Thalia Book Club: Tom Rachman's 'The Imperfectionists' Audiobook

" I really enjoyed this book. Good pacing, good sentences, good characters. "

" A good storyline and setting, but I found the writing style to be a bit disjointed at times, resulting in a distraction from the story "

" A very well written and fascinating story about the editors and journalists of an international newspaper in Rome, who all have their individual story. I liked it! "

" I hated this book. I just couldn't get into the characters--didn't care about any of them. And the book kept jumping back and forth between 1957 and 1974 or so. Each chapter told from the viewpoint of yet another chaotic angst ridden staff member of the newspaper. "

" A quick read - sad and funny. "

" It was alright. I've never read anything fact or fiction about the world of journalism so I think that's what intrigued me but I'm not sure I'd really recommend it necessarily. "

" This book is set in Rome and I was hoping to be reminded of the city while I read... but there is not much in the book about the city, and the characters are all so awful to one another! I found it to be depressing. "

" Fine, but a bit bland. Well-written but don't see what all the fuss is about. "

" only some chapters were good, most of them I found a waste of time really... "

" Loved the stories, but often lost my connection to the whole. "

" Improbable love and irrational behavior against a backdrop of mediocre international news reporting. A great refreshing take on the stupid things we all can do for love. "

" I did not like this book. I found it to be too depressing. "

" This was like a long, tedious root canal. "

" Read this for book club. It was slow to start, but the characters were mostly vivid and interesting. I loved to hate them. "

" De imperfekta, I am reading it in swedish. A few of these people really struck a chord and I carry their stories with me for days. And then some I was glad to get rid of as soon as their chapter ended. Lovely book though, recommended! "

" Meh. Readable, but I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it to someone. "

" An adequate book about a pretty pitiful group of people. I'm getting tired of the interconnected short story format. I want a novel, with a handful of characters that develops over the course of a book. "

" Despite by 2 stars, it was a decent book, but it is not a book that I would recommend or say you should read this one. Story about the intertwining lives of people working at an English paper published in Italy. Is almost a bunch of mini stories combined to tell one big one. "

" Pointless vignettes about unlikable people associated with an English language newspaper in Rome. "

" All journalists and journalism students should read this! Deeply empathetic, sometimes funny, mostly sad in a realistic kind of way, always detailed and clever. Highly recommended! "

" The first couple chapters were excellent and propelling towards a notion that this would be a really good book. In the end there wasn't much to it. If the idea for this book had come later in Rachman's career maybe a more mature, complicated storyline would have risen. "

" Amazing writing pulling together a unique and moving story. Beautiful! "

" A well-written view of the people behind an international English-language newspaper. So why only 3 stars? It just didn't grab me, which likely says more about my taste than the quality of the book. I still prefer thrillers. "

" Pretty much every chapter combines playfulness with some sort of heart-breaking revelation. Thoroughly enjoyed, especially the chapters about Burko, Gopal and Cohen. "

" This wasn't a challenging read, just a delightful one. I know I'm interested in a story when I have to flip back between pages to keep my characters in line. I especially enjoy reading stories set in cities that I've visited. It makes me feel like I'm walking through the streets again. "

" favorite of the year. i'm still clinging on to every word, including the interview with the author at the end. very much worth reading and highly recommended. "

" I have been stuck in the middle of this book for quite awhile. I can't bring myself to finish it. I am not entertained or "into" it at all. "

" Very interesting tale on publishing told from several different characters. Well written, always a plus and takes place across Europe - characters come and go, which can be blessing and a curse as the story evolves into a history of a publishing company "

" Reminded me of Olive Kitteridge. The writing and the construction of the book are good, and the stories definitely achieved the goal set forth by the title. But I was frustrated with many of the characters. It's a book I appreciated, but didn't exactly enjoy. "

" Thought @ 1st this was a short story collection.......it is a collection of viewpoints from staff/others connected to an Italian newspaper. Rachman managed to make you understand each character even when the person was not particularly likeable. "

" The writing is wonderful and the structure clever and overall the novel is very readable. The structure of individual vignettes based on different characters creates a situation where no one character leaves any kind of lasting impression. "

" I am enjoying this book. Worth reading. "

" Each chapter reads like a short story about one of the employees at a failing international English language paper. As the paper folds, each of the character's lives also fall apart. So, the book was pretty dreary in a lot of places. It was well written, though, with a few poignant scenes. "

" It took me a few chapters to get into this, but the story of the personalities behind the life and demise of a small American newspaper in Rome really built into a great collage of personalities. "

" Lovely book, rich and often surprising characters. Almost wish each character had their own spin off book, because I was in the delightful state of wanting to learn more, more, more. "

" Didn't get the point of this one. Was there one? A couple of interesting characters though. "

" Reads more like a collection of short stories than a novel, but mostly works. "