Hangover Square (Abridged) Audiobook

" If you become giddy with excitement waiting for the next issue of The New Yorker to be published so you can dive into the prose, you'll like this book. To be sure, Hamilton knew what the hell he was doing as a writer. There aren't a lot of laughs here; all the characters are tragic and, in some cases, so beyond pathetic it was hard for me to care. In the end, however, the trudge through was worth it. "

" Well done but depressing! "

" One of my all time favourites this, a book you find yourself shouting at in public. It's characters truth is perfect. A perfect and relatable decent into madness. Wonderful "

" A somewhat strange book but one well worth reading. I enjoyed the setting of London just before the outbreak of WW2, the booze, the edgy psychosis. "

" The writing is quite good, but it's not the kind that compensates for any lack in the story. I didn't like the story much, so at times this was a bit of a chore. It's about a man who is in love with a woman he knows is worthless and mean (Hamilton helpfully clarifies with authorly authority that she has no real consciousness and is a fish, not a human being) and has no affection for him, but hangs around her all the time anyway. As well as being generally hopeless, he is suffering from a mental illness which involves "dead" moods in which he plans killing this woman. Because these moods are intermittent and he has no memory of them when in his right mind, it takes the length of the book for what we know is going to happen to happen. It all seemed a bit like we were supposed to wish Netta dead for not appreciating George. Petty and misogynistic, in other words. (Indeed, looking at other reviews, it seems many readers did want the nice man to kill the nasty woman.) And the descriptions of George's dead moods were repetitive. But there were some scenes that livened the book up, and it's always interesting to see that other ages could be just as seedy. "

" Another book by Hamilton that starts slow but soon becomes compulsive page-tuning. Like 'The Slaves of Solitude' this is another tale of a downtrodden protagonist and those who victimise. "

" Fantastic. This is a book that completely draws you in to its atmosphere of seedy, dark, smoky pre-war London. Much like the inebriated characters I didn't always feel 100% convinced by the plot but was content to while away my time in the language and feeling of the book. Hearty recommendation. "

" This book made me feel like I needed a shower...groan, eyeroll and ugh. "

" Dark and twisted from the outset. I felt drenched in london fog and booze through-out "

" Totally formative for me, never read anything like it, the drab dreariness of repeating cycles, the pathos, London and Brighton, and the cat playing piano. "

" Now this is an awesome book. Thought very hard about giving this five stars. Now if you like grim schizo paranoia then read this book. In fact, just read this book, you will love George Harvey Bone. Click. "

" Damn, i've known a few boozy losers like this. "

" Despite George's loneliness, desperation and humiliation, his directionless, pointless existence and the agony of his unrequited love for Netta, I was still jealous of him because he sits in the pub all day drinking. "

" nerve-wracking, gripping and sad tale of a sad-faced man in the run-down bars of earl's court, london, just before the outbreak of wwii. he's hung up on some trollop, and a mysterious darkness threatens to consume. "

" Loved it. Even love how it ends. "

" While I don't think I could read anything else written by Hamilton, I thought it a very good novel. "

" I would have gone to the farm with him. "

" This book contains one of the most realistic and sad portrayals of depression I've read. It also has a playful edge to it, particularly when dealing with the protagonist's schizophrenia. Highly recommended. "

" A grim, depressing, brilliantly written little novel. "

" Second book I've read in a row which did the 'fictional plot climax coincides with the historical outbreak of war' thing. "

" Hmmmm......well. Not what I expected. I read a good review of this in The Lady so borrowed it from the Library. Its very repetitive, predictable and frustrating. I didn't like any of the characters and had no sympathy for George. "

" Damn, i've known a few boozy losers like this. "

" I wasn't sure what to expect from this; the title made me think it was an amiable social novel about hard-drinking slackers, but it was much harder-edged, disturbing and pathetic in a completely inevitable and circular way. "