A chronic liar with few friends meets Professor Trefusis -- academic, broadcaster, polyglot and admirer of Elvis Costello -- and is led through an ...
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Sep 04, 2008
Martine
rated it: 
Stephen Fry ranks among my favourite persons on earth. There's something about his terribly English combination of wit, erudition and a dirty mind that never fails to delight me, and it shines brightly in The Liar, the first of the four novels he has published so far. An irreverent and intelligent take on such British institutions as the public-school novel, the Cambridge novel and the spy novel, it is best appreciated by people who have an affinity for such things, but really, anyone with a tas
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Jun 08, 2008
Bernadette
rated it: 
I didn't like this book. In fact I didn't finish it. I couldn't find the story. I never cared for a single character. I couldn't be bothered with the spy-laden interludes to the main story. However, because I adore Stephen Fry, I'm willing to accept this my failure as a reader rather than Fry's as an author.
Dec 17, 2009
Allison
rated it: 
Love love love Stephen Fry but this one was a little hard to follow. I think I got 90% of the story but there were some very confusing bits. Even so, his writing is wonderful.
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Sep 01, 2008
Trevor
rated it:
I need to start by saying that I think this man is a God, which does seem to be the standard opening play in any discussion of Stephen Fry by at least one person in the room. If, in this case, that person needs to be me, well, so be it. This is his first novel and although there were parts of it that had me making the kind of snorting sounds that could all too easily have had people thinking I was suffering from a terribly debilitating illness – mostly I don’t think it worked. It pains me to
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May 04, 2011
Emily
rated it: 
Loved, loved, loved it! And I can see where others wouldn't.
The dialogue reads like white-water rafting. The story-telling tantalizes and satisfies like the tongue-in-cheek sex scenes (no pun intended?) that work themselves onto every third page. And the hero, Adrian, should be the sort of character I detest, the kind that ruins the whole book for me. But the near perfect collage that are his lies and truths, his desires and apathies, yanks at every sense until "smitten" More...
The dialogue reads like white-water rafting. The story-telling tantalizes and satisfies like the tongue-in-cheek sex scenes (no pun intended?) that work themselves onto every third page. And the hero, Adrian, should be the sort of character I detest, the kind that ruins the whole book for me. But the near perfect collage that are his lies and truths, his desires and apathies, yanks at every sense until "smitten" More...
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Dec 10, 2011
Ensiform
rated it: 
Fry is a very funny comic actor, in Blackadder and the TV version of Bertie & Jeeves, among others. This debut novel concerns a young lad at a prep school, who later (or is he lying?) becomes a street prostitute and then, under the tutelage of his supremely arch and worldly mentor at Cambridge, becomes involved in an international espionage drama, which turns out to be not at all what it seems --- more than once.
Although Fry writes some sharp and funny dialogue, this book never really More...
Although Fry writes some sharp and funny dialogue, this book never really More...
Sep 16, 2011
Jane
rated it:
I wish I could give 3.5 stars on this thing. I suppose it's closer to 4 than 3, but I'd like the option. Honestly, I don't think I could tell you what this book was about. It certainly has a plot, but much of the time I wasn't sure exactly where I was chronologically, geographically, or truth-versus-lie-ally.
I kind of feel like it's not the plot you're supposed to be into here. What I loved were the chuckle out-loud one liners and the loveable characters. I enjoyed Adrian's waff More...
I kind of feel like it's not the plot you're supposed to be into here. What I loved were the chuckle out-loud one liners and the loveable characters. I enjoyed Adrian's waff More...
Feb 03, 2011
Julia
rated it:
After reading the unabridged version, I've decided this is one of my favorite books.
Fry stylistically jumps around in his narrative in order to add the feel of disunion with reality. Adrian, Fry's out-of-touch, flamboyant, attention-seeking miscreant of a protagonist, is one of the most wonderfully amiable and relate-able characters in modern literature, because we don't like to think he is. In one way or another, we're all like Adrian. Estranged, lonely people who just want to be /liked/. More...
Fry stylistically jumps around in his narrative in order to add the feel of disunion with reality. Adrian, Fry's out-of-touch, flamboyant, attention-seeking miscreant of a protagonist, is one of the most wonderfully amiable and relate-able characters in modern literature, because we don't like to think he is. In one way or another, we're all like Adrian. Estranged, lonely people who just want to be /liked/. More...
Jan 23, 2011
Molly
rated it:
Of course I picked this up because I love Stephen Fry's comedy, and I wanted to see how it translated to the printed page. I wouldn't say I was disappointed, but I will say this book was not exactly what I was expecting. I did enjoy the characters, and there were many moments that had me laughing out loud, but the non-sequential narrative and use of some scenes in which characters are not identified by name meant I spent half the book being confused. However, I was entertained enough by the s
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Aug 14, 2010
Natty
rated it:
Okay, I am not sure who to rate this one.
I really LIKE Stephen Fry as a person and actor and I find his writing very amusing and pleasant to read. But this story? I do not know. It seemed like in the middle of the book he just switched the plot - from the story of the main character, Adrien, his childhood and adolescence and what he had been up to, his sexuality and adventures with other guys.. to some criminal espionage story. That was weird, and as I am not a big fan of espionage p More...
I really LIKE Stephen Fry as a person and actor and I find his writing very amusing and pleasant to read. But this story? I do not know. It seemed like in the middle of the book he just switched the plot - from the story of the main character, Adrien, his childhood and adolescence and what he had been up to, his sexuality and adventures with other guys.. to some criminal espionage story. That was weird, and as I am not a big fan of espionage p More...
Nov 03, 2011
Craig
rated it:
Fry's wit and charm is gleefully infectious – and that's good, because the final stretch of the book leaves one searching for an excuse to put it down. Fry's narrative voice cleverly lies to the audience as frequently as its protagonist lies to those around him – but this cleverness sometimes backfires. The espionage interludes attempt to tie the book to its incongruous conclusion, but each time it feels forced, faked, tacked on to make up for a lack of narrative arc. Fry jumps around with ti
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Aug 28, 2009
Rebecca
rated it:
In my reading experience, an author's first novel tends to be a very thinly-veiled fictionalization of their own life, usually including awkward meditations on all the resentments and obsessions of their life up to that point and other things that the outside world was better off not knowing. The parts that do happen to be genuinely created from scratch tend to be campy and flat and usually stick out like a sore thumb from the rest of the novel. The Liar, Stephen Fry's first novel, is no excep
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Oct 09, 2008
Infinite Playlist
rated it:
The first half of the book deals with the protagonist's teenage years which are quite bizarre but rather interesting. After that the story turns into some weird crime-murder-something I didn't quite grasp. Also the change happened so quickly that I wondered whether I had skipped some tracks but I hadn't. So first part good, second part bleh.
Apart from that the use of words is wonderful and original, I had to marvel at quite a few sentences.
Apart from that the use of words is wonderful and original, I had to marvel at quite a few sentences.
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Feb 09, 2012
Anrie
rated it:
Almost gave up at page 116... the first chapter of the novel promises an intelligent international spy thriller. Suffice to say that the book does not deliver on this promise. Instead it meanders through the protagonist's youth, with brief interludes hinting that the spy thriller part of the book might yet arrive. Not quite.
The (auto)biographical part of the book is by turns boring and disturbing. In short bursts, Stephen Fry's extravagant vocabulary and prose style can be entertaini More...
The (auto)biographical part of the book is by turns boring and disturbing. In short bursts, Stephen Fry's extravagant vocabulary and prose style can be entertaini More...
Jul 05, 2011
Valerie
rated it:
Stephen Fry on paper is exactly like Stephen Fry in television and films. The Liar was witty, creative, funny and very "lovie" if you know what I am saying. It's an entertaining book and I enjoyed how there were parts of the book that echoed his early autobiography, Moab is my Washpot (one of my favourite books.)
This book is about a Adrian Healey (a highly eccentric, lying gay man) and follows his life from his younger school days through to his his adult life. It jumps from More...
This book is about a Adrian Healey (a highly eccentric, lying gay man) and follows his life from his younger school days through to his his adult life. It jumps from More...
Jan 14, 2010
Lennongirl
rated it:
Uh, what a disappointment. I had such high hopes for this one, being Stephen Fry and all - but it turned out to be a big bore, at least the second half. And that is the biggest flaw of this novel: It's actually two. The first half was quite okay, describing the main character Adrian's growing up in various school, his sexual encounters with various guys and his various general misbehaving. It's very vulgar, but I don't mind that at all. So yes, that was quite okay and fun, even though I was wait
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Aug 01, 2011
Steve
rated it:
Adrian Healy is a chronic liar. You can always tell when he is lying by the simple fact that his lips are moving. We follow Healy’s exploits through private school where toast and buggery are the order of the day culminating in an underground magazine and expulsion. Following this disgrace he finds himself in Piccadilly turning tricks as a rent boy and being caught by the police with enough Bolivian Marching Powder to see him safely incarcerated at Her Majesty’s pleasure for a couple of years. F
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Apr 24, 2010
Bournemouth_book_club
rated it:
I read this for my book club. I have yet to hear what the rest of the group feel. This was just my personal experience.
I was expecting more. The plot never seemed to develop in a way I would find pleasing or satisfying. It chopped and turned quite a lot - jumping between time periods, between characters and there was so much dialogue it was often hard to understand who was talking and when.
I was expecting the plot to develop and thicken, and then create a more crashing c More...
I was expecting more. The plot never seemed to develop in a way I would find pleasing or satisfying. It chopped and turned quite a lot - jumping between time periods, between characters and there was so much dialogue it was often hard to understand who was talking and when.
I was expecting the plot to develop and thicken, and then create a more crashing c More...
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Jan 26, 2012
Timothy Patrick
rated it:
Part of the fun of realizing that a novel's narrator is unreliable is that the whole structure of the book becomes a puzzle—which are the bits that we ought to believe? Fry (or, I suppose, whoever the book's narrator is meant to be) insists from the beginning, however, that this is not the game that he's playing, claiming that "Not one word of the following is true."
So, what actually is the game? Is Fry aiming for a certain effect, or is this just a lazily tossed-off first More...
So, what actually is the game? Is Fry aiming for a certain effect, or is this just a lazily tossed-off first More...
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Aug 02, 2011
A little difficult to start and somewhat confusing at first with the jumps in time (which aren't highlighted so I didn't even notice until a third of the way through!); however, I persevered and am glad I did. Once you get past the fleshing out and into the real meat of the book, it picks up a lot of momentum and becomes a very enjoyable read. Sublimely written, the book oozes with intellectual wit and is genuinely very humourous and emotional in turns. Not one I'd recommend for fledgling reader
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Sep 28, 2010
Kate
rated it:
The Liar starts out as an entertaining but fairly by the number semi-autobiographical coming of age novel. We follow Adrian, a pathological liar and standard issue upper middle class twit, as he goes through public school and Cambridge (naturally) . The insight into the prurient lives of boarding school boys is more than a little nauseating but the narrative voice is such a joy (and Fry is, frankly, hilarious) that it’s easy enough to get through.
About two thirds of the way through t More...
About two thirds of the way through t More...
Feb 14, 2010
Nicki
rated it:
This is a pretty tough read! I learnt so many things from this book, but it's just a bit as if Fry is trying to cram too much of his intelligence into The Liar as possible.
The first couple of chapters, I was struggling to new extremes. The only reason I stuck with the book was because I am such a big fan of Stephen Fry - and didn't believe it could be possible for him to write a bad book. I think, like a lot of others who have read this book, that it wouldn't have been worth my time More...
The first couple of chapters, I was struggling to new extremes. The only reason I stuck with the book was because I am such a big fan of Stephen Fry - and didn't believe it could be possible for him to write a bad book. I think, like a lot of others who have read this book, that it wouldn't have been worth my time More...
Nov 25, 2011
Xindea
rated it:
This book is great! The setting, the characters, the story - everything! I have especially fallen in love with Adrian Healey himself, who I thinks is quite brilliant the whole book through.
He and I have a lot in common, even though my lies seldom reach his height, and I think that is one reason why I like him so much - I kind of understand him a bit. Then we also have the fact that he doesn't mind screwing boys, which is one great advantage as I'm a hopeless fangirl of (almost) every relat More...
He and I have a lot in common, even though my lies seldom reach his height, and I think that is one reason why I like him so much - I kind of understand him a bit. Then we also have the fact that he doesn't mind screwing boys, which is one great advantage as I'm a hopeless fangirl of (almost) every relat More...
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Nov 13, 2011
KK
rated it:
If you are interested in badly behaved boys who taunt their "masters", if you are interested in mysteries where obvious clues are dropped in which know won't be explained until the end, ie. there's no way of guessing; then you might like this book. It is very British in that it is wry, quick, and places great value on use of language.
One might think I would like this book because I love reading books whose settings are in England, that are well written, and quick paced. However, b More...
One might think I would like this book because I love reading books whose settings are in England, that are well written, and quick paced. However, b More...
Mar 24, 2010
Pippa
rated it:
I so wanted to love this book.
I'm a big Stephen Fry man, and I expected a lot from this book. It delivered a lot, but I have to say that after the first read, it has left me feeling a little disappointed. It's not the easiest book to follow, and the interspersion of third person narrative with the anonymous characters amongst Adrian's narrative seemed, at times, choppy and irritating. It's something I'll definitely re-read though, as I think that second time round, I may understand a More...
I'm a big Stephen Fry man, and I expected a lot from this book. It delivered a lot, but I have to say that after the first read, it has left me feeling a little disappointed. It's not the easiest book to follow, and the interspersion of third person narrative with the anonymous characters amongst Adrian's narrative seemed, at times, choppy and irritating. It's something I'll definitely re-read though, as I think that second time round, I may understand a More...
Feb 26, 2009
Rae
rated it:
Who says you can't read smut and improve your vocabulary at the same time? Although I'm not sure how well "bottomite" will serve at Scrabble...
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Jan 10, 2009
Carah
rated it:
Well, I loved that it was written by Stephen Fry, total genius. Very witty, as you would expect from him. However, there was a whole lot of content that I didn't care for-- mostly because I have absolutely no understanding of the content, and therefore cannot put myself into the protagonist's shoes.
But I did like the characters very much, and there was a great plot twist not unlike a murder mystery story.
All in all I *think* I enjoyed it, but wouldn't put it up on my all-tim More...
But I did like the characters very much, and there was a great plot twist not unlike a murder mystery story.
All in all I *think* I enjoyed it, but wouldn't put it up on my all-tim More...
Dec 26, 2010
Barry
rated it:
This is Stephen Fry's first book and for a first book it is brilliant! Now, not every part of the book is brilliant. The cricket match near the end was dull (like most cricket matches) and the italic "chapters" between each chapter are very confusing until the end where it all comes together like a slightly dysfunctional dream. Adrian Healey is just a brilliant character. I wish I knew someone like him, how fun that would be! Some pieces are a bit graphic e.g. Adrian and the nurse. How
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Aug 02, 2011
I found this annoying. Stephen Fry's linguistic exuberances can be amusing in short bursts on TV but I began to find the written equivalents, regularly repeated, tedious. The flashforward/backs led to confusion and some of the characters who had not been sufficiently developed early on became fairly crucial to the later plot. This caused a lot of flicking back and re-reading. I enjoyed the references to late 70s sporting and political events. The descriptions on life in an English public school
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Feb 18, 2009
Rhonda
rated it:
What. A. Blast. "Public school" boys, their masters, suspicion, confirmation, denial, espionage real and imaginary--The Third Man kind of stuff--all galloping along under the whip of Fry's inexhaustible wit. I know from Moab Is My Washpot that The Liar is heavily autobiographical, which is especially gratifying knowledge in this instance. I'm not sure why. Usually I don't care. But I'm thrilled to know that such springy, sparkly repartee might actually have occurred, not to mention the
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