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49th out of 577 books
—
650 voters
Landing
by
Emma Donoghue (Goodreads Author)
A delightful, old-fashioned love story with a uniquely twenty-first-century twist, Landing is a romantic comedy that explores the pleasures and sorrows of long-distance relationships--the kind millions of us now maintain mostly by plane, phone, and Internet.
Síle is a stylish citizen of the new Dublin, a veteran flight attendant who's traveled the world. Jude is a twenty-f...more
Síle is a stylish citizen of the new Dublin, a veteran flight attendant who's traveled the world. Jude is a twenty-f...more
Hardcover, 336 pages
Published
May 7th 2007
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
(first published May 1st 2007)
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I should have known that Emma Donoghue couldn't pretty up a write-by-numbers romance. As someone who has been staying in a country where she didn't have a single friend or relative other than her husband for five years, who hasn't been back to visit her country in two years, it was all I could do to stop myself from throwing my kindle across the room. It's 17 fucking hours in a non-stop flight from NYC to Bangalore, and I have to go a good 10 hours by road after that to reach my family. I'm sorr...more
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Landing, by Emma Donoghue. A-minus. Narrated by Laura Hicks. Produced by BBC Audio Books America, and downloaded from audible.com.
Sile (pronounced Sheila) is a 39-year-old flight attendant with her home base in Dublin, Ireland. She is very cosmopolitan. Jude is a 25-year-old archivist living in a small town called Ireland, in Ontario. They meet because Jude is going to England to collect her mother who seems to have become ill while visiting her sister there. Sile is the senior flight attendant...more
Sile (pronounced Sheila) is a 39-year-old flight attendant with her home base in Dublin, Ireland. She is very cosmopolitan. Jude is a 25-year-old archivist living in a small town called Ireland, in Ontario. They meet because Jude is going to England to collect her mother who seems to have become ill while visiting her sister there. Sile is the senior flight attendant...more
This book is a bit melodramatic at times, but it can be a nice read if you're looking for a lesbian romance set in the modern day. The book circles around Canadian museum curator, Jude; and Irish-Indian flight attendant, Síle.
Jude, someone who doesn't own a mobile, doesn't have a personal e-mail address, and has never flown before, is headed to England to see her mother, who had a unknown "medical emergency" while visiting her sister. She first meets Síle when the passenger beside her dies mid-...more
Jude, someone who doesn't own a mobile, doesn't have a personal e-mail address, and has never flown before, is headed to England to see her mother, who had a unknown "medical emergency" while visiting her sister. She first meets Síle when the passenger beside her dies mid-...more
I liked it a lot even though it was all quite new and different for me--young Canadian woman meets older Indian-Irish flight attendant (in most unusual circumstances) and they develop a long-distance relationship. At moments it seemed like the obstacles were enormous and just when you think they've got it settled, ye old government regulations block seemingly any hope. Then simple emotion enters. While fairly early on I felt I knew how it might end, I had no idea how she'd actually get there. An...more
I picked this book up because the cover reminded me of one of my (application) friends profile pic on facebook. (I like not knowing about a book before I read it - don't like being influenced by popular opinion).
I was happy to find the book a pleasant read (I've grabbed some real stinkers by the cover art - and I CANNOT stop once I start - what if there is total redemption in the ending?).
I enjoyed the main characters, but didn't think a whole bunch of the supporting characters (I guess that's...more
I was happy to find the book a pleasant read (I've grabbed some real stinkers by the cover art - and I CANNOT stop once I start - what if there is total redemption in the ending?).
I enjoyed the main characters, but didn't think a whole bunch of the supporting characters (I guess that's...more
Emma Donoghue writes so well that I can fall right into the book and forget about everything going on around me. Jude gets a call from her aunt telling her that Rachel, Jude's mother, isn't okay and Jude needs to fly over to England to get her. (By the way, the descriptions of Jude's aunt are flawlessly funny. In the hands of another author, it would have been overdone and a cliche.) On the way, Jude meets a flight attendant and things go from there.
The supporting characters were almost all awfu...more
The supporting characters were almost all awfu...more
I wrote this a while ago: So... I pick up this book on CD at the library. First of all, it is by the author of "Room" which I enjoyed. Secondly, the jacket blurb is intriguing: "Sile (pronounced Sheila, BTW) is a sophisticated 39 year old Indian-Irish flight attendant living in Dublin, Ireland; Jude is a 25 year old British-Canadian historian from rural Ireland, Ontario who has never flown before. When their paths cross over the Atlantic, their lives are changed in ways they never expected." OK,...more
I read Landing because of how much I enjoyed Emma Donoghue's Room. The book left many gaps, which were easily filled in. The most frustrating part of the novel may have been the fault of the Kindle formatting: I've had issues with typos on my Kindle before, but I've always assumed they were the result of my obsessive "Kindle Daily Deals" purchasing habits. This book, however, I bought at full price. The name of one of the main characters, Sile, was frequently misspelled as "Site," especially whe...more
What I liked about this book was that it was a relatively well-written, enjoyable, easy read -- which seems to be a rarity, and which I seem to need more of as I get older. I liked the story, and I particularly liked the themes related to the character's families (I wish these themes had been further explored, though.) My main critique is actually pretty significant -- I didn't believe in either of the main characters -- they just didn't make sense to me or seem consistent in their personalities...more
I borrowed this book from the library because I had heard an interview with the author on the CBC Radio program 'Authors and Company' and thought she had an interesting approach to writing. That she was originally from Ireland and lived in London, Ontario, where I had lived one summer, was another interesting fact. All this said, I did not appreciate that this book was about romance and commitment between life partners from a lesbian perspective. and, as I've noticed before, when reading about '...more
This was my first book by Emma Donoghue. I found her style interesting and enjoyed the story. There were a few parts of the book that I thought were too melodramatic, but it was a realistic portrayal of a long distance relationship. My issue was with Jude... she seemed a very static character who annoyed me at the very end of the book with her moping, but then I got around to thinking: there's a reason why the book is called "Landing" - the focus is more on the lengths Sile is willing to go to p...more
This book is a sweet, satisfying romance. An excellent addition to the depth of contemporary love stories. Two people meet, fall in love and overcome obstacles to fall into each other.
So why is *this* book so wonderful?
It is a compelling, well-written book where the two who fall in love are women. And that isn't the point of the story. Of course being two women who fall in love is important, but the main elements of the story revolve around their long distance relationship, the difficulties of...more
So why is *this* book so wonderful?
It is a compelling, well-written book where the two who fall in love are women. And that isn't the point of the story. Of course being two women who fall in love is important, but the main elements of the story revolve around their long distance relationship, the difficulties of...more
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3.5 stars. Enjoyable novel telling the story of a trans-continental romance between big-city Irish flight attendant Sile and small-town Canadian museum curator Jude. I had a great time reading this book and couldn't put it down. Emma Donoghue really has an ear for conversation and includes a lot of very funny and realistic banter among friends (something I remember from the first book of hers that I read, Stir-Fry). At the same time, there was something that didn't quite ring true for me in the...more
I was immediately swept away by the "meet-cute" relationship in "Landing". The star and ocean crossed lovers have a series of obstacles to navigate to grow closer and more committed. So many, including age and continent separation, that it seems impossible the two different but deeply in love women will ever go the distance.
But that's the crux isn't it? Defining love and its cost, to be willing to examine yourself to uncover your needs over your wants, is all part of the vulnerably when falling...more
But that's the crux isn't it? Defining love and its cost, to be willing to examine yourself to uncover your needs over your wants, is all part of the vulnerably when falling...more
I picked up this book when I saw it was by the same author who wrote "Room". In "Landing", opposites attract,except in one respect. Sile prefers the city and traveling,Jude loves living in the country and staying put. Sile is almost 39, Jude is 25.Sile didn't mind being a "sugar mommy" for Jude but Jude wanted to fend for herself. Sile is a "Barbie" like stewardess and loves shopping. Jude runs a small museum, is a tomboy with super short hair and rides a motorcycle. The relationship seemed to b...more
While I enjoyed Landing, I have to give it a rather low rating for a Emma Donoghue book. In comparison with Kissing the Witch, which is one of the very best collections I've read of contemporary reworkings of fairy tales, or Slammerkin, which is a powerful, devastating, grim and completely absorbing historical novel, Landing seems like a dashed-off, unpolished bit of fluff. I suppose that after writing a book like Slammerkin that so thoroughly plumbs the depths of despair, writing a lightweight...more
This was a different kind of story, a love story between two women who meet on a plane. One is a younger traveler, greiving over the loss of her mother, the other, a flight attendant. It is unclear to me in the beginning of the book that one was a lesbian. That was confusing. Anyways, their story is one of long distance love, between Canada and Ireland. It was very interesting, it is sold from alternating viewpoints as they try to figure out their feelings for one another. The story drags a bit...more
I really enjoyed the first third of the novel. I was amazed by its tone and humour and basically by the excellent writing of Emma Donoghue, whom I had not read before. It was a real pleasure getting to know the characters and being immersed in their romance.
Once the angst kicked in, the story-telling lost some of its finesse to me. Some parts felt repetitious, and I became a bit impatient for the story to move forward one way or the other (hoping for the happily-ever-after, of course!).
Despite t...more
Once the angst kicked in, the story-telling lost some of its finesse to me. Some parts felt repetitious, and I became a bit impatient for the story to move forward one way or the other (hoping for the happily-ever-after, of course!).
Despite t...more
Donoghue's books make you feel like you're falling into the situation she presents, and by the end, you feel as invested as her characters are in the conflict resolution. She's also a very smart lady (I think she has a PhD in history, or historical literature) so in addition to being fun to read, her books have tons of interesting details, that never feel stuffed into the story - really, they give the story its own sense of importance, of continuity. This novel was modern in its setting. I'm loo...more
Although this is a book about a lesbian relationship, it could apply to any relationship. Jude and Sile (pronounced 'Sheila') meet on a transatlantic flight, and after exchanging letters and e-mails, fall in love. Then comes the difficulty of maintaining a long-distance relationship. The dialogue is sharp and witty, the prose descriptive without being overly so, and the characters believable. It raises such questions as, how far are we willing to go for love? How much would we risk for love? And...more
This is my favorite non-genre book of the year. It's a believable love story--so believable I wondered if it is the author's own story. It reminded me of my own love stories. I loved that I did not know how the story would end, until the end. It's a simple story really--a long distance relationship between two women who are each deeply rooted to the their birthplace, friends and family. This is the first book of this author's since Stir Fry that I've really liked, although I haven't read them al...more
I did want to like this book, I liked both main characters, but it felt like I was just slogging through it, wishing I were already at the end. It was, in all honesty, boring; and I only finished it because I was curious as to how it would end, and I hate abandoning a book once I've gotten half-way through it. Sorry, but I just couldn't recommend this to anyone. Oh, and I struggled like crazy with Sile's name, I couldn't pronounce it as Sheila because it doesn't look like Sheila, so I kept tripp...more
A good-enough vacation read about a long-distance, cross-generational relationship. A bit too "city-mouse, country-mouse" for my taste, the story non-the-less kept me turning pages to find out how it all ends. Which was, unfortunately, the obvious choice which should have been obvious to the characters much earlier one.
In the big picture, I didn't connect with either of the protagonists, they never seemed like real people to me, and so, the book rarely came alive.
That said, it is always refresh...more
In the big picture, I didn't connect with either of the protagonists, they never seemed like real people to me, and so, the book rarely came alive.
That said, it is always refresh...more
I started reading London, ON-based Irish author Emma Donoghue’s 2007 novel Landing at about eleven o’clock at night thinking I would read a chapter or two and then drop off to sleep. At two o’clock in the morning, eyes barely still open but mind racing, I had to force myself to put the book down. It’s not that there’s anything explicitly extraordinary about Landing; in fact, it’s a realist novel that’s quite ordinary and down-to-earth. It’s a book about the kinds of people you know, in situation...more
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The narrative in this book is such a chaotic mess that I was totally frustrated at the beginning, and I was sure then that I wasn't going to give it any more than two stars. But then the two main characters totally grew on me, and I got invested. By about halfway through, I couldn't put it down. It's not a perfect book by any means (and by Emma Donoghue's standards it's quite subpar), but my god, did Jude and Síle get under my skin. Also, bonus points for having a happy ending that's not totally...more
Emma Donoghue is a writer I happened to stumble across a few years ago when I noticed Life Mask on a shelf. I liked the cover, liked the blurb even more, so I went off and bought it. I loved it: it was a type of historical that I hadn't found for years, based on real historical people that read smoothly and easily.
So I was, nevertheless, very happy to finally get my hands on this, and I immediately started to tear through it. Donoghue is a very good writer; she takes you by a firm grip and hauls...more
So I was, nevertheless, very happy to finally get my hands on this, and I immediately started to tear through it. Donoghue is a very good writer; she takes you by a firm grip and hauls...more
I can't believe i have to read this stupid friggin boring book again for the lesbian reading group. also, the goodreads search function is stupid. i type in "landing" and get a bunch of totally unrelated shit. stuff like "macbeth" and "prodigal summer" and "the queen of attolia." stuff that not only has nothing to do with each other, but also has nothing to do with "landing." it's like goodreads' search function was programmed by the same people who wrote Booklog. SCRAMBLE BUTTON! (incidentally,...more
This was a good, quick read. There's nothing amazingly fantastic about it, but it's one of those books that I got really into and didn't want to put down. Sometimes that's all I'm really looking for in a book. The story revolves around Sile, an Irish flight attendant in her 40s and Jude, a Canadian woman 15 years her younger. They meet on a flight and begin a long distance romance. The book is really all about falling in love and figuring out how to work out the details when distance, friends, a...more
Ok...still love Emma Donoghue...wasn't sure about this one, though. It's contemporary, and about two ladies who live a continent away, but are trying to carry on a relationship. It was just never really made that clear WHY they liked each other, given the scarcity of things they seemed to have in common. Like, I specifically remember with my best friend, when I first saw her in 8th grade, spinning in a retarded circle on the gym floor, I thought 'I want to be friends with that girl.' But there w...more
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Emma is the youngest of eight children of Frances and Denis Donoghue. She attended Catholic convent schools in Dublin, apart from one year in New York at the age of ten. In 1990 she earned a first-class honours BA in English and French from University College Dublin, and in 1997 a PhD (on the concept of friendship between men and women in eighteenth-century English fiction) from the University of...more
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“...sentences swallowed and sung back and swallowed all over again. She was made entirely out of words.”
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18 people liked it
“She was with Jude so rarely that when she was, every cell of her body rang with grateful knowledge of it.”
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1 person liked it
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