On Green Dolphin Street: A Novel

I love the way Faulks writes but my favorite will always be Birdsong. Can't wait to start a new one .

A good read but I found it a little draggy in parts

Not only was this well written and a moving believable story, but the fact that the kindle edition was not rife with editing mistakes has restored my faith. I'm not sure why some kindle books are so awful. I am grateful Faulk's writing is represented as it should be on this kindle edition.

Still to early into the book for me to answer these questions.

I love Sebastian Faulks and Birdsong is on my top ten list. On Green Dolphin Street is a good book but fell short of Faulk's greatness for this reader. The ambiance is there, the heartbreak, and the heady politics of the early 1960s is told in realistic detail, but there was something predictable about the book, and I don't mean about Kennedy winning. It's all a very heartwrenching story, and a good one, but to me, Sebastian just didn't live up to his unique talents. The story he was telling was complex and very interesting from an historical perspective and the descriptions of New York in that time period had me mesmorized! I loved the long walks around NYC and the stopping in at this shop or that bar that take place in this book, they do showcase Faulks extreme talents. The issue I had was just with the story itself and the working in of romance, mystery and the heartache. Parts of it were not that intriquing to me, though nicely written, naturally. It was not the writing that troubled me but, at times, the story itself.I did enjoy this book and read the first half quickly-thinking - Oh, boy, is this going to be good, but as a let down, the second half seemed to drag on a bit, so that I was rather happy to be reading the last pages when I got to them. I will read more from Faulks, and I recommend this book to those who enjoy recent political history (to a certain degree) and the atmosphere of the late 50s, early 60s, when the world had been digging itself out of one war and was headed toward another very different war in an unfamiliar part of the world where even the technique of war varied from past experiences.This is a good biopic of the time period and of the inner workings of a British diplomatic family living in Washington, D.C. There is a great journalistic viewpoint provided by the character, Frank Renzo who is also a WWII veteran. Frank was my favorite character in the story because he displayed some backbone and made the story more realistic for me. With television in its youth, the retelling of certain events shown through the aspect of viewing it on TV in the new era of television was also an interesting aspect of this book especially when it came to the debate between Kennedy and Nixon in Sept. 1960. The election was the closest presidential election since the 1800s and remains one of the tightest races in US history.If Birdsong left you feeling patriotic and believing in something larger than yourself, this book will not leave you the same-which may just expertly portray the ambivalence and uncertainty of the time in which it takes place.

I have read Faulks triology and like this book since it was set in the 1950s when I was little.

What a shocker. This book had to be the most boring book I have read in years. There are so many issues Faulks could have pursued yet he left every one of the hanging. What about alcoholism, diplomacy, politics, adultery, etc. This is certainly not up to par with past endeavor. It is nothing more than a trite love story.

One of the most heartbreaking novels I have read - and I mean that in a good way. His character development was masterful, and I was drawn totally into their separate lives. To call this a romance or a love story is almost an insult to the deeper themes of the novel: familial unity; the role that morality, integrity, and responsibility plays in our lives; the occurrences in our lives that tear us apart mentally and emotionally. Faulks expressed the conflicting emotions of the lovers beautifully - wrenching though they were. And the depiction of the death of Mary's mother and Mary's reaction to it is one of the strongest pieces of writing that I have read. I cannot praise this book highly enough - all I can say is that I think it should be on everyone's reading list

This a love story about Mary and Charlie Van de Linden, who are in the diplomatic service, and Frank Renzo who is a journalist. The action takes place mainly in Washington and New York in the years of the start of the Kennedy era with flashbacks to earlier years. The author has the ability to bring the characters to life and to describe settings as if you were watching a movie. I was thoroughly gripped by the story and I can wholeheartedly recommend it. An absolute delight.

On the surface, this is a straightforward "adulterous affair" novel. Mary is married to Charlie, a career diplomat posted to Washington in 1959, during the Nixon / Kennedy era. Frank, the "other man," is an American newspaper reporter.There is the most peculiar air of distance and detachment about all the characters. Mary knows Charlie is a depressed alcoholic; he becomes aware of her affair; but neither communicates. Frank and Mary act as though they are in the throes of a supreme grand passion but nothing is discussed as to their future - only the next illicit meeting.Underlying the whole is the question of whether the inevitability of death negates life itself, and whether everything is ultimately pointless. These existential, and other, metaphysical issues, are raised by the doomed lust affair between Frank and Mary, and by the death of Mary's mother.The story moves between England, America, France and Russia; but in fact very little happens. There is a constant rather unmasculine obsession with clothes and food, as well as coffee and cigarettes. Frank decides too late that he wants Mary - it seemed to me carefully timing his decision to the split second when he knew that decision would come too late.At least Frank and Charlie had war memories to blame for their hang-ups. Mary had nothing to pin her life on except her children. These proving insufficient she tried to substitute first Charlie then Frank. Unfortunately for her, Frank had a fulfilling, exciting life of his own. In the end it looks as if she would have to resort to babying her psychologically damaged husband for the rest of her life.In its own way this was a compelling read. But I finished it with a feeling of relief not to be either a) aimless or b) middle class.

Purchased this for a friend as I read it years ago and it’s still my favourite SF novel and one of my all time favourite books. It’s essentially a love story with a political emphasis set in early 1960’s America. The historical and political detail are what sets it aside from other love stories, to call it such is to belittle the writing. I found myself completely immersed in the lives of Mary, Charlie and Frank and was so sorry when the book came to an end.

I am stunned by this novel. Love, loss. life and death, brilliant descriptions of Soviet Moscow and 1959 America, this book has everything.Although a little slow to get started I found myself increasing pulled into the world of Mary, Frank, and Charlie. Their emotions are so real you could touch them... and the ending, the ending... I found myself racing the last pages, just hoping, just hopingThis is a brilliant novel, and one of the best I have read in many a long year

I enjoyed this elegantly written book which depicts a whirlwind love affair against a background of jazz in New York. There is a lot of drinking described, also I was curious to note that there were a lot of references to smoking, but then that was the period. Most enjoyable read, I would definitely recommend.