A Year of Marvellous Ways: The Richard and Judy Bestseller

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And I asked her, 'Why is beauty important?' And she said, which I pretty much have written in the book, 'Because it does something to us, on a very, very deep level'. You know, on a cellular level, it does something to the brain.

Any novels by Toni Morrison, she is the master … Song of Solomon is the one I would choose, mainly because of the way she writes about men … Incredible."stars. I'm having a really hard time rating this book. I listened to the audio book, and as always Sarah Winman's narration is superb, but for some reason I struggled focusing on the story. I listened to Still Life by the same author last year, and had no such issues. Although the writing is as beautiful, there is fewer characters, less dialogue and a slower, more meandering pace in A Year of Marvellous Ways. Because of this I think I should rather have read this dreamlike story about love, loss and second chances, as I would this would have allowed me a deeper connection with the characters and the beautiful imagery. Ridicule, misunderstanding – Marvellous is by no means a conventional woman of thought or deed and has consequently suffered for it – lost love, missed opportunities, a fractured family whose gaps have been filled by fancy and imagination, all could be considered to have blighted her life. Got this as a proof. And I can't decide if I liked it. After getting used to the style ( no "talking" marks anywhere in the book - which totally annoyed me) I wanted to see where everything tied in. It took about 3 chapters to adjust to the style and to be honest I found it hard work. Maybe people who rave on about Style and Lyrical Text and all that jazz will love it. Maybe it is some sort of experimental form. Personally I found it distracting and irritating.

Sarah Winman is an accomplished writer. There’s no doubt about that. However, this book is proof that technical skill doesn’t necessarily translate into a good read, in the same way that clumsy writing isn’t always a hindrance to a heart-pounding story (*coughs* Twilight *coughs*) Marvellous Ways is a kind, caring but strong and wise woman. A healer in many ways, but to a degree she is also naive, sheltered from the world, but that makes her even more appealing as a character and vulnerable as a person. When hers and Drake's paths cross, a magical journey begins, a journey of self-discovery, forgiveness and a beautiful friendship starts. What is so appealing about A Year of Marvellous Ways in that in its pursuit of magical joy and hope, again expressed in ways so lyrical your heart will dance as you read, it doesn’t pretend that everything will be all right as some kind of foregone conclusion. A Year of Marvellous Ways is a strange yet utterly beautiful book. It was like reading someone’s dream. There is a mystical element, or magical realism sprinkled throughout and Winman’s prose is simply stunning. This poetry lends itself to this dreamlike quality to the book. It is absolutely incredible how she can string common, well-used and everyday words into great moments of beauty. At first, I thought this book was a bit slow but as I got further into the book, I realised that the pace was one of its charms. The writing of the book is so poetic and full of metaphors. I liked the format of the book too. Although it was a little strange that there were no quotation marks in the book, I ended up really liking that the dialogue was integrated into the sentences. Also, it was done so masterfully that it wasn't hard to read. I also really liked the magical realism.

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If you look at [Still Life characters] Ulysses, Massimo, Cressy and Pete … they're all imbued with this feminine energy of care, of how they talk to each other, how they talk to women." In the ‘undulating nocturnal silence’ Marvellous smiles as she keeps company with the moon, sitting on the ‘dirt grass moor and sand, a whole history of the Peninsula laid down one on top of the other, like fossils, like prayers’ . She tells stories…oh how she tells stories of wonderment. If aloneness is inevitable, I want to believe that aloneness is what I have desired because it is happiness itself." I loved this story, these characters, the way in which this story was told with so much charm, and this magical view of love and life and the world. And just to finish: who was your favourite author as a child, and who is your favourite author today?

live Police say some fires are being deliberately lit, as emergency services minister condemns 'absolute nongs' I'm afraid I found this book pretty hard going. I wanted to like it, but in the end I didn't find it nearly as profound or beautiful as it thinks it is. Summary: A lyrical story of an elderly woman waiting for something and the something that eventually arrives. It's a wonderful follow up to When God Was A Rabbit; poignant, ultimately uplifting with a real heart-warming ending.Waiting is what 89-year old Marvellous spends the year 1947 doing, in an isolated Cornish hamlet, although she isn’t sure what she is waiting for. This might seem like a less-than-engaging narrative device, but Sarah Winman creates gripping suspense while unfolding Marvellous’s memories, from lonely nights spent “willing her life to change” to the time “Whatshisname” was lured in her direction by a Louis Armstrong song playing on the wireless. Paths cross in unexpected ways in this pacey plot. An unlikely friendship develops at the core of the compelling tale when Marvellous meets a troubled young soldier, Drake. Storytelling rejuvenates Drake: as Marvellous shares stories of her life resonating with the transcendent power of love, Drake learns how to marvel at life again, seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary. “Everyone had a limit,” writes Winman, engrossingly showing characters pushed past their breaking point. The novel’s surprising denouement is also well worth the wait. . I found this a lot, with a great deal of rather mannered Fine Writing but a content which shifts, disperses and often vanishes as you look at it. It isn't helped by Marvellous telling her stories at length in a voice isn't that of a woman born in 1858 and speaking in 1947, but the author's own, modern, Fine Writing, narrative voice, which threw me further out of the story.