After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie (Norton Paperback Fiction)
by Jean Rhys
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 136)
Read in July, 2007
A book I've had on my bookshelves for some time but never got around to reading, dusted off while packing for a move. Perhaps not the ideal book or frame of mind to put yourself into as you move across the country and question your life and direction and the bland little corporate apartment you are forced to live in at first - nope, not ideal for that. A sad, desperate book. But I love her sensibility, a down at the heels Edith Wharton. The desperation women felt on having to look after themselv...more
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Rhys strikes staccato emotional chords, creating an odd little symphony of gloom. Everything seems so basic, so bare in her prose, it insists upon the reader's attention. The novel lightly anticipates humanity's mechanization during the interwar period, sketching out themes more grotesquely addressed by writers like Ballard, in his novel Crash. There aren't any heroes here, unless you'd like to make a martyr of the main character. But heroism isn't what Rhys is after anyway, she's out ...more
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Read in January, 1994
This is the first Jean Rhys book I read and I think one of the more practical down to earth one. This is sort of the middle stage between the tragic loss of innocence in VOYAGE IN THE DARK and then washed-up down and outness in GOOD MORNING, MIDNIGHT.
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Read in January, 2008
I read this because head butler recommended it. I enjoyed the spare, impressionistic writing style. But as "Tom" said, it's a little symphony of gloom; I would add: to no purpose. It's painful to watch someone get beaten down for stupid mistakes.
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My brother-in-law gave this to me with a stack of other books for my birthday. This was my favorite. Just read it. You'll love it.
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Heartbreak & despair salvaged by Rhys's intimate voice and pure, unflinching (and deceptively simple) prose. In my top ten.
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Read in January, 2006
how progressive she was for her time! a lovely, dark and melancholic story indeed
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Actually, I enjoyed this one better than Sargasso. Kind of puts you in a mood.
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