Transcription in Around the Year in 52 Books

Nov 21, 2018 Kelley J rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction

I struggled with how I wanted to rate this book and went back and forth between a 4 and 5. I’m landing on 4.5 and to explain why would probably spoil something about the book so I can’t exactly tell you. Overall, I really liked this book. I also really disliked this book. And felt indifferent. And bored. And excited. And invested. And confused. And dammit, by the time all was said and done, I loved it….until I didn’t anymore. Reading this book reminds me of the fable about boiling a frog. I jump I struggled with how I wanted to rate this book and went back and forth between a 4 and 5. I’m landing on 4.5 and to explain why would probably spoil something about the book so I can’t exactly tell you. Overall, I really liked this book. I also really disliked this book. And felt indifferent. And bored. And excited. And invested. And confused. And dammit, by the time all was said and done, I loved it….until I didn’t anymore. Reading this book reminds me of the fable about boiling a frog. I jumped into a lukewarm bath of story and characters that slowly heated up without me noticing to boiling pot of fire water and never realized I was being consumed by it until it ended.

Some reviewers have commented on the slowness or lack of action in what is essentially a book about espionage but these are two qualities I actually really enjoyed and appreciated about this novel. I imagine this aspect of the spy game is a more accurate depiction than an action-packed thriller that never rests. It seems realistic that spy work can be boring and mundane, especially when the subjects you are spying on are common, ordinary citizens with differing ideologies. I realize this statement is over-simplifying and underestimating the threat of fascism that loomed in many of the allied countries during WWII, but I mean to point out that such threats are created and delivered under mundane and ordinary circumstances. Spreading dissent is as simple as having a tea party with discussion. As a reader, I shouldn’t expect chases, shootouts, and nail-biting exchanges. That’s not to say this book is lacking in those things that make other spy novels so entertaining. There are real threats and dangers (and even shifty exchanges on park benches); they’re just more a surprise, than expectation. Again, I believe this is how it would feel for someone watching a group of people for long stretches of time. You get excited when the smallest thing out of the ordinary happens.

There were a couple of things that I struggled with while reading this book but once I had finished the novel I realized they were probably intended to create an atmosphere that helps the reader better understand its characters. The first was the time jumps. The mechanic and telling this story for multiple time periods worked really well in terms of building suspense and leading us down a path of revelation. Unfortunately, I had a difficult time keeping up with the jumps at times which took me out of the story as I tried to adjust. I finally got the hang of it about two-thirds of the way through but I wonder how much I missed trying to right my brain with each transition. By the end, I actually liked the confusion this caused for me as a reader. In the book, Juliette often talks about the difficulty in switching personas and how her undercover identity felt real or would creep into her real life from time to time. Remembering who she was was sometimes a challenge. Remember when I was (as a reader) probably felt similar. I don’t know if this is what Atkinson intended, but I applaud her for it nonetheless.

My other struggle was with Juliette herself. At first I simply didn’t understand how in the hell she was recruited to MI5 to begin with. She seemed to have just stumbled into it, never really realizing what was happening to her or why she was there. Then when she was “promoted” from typist to actual spy, I found myself scratching my head even more. Later in the book, this ends up getting explained and that revelation finally made me sympathize with her. Up until that point, her flippancy often made it difficult to connect with her. I felt this way about all of the characters really, that lack of connection, but I had to keep reminding myself that they were spies so I expect we were never really meant to know them. This works great given the subject matter but makes it difficult to become emotionally invested. Again, all of this creates an overall experience for the reader but it’s not exactly an enjoyable one. Realistic and appreciated, but not enjoyable. If I’m being honest though, I don’t think I would have liked the novel as much if it had been. So maybe it was enjoyable? So many questions….

And that’s this novel in a nutshell. So many questions. So many good questions. So many frustrating answers. I can’t call this book a wild ride because it’s not wild at all, but by the end, you certainly feel like you’ve been on a kind of roller coaster you weren’t sure you got on in the first place.

Just….read it. You’ll see what I mean. ...more

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