No Crystal Stair
2 journalers for this copy...
Cover slightly different from that pictured.
This is a story that takes place in Montreal during the early 1940s. The role of racism, colour, work and education were the themes that are universal and still, sadly, ring true today, to an extent. I think, in the hands of a great director, and with a healthy bit of editing and a good screenwriter, this would make a very good movie. But if I'm honest, as a read, it was a bit of a slog.
Written and published in 1997, there is a good story here to tell but I felt that the author tried to cram far too much into the telling, and it didn't work. She could have left out half the characters and fleshed out the remaining ones, and the main threads of the narrative, and not lost a thing. There were so many incidental characters who appeared once or twice, then not again and added nothing to the story. And this could be just me, but there were also a few typos and inaccuracies that a good editor should have picked up on, and this always grates on me.
I am from Montreal so it was nice to recognize street names and landmarks but this wasn't enough for me to give this better marks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What you have in your hands is an honest-to-goodness gift, no strings attached. You may keep it forever and ever, pass it on to a friend, or release it into the wild like I did.
If you are new to BookCrossing and find this book and this site, welcome! Enjoy the site, the book and hopefully the BookCrossing community. I hope you'll join BookCrossing (it's free!) and if you do, please consider using any previous reader of this book, or me, jessibud, as the member who referred you. Or you may remain anonymous!
If you are an old hand at BookCrossing, thanks for picking up the book! Either way, I hope you'll journal so all the previous and future readers can track this book's journey. Thanks, and happy Crossing!
This is a story that takes place in Montreal during the early 1940s. The role of racism, colour, work and education were the themes that are universal and still, sadly, ring true today, to an extent. I think, in the hands of a great director, and with a healthy bit of editing and a good screenwriter, this would make a very good movie. But if I'm honest, as a read, it was a bit of a slog.
Written and published in 1997, there is a good story here to tell but I felt that the author tried to cram far too much into the telling, and it didn't work. She could have left out half the characters and fleshed out the remaining ones, and the main threads of the narrative, and not lost a thing. There were so many incidental characters who appeared once or twice, then not again and added nothing to the story. And this could be just me, but there were also a few typos and inaccuracies that a good editor should have picked up on, and this always grates on me.
I am from Montreal so it was nice to recognize street names and landmarks but this wasn't enough for me to give this better marks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What you have in your hands is an honest-to-goodness gift, no strings attached. You may keep it forever and ever, pass it on to a friend, or release it into the wild like I did.
If you are new to BookCrossing and find this book and this site, welcome! Enjoy the site, the book and hopefully the BookCrossing community. I hope you'll join BookCrossing (it's free!) and if you do, please consider using any previous reader of this book, or me, jessibud, as the member who referred you. Or you may remain anonymous!
If you are an old hand at BookCrossing, thanks for picking up the book! Either way, I hope you'll journal so all the previous and future readers can track this book's journey. Thanks, and happy Crossing!
I picked this up again, and after about a page...I knew I had to take reading it seriously, and keep picking it up. Problem is....a new Peter Robinson mystery just arrived in the mail (from "Kenny's Books" in Galway, Ireland). So, I will discipline myself and read "No Crystal Stair" first. Or...hmmmm....maybe I can read that book at the same time as a murder mystery. They are very different books.
