Waterland Audiobook

" From the very first page I was in awe of the beautiful writing of this book. A deeply moving novel; complicated characters and a particular inciteful view of history. Swift's writing just shines and makes you want to ponder his beautiful sentences. "

" The story is interesting but I just couldn't get in to Swift's style of writing. "

" Boring - too much detail about the fens! Just tell the story. Yes I know it's meant to be a classic. "

" So, I'm interested in stories about people who live near water...(don't ask; I have my theories). Hence, I read Waterland. It is not a light read. It is dark, damp (very puny of me, I know, but the word DOES accurately describe the tone of the novel), disturbing, and often downright disgusting, but it is very interesting. There is a light at the end of the tunnel-redemption of sorts. It might not be worth it to many, but it was to me. Although I thought this book was amazing in many respects--most notably for the writing style and depth of ideas conveyed--I would not necessarily recommend it. If one had a previous or specific interest in the book though, I would recommend it wholeheartedly. But I wouldn't just pick it up for leisure. It is for this reason that I only rated the book 3 stars instead of 4. "

" It's a good book, but I struggle to say I enjoyed it. It is somewhat depressing because it is realistic in how it shows how normal people get through their lives - the good parts and the bad. Though currently I can't remember too many "good parts" in this story. "

" read this when it came out and it has attractedmuch praise, but I got more than a little bored after a bit. "

" This book is just stunning. "

" I read this book for school. I remember it having funny parts in it. Who is potato head and is he really destined to save the town? "

" Waterland is narrated by a history professor who can't quite hold his classes or his life together. That pretty much explains the book's style, too. And why the professor who assigned the book to me ten years ago loved it. I gave it another shot last week and it WAS much better than I remembered, but not good enough for me to keep my copy around anymore. When a couple of metaphors take over a big enough portion of the book that I get bored, that's saying something... I normally love devices like Swift used, but I just think he really overused them in this case. I just don't care about eels that much, regardless of how much they represent the setting and a particular character. "

" Loved this book about eels and everything..I lived in East Anglia at the time...you could feel the damp! "

" I did not finish. I found it boring and hard to read. I do plan to give it another try at some point. "

" Hey Chris! Read this Booker Prize winner! Jumping time periods, underage sex and the perfect draught beer all conspire to make a knock-out book. "

" OMG!!!!! This book is terribly disgusting! We had to read it for Honors History and it was atrocious. I hated every second of it. Especially because it was just a waste of time and we didn't discuss it in class. This book is so boring! "

" interesting narrative structure although a bit too much historical side story-telling... but very interesting to read! "

" After getting off to a slow start, I ended up loving this novel by the end. The individual stories were patched together seamlessly, and I liked that everything seemed to connect and flow, despite the narrative being told in a non-chronological manner. "

" just started this.. need to read it for brit. lit.. not sure if i like it but face it... its a school book.. but oh well "

" Having a real problem with fiction at the moment. In this case it may be because this is a reread and I'm not enjoying it as much as I did originally. "

" Excellent elements, but hard to get into. Very descriptive. "

" One of the books I quote the most. One of my favorites, "Pity the school teachers. Caught between their conscience and the bleak horizon." "

" A fantastic read, fascinating and absorbing, full of historical detail and of Fenland ways. I loved it, particularly the way the book cuts between different historical periods, highlighting those common 'threads'. "

" Another of my all time favorites. It's twisty, and British, and has a lot of threads to pull together and flashes back and forth from past, to more recent past, to present. But it's just brilliant. "

" A story as deep as the sea which people fight to reclaim land. A picturesque familystory over generations. About growing up, the hardships of live and even about eels. "