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The Rocks
A romantic page-turner propelled by the sixty-year secret that has shaped two families, four lovers, and one seaside resort community.
Set against dramatic Mediterranean Sea views and lush olive groves, The Rocks opens with a confrontation and a secret: What was the mysterious, catastrophic event that drove two honeymooners apart so suddenly and absolutely in 1948 that they never spoke again despite living on the same island for sixty more years? And how did their history shape the Romeo and Juliet–like romance of their (unrelated) children decades later? Centered around a popular seaside resort club and its community, The Rocks is a double love story that begins with a mystery, then moves backward in time, era by era, to unravel what really happened decades earlier.
Peter Nichols writes with a pervading, soulful wisdom and self-knowing humor, and captures perfectly this world of glamorous, complicated, misbehaving types with all their sophisticated flaws and genuine longing. The result is a bittersweet, intelligent, and romantic novel about how powerful the perceived truth can be—as a bond, and as a barrier—even if it’s not really the whole story; and how one misunderstanding can echo irreparably through decades.
Set against dramatic Mediterranean Sea views and lush olive groves, The Rocks opens with a confrontation and a secret: What was the mysterious, catastrophic event that drove two honeymooners apart so suddenly and absolutely in 1948 that they never spoke again despite living on the same island for sixty more years? And how did their history shape the Romeo and Juliet–like romance of their (unrelated) children decades later? Centered around a popular seaside resort club and its community, The Rocks is a double love story that begins with a mystery, then moves backward in time, era by era, to unravel what really happened decades earlier.
Peter Nichols writes with a pervading, soulful wisdom and self-knowing humor, and captures perfectly this world of glamorous, complicated, misbehaving types with all their sophisticated flaws and genuine longing. The result is a bittersweet, intelligent, and romantic novel about how powerful the perceived truth can be—as a bond, and as a barrier—even if it’s not really the whole story; and how one misunderstanding can echo irreparably through decades.
432 pages, Paperback
First published November 26, 2014
462 people are currently reading
11926 people want to read
About the author
Peter Nichols
10 books104 followersPeter Nichols is the author of the bestselling novel The Rocks, the nonfiction bestsellers A Voyage for Madmen, Evolution's Captain, and three other books of fiction, memoir, and non-fiction. His novel Voyage to the North Star was nominated for the Dublin IMPAC literary award. His journalism has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He has an MFA degree from Antioch University Los Angeles, and has taught creative writing at Georgetown University, Bowdoin College, and New York University in Paris. Before turning to writing full time, he held a 100 ton USCG Ocean Operator’s licence and was a professional yacht delivery skipper for 10 years. He has also worked in advertising in London, as a screenwriter in Los Angeles, a shepherd in Wales. He has sailed alone in a small boat across the Atlantic and is a member of the Explorers Club of New York.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,127 reviews
August 7, 2019
In the great, wise words of The Critic's Jay Sherman, "It stinks!" I DID NOT LIKE IT.
Here is a list of my gripes:
-WHY WERE SO MANY PEOPLE HAVING SEX WITH YOUNG TEENAGERS?! SUPER DISGUSTING.
-So many characters and I didn't care about any of them, therefore, their pointless side stories are just stupid fodder to fill in pages.
-Legit, in order to find out what happened between Lulu and Gerald, you have to wait until the last 30ish pages. STUPES.
-Luc/Aegina? No one cares about you. If I'm supposed to care, maybe make them characters I should have feelings about. Or, I don't know, make ONE THING happen between them that should make me root for them.
-This book loves talking about nipples.
-Why is everyone so obsessed with how sinewy Lulu is? Was that supposed to make her beautiful?
-Not a single, well-developed character in this book. Everyone just sucks.
-Clearly written by a dude. Anytime a woman speaks, she dribbles on by tacking "darling," "honey," "sweety," "sweetness," or adding on a needless "-y" to things. STAAAAAAAAAAAHPUHHH. Only really old women or horribly vapid women do this incessantly.
-The one good thing about this book is its cover.
-This book has at least one, if not two, gratuitous rape scenes. It's not that I'm opposed to rape being something that happens in a novel, but it needs to serve a purpose. In this book, the one main one did not drive the plot forward, didn't develop a character, but just needlessly happened. This is the worst part. I think it was supposed to be ~meaningful~, but instead, it just left me feeling horrible, especially in the wake of the Standford rapist conviction and how people see and view rape victims.
-The scene with the most amount of description was the food poisoning scene. Thanks for that much description of vomit and feces, bruh.
This book isn't a page-turner. It's not full of wisdom, self-knowing humor, or anything of that sort. It's just a horrible book written by a piggish man.
If you're looking for a light read that involves Mallorca, go read The Vacationers. At least it's not miserable.
Sidenote: no dogs barking in the background, but there were sheeps bleating, honks from a donkey, and a lot of droning from cicadas.
Here is a list of my gripes:
-WHY WERE SO MANY PEOPLE HAVING SEX WITH YOUNG TEENAGERS?! SUPER DISGUSTING.
-So many characters and I didn't care about any of them, therefore, their pointless side stories are just stupid fodder to fill in pages.
-Legit, in order to find out what happened between Lulu and Gerald, you have to wait until the last 30ish pages. STUPES.
-Luc/Aegina? No one cares about you. If I'm supposed to care, maybe make them characters I should have feelings about. Or, I don't know, make ONE THING happen between them that should make me root for them.
-This book loves talking about nipples.
-Why is everyone so obsessed with how sinewy Lulu is? Was that supposed to make her beautiful?
-Not a single, well-developed character in this book. Everyone just sucks.
-Clearly written by a dude. Anytime a woman speaks, she dribbles on by tacking "darling," "honey," "sweety," "sweetness," or adding on a needless "-y" to things. STAAAAAAAAAAAHPUHHH. Only really old women or horribly vapid women do this incessantly.
-The one good thing about this book is its cover.
-This book has at least one, if not two, gratuitous rape scenes. It's not that I'm opposed to rape being something that happens in a novel, but it needs to serve a purpose. In this book, the one main one did not drive the plot forward, didn't develop a character, but just needlessly happened. This is the worst part. I think it was supposed to be ~meaningful~, but instead, it just left me feeling horrible, especially in the wake of the Standford rapist conviction and how people see and view rape victims.
-The scene with the most amount of description was the food poisoning scene. Thanks for that much description of vomit and feces, bruh.
This book isn't a page-turner. It's not full of wisdom, self-knowing humor, or anything of that sort. It's just a horrible book written by a piggish man.
If you're looking for a light read that involves Mallorca, go read The Vacationers. At least it's not miserable.
Sidenote: no dogs barking in the background, but there were sheeps bleating, honks from a donkey, and a lot of droning from cicadas.
May 24, 2015
I'm not sure why this book is getting such rave reviews or why it's being described as "romantic". It is not romantic AT ALL. It had a lot of promise in the beginning, but the story is dull. The characters are one dimensional and the supposed romances in the story are anything but. Too much time was taken in detailing things that didn't matter, like the exact texture, color, and presentation of calamari or the various layouts of islands that have no play in the story. I didn't finish this book, as I got tired of waiting for something interesting to happen or for two of the characters to have a deep, meaningful relationship of some kind. This is just a boring, incomplete story about a bunch of screwed up, undeveloped characters.
June 23, 2015
Misogynistic. You can completely tell this book has been written by a man. All the female characters are these sex-crazed, aggressive, type-As, and the men just sit back and let all the bad stuff happen to them (all the ladies' faults of course). Ugh, couldn't stand this book.
June 25, 2024
Catching up…
On one of my public library trips I found this book that I had read a while ago and decided it was time to re-visit it again so that I could bring my review to Goodreads.
There was something rather scenic about this book on so many different levels. First the book cover. The title. And of course, the Mediterranean, the beauty of Mallorca, the old olive groves, music, and the sexiness of it. But the story may be lost in translation.
It is told in reverse. It begins in 2005 and runs back through time to 1948 to retrace events whose final repercussion is the setting that begins the story to bring it back to the present. And, if that sounds confusing, it really isn’t in the hands of the author who helps readers get a sense of the intensity of the love that sets things in motion that is at the heart of the story.
And, as I mentioned the heart of this story, begins with a short-lived marriage between two of the main characters, Lulu and Gerald. And, the lives they have lived without each other since for 60 years. And, what happens when they do eventually see each other all these years later. After all the complex interpersonal mystery that has gone before, is this really what the author wanted to put readers through?
What created the intensity between them? Is it something that readers can understand?
Will we eventually get to the point to care enough? And, will the end be climatic or anti-climatic? Or, will we have given up before we reached that point?
There will be other character dramas that will ultimately form within the novel and create their own complex relationships. But it really is about what happened between Lulu and Gerald that brings them to the end of the novel that strikes hardest here.
And, to be honest, it was so difficult to connect to Gerald, by the time we did get to this finale, I wondered why the author felt this was the best use of the scenic waves. Was this really the journey he wanted for his readers? I felt rather disturbed. It took my breath away, and not in a good way.
On one of my public library trips I found this book that I had read a while ago and decided it was time to re-visit it again so that I could bring my review to Goodreads.
There was something rather scenic about this book on so many different levels. First the book cover. The title. And of course, the Mediterranean, the beauty of Mallorca, the old olive groves, music, and the sexiness of it. But the story may be lost in translation.
It is told in reverse. It begins in 2005 and runs back through time to 1948 to retrace events whose final repercussion is the setting that begins the story to bring it back to the present. And, if that sounds confusing, it really isn’t in the hands of the author who helps readers get a sense of the intensity of the love that sets things in motion that is at the heart of the story.
And, as I mentioned the heart of this story, begins with a short-lived marriage between two of the main characters, Lulu and Gerald. And, the lives they have lived without each other since for 60 years. And, what happens when they do eventually see each other all these years later. After all the complex interpersonal mystery that has gone before, is this really what the author wanted to put readers through?
What created the intensity between them? Is it something that readers can understand?
Will we eventually get to the point to care enough? And, will the end be climatic or anti-climatic? Or, will we have given up before we reached that point?
There will be other character dramas that will ultimately form within the novel and create their own complex relationships. But it really is about what happened between Lulu and Gerald that brings them to the end of the novel that strikes hardest here.
And, to be honest, it was so difficult to connect to Gerald, by the time we did get to this finale, I wondered why the author felt this was the best use of the scenic waves. Was this really the journey he wanted for his readers? I felt rather disturbed. It took my breath away, and not in a good way.
October 27, 2016
2.5 stars
If there was a Goodreads category "Best Novel With a 3.18 Rating Depicting People Behaving Badly on the Island of Mallorca", Peter Nichols' The Rocks would probably lose to Emma Straub's The Vacationers, even though Nichols' book is, arguably, better written. I feel like I'm dissing an author's entire raison d' etre by giving the nod to a frilly beach read over Nichols' book (as Nichols' back catalogue is comprised of several maritime historical non-fiction books), but his risky conceit of telling the story backwards made this book, at times, a real chore to get through.
It started with a promising premise, though. In 2005, two octogenarians on the Spanish island of Mallorca, Lulu (an owner of a private resort called Las Roques) and Gerald (a writer of a a semi-celebrated historical travelogue depicting the Mediterranean voyage of Odysseus) confront each other about their past along the cliffs outside the resort. We learn in backwards stair-step fashion about the two, that they were briefly married to each other way back in 1948, but some tragic events during their honeymoon drove them away from each other for almost sixty years, both living on the island but having zero contact with each other. What bad thing happened back in '48 to estrange themselves from each other for six decades? Nichols' unfolds the answers backwards, in an ultimately satisfying but slooooooow fashion. By the time you get some answers you almost don't care what happened to them. Lulu's and Gerald's back stories on the island (with their divergent paths and their children--Lulu's son Luc, Gerald's daughter Aegina) having their own back stories and coteries made this so confusing I kept getting frustrated. Lots of pervy behavior from the invited guests to Las Roques (and from, ahem, matron of honor Lulu herself) kept distracting from the core conflict promisingly dangled at the outset.
For what it's worth, I did like the ending, though getting to the end was not easy. I think (as GR friend Larry aptly pointed out) this novel would probably make a really good movie, but it would require a deft hand to sort through the confusing character cavalcade. It's definitely not your typical 'beach read'.
If there was a Goodreads category "Best Novel With a 3.18 Rating Depicting People Behaving Badly on the Island of Mallorca", Peter Nichols' The Rocks would probably lose to Emma Straub's The Vacationers, even though Nichols' book is, arguably, better written. I feel like I'm dissing an author's entire raison d' etre by giving the nod to a frilly beach read over Nichols' book (as Nichols' back catalogue is comprised of several maritime historical non-fiction books), but his risky conceit of telling the story backwards made this book, at times, a real chore to get through.
It started with a promising premise, though. In 2005, two octogenarians on the Spanish island of Mallorca, Lulu (an owner of a private resort called Las Roques) and Gerald (a writer of a a semi-celebrated historical travelogue depicting the Mediterranean voyage of Odysseus) confront each other about their past along the cliffs outside the resort. We learn in backwards stair-step fashion about the two, that they were briefly married to each other way back in 1948, but some tragic events during their honeymoon drove them away from each other for almost sixty years, both living on the island but having zero contact with each other. What bad thing happened back in '48 to estrange themselves from each other for six decades? Nichols' unfolds the answers backwards, in an ultimately satisfying but slooooooow fashion. By the time you get some answers you almost don't care what happened to them. Lulu's and Gerald's back stories on the island (with their divergent paths and their children--Lulu's son Luc, Gerald's daughter Aegina) having their own back stories and coteries made this so confusing I kept getting frustrated. Lots of pervy behavior from the invited guests to Las Roques (and from, ahem, matron of honor Lulu herself) kept distracting from the core conflict promisingly dangled at the outset.
For what it's worth, I did like the ending, though getting to the end was not easy. I think (as GR friend Larry aptly pointed out) this novel would probably make a really good movie, but it would require a deft hand to sort through the confusing character cavalcade. It's definitely not your typical 'beach read'.
June 20, 2015
I'm stuck between rating this 3 and 3.5 stars, so how about 3.25?
The Rocks begins with a confrontation. Lulu and Gerald were married for a very brief time in 1948. And although both have lived on the island of Mallorca for years, Lulu in particular goes out of her way to avoid Gerald at every turn. Yet when the two run into each other nearly 60 years later, the anger, hurt, and resentment is still tremendously intense, leading to a tragedy.
What happened on Lulu and Gerald's honeymoon all of those years ago that could still generate so much hurt and animosity? How has what transpired shaped their lives and their other relationships, yet allowed them to (reasonably) peacefully coexist on the same island?
The Rocks is a story told in reverse. It starts in 2005 with the confrontation, and travels back, a decade or so at a time, until that fateful day in 1948. With each section you see how Lulu and Gerald's lives progressed, their happy moments and their tragedies, and how their lives intersected again with the Romeo and Juliet-like relationship of their children, Lulu's son Luc, and Gerald's son Aegina, which, too, ends abruptly. Their stories are full of adventure, hope, anger, loneliness, and a love of Mallorca and those they care about.
I'll admit that what first attracted me to this book was that the cover reminded of Jess Walter's Beautiful Ruins , which I loved unabashedly (despite a very different setting than Mallorca). I enjoyed this book and in many ways liked its narrative structure, although it got to the point toward the end of the book where I just wanted to know what happened back in 1948. Peter Nichols is a talented writer, and I could just visualize Mallorca's beauty so many times throughout the book, and he also infused his story with a lot of emotion.
I thought the book moved really slowly at times, and yet at times I wanted more explanation of what happened with the characters at a particular juncture of the story. And while I found the characters fascinating, Lulu's behavior throughout the book really irked me, until I realized why she was the way she was.
I would recommend you read this book while you're on vacation somewhere sunny and beautiful, because this is a book that deserves a sun-drenched setting. It's well written and compelling, and I think it would make a really interesting movie.
See all of my reviews at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo....
The Rocks begins with a confrontation. Lulu and Gerald were married for a very brief time in 1948. And although both have lived on the island of Mallorca for years, Lulu in particular goes out of her way to avoid Gerald at every turn. Yet when the two run into each other nearly 60 years later, the anger, hurt, and resentment is still tremendously intense, leading to a tragedy.
What happened on Lulu and Gerald's honeymoon all of those years ago that could still generate so much hurt and animosity? How has what transpired shaped their lives and their other relationships, yet allowed them to (reasonably) peacefully coexist on the same island?
The Rocks is a story told in reverse. It starts in 2005 with the confrontation, and travels back, a decade or so at a time, until that fateful day in 1948. With each section you see how Lulu and Gerald's lives progressed, their happy moments and their tragedies, and how their lives intersected again with the Romeo and Juliet-like relationship of their children, Lulu's son Luc, and Gerald's son Aegina, which, too, ends abruptly. Their stories are full of adventure, hope, anger, loneliness, and a love of Mallorca and those they care about.
I'll admit that what first attracted me to this book was that the cover reminded of Jess Walter's Beautiful Ruins , which I loved unabashedly (despite a very different setting than Mallorca). I enjoyed this book and in many ways liked its narrative structure, although it got to the point toward the end of the book where I just wanted to know what happened back in 1948. Peter Nichols is a talented writer, and I could just visualize Mallorca's beauty so many times throughout the book, and he also infused his story with a lot of emotion.
I thought the book moved really slowly at times, and yet at times I wanted more explanation of what happened with the characters at a particular juncture of the story. And while I found the characters fascinating, Lulu's behavior throughout the book really irked me, until I realized why she was the way she was.
I would recommend you read this book while you're on vacation somewhere sunny and beautiful, because this is a book that deserves a sun-drenched setting. It's well written and compelling, and I think it would make a really interesting movie.
See all of my reviews at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo....
July 17, 2015
Jet-setting, degenerate artistes loll about the island of Mallorca for generations, having sex with everyone they can, including 80-year-olds and minors. Gross. Sorry but I'm not into pedophilia. If the main female protagonist (antagonist?) is any man's fantasy, I pity that man. The male characters in this book, however, seem perfectly willing to allow a sociopath to lead them around by their privates for decades, apparently for no reason other than that she's a tiger in bed. It's a ridiculous characterization of a woman and insulting to men. Other than the Mediterranean setting, I see NO comparison between this book and Jess Walters' Beautiful Ruins. Walter's book was good - this is a hot mess.
April 29, 2015
Ridiculous, boring, rich people with stupid problems. If this book was 100 pages I might have been able to hang in. But this book is too much of an investment. I can't imagine digging deeper than I already did, which was 80 pages. Good luck to all of the characters and everything, but I'm out.
July 17, 2016
I read a glowing review of this book in which the reviewer notes, "the author clearly loves women". Ummm... some questions. Perhaps my issue with this statement is the definition of love.
For example, I can say that I love penguins, and I can describe them in great detail with earnest adoration and delight, while still maintaining the understanding that I do not consider them my equals, and they are not humans.
I can even decide to assign them random personality quirks, almost as a joke, because they are all super cute but essentially indistinguishable*. Ooh, this one is the smart penguin! There's the bored penguin! This one is the slutty penguin! Except in this book they are nearly all the slutty penguin.
Okay, admittedly I am stretching this metaphor too far but my point is, despite the presence of several female characters, there are no recognizable three dimensional human women in this book.
The book is slow, but languidly compelling. The narrative structure is intriguing and the writing is not terrible (until you realize that it is). These aspects are what made me finish it. It was very much not worth it.
I wasted a lot of time on this book and I just ended up mad.
*My apologies to scientists and penguin enthusiasts, I surely do not have all the info and I'm sure to a trained eye there are many noticeable differences. Maybe I should have used butterflies or crows as my example, but I meant no harm. I legit like penguins.
For example, I can say that I love penguins, and I can describe them in great detail with earnest adoration and delight, while still maintaining the understanding that I do not consider them my equals, and they are not humans.
I can even decide to assign them random personality quirks, almost as a joke, because they are all super cute but essentially indistinguishable*. Ooh, this one is the smart penguin! There's the bored penguin! This one is the slutty penguin! Except in this book they are nearly all the slutty penguin.
Okay, admittedly I am stretching this metaphor too far but my point is, despite the presence of several female characters, there are no recognizable three dimensional human women in this book.
The book is slow, but languidly compelling. The narrative structure is intriguing and the writing is not terrible (until you realize that it is). These aspects are what made me finish it. It was very much not worth it.
I wasted a lot of time on this book and I just ended up mad.
*My apologies to scientists and penguin enthusiasts, I surely do not have all the info and I'm sure to a trained eye there are many noticeable differences. Maybe I should have used butterflies or crows as my example, but I meant no harm. I legit like penguins.
June 28, 2015
Brits Gerald and Lulu were briefly married in 1948, and now, in 2005, both live in the same small Mallorcan village and pointedly avoid one another. Until one day, they don't. Words are exchanged, and they both tumble off a cliff to their deaths. The story then goes chronologically in reverse until the mystery of their relationship is revealed.
OH MY GOD I LOVED THIS BOOK! Author Nichols is clearly influenced by Maugham (although Maugham would never have used such a flashy narrative device); he references him several times, and the characters, slightly down-at-the-heels pretty people living decadent lives in a steamy climate, are the type that make up the best of Maugham's melodramas.
There were times I had to flip backward (and therefore forward in time) to remind myself who was who, but I read the last 200 pages in one day, riveted. The chunk taking place in 1970, when two characters go to Morocco to buy embroidered shirts in bulk to sell to London hippies, could be a great short novel by itself. There is such a strong sense of place, too. I looked up pictures of Mallorca and I could picture everything in the book.
So tragic, so louche! Take this to the beach this summer, and you'll never get in the water.
OH MY GOD I LOVED THIS BOOK! Author Nichols is clearly influenced by Maugham (although Maugham would never have used such a flashy narrative device); he references him several times, and the characters, slightly down-at-the-heels pretty people living decadent lives in a steamy climate, are the type that make up the best of Maugham's melodramas.
There were times I had to flip backward (and therefore forward in time) to remind myself who was who, but I read the last 200 pages in one day, riveted. The chunk taking place in 1970, when two characters go to Morocco to buy embroidered shirts in bulk to sell to London hippies, could be a great short novel by itself. There is such a strong sense of place, too. I looked up pictures of Mallorca and I could picture everything in the book.
So tragic, so louche! Take this to the beach this summer, and you'll never get in the water.
July 31, 2015
This novel is an epic saga, and yes, I mean it’s a VERY long book. At times I would get bored, and then something exciting happens. Thus, I read the whole thing and did not abandon it. Was it the best book I ever read? No, but it was an above average read.
Author Peter Nichols tells his saga in reverse. It’s comparable to if you just meet someone who is interesting, and then you ask people about him or her, and find out information historically. Nichols begins his tale by beginning it with two octogenarians falling to their deaths. Thus begins a saga that includes suspense: why were the two at war?
Flash back to ten years earlier at a birthday party. The reader learns most of the main characters during this part. The next important part of the history occurs in 1983. Next is 1970, 1966, 1956, 1951, and finally 1948 when the two initially met. I found myself rereading some parts. Through the years, the reader learns what made each character who they became (past tense because we are moving to the past). It’s interesting in that the reader learns information regressively. It’s not a beach read because one needs to pay attention.
The characters are so well developed that I found many aberrant and disgusting. Some I rooted for. Some seemed hapless. Each character had me emotionally involved. Nichols proclivity to write a great dialogue shines. Plus, I do want to research Mallorca (the place where the Inn and restaurant called “The Rocks” is located) as a potential place to visit. Nichols describes it beautifully.
A great book if you are going to be stuck somewhere for 2-3 days and can concentrate. Nichols narration is awesome. Plus, I enjoyed his use of interesting words.
Author Peter Nichols tells his saga in reverse. It’s comparable to if you just meet someone who is interesting, and then you ask people about him or her, and find out information historically. Nichols begins his tale by beginning it with two octogenarians falling to their deaths. Thus begins a saga that includes suspense: why were the two at war?
Flash back to ten years earlier at a birthday party. The reader learns most of the main characters during this part. The next important part of the history occurs in 1983. Next is 1970, 1966, 1956, 1951, and finally 1948 when the two initially met. I found myself rereading some parts. Through the years, the reader learns what made each character who they became (past tense because we are moving to the past). It’s interesting in that the reader learns information regressively. It’s not a beach read because one needs to pay attention.
The characters are so well developed that I found many aberrant and disgusting. Some I rooted for. Some seemed hapless. Each character had me emotionally involved. Nichols proclivity to write a great dialogue shines. Plus, I do want to research Mallorca (the place where the Inn and restaurant called “The Rocks” is located) as a potential place to visit. Nichols describes it beautifully.
A great book if you are going to be stuck somewhere for 2-3 days and can concentrate. Nichols narration is awesome. Plus, I enjoyed his use of interesting words.
July 4, 2015
The Rocks gets a reluctant three stars from me. The plot is ambitious, spanning generations, countries, and perspectives so I appreciated the author's efforts. And a few of the characters had unexpected layers - note Aegina's journey. The island setting made me think this would be an ideal beach read even though I knew the content would be serious. What I didn't expect was the slow pace of many chapters, and one protagonist whose self-absorption knew no bounds. When the author finally reveals the root of that character's motivations and flaws, it is compelling -- to a point. We hear how that incident caused pain to the other party involved, but not to the most damaged character. A big problem in my opinion. The author could have spared some of the many pages to give that character a voice that wasn't bitter or condescending while lacking insight. I need more than "I hate boats" and "won't go into the ocean." After the major reveal what would that character have said/yelled/screamed? To friends/police/the person blamed? It's not enough to know the character feels betrayed-- we get that in the first chapter. After investing hundreds of pages I expected a little more revelatory dialogue or description from that character. I heard from just about everyone on the Rocks (including some dullards) and I was frustrated that we didn't hear something meaningful from the person at the center of the specific tragedy.
September 5, 2015
Seriously? That was what all that was about?
August 19, 2015
Quiz: Somebody is angry at you because she thinks you did something awful, but you actually did something fairly courageous, and you want to clear up the misunderstanding. What do you do?
A) Contact her directly and explain what happened.
B) Give a roll of film to a friend of hers, ask the friend to give her the film and have her get the photos developed, because what's in the photos will explain everything. Then spend the next 50 years being angry that she never developed the film.
If you chose B, this is the novel for you! If you chose A, you are a reasonable person who will probably not be drawn in by this tedious soap opera plot. Beautiful setting, unlikable characters, dopey plot.
A) Contact her directly and explain what happened.
B) Give a roll of film to a friend of hers, ask the friend to give her the film and have her get the photos developed, because what's in the photos will explain everything. Then spend the next 50 years being angry that she never developed the film.
If you chose B, this is the novel for you! If you chose A, you are a reasonable person who will probably not be drawn in by this tedious soap opera plot. Beautiful setting, unlikable characters, dopey plot.
August 17, 2021
3.5 stars
Lulu and Gerald were briefly married in 1948. Though they both live on the small island of Mallorca, they have managed to avoid each other almost entirely for nearly 60 years. In 2005, the pair have a final fateful moment of confrontation leaving readers to wonder what in the world happened on their honeymoon to inspire such resentment.
The Rocks moves in reverse from 2005 all the way back to the events in 1948. In between, readers see their triumphs and tragedies, as well as an abruptly ended romance between their children from their second marriages, Luc and Aegina.
While the pace was a bit uneven as the story jumped further back in time and the time spent on some events seemed overly generous, there were also times I wanted clarification on other events that were glossed over. Despite that, I was invested in the characters and devoured the story to find out what transpired on Lulu and Gerald’s honeymoon in 1948!
The Rocks is a fun beach read with great atmosphere and a love-hate relationship to unravel over a lifetime.
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Lulu and Gerald were briefly married in 1948. Though they both live on the small island of Mallorca, they have managed to avoid each other almost entirely for nearly 60 years. In 2005, the pair have a final fateful moment of confrontation leaving readers to wonder what in the world happened on their honeymoon to inspire such resentment.
The Rocks moves in reverse from 2005 all the way back to the events in 1948. In between, readers see their triumphs and tragedies, as well as an abruptly ended romance between their children from their second marriages, Luc and Aegina.
While the pace was a bit uneven as the story jumped further back in time and the time spent on some events seemed overly generous, there were also times I wanted clarification on other events that were glossed over. Despite that, I was invested in the characters and devoured the story to find out what transpired on Lulu and Gerald’s honeymoon in 1948!
The Rocks is a fun beach read with great atmosphere and a love-hate relationship to unravel over a lifetime.
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
July 1, 2015
A summer read, but not a fluffy beach read. This is really close to 5-star. Beautiful settings, complex characters, some light moments, some deeper themes.
I have mixed feelings about the structure, which moves backwards in time. With two of the main characters--Gerald and Lulu--I found this a bit frustrating, because their interactions throughout most of the book don't make sense (Gerald in particular comes across as a little batty). With the other two main characters--Aegina and Luc--the reverse chronology overhyped their relationship (the backstory didn't really deliver).
On the other hand, it's fun to see some of the peripheral characters in their earlier selves (for example, Cassian, the white collar criminal, is very interesting as a kid in the last bit of the book).
The main characters offer familiar plots (unrequited love, mistimed romantic efforts, neglectful versus nurturing parenting as a response to how one was parented oneself). Gerald's Odyssey obsession works well with the sense of place. Lulu is probably the least sympathetic character, but she has some fantastic scenes. Aegina is the most sympathetic character for me. And in many ways, the peripheral characters make this book--their dialogue came out just right. This is one I'd read again.
I have mixed feelings about the structure, which moves backwards in time. With two of the main characters--Gerald and Lulu--I found this a bit frustrating, because their interactions throughout most of the book don't make sense (Gerald in particular comes across as a little batty). With the other two main characters--Aegina and Luc--the reverse chronology overhyped their relationship (the backstory didn't really deliver).
On the other hand, it's fun to see some of the peripheral characters in their earlier selves (for example, Cassian, the white collar criminal, is very interesting as a kid in the last bit of the book).
The main characters offer familiar plots (unrequited love, mistimed romantic efforts, neglectful versus nurturing parenting as a response to how one was parented oneself). Gerald's Odyssey obsession works well with the sense of place. Lulu is probably the least sympathetic character, but she has some fantastic scenes. Aegina is the most sympathetic character for me. And in many ways, the peripheral characters make this book--their dialogue came out just right. This is one I'd read again.
October 21, 2016
...Hoo boy, there are a lot of adjectives in the first 50 pages.
...Now I'm at page 90, and this book isn't winning me over. I'm having trouble following the plot--not to mention the point of view, which bounds confusingly between the different characters' perspectives--and the conceit of telling the story backwards (not a spoiler; it's in the chapter titles) isn't working AT ALL. So far the novel is just these big blocks of writing with, like, one or two heavy-handed details tying them to the previous chapter. I want more subtlety! more delicate intertwining of time periods! Not these long boring nothing-happening moments sitting on the page like clumps of tepid oatmeal. Oatmeal without any butter OR sugar. Ick.
Also, I am not convinced that the author understands that women are people; he writes them as conquests and set dressing. To be fair, the male characters are less than charming, too. And there's a sex scene that, if I'm reading it correctly, horrifies me on several levels.
I'm giving you 60 more pages to impress me, Mr. Nichols. Get to it.
...Writing tip: If you find yourself cramming a shitload of unnecessary information into a paragraph introducing a character, don't quit your day job maybe.
Case in point: "Cassian, in swimming trunks and a long-sleeved shirt, sat hunched, still, gnomelike, peering yellow-lensed at the board. His longish red hair was slicked back in an old-fashioned manner with some sort of pomade, curls escaping regimentation at the back of his neck, forehead slathered with zinc oxide which had run into the hair at his temples. Not a vain man. A red box of king-sized Dunhills and a gold crosshatch Dunhill lighter sat on the table beside his left elbow. Released from Her Majesty’s Pentonville prison in North London in April, he had spent most of his time since then sitting at this table in the corner of the patio. It had become his office. The bar’s phone, its extension line snaking along the tiles and disappearing behind the bar’s counter, sat on the table beside his cigarettes."
What. (But how will I sleep if I don't know what kind of pomade it was???)
...And I have already forgotten both that character's name and everything about him. Casper, was it? Who even cares.
..."He was mesmerized by [her] astonishing flexibility, evidently verging on double-jointedness, and her slim, tautly muscled form, smooth brown skin that began to glisten as the class went on, the thick cord of white hair worn in a long braid bound loosely at her neck, the strongly etched dark eyebrows that contrasted with her white hair, her fluidity of motion, her liquid calm. An extraordinary woman."
I MEAN. ("Glisten," indeed!)
..."Krishnamurti was undoubtedly holy-looking, undeniably attractive in that Indian way that she herself frankly couldn’t bear but others were so impressed by, a sort of Beatle Gandhi."
WHAAAAAT
..."She was shaped like a pouter pigeon, small and delicate but with disproportionately large breasts on top of a protuberant chest."
I AM REALLY UNHAPPY RN
P.S. All these quotes have come from a span of three pages. Just FYI.
..."Six-foot-four, skinny, café-au-lait complexion with pouting lips, enormous and frankly inquisitive, frankly gay blue eyes, kinky black ponytail. He wore a billowing white linen shirt and red capri pants, a tasseled Moroccan Berber satchel slung over his shoulders."
NOBODY CARES! Nobody caaaaaaares. Now, if he were wearing an astronaut suit, it would be worth noting. (Would this novel be better if it had more astronauts? Discuss.)
...I'm just gonna go ahead and give "The Rocks" one star. As a placeholder rating, you understand. It could go up. Technically.
...Dear God, there is a 100% irrelevant scene about a yeast infection. Also there have been several more references to nipples (female only). Surely Mr. Nichols doesn't think this is good writing. He can't, can he?
...Well, I made it to page 168, and then I was super bored, and so I skipped ahead to see what happens and NOPE. NOPE NOPE NOPE. NOOOOOPE. I'm out.
(I did catch a glimpse of the acknowledgements, and I can't understand it: He lists dozens of people--none of whom, apparently, told him he was writing a terrible book. Why not? Now that's a respectable mystery.)
...Now I'm at page 90, and this book isn't winning me over. I'm having trouble following the plot--not to mention the point of view, which bounds confusingly between the different characters' perspectives--and the conceit of telling the story backwards (not a spoiler; it's in the chapter titles) isn't working AT ALL. So far the novel is just these big blocks of writing with, like, one or two heavy-handed details tying them to the previous chapter. I want more subtlety! more delicate intertwining of time periods! Not these long boring nothing-happening moments sitting on the page like clumps of tepid oatmeal. Oatmeal without any butter OR sugar. Ick.
Also, I am not convinced that the author understands that women are people; he writes them as conquests and set dressing. To be fair, the male characters are less than charming, too. And there's a sex scene that, if I'm reading it correctly, horrifies me on several levels.
I'm giving you 60 more pages to impress me, Mr. Nichols. Get to it.
...Writing tip: If you find yourself cramming a shitload of unnecessary information into a paragraph introducing a character, don't quit your day job maybe.
Case in point: "Cassian, in swimming trunks and a long-sleeved shirt, sat hunched, still, gnomelike, peering yellow-lensed at the board. His longish red hair was slicked back in an old-fashioned manner with some sort of pomade, curls escaping regimentation at the back of his neck, forehead slathered with zinc oxide which had run into the hair at his temples. Not a vain man. A red box of king-sized Dunhills and a gold crosshatch Dunhill lighter sat on the table beside his left elbow. Released from Her Majesty’s Pentonville prison in North London in April, he had spent most of his time since then sitting at this table in the corner of the patio. It had become his office. The bar’s phone, its extension line snaking along the tiles and disappearing behind the bar’s counter, sat on the table beside his cigarettes."
What. (But how will I sleep if I don't know what kind of pomade it was???)
...And I have already forgotten both that character's name and everything about him. Casper, was it? Who even cares.
..."He was mesmerized by [her] astonishing flexibility, evidently verging on double-jointedness, and her slim, tautly muscled form, smooth brown skin that began to glisten as the class went on, the thick cord of white hair worn in a long braid bound loosely at her neck, the strongly etched dark eyebrows that contrasted with her white hair, her fluidity of motion, her liquid calm. An extraordinary woman."
I MEAN. ("Glisten," indeed!)
..."Krishnamurti was undoubtedly holy-looking, undeniably attractive in that Indian way that she herself frankly couldn’t bear but others were so impressed by, a sort of Beatle Gandhi."
WHAAAAAT
..."She was shaped like a pouter pigeon, small and delicate but with disproportionately large breasts on top of a protuberant chest."
I AM REALLY UNHAPPY RN
P.S. All these quotes have come from a span of three pages. Just FYI.
..."Six-foot-four, skinny, café-au-lait complexion with pouting lips, enormous and frankly inquisitive, frankly gay blue eyes, kinky black ponytail. He wore a billowing white linen shirt and red capri pants, a tasseled Moroccan Berber satchel slung over his shoulders."
NOBODY CARES! Nobody caaaaaaares. Now, if he were wearing an astronaut suit, it would be worth noting. (Would this novel be better if it had more astronauts? Discuss.)
...I'm just gonna go ahead and give "The Rocks" one star. As a placeholder rating, you understand. It could go up. Technically.
...Dear God, there is a 100% irrelevant scene about a yeast infection. Also there have been several more references to nipples (female only). Surely Mr. Nichols doesn't think this is good writing. He can't, can he?
...Well, I made it to page 168, and then I was super bored, and so I skipped ahead to see what happens and NOPE. NOPE NOPE NOPE. NOOOOOPE. I'm out.
(I did catch a glimpse of the acknowledgements, and I can't understand it: He lists dozens of people--none of whom, apparently, told him he was writing a terrible book. Why not? Now that's a respectable mystery.)
July 25, 2018
This was actually between 3 and 4 stars, so I would say 3.5. This was a good story and good characters and I really enjoyed it. The one issue I had was I would have liked the story better if been a straight through story instead of starting at the end and going backwards. I know why the author did it this way and did not enjoy it that much as he went back in time. Just as you got used to the characters as certain way, they all went back in time. And I felt that he left questions unanswered.
June 20, 2015
This book has a great opener -- a 90 year old woman that curses uncontrollably thanks to a stroke and a just as old man who has smoked for decades meet in the street. We learn they used to be married and have both lived in the island of Mallorca since their divorce 60 years previously. Gerald, the old man, is desperate to tell Lulu, the woman, that he got them away. Who they are or what happened with the two former lovers, we don't know because then the two of them fall over the side of a cliff.
Each section of the book goes a little further into the past. We see Lulu at her 70th birthday party, Gerald republishing his book, their children (with other people) as adults, then teens, then toddlers. Until finally at the end we discover why the two of them fell out. I liked the way the story unfolded, where we got to know the characters and my opinions of them changed as time went backward. We see awful decisions they've made and then discover what brought them to the decisions later. All clever and wonderful. Had it been a traditional narrative, I'm pretty sure this would have been a terribly boring novel.
The setting plays a huge part -- at times reading it was torture because it made me desperate for a vacation to a beach...anywhere...it doesn't have to be an island in the Mediterranean!
I thought this was a lovely novel that that tells the story of people and how misunderstandings can change everything. While the story itself isn't romantic, the place, the time, gives the book a sense of romance. If you like Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter, I think you'll like this one, too.
Each section of the book goes a little further into the past. We see Lulu at her 70th birthday party, Gerald republishing his book, their children (with other people) as adults, then teens, then toddlers. Until finally at the end we discover why the two of them fell out. I liked the way the story unfolded, where we got to know the characters and my opinions of them changed as time went backward. We see awful decisions they've made and then discover what brought them to the decisions later. All clever and wonderful. Had it been a traditional narrative, I'm pretty sure this would have been a terribly boring novel.
The setting plays a huge part -- at times reading it was torture because it made me desperate for a vacation to a beach...anywhere...it doesn't have to be an island in the Mediterranean!
I thought this was a lovely novel that that tells the story of people and how misunderstandings can change everything. While the story itself isn't romantic, the place, the time, gives the book a sense of romance. If you like Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter, I think you'll like this one, too.
June 19, 2015
I hated this book so much. The first chapter got me interested in the story, but everything between the first and last chapter was a big yawn of dreadful people. By the time the secret was told, I didn't even care.
June 26, 2015
this book had the chance to be good but it was slow to get into and seemed to go in all directions
April 12, 2015
There were many elements of this book that reminded me of Beautiful Ruins -- the sunsoaked Mediterranean setting, the haunting effects of the past that reverberate after smoldering for decades, even movie references. There was one thing in the latter category that puzzled me -- why give a character the name Gabor Szabo to a Hungarian film producer when the very same name was held by an actual guitarist who died the year before the character's appearance in the novel? It jarred me. However, the plot, unspooling in reverse, held mystery and kept me reading and intrigued.
June 18, 2015
2.5-stars, really.
i love the setting of this novel, and i was quite taken with a couple of the characters, but overall this was a very bumpy read. the backward timeline didn't work very well for me, and while i didn't find it confusing or difficult (as i have read in other reviews this morning), i found it prevented me from becoming fully engaged with the story - each new section, set in a different year, felt like a reset on the story, but not in a good way or in a way that enhanced the flow of the storytelling. i also felt that some of the big issues were skimmed (), which left me feeling like the storylines for a few of the characters could have gone deeper emotionally. overall, the cast of characters has some fairly unlikeable people - something i do tend to enjoy when i read. but i didn't find most of them particularly interesting. so that's a shame. but... this book is getting lots of positive attention, and i am, apparently, in a minority for not loving it. i do think it will make for a good summer or vacation read for many people.
i love the setting of this novel, and i was quite taken with a couple of the characters, but overall this was a very bumpy read. the backward timeline didn't work very well for me, and while i didn't find it confusing or difficult (as i have read in other reviews this morning), i found it prevented me from becoming fully engaged with the story - each new section, set in a different year, felt like a reset on the story, but not in a good way or in a way that enhanced the flow of the storytelling. i also felt that some of the big issues were skimmed (), which left me feeling like the storylines for a few of the characters could have gone deeper emotionally. overall, the cast of characters has some fairly unlikeable people - something i do tend to enjoy when i read. but i didn't find most of them particularly interesting. so that's a shame. but... this book is getting lots of positive attention, and i am, apparently, in a minority for not loving it. i do think it will make for a good summer or vacation read for many people.
September 17, 2015
One of the best new books I've read this year. A literary tour de force of a modern day Odyssey, this story also takes on a life of its own. And made me want to sail to Ithaca and Majorca.
It's a Homeric journey that Peter Nichols knows and delivers with adept punches.
"As you set out for Ithaka
hope the voyage is a long one,
full of discovery.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
Angry Poseidon -- don't be afraid of them . . .
Keep Ithaca always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you were destined for.
But do not hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you are old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you would not have set out . . . "
It's a Homeric journey that Peter Nichols knows and delivers with adept punches.
"As you set out for Ithaka
hope the voyage is a long one,
full of discovery.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
Angry Poseidon -- don't be afraid of them . . .
Keep Ithaca always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you were destined for.
But do not hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you are old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you would not have set out . . . "
December 22, 2016
The first 80 pages of the book focused more on the "the Romeo and Juliet–like romance of their (unrelated) children" rather than the "mysterious, catastrophic event that drove two honeymooners apart so suddenly and absolutely in 1948 that they never spoke again". The children were uninteresting characters, particularly the woman's son, but it was when the 70 year old woman slept with her ex-husband's 15 year old grandson that I decided I did not care at all to finish this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 16, 2015
Evoking the same sort of literary travel envy that 2012's 'Beautiful Ruins' did, 'The Rocks' is a multigenerational story of two sets of lovers told backwards. Some people have complained this narrative technique became confusing, but I found it both wildly sucessful and thoroughly enjoyable.And on a side note,Nichols lush descriptions also made me want to book a flight to Majorca immediately.
May 31, 2015
Great setting.
Characters are a little annoying: Gerald is a milquetoast of a man, you realize at the end; Lulu is just a selfish, self-absorbed, demanding person. Luc - not much better, etc.
Wonderful and unique construction: a backwards story, which at times, though, sort of defeats the purpose of reading, which is to get to the end. Going backwards, though, you're going back to the beginning, which means that at moments when the reader is hoping there is a future resolution to a conversation, conflict, or meeting, the reader has to catch herself and remember, oh, no, I didn't read one already, which means there's nothing more that will take place after this to resolve this problem. That's a little disheartening.
I have to say, without revealing too much, that the main conflict on which the entire mystery is based is greatly overdone. So much so that the reader is left puzzling out why the main characters couldn't overcome obstacles enough to simply TALK to each other in the 70 years that they're living on the SAME ISLAND enough to clarify what happened all those years ago. I was left coming up with alternative possibilities to what actually happened, such as: Gerald could have easily refused to sign divorce papers until sitting down and explaining the story; he could have followed her around and cornered her and demanded she sit down and talk to him for 5 minutes; he could have written her a letter and somehow ensured she heard it read to her, etc...The great problem of his not explaining his side of the story seems like a flimsy reef on which to balance the whole of the rest of the novel.
Characters are a little annoying: Gerald is a milquetoast of a man, you realize at the end; Lulu is just a selfish, self-absorbed, demanding person. Luc - not much better, etc.
Wonderful and unique construction: a backwards story, which at times, though, sort of defeats the purpose of reading, which is to get to the end. Going backwards, though, you're going back to the beginning, which means that at moments when the reader is hoping there is a future resolution to a conversation, conflict, or meeting, the reader has to catch herself and remember, oh, no, I didn't read one already, which means there's nothing more that will take place after this to resolve this problem. That's a little disheartening.
I have to say, without revealing too much, that the main conflict on which the entire mystery is based is greatly overdone. So much so that the reader is left puzzling out why the main characters couldn't overcome obstacles enough to simply TALK to each other in the 70 years that they're living on the SAME ISLAND enough to clarify what happened all those years ago. I was left coming up with alternative possibilities to what actually happened, such as: Gerald could have easily refused to sign divorce papers until sitting down and explaining the story; he could have followed her around and cornered her and demanded she sit down and talk to him for 5 minutes; he could have written her a letter and somehow ensured she heard it read to her, etc...The great problem of his not explaining his side of the story seems like a flimsy reef on which to balance the whole of the rest of the novel.
June 30, 2016
Really wanted to like this book. I was initially hooked and enjoyed the creativity of having it written in reverse chronological order... but unfortunately the story fell flat. Some sections seemed to drag on far too long and I eventually lost interest in the characters. I only finished it because I was determined to.
April 13, 2018
3,5 ☆ Um romance interessante. Não gostei do modo como nos é apresentado, retira muito do suspense que poderia ter tido!
May 31, 2017
A fantastic, faultless book! A real odyssey, this book takes you on a journey of the twisting lives of three generations spanning several countries, with a love story at its heart.
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