The Finishing School Audiobook

" A book about students at a finishing school full of jealousy and affairs. It was ok. "

" Anemic little book. I felt at first like whole paragraphs were missing and as it progressed like whole chapters were missing. Some snappy writing here and there with interesting observations but little else. No real sense of time and place. Could be 1960 could be 2005 except for allusions to emails. Actually the whole thing is like an allusion to a real novel. "

" Interesting quick read-I like her characters. "

" I know I read this book all wrong. You should read it one or two sittings and you should be lucid while reading it. It took me all of 3 weeks, although it is very short, and I read it just before I nodded off to sleep each night. Sooooooo...anything I could say about it would not be very enlightening. I sort of feel as if I skimmed along the surface of it and that its message never penetrated the fog of my exhausted brain. "

" Crazy cast of characters and an implausible plot yet somehow believable. Plan to read more Muriel Spark. "

" Little weight to this little book. "

" What an odd, disjointed sort of novel. Written I think when Muriel Spark was in her 80s, it feels a lot like notes taken for a novel, which is in fact what one character does in the story. There are lots of little tangents and peripheral characters, all of which is interesting but kind of superficial. I did like it though. "

" I found this book Funny and thought provoking but I'm not sure I 'got it' entirely "

" Nice, short read. "

" breezy and swift, though aside from its ascerbic humor it had lacked gravity. The Finishing School was a Murdochian sketch pushed forward slightly into realization. The time twisted totems of education and affection pull up short of Don't Stand So Close To Me. "

" I love Muriel Spark's work because it is quite wicked underneath that English charm. "

" A little novella about jealousy. "

" I love Spark but disliked this book. Started out with some promise--students living in France at a sketchy boarding school--but fell short of what I had hoped. Ridiculous and dull ending. "

" Muriel Spark wows me every time. Hooray for writers like her! The story is masterful, and oh, so subtle. If no one's planning a movie for this one yet, they definitely should. "

" because the book was so short, i actually finished it but it was very very bad. i would not recommend this book to anyone. "

" I'm the kind of person that can go through life without having to write a novel. "

" Eh, I read this on the way to and from "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." I recommend "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" and I recommend rereading "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" for the umpteenth time. This, not so much. "

" so english "

" An interesting exploration of envy and obsession, but lacks the finesse of some of Muriel Spark's other works, such as the Prime of Miss Jean Brodie or the Girls of Slender Means. "

" tried to listen to in Audio format....really difficult to get into and very hard to understand accent....may try to read hard copy instead and see if any good "

" A lovely morsel from one of my favourite authors...Spark creates such rich characters - love the juxtaposition of angst/ennui! I've read this one at least twice a year since it was published. "

" For me, this was reminiscent of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie only in that it took place at a school. In comparison, The Finishing School's characters are paper-thin, and although I occasionally found it amusing, I never found it absorbing. "

" great story that can be read in a day. m.sparks was catholic, liked proust, and loved tuscany:) "

" A quick read with much tension. Worth reading, but this book will not stick to me like a 5 star book. "

" Bland, short book set in a roving finishing school. This was a sort of send-up of writers. Spark made fun of the characters in a very understated way. "

" the characters were so one dimentional that even the author felt the need to reintroduce them everytime they were spoken about! Add that to the flat plot and well...Im glad it was a library book. "

" This was pretty awful but as usual I finished it just so that I could be sure. I felt like I was a publisher or a literary agent reading a really crappy submission from someone who just wanted very badly to finish writing a damn novel. "

" breezy and swift, though aside form its ascerbic humor it had lacked gravity. "

" A little novella about jealousy. "

" Bland, short book set in a roving finishing school. This was a sort of send-up of writers. Spark made fun of the characters in a very understated way. "

" A quick read with much tension. Worth reading, but this book will not stick to me like a 5 star book. "

" A little bit boring, only the scenes about the lessons in comme il faut are funny. I prefer the biographies by Spark. "

" tried to listen to in Audio format....really difficult to get into and very hard to understand accent....may try to read hard copy instead and see if any good "