is an uplifting tale with plenty of positive messages and an (inevitably) happy ending. Highly recommended.
January 11, 2017
It's only January but screw it, this is going up there on my "best of 2017" list.
Aside from this book being incredibly well written (it flows so well!), the fact that it weaves so many stories together flawlessly is wonderful.
I found all the characters so different and unique and would have happily read another book continuing the stories.
The best way I can describe my experience of this book is engaging, uplifting, honest and touching. Although I finished wanting to know more about every character, they definitely felt quite "real" and fleshed-out to me.
Aside from this book being incredibly well written (it flows so well!), the fact that it weaves so many stories together flawlessly is wonderful.
I found all the characters so different and unique and would have happily read another book continuing the stories.
The best way I can describe my experience of this book is engaging, uplifting, honest and touching. Although I finished wanting to know more about every character, they definitely felt quite "real" and fleshed-out to me.
October 5, 2014
You can also find my review of This is Life on my book blog.
This is Life is a novel set in France. Correction, it is set in Paris. Correction, it is set in the cartoon version of Paris that movies like Hugo, The Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec and Ratatouille are set in. (I know Amelie is missing on this list, but that's because Amelie has genuine magic, whereas the other movies just have the right sort of colours and tone, without the heart)
The book centres around Aurelie and various acquaintances and connections. Aurelie is an arts student, who, for her project, throws a pebble into a crowd find a subject she intends to draw pictures of for a week. The pebble hits a baby. After a brief telling-off, the mother of the baby hands it over and tells her to meet her again, exactly one week later, to return it, while she takes the week off.
Other stories are about an artist who is about to spend three months nude on stage, storing every bodily excretion in visible jars, and the story of her friend Lilian who is so amazingly attractive that all men fall in love with her, and she breaks all their hearts.
There is no shred of reality in this book: it's all sugarcoated and coloured with cartoonish glee. Which can work (and did, in Little Hands Clapping), sometimes. In This is Life, it does not really work. There is a constant smirk on the narrative voice's face, a distant and slightly annoying tongue in cheek, lambasting artists, academics, arts students, the French, the French president, the Euro, women, the Japanese, romantically inclined men, ... basically, anyone and everyone in this book. More than once you will find yourself reading characters having conversations or thoughts that are basically an author, making a point / having a rant. The only character who is not annoying or being mocked is Herbert, the baby, and he has immaculate comic timing, blowing raspberries at just the right moment. (A strangely happy baby - he rarely seems to fuss and whinge and cry). In short, we are reading something that is written with a slightly superior tone throughout, and this grates.
It's all perfectly readable and not boring, but it lacks real joy. This is the sort of book that, were it a movie, would feature lots of music to induce the emotions it wants you to have, and a warm and cosy, but rich, colour palette, and somehow, in all the hubbub and cutesiness, some people may be convinced they are having a good time. And maybe, for other readers, it will work. For me, it did not. (Neither, I should say, did Hugo, the film. I get the strong sense that anyone who likes Hugo would also enjoy This is Life).
This is Life is a novel set in France. Correction, it is set in Paris. Correction, it is set in the cartoon version of Paris that movies like Hugo, The Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec and Ratatouille are set in. (I know Amelie is missing on this list, but that's because Amelie has genuine magic, whereas the other movies just have the right sort of colours and tone, without the heart)
The book centres around Aurelie and various acquaintances and connections. Aurelie is an arts student, who, for her project, throws a pebble into a crowd find a subject she intends to draw pictures of for a week. The pebble hits a baby. After a brief telling-off, the mother of the baby hands it over and tells her to meet her again, exactly one week later, to return it, while she takes the week off.
Other stories are about an artist who is about to spend three months nude on stage, storing every bodily excretion in visible jars, and the story of her friend Lilian who is so amazingly attractive that all men fall in love with her, and she breaks all their hearts.
There is no shred of reality in this book: it's all sugarcoated and coloured with cartoonish glee. Which can work (and did, in Little Hands Clapping), sometimes. In This is Life, it does not really work. There is a constant smirk on the narrative voice's face, a distant and slightly annoying tongue in cheek, lambasting artists, academics, arts students, the French, the French president, the Euro, women, the Japanese, romantically inclined men, ... basically, anyone and everyone in this book. More than once you will find yourself reading characters having conversations or thoughts that are basically an author, making a point / having a rant. The only character who is not annoying or being mocked is Herbert, the baby, and he has immaculate comic timing, blowing raspberries at just the right moment. (A strangely happy baby - he rarely seems to fuss and whinge and cry). In short, we are reading something that is written with a slightly superior tone throughout, and this grates.
It's all perfectly readable and not boring, but it lacks real joy. This is the sort of book that, were it a movie, would feature lots of music to induce the emotions it wants you to have, and a warm and cosy, but rich, colour palette, and somehow, in all the hubbub and cutesiness, some people may be convinced they are having a good time. And maybe, for other readers, it will work. For me, it did not. (Neither, I should say, did Hugo, the film. I get the strong sense that anyone who likes Hugo would also enjoy This is Life).
February 25, 2017
This hovered around a three and a half out of five for me, which was slightly disappointing because I have liked all I have read by Dan Rhodes previously. This full-length novel follows a young French woman over a week, and all the strange events which follow her hitting a baby with a thrown pebble whilst doing an art project. There's a cast of unusual characters, and a lot of sweet and funny stuff - I know Rhodes does this unusual daily life and romance type stuff really well from his short stories ('Don't Tell Me The Truth About Love') and very short stories (the brilliant 'Anthropology') and the author is certainly creative and produces a quirky tale.
I just felt it didn't quite work. In shorter works, Rhodes can be as unusual as he likes, have people fall in and out of love, have strange co-incidences occur to move a story along at pace, have characters so quickly and boldly introduced that they act a little cartoonish and you don't care. In a 400+ page novel, I just got a little bored of the lack of real depth in some of the characters, and never escaped the feeling that because everything would clearly/probably all work out nicely in the end. A quote on the cover makes reference to the film 'Amélie', and I can see the similarity, but I enjoyed this film more than this book because suspending disbelief for two hours was easier than doing so for the longer time it took to read this novel.
I just felt it didn't quite work. In shorter works, Rhodes can be as unusual as he likes, have people fall in and out of love, have strange co-incidences occur to move a story along at pace, have characters so quickly and boldly introduced that they act a little cartoonish and you don't care. In a 400+ page novel, I just got a little bored of the lack of real depth in some of the characters, and never escaped the feeling that because everything would clearly/probably all work out nicely in the end. A quote on the cover makes reference to the film 'Amélie', and I can see the similarity, but I enjoyed this film more than this book because suspending disbelief for two hours was easier than doing so for the longer time it took to read this novel.
May 24, 2013
I was looking forward to this book, having enjoyed several other books by Rhodes, but I came away slightly disappointed. This is by no means a poor book, but I think my expectation levels weren't met.
My main thoughts are centred on things that this book isn't:
It is not Rhodes' move into chick-lit, despite the cynical/lazy efforts of the publishers to dress it as such. He still retains his uniquely off-kilter quirks for plot and characterisation. For this cheap move, I hope they are inundated with disgruntled easy-readers who have been misled. They certainly hope to broaden his appeal (lead cover quote - "Dan Rhodes, where have you been all my life?") but thankfully nobody seems to have told Dan (thankfully);
It is not a uniquely Parisian novel, and I've been surprised by reviewers who have focused on this. (Daily Mail - "so French you can smell the Galoises." Really?) This is not a complaint, not every novel set in Paris needs to be dripping with a sense of place, and many labour under this misconception. But the Parisian backdrop was for me quite insignificant.
I still think Rhodes is an excellent and idiosyncratic author, I simply don't think this is his finest work.
My main thoughts are centred on things that this book isn't:
It is not Rhodes' move into chick-lit, despite the cynical/lazy efforts of the publishers to dress it as such. He still retains his uniquely off-kilter quirks for plot and characterisation. For this cheap move, I hope they are inundated with disgruntled easy-readers who have been misled. They certainly hope to broaden his appeal (lead cover quote - "Dan Rhodes, where have you been all my life?") but thankfully nobody seems to have told Dan (thankfully);
It is not a uniquely Parisian novel, and I've been surprised by reviewers who have focused on this. (Daily Mail - "so French you can smell the Galoises." Really?) This is not a complaint, not every novel set in Paris needs to be dripping with a sense of place, and many labour under this misconception. But the Parisian backdrop was for me quite insignificant.
I still think Rhodes is an excellent and idiosyncratic author, I simply don't think this is his finest work.
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April 7, 2019
Il bello della vita è che mi è costato pochi centesimi in offerta su Amazon; il brutto è che mi ha fatto sprecare tempo che avrei potuto dedicare a letture migliori. Mi stupiscono tutte le recensioni pluri-stellate, per una storia assurda e improbabile, caratterizzata da personaggi poco credibili per non dire volutamente stupidi. Mah!?
December 7, 2013
I really disliked this book. I actually couldn't finish it, I'm glad I only bought it for $1.
March 16, 2017
If Wodehouse were to write a book on the modern art world, the tone and plot would go much like this. Perceptive about the creative process, how artistic ideas are born and a fun read.
January 2, 2013
I absolutely loved this book and devoured it as quickly as possible. Yes, it was quirky and some of the story lines a bit far-fetched to say the least (would a Mum really forgive someone who shoot her baby because she too had done some stupid things when under the influence of drink?). But it was also very funny and the characters really captured my imagination.
The fantastic chain of events begins with Aurélie Renard, a young art student in Paris, throwing a stone high into the air as part of a project for Professor Papavoine. The idea is that she will then follow the person it lands on for a week, recording their life in pictures, photographs and films. Unfortunately, the stone lands on a baby’s face, the Mum is furious but then decides that Aurélie can complete her project by taking care of the baby for a while. Telling Aurélie she will return for him in exactly one week, she disappears.
The following week consists of Aurélie’s rather desperate attempts to keep Herbert (pronounced rather endearingly by all the people she meets as “Air-bear”) alive. Her gun-carrying, man-chasing beautiful best friend, Sylvie Dupont, and Professor Papavoine are called on to help with varying degrees of success.
A parallel story line concerns Monsieur Rousset, the owner of a run-down cinema specialising in erotic films. His business is offered a life line in the form of Le Machine, an artist looking for a venue for his latest performance of Life. This exhibition consists of the naked artist living on a stage for weeks, collecting and displaying his bodily functions.
It may sound very odd but if you want a book to make you smile and lift your spirits, this is definitely worth a go.
The fantastic chain of events begins with Aurélie Renard, a young art student in Paris, throwing a stone high into the air as part of a project for Professor Papavoine. The idea is that she will then follow the person it lands on for a week, recording their life in pictures, photographs and films. Unfortunately, the stone lands on a baby’s face, the Mum is furious but then decides that Aurélie can complete her project by taking care of the baby for a while. Telling Aurélie she will return for him in exactly one week, she disappears.
The following week consists of Aurélie’s rather desperate attempts to keep Herbert (pronounced rather endearingly by all the people she meets as “Air-bear”) alive. Her gun-carrying, man-chasing beautiful best friend, Sylvie Dupont, and Professor Papavoine are called on to help with varying degrees of success.
A parallel story line concerns Monsieur Rousset, the owner of a run-down cinema specialising in erotic films. His business is offered a life line in the form of Le Machine, an artist looking for a venue for his latest performance of Life. This exhibition consists of the naked artist living on a stage for weeks, collecting and displaying his bodily functions.
It may sound very odd but if you want a book to make you smile and lift your spirits, this is definitely worth a go.
November 22, 2012
Life – from start to finish, in all its flavours - is explored and dissected and detailed through the day to day experiences of a group of lightly connected characters. Art student Aurelie, who finds herself suddenly and unexpectedly in charge of a stranger’s baby. Her friend Sylvie, who wants only to be married with babies, but cannot find the right man – until she falls in love with the least likely candidate in the strangest way. Most dramatically of all, through the eyes of Le Machine, who puts the nuts and bolts of life - all its dirt, grime and beauty – on display, through his installation, LIFE, that places himself and all his bodily functions on display and calls it Art.
This Is Life wears its depths lightly. It is never dense or trying too hard to be clever. Consequently, it’s an enjoyable and easy read, sometimes surprisingly profound, sometimes shockingly shallow; I‘m still uncertain where on that spectrum, my feelings finally came to rest.
Real people rarely behave as these characters do. Paris, the Japanese, the English - they’re all stereotypes, but gentle ones, the digs are mildly comic and, like the rest of the tale, not meant to be taken too seriously. Nothing is believable in any sense, but I doubt it’s meant to be. It’s a modern fairytale. It would make a great film of the Michelle Pfeiffer meets George Clooney type.
The ending was especially affecting. As Life ends, a life ends.
Touching, poignant and funny. A pleasant, if unchallenging, read.
This Is Life wears its depths lightly. It is never dense or trying too hard to be clever. Consequently, it’s an enjoyable and easy read, sometimes surprisingly profound, sometimes shockingly shallow; I‘m still uncertain where on that spectrum, my feelings finally came to rest.
Real people rarely behave as these characters do. Paris, the Japanese, the English - they’re all stereotypes, but gentle ones, the digs are mildly comic and, like the rest of the tale, not meant to be taken too seriously. Nothing is believable in any sense, but I doubt it’s meant to be. It’s a modern fairytale. It would make a great film of the Michelle Pfeiffer meets George Clooney type.
The ending was especially affecting. As Life ends, a life ends.
Touching, poignant and funny. A pleasant, if unchallenging, read.
February 24, 2013
A co-worker friend recommended this odd little book to me before I went on vacation. I liked the description, and it had someone going to art school (where I also went) so I thought I'd give it a shot - put it on my kindle, and stuffed it next to the other stack of books I took along.
2 chapters in I was HOOKED - in a big way. I loved the loopy-ness of the characters, the author understated riffing on love, and the absurdity (yet at the same time very real) of the story. I caught myself laughing out loud and then reading yet another section to my wife.
And it has been a long time since I have gasped out loud when reading a novel.
This book won't be for everyone - some readers will have some issues with the unreality of it all - like people falling deeply in love with a person by just seeing their photograph, and never having met them. (Yet another part I loved).
Storylines weave together and their are plenty of delights and quirky moments as the writers jumps around to different POV's. But I am left pondering the art of Le Machine. At first, an absurd gross poke at the art world, and then like the people in the story, I became entranced. If you like things quirky - and profound - I'd highly recommend you pick this up.
2 chapters in I was HOOKED - in a big way. I loved the loopy-ness of the characters, the author understated riffing on love, and the absurdity (yet at the same time very real) of the story. I caught myself laughing out loud and then reading yet another section to my wife.
And it has been a long time since I have gasped out loud when reading a novel.
This book won't be for everyone - some readers will have some issues with the unreality of it all - like people falling deeply in love with a person by just seeing their photograph, and never having met them. (Yet another part I loved).
Storylines weave together and their are plenty of delights and quirky moments as the writers jumps around to different POV's. But I am left pondering the art of Le Machine. At first, an absurd gross poke at the art world, and then like the people in the story, I became entranced. If you like things quirky - and profound - I'd highly recommend you pick this up.
January 2, 2013
This is not the sort of book I would normally go for; the whimsically sweet dust jacket looked a little too chick lit for me, but I decided to take a risk as the story was based around two of my loves, (France and art). And I am very glad I did.
Yes, it draws on a Paris based in recent cinema, (Amelie, A Very Long Engagement, Paris Je T'aime), all golden hues and beautiful people living amazing lives & living in more amazing apartment on a bar keeps wage, but this book made me smile. The developing relationships, the interweaving plots, the humour, the twists, (there are one or two), are all heartwarming to read and genuinely made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. It is accessible, its description beautiful and a scratch at the surface reveals some deeper themes. Recommended wholeheartedly for rainy Sunday afternoons, cup of tea in hand and working your way through a huge plate of Madeleines.
Yes, it draws on a Paris based in recent cinema, (Amelie, A Very Long Engagement, Paris Je T'aime), all golden hues and beautiful people living amazing lives & living in more amazing apartment on a bar keeps wage, but this book made me smile. The developing relationships, the interweaving plots, the humour, the twists, (there are one or two), are all heartwarming to read and genuinely made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. It is accessible, its description beautiful and a scratch at the surface reveals some deeper themes. Recommended wholeheartedly for rainy Sunday afternoons, cup of tea in hand and working your way through a huge plate of Madeleines.
January 10, 2013
I have to admit that I only made it about half way through this book. I love books taking place in the art world and this does poke fun a little bit at it's inhabitants but it just became far to odd without any amusement on my part nor character depth.
I really liked Aurelie in the beginning but her actions and naïveté became incredibly irritating later on that I really stopped caring and started to wonder why I was still reading. It didn't help that the love at first sight theme running throughout the rest of the book was also an irritant to me. I guess I should have taken the blurb on the back a little more to heart before starting this book.
I prefer a little more reality in my comedies and just couldn't connect with any of the characters. I'm hoping that the authors other book, Gold, is a little more palatable as I really do want to like his work and I already own that book.
I really liked Aurelie in the beginning but her actions and naïveté became incredibly irritating later on that I really stopped caring and started to wonder why I was still reading. It didn't help that the love at first sight theme running throughout the rest of the book was also an irritant to me. I guess I should have taken the blurb on the back a little more to heart before starting this book.
I prefer a little more reality in my comedies and just couldn't connect with any of the characters. I'm hoping that the authors other book, Gold, is a little more palatable as I really do want to like his work and I already own that book.
June 26, 2012
This book is wonderful, charmant in fact. Only rarely does it wander into the real world, mostly surviving in a Paris that would work wonderfully as part of a Shrek movie. Every character is made to seem more alive by the outrageous attitudes and actions they display. Short of wearing striped jerseys as they cycle about the place wreathed in garlic, these characters could not get any more ridiculously French, any more ridiculously Parisian. Following Aurélie and her friends through a week's events is a comic, outlandish experience and is well worth it. A really beautiful, if bizarre novel, read it.
May 4, 2016
A terrible book, little description of surrounding people or places, it might as well have been set in Bradford as Paris. All plot points are telegraphed so far in advance you find yourself waiting for it to happen it then either (a) does or (b) doesn't with a ta daaaa look I did not do that feel, not quirky just lazy. Most of the romantically driven characters are stupid, naive and boring. The plot co-incidences are unbelievable, over contrived and after about the fourth, predictable. The blurb compares it with Amelie which perhaps it was trying to emulate, but where the film is charming, occasional fantastical and heart-warming, this is not.
July 14, 2013
I loved this book. It is set in Paris and includes an artist who calls himself Le Machine. He spends 3 months at a time naked, on display, and collects all bodily output in jars on stage. And then there are the pretentious wankers! You must read it, it's great. Some blurb on the back of the book says, "Full of zest and joy and art and Paris. Only to be read if you enjoy happiness". There are many elements to this book: a stone, a baby, a sleazy art professor, peer pressure amongst art students, many wonderful characters. It is a joy to read.
PS. I forgot about the gorgeous scarves!
PS. I forgot about the gorgeous scarves!
August 21, 2013
ALL THE CHARACTERS. That was definitely something different from what I was expecting. Although the book was mainly about Aurélie and Herbert (whose name was just perfect for the book), there were so many characters that I ended up confusing them (which made for an awkward situation in the end). Though eventually, everything pretty much came together. As I've read in reviews before: this is definitely fiction. This story wouldn't exactly work in real life, but of course, that didn't stop me from liking it quite a lot.
September 7, 2015
Okouzlující obálka se zajímavým námětem. Neviděla jsem důvod, proč nezkusit něco trochu jiného než-li jsou YA a science fiction. To je život jsem vzala trošku jako výzvu, abych zase okusila nový knižní žánr a uznávaného britského satirika. A víte co? Je to ujetý. Nikdy jsem nečetla tak vtipnou a zároveň trhlou knihu.
September 1, 2015
Tak tuhle recenzi si vychutnám, těšte se, protože kniha stála za to! :))
Výborná svým vtipem i ironií, lehká a zábavná, místy neuvěřitelná a pro někoho, kdo miluje Pařiž jako já je... No prostě boží :)))
Výborná svým vtipem i ironií, lehká a zábavná, místy neuvěřitelná a pro někoho, kdo miluje Pařiž jako já je... No prostě boží :)))
January 8, 2014
Got 34 pages in before realizing my eyes had become stuck at the apex of a roll and I could no longer see. Good thing I can touch-type. If you're reading this, send help.
November 15, 2015
A funny and easy going novel about all kinds of everyday magic that may happen in Paris.
April 15, 2019
Ho scelto di leggere questo libro principalmente per la cover accattivante, perfetta da collegare con la sfida di lettura a cui partecipo. Ho letto la sinossi e mi son detta "perchè no, sembra carino"....mai fatto scelta peggiore. L'ho trovato noioso, sconclusionato, assurdo, bizzarro, patetico, irreale, inverosimile, grottesco, surreale...continuo se volete, ma non mi sembra il caso.
Più leggevo più ero intenzionata a mollare la lettura ma poi mi sarei ritrovata in alto mare con la sfida e così ho proseguito con la speranza di un miglioramento che però non ho trovato.
Troppe scene accavallate, troppi personaggi buttati li senza senso, troppo lungo e troppo noioso per me. Non ho trovato nemmeno "il libro divertente, romantico, ironico e geniale" che viene citato nella sinossi.
* Divertente.
Cosa esattamente fa ridere il lettore? Aurélie che spara al piccolo?
* Romantico.
La presunta mamma/zia che molla il piccolo con la prima sconosciuta che le capita?
* Ironico.
Far credere che il bambino è un bambolotto Reborn ben fatto?
* Geniale.
Un attore che caca e piscia in pubblico per rappresentare la vita?
Scusatemi ma credo di essere fuori dal mondo!
Recensione completa sul blog: https://lasabbianellaclessidra.blogsp...
Più leggevo più ero intenzionata a mollare la lettura ma poi mi sarei ritrovata in alto mare con la sfida e così ho proseguito con la speranza di un miglioramento che però non ho trovato.
Troppe scene accavallate, troppi personaggi buttati li senza senso, troppo lungo e troppo noioso per me. Non ho trovato nemmeno "il libro divertente, romantico, ironico e geniale" che viene citato nella sinossi.
* Divertente.
Cosa esattamente fa ridere il lettore? Aurélie che spara al piccolo?
* Romantico.
La presunta mamma/zia che molla il piccolo con la prima sconosciuta che le capita?
* Ironico.
Far credere che il bambino è un bambolotto Reborn ben fatto?
* Geniale.
Un attore che caca e piscia in pubblico per rappresentare la vita?
Scusatemi ma credo di essere fuori dal mondo!
Recensione completa sul blog: https://lasabbianellaclessidra.blogsp...
November 24, 2018
This is Life is my first encounter with the work of author Dan Rhodes. Set in Paris, the narrative follows a week in the lives of multiple characters, but chiefly the protagonist Aurelie Renard. Aurelie is an art student who simply wants to paint a nice picture, but listening to other students' lofty pseudo-intellectual ambitions, she feels compelled to come up with a more unique idea for her end-of-year project. She will throw a stone into a crowd and whoever it hits will become the subject of her work - Aurelie does not expect to hit an 8-month-old baby... The result of her hair-brained idea sets in motion a series of events that take us on the quirkiest literary journey. I must say I really enjoyed it - it is unlike anything I've read before - funny and ridiculous, yes, but also with real substance. Perhaps Hilary Mantel sums it up best when she says: "Dan Rhodes is a true original, with a fresh, funny, quirky style that seems to owe nothing to other writers and everything to his powers of invention."
February 12, 2021
I found it a bit hard to get into in the beginning which I think is because there were so many characters to follow but I ended up getting really into it.
It's hard to explain exactly what it's about or how it's written but basically every chapter is about a different character until you have a couple of main and a couple of side characters. It's written over the period of a week and follows the characters lives during this week.
I like this because all the characters side storylines link somehow and all the characters interact with each other even if they dont realise.
The actual writing is really interesting because it's written as though even when something dramatic happens the character finds it quite mundane. Everyone is completely opinionated to the point its comical and even the interactions between characters come across as being quite extreme but I really love it
I would definitely recommend it if you are looking for something funny and uplifting, it really is great . Also I think we need to appreciate the cover which is beautiful!!
It's hard to explain exactly what it's about or how it's written but basically every chapter is about a different character until you have a couple of main and a couple of side characters. It's written over the period of a week and follows the characters lives during this week.
I like this because all the characters side storylines link somehow and all the characters interact with each other even if they dont realise.
The actual writing is really interesting because it's written as though even when something dramatic happens the character finds it quite mundane. Everyone is completely opinionated to the point its comical and even the interactions between characters come across as being quite extreme but I really love it
I would definitely recommend it if you are looking for something funny and uplifting, it really is great . Also I think we need to appreciate the cover which is beautiful!!
May 11, 2021
This is a lovely and improbable book, not published in the US. It takes place in Paris, and there is a beautiful foldover cover, front and back, with scenes from daytime and night. The central plot - for there are many plots - involve two women, Aurélie and Sylvie, and how their lives intersect. Aurélie is a struggling art student, and she creates a project from the simple act of throwing a small stone. But this ripple effect involves a misrepresented baby, an off-putting professor, a variety of eccentric neighbors, and a failed romance. That’s just for starters. Of course the title gives the philosophy away, but it is also the name of an art show involving performance, human effluvia, and the bottling of said effluvia. To say more would be to spoil the plot, or plots, and many subplots, of this book. But it reads very quickly, nothing is as it seems, and there are too many coincidences to be believable. Still. Such imagination!
March 27, 2021
A fun read that keeps you interested and amused even if it never quite achieves much of an emotional response... until, maybe, the very short last chapter. The characters sit pretty clearly in familiar territory, and I doubt our hero's cheerful Parisian je ne sais quoi a la Amelie (she's even named Aurelie) would seem novel to anyone. But she's likeable and the implausibility of her adventures is no barrier.
I especially liked a cameo by the author: his earlier novel about the dog Timoleon Vieta is name checked and extravagantly praised. Other than for the authors sheer enjoyment I could not fathom why the guest appearances by Nicolas Sarkosy and Carla Bruni had been included though.
Dan Rhodes is a skilled and entertaining writer and this is recommended, as are all his other novels (not forgetting Anthropology).
I especially liked a cameo by the author: his earlier novel about the dog Timoleon Vieta is name checked and extravagantly praised. Other than for the authors sheer enjoyment I could not fathom why the guest appearances by Nicolas Sarkosy and Carla Bruni had been included though.
Dan Rhodes is a skilled and entertaining writer and this is recommended, as are all his other novels (not forgetting Anthropology).
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