Notes on a Scandal
Registered by Mamooo of -- Somewhere in Hertfordshire , Hertfordshire United Kingdom on 2/23/2005
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
14 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by Mamooo from -- Somewhere in Hertfordshire , Hertfordshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Got from the Book People.
Journal Entry 2 by Mamooo from -- Somewhere in Hertfordshire , Hertfordshire United Kingdom on Thursday, May 19, 2005
I really enjoyed this book. It was very dark in places and i found the relationship between the two main characters very disturbing. I think it was quite cleverly written as it managed to portray the narrator as quite an odd, needy, almost sinister character, despite her telling us the story.I quickly got into the characters and plot and it was quite a pageturner for me. :)
This picture is of the author, Zoe Heller.
Hoping to send off on a ring.
Journal Entry 3 by Mamooo from -- Somewhere in Hertfordshire , Hertfordshire United Kingdom on Saturday, May 21, 2005
This book is now going off on an international ring.
Here are the list of participants:
Pennywhistler (UK)
Mockingbird-05 (UK)
Mellowdaisy (UK)
Wilksie (UK)
Angellica (UK)
TutleyMutley (UK)
Abrokenstarr (UK)
Nice-Cup-Of-Tea (Switzerland)
Veritas9 (Australia, prefers shipping withing Aus)
Mummafour (Australia, can ship Int.)
VZfamily (US, Ship within US only)
SFGirl (US, Ship within US only)
Needmorezoloft (US)
Sarradee (US, can ship Int.)
Jeweleee (UK, can post in UK/Europe)
Katie1980 (UK, may not want to read the book so please PM and ask)
...and back to me.
Here are the list of participants:
Pennywhistler (UK)
Mockingbird-05 (UK)
Mellowdaisy (UK)
Wilksie (UK)
Angellica (UK)
TutleyMutley (UK)
Abrokenstarr (UK)
Nice-Cup-Of-Tea (Switzerland)
Veritas9 (Australia, prefers shipping withing Aus)
Mummafour (Australia, can ship Int.)
VZfamily (US, Ship within US only)
SFGirl (US, Ship within US only)
Needmorezoloft (US)
Sarradee (US, can ship Int.)
Jeweleee (UK, can post in UK/Europe)
Katie1980 (UK, may not want to read the book so please PM and ask)
...and back to me.
Journal Entry 4 by Mamooo from -- Somewhere in Hertfordshire , Hertfordshire United Kingdom on Friday, May 27, 2005
Posting off to first member of the ring, Pennywhistler. Enjoy!
I shall read this a.s.a.p. Thanks for the lovely card!
I have thoroughly enjoyed this book. I thought the story was skilfully told and it bounces along at a fair old pace. I liked the way the author portrays the relationship between the teacher and the pupil. The teacher is shown as being somewhat self-obsessed and self-deluding rather than predatory. I think the most interesting character is actually the narrator. At times I despised her, but I also sympathised with her loneliness. I would agree with Reading-Fairy that this book is definitely a pageturner.
I recieved the book last week, but I've been busy and so slow to register it. Thank you for the card also. :)
I also enjoyed this book and found Barbara to be a really interesting character. I found it disturbing that her feelings towards Sheba would seem to alternate between romance, maternal and malice. However on the whole I thought Barbara's character was easier to associate with than Sheba's. Sheba is so self obsessed and puts so much energy into Connolly and so little into a family who need her, that she's easy to dislike, although she is clearly a normal woman. Barbara is far from normal; she manipulates the friendship and is always committing small inappropriate acts, but the motivation behind her behavior is easy to associate with, loneliness, resentment and rejection.
I received this book this morning in the post and look forward to reading it! I hope to start it at the weekend once I've finished the last few pages of what I'm reading at the moment, along with studying of course!! Have found the previous journal entries intriguing :-)
I really enjoyed this book and found it quite easy to read, it was an interesting story. Barbara is a complex character, and she manipulates the relationship she has with Sheba, she has control. It would be interesting to find out what happened next, with the trial etc!
I will be sending this off to Wilksie as soon as I have an address, enjoy :-)
I will be sending this off to Wilksie as soon as I have an address, enjoy :-)
Journal Entry 11 by wilksie from Sheffield, South Yorkshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Arrived today, thankyou Mellowdaisy. Looking forward to reading it.
Journal Entry 12 by wilksie from Sheffield, South Yorkshire United Kingdom on Thursday, August 4, 2005
I enjoyed this book, it was a page turner for me and very readable. I liked the fact that none of the characters were likeable but I still wanted to know what happened to them. The story was really about the rather silly and deluded Sheba and yet I found out far more about her friend, the narrator. Surely no-one would want this woman as a friend? And yet, I felt more sympathy for her than for Sheba. An interesting book. I shall be looking out for more novels by this author.
Journal Entry 13 by wilksie from Sheffield, South Yorkshire United Kingdom on Thursday, August 4, 2005
I'll post this on to Angellica tomorrow.
Journal Entry 14 by angellica from Worksop, Nottinghamshire United Kingdom on Monday, August 8, 2005
Arrived safely this morning - thank you for letting me participate
Journal Entry 15 by angellica from Worksop, Nottinghamshire United Kingdom on Sunday, October 23, 2005
I finished this last night and I really enjoyed it. I found I was drawn into the story and couldn't wait to read more.
None of the characters struck me as very likeable.
I thought the book was easy and quick to read.
Will be posted to TutleyMutley when I have her address
None of the characters struck me as very likeable.
I thought the book was easy and quick to read.
Will be posted to TutleyMutley when I have her address
Journal Entry 16 by angellica from Worksop, Nottinghamshire United Kingdom on Tuesday, October 25, 2005
I now have TutleyMutleys address so this will be in the post today
Thanks for letting me read this
Thanks for letting me read this
Journal Entry 17 by tutleymutley from Newton Abbot, Devon United Kingdom on Monday, October 31, 2005
Received in post before the weekend - and was showered with glitter!!! Didn't realise there were OTHER glitterlovers. Thanks Angellica. Look forward to reading it.
Journal Entry 18 by tutleymutley from Newton Abbot, Devon United Kingdom on Saturday, January 14, 2006
Very easy to read: there were some descriptive passages that had me chuckling, they were spot on - eg. where Barbara goes to bed and removes the 'decorative pillows' first. Like Wilksie and Angellica, I thought none of the characters were likeable (apart from Ben). And I still have no idea about why Sheba embarked on this affair with Connolly, it was blind and selfish. Sheba was just so vague and pathetic and wishy washy all round. And ultimately, I found the ending unsatisfactory -Barbara was treating Sheba just like she did her b****Y cat! So did Sheba go to prison???
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to read this, LauraKateKnits... I'll be PMing Abrokenstarr right away.
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to read this, LauraKateKnits... I'll be PMing Abrokenstarr right away.
Journal Entry 19 by tutleymutley at Posted to the next participant in Royal Mail, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Released 18 yrs ago (1/17/2006 UTC) at Posted to the next participant in Royal Mail, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
RELEASE NOTES:
Posted today!
Posted today!
Journal Entry 20 by abrokenstarr from Reading, Berkshire United Kingdom on Thursday, January 19, 2006
Picked this up from the depot today - it would have arrived yesterday if it could have done. It is next up on my pile of TBR.
Thanks to all for sharing, posting on, etc.!
Thanks to all for sharing, posting on, etc.!
Wow. I got this on Thursday and I devoured it, mostly this morning. I don't remember the last time I read a book so quickly - apart from E I guess.
I didn't 'get' why Sheba would go for a sixteen year old boy - as a teacher I deal with them every day and couldn't imagine ever forming relationships with them, but I guess it is all telling about Sheba's relationship with herself. I was feeling pretty smug about picking up on Barbara's nature fairly early on in the book (about the time that she explained her falling out with Jen) and was a bit disappointed that Heller made it so explicit at the end. Barbara was certainly the more interesting of the two characters and I felt the relationship faded into the background a little.
It's interesting - in some ways, despite this being a story of their lives, Connolly and Sheba are quite enigmatic because we never truly see the story from their points of view.
Great. Have pm'ed nice-cup-of-tea for her address. Much thanks to LauraKateKnits and TutleyMutley.
Phew, the book before took me five weeks to read!
Updated 4th Feb: Have been very slow with everything recently and despite best intentions I have not yet been able to post this on. I'm really sorry. I'm going to post it on Monday hopefully. I've had a couple of very difficult weeks - ironically being a teacher has been causing it. Hopefully should get to nice-cup-of-tea for the end of next week.
I didn't 'get' why Sheba would go for a sixteen year old boy - as a teacher I deal with them every day and couldn't imagine ever forming relationships with them, but I guess it is all telling about Sheba's relationship with herself. I was feeling pretty smug about picking up on Barbara's nature fairly early on in the book (about the time that she explained her falling out with Jen) and was a bit disappointed that Heller made it so explicit at the end. Barbara was certainly the more interesting of the two characters and I felt the relationship faded into the background a little.
It's interesting - in some ways, despite this being a story of their lives, Connolly and Sheba are quite enigmatic because we never truly see the story from their points of view.
Great. Have pm'ed nice-cup-of-tea for her address. Much thanks to LauraKateKnits and TutleyMutley.
Phew, the book before took me five weeks to read!
Updated 4th Feb: Have been very slow with everything recently and despite best intentions I have not yet been able to post this on. I'm really sorry. I'm going to post it on Monday hopefully. I've had a couple of very difficult weeks - ironically being a teacher has been causing it. Hopefully should get to nice-cup-of-tea for the end of next week.
Received in the post today, thank you abrokenstarr for sending and to laurakateknits for organising! This is the 3rd bookring I've received in as many days, but I'll try and read and send on as soon as possible!
A book I couldn't put down, but which just got darker and more disturbing the more I read! I loved the way that our suspicions of Barbara are developed as the story goes on, and yet I did have lots of sympathy with her. It's hard to see quite what Sheba got out of their relationships, unless it was just having the 'security' of a listener. Great stuff :-) Pming Veritas9 for their address now...
I've emailed Veritas9 3 times in the past weeks with no success, so will now pm Mummafour for her addresss. Laurakateknits, I hope this is ok! i pm-ed you, but perhaps you didn't get it! Cheers, nice-cup-of-tea
Posted today (surface) to South Australia to mummafour!
Thank you nice-cup-of-tea this book arrived this morning!!!!! I will start reading it tonight. Thank you also for the tea!!
I really enjoyed reading this book.I loved the way the story was told and I found the relationship with Barbara and Sheba very interesting. I felt the story ended to soon!
Posted to VZfamily this morning!
Posted to VZfamily this morning!
Received this in yesterday's mail and started it last night. THANK YOU for including me in your bookring!
I guess this books falls under my 50 page rule. I just couldn't get into it at all. For one thing, I guess with the storyline - I was imagining Linda Tripp and Monica Lewinsky - but a Monica mixed with a bit of Mary Kay Letourneau:) For another thing, I was not finding either main character sympathetic or even remotely likable. And that made me simply not care about their story. I'm sure other people will love this book - it's just not for me. Thank you for letting me join your bookring. I've PMd SFGirl and am just waiting for an address to pass it on.
Journal Entry 30 by vzfamily at Postal Release in -- Mail or by hand-rings, RABCK, meetings, Ohio USA on Thursday, April 27, 2006
Released 17 yrs ago (4/27/2006 UTC) at Postal Release in -- Mail or by hand-rings, RABCK, meetings, Ohio USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
RELEASE NOTES:
After not hearing from SFGirl for 2 weeks, Needmorezoloft asked to be skipped. Sending this onto Sarradee today! HAPPY READING!
After not hearing from SFGirl for 2 weeks, Needmorezoloft asked to be skipped. Sending this onto Sarradee today! HAPPY READING!
I totally forgot I signed up for this ring, it was a pleasant surprise when vzfamily pm'ed for my address. Anyway, book arrived safely, I'll get it read as soon as possible and send it on its way. I'll make another journal entry after I'm done reading with my thoughts.
An fun twist on the Lolita archtype. Older female teacher becomes involved with young male student. Narrator is "friend" of the woman, but is also the reason that the story gets out, because of jealousy? None of the characters were particularly likeable, I didn't even feel sorry for the student. I also agree that it ended rather abruptly without any resolution as to what happened to any of the principals.
I'm having trouble finding anyone to take this from me, Jeweleee didn't answer the pm I sent when the book arrived, and doesn't look like she's been active since 2005. Katie1980 appears to have some activity on her shelf, but hasn't answered yet either. I'll give it another week or so, and then I'm going to send it home to LauraKateKnits.
I'm having trouble finding anyone to take this from me, Jeweleee didn't answer the pm I sent when the book arrived, and doesn't look like she's been active since 2005. Katie1980 appears to have some activity on her shelf, but hasn't answered yet either. I'll give it another week or so, and then I'm going to send it home to LauraKateKnits.
Katie1980 pm'ed me that she wants to read the book, so it will be off in the mail on the homeward leg of the journey back to England on Thursday.
Received in the post yesterday - thanks!
EDIT/ UPDATE 8 August 2006: Just a quick note to let you know that I still have the book, and it's still waiting to be read. The last bookring seemed to take *forever* to read, but I've now passed it on, and have started the next book. hopefully that will be a quick read and then it will be on to this one. I hope to start reading this in the next week. Sorry about the delay!
EDIT/ UPDATE 8 August 2006: Just a quick note to let you know that I still have the book, and it's still waiting to be read. The last bookring seemed to take *forever* to read, but I've now passed it on, and have started the next book. hopefully that will be a quick read and then it will be on to this one. I hope to start reading this in the next week. Sorry about the delay!
I enjoyed this book, though it was a little odd. The narrator seems to be a very controlling/ bossy character, and I think that the only reason that Sheba gravitated towards her was because you get the impression she needs to be looked after e.g. the relationship with the older man. As she's grown older, though, she seems to have wanted more control - the affair with the teenager - but this seems to have backfired somewhat as she became more clingy and desperate the more the boy withdrew. But maybe much of this is concluded from what Barbara wrote, and the whole account is imbibed with her viewpoint. I wonder if she's a very bitter person - she seems to be from the writings. But obviously she's only a character in a novelist's head, and so isn't bitter, happy or anything else! *lol* That's so easy to forget with a good book.
I think this was a good book - not least because it was a nice easy read (though some of the content was not too great to think about) and I wanted to pick it up again to find out what came next. I finished it in bed yesterday morning, and stayed in bed specifically to finish the book!
I'll pop this in the post to come home at the weekend when I can get to the post office.
I think this was a good book - not least because it was a nice easy read (though some of the content was not too great to think about) and I wanted to pick it up again to find out what came next. I finished it in bed yesterday morning, and stayed in bed specifically to finish the book!
I'll pop this in the post to come home at the weekend when I can get to the post office.
Journal Entry 36 by Mamooo from -- Somewhere in Hertfordshire , Hertfordshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, September 27, 2006
This book has now arrived safely back with me. It came in the post last week but i've been so busy i haven't had time to journal it til now.
Thanks Katie for the lovely letter that came with it!
It was really nice to hear what you all thought of it as it travelled around. I now hope to keep it moving a tiny bit longer in Bookcrossing circles by taking it to the Herts Bookcrossing meet up tomorrow night.
Thanks Katie for the lovely letter that came with it!
It was really nice to hear what you all thought of it as it travelled around. I now hope to keep it moving a tiny bit longer in Bookcrossing circles by taking it to the Herts Bookcrossing meet up tomorrow night.
Journal Entry 37 by Mamooo at Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage, Hertfordshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Released 17 yrs ago (9/28/2006 UTC) at Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage, Hertfordshire United Kingdom
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
RELEASE NOTES:
Taking this along to the Herts Bookcrossing Meet up. Books which aren't claimed by other BXers will be released at the venue.
Taking this along to the Herts Bookcrossing Meet up. Books which aren't claimed by other BXers will be released at the venue.
Journal Entry 38 by Kenza78 from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire United Kingdom on Saturday, September 30, 2006
Wow, I can see the appeal of bookrings! Picked up at the Stevenage meet, which was a few hours of free-book-heaven, like a library spread over the floors and tables...
Anyway, I'm a little worried that wild-releasing this will end the chain of journal entries, so I'll have to wait for a meet-up to release it!
It's another book I've thought about buying, so I'm looking forward to reading it; thanks for bringing it along!
Anyway, I'm a little worried that wild-releasing this will end the chain of journal entries, so I'll have to wait for a meet-up to release it!
It's another book I've thought about buying, so I'm looking forward to reading it; thanks for bringing it along!
Journal Entry 39 by Kenza78 from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire United Kingdom on Saturday, February 10, 2007
Since there's now a film of this, I thought it was about time I wrote it up and released it! It's been a while since I read it - I think it was within a couple of days of the meet-up - so I'll keep this short.
It's a nice easy read; the characters are nicely conveyed through physical descriptions and minor details. I'm not sure about character development, and it might be a property of the narrator, but the male characters are relatively poorly defined. It's nicely sinister, but the retrospective view used to create the tension - how did it come to this? - makes the "hidden" plot clearly visible from the start. Now, all I've got to do is find out if "Notes on a Scandal" is showing at the local cinema - having passed through so many hands, it deserves to be found by an interested party!
Um, and a few of the pages are starting to come loose - handle with care, if you find it!
It's a nice easy read; the characters are nicely conveyed through physical descriptions and minor details. I'm not sure about character development, and it might be a property of the narrator, but the male characters are relatively poorly defined. It's nicely sinister, but the retrospective view used to create the tension - how did it come to this? - makes the "hidden" plot clearly visible from the start. Now, all I've got to do is find out if "Notes on a Scandal" is showing at the local cinema - having passed through so many hands, it deserves to be found by an interested party!
Um, and a few of the pages are starting to come loose - handle with care, if you find it!
Journal Entry 40 by Kenza78 at Cineworld cinema - Outside in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire United Kingdom on Sunday, February 11, 2007
Released 17 yrs ago (2/11/2007 UTC) at Cineworld cinema - Outside in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire United Kingdom
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
RELEASE NOTES:
Left under the poster advertising "Notes on a Scandal". Near the bike stands, should the poster be removed before anyone gets there...
Left under the poster advertising "Notes on a Scandal". Near the bike stands, should the poster be removed before anyone gets there...
