Saturday, January 13, 2007

Revenge, by Stephen Fry

Revenge
Stephen Fry

Finally, a good book!

In a contemporary Count of Monte Cristo, Stephen Fry explores what happens when revenge becomes one's entire purpose for living. We follow the super-fortunate Ned Maddstone, who has it all--until, that is, a silly prank takes it all from him. Locked away for twenty years, Maddstone has plenty of time to plan his revenge, which he executes with relentless fury until none of the guilty parties remain standing.

After finishing Revenge days ago, I have postponed my review because I have nothing to say about this book. It was really good--gripping and well-told. Literary allusions (and not just to Dumas) abound. And, although you knew Maddstone would have his revenge, the manner in which it was achieved was never predictable.

Sigh.

My fears have been confirmed. Only shitty books prompt good stuff from me. Have no fear, though; I'm currently reading a bestseller in which every other sentence begins with "for." For she knew that it wouldn't be enough... Ugh.

I'm sure I'll have some better material next time.

In a nutshell: I haven't read Monte Cristo (gasp! Coupled with my lack of knowledge re: Pat Conroy, I truly must be "nigh on to an idiot"), but neither has Fry. I'm still going to say that Revenge is better. Why? Because I want to, and this is MY blog. That makes me win.

Bibliolatry Scale: 5 out of 6 stars

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is so much easier to write negative reviews. There are only so many ways to love the characters, the plot, the imagery, the word use, etc.

Plus, you let go of an inner naga when you hate the book. Pure awesomeness.

Edwin Hesselthwite said...

Hello Biblio:

Just a quick comment - I've come up with a rather cute idea for cross-blog promotion, I was wondering if we could get you on board. I'd rather like your email address if I may, Mlady, so I first give you mine:

edwinhesselthwite@googlemail.com.

Cheers, Mlady, I look forward to your words.

Edwin.

Bibliolatrist said...

Kristin: thanks! it's so much more fun to be nasty than kind.

Edwin: your reply is in the mail.