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Belgravia
FROM THE CREATOR OF DOWNTON ABBEY The New York Times bestselling novel about scandalous secrets and star-crossed lovers On the evening of 15 June 1815, the great and the good of British society have gathered in Brussels at what is to become one of the most tragic parties in history - the Duchess of Richmond's ball. For this is the eve of the Battle of Waterloo, and many of the handsome young men attending the ball will find themselves, the very next day, on the battlefield.
For Sophia Trenchard, the young and beautiful daughter of Wellington's chief supplier, this night will change everything. But it is only twenty-five years later, when the upwardly mobile Trenchards move into the fashionable new area of Belgravia, that the true repercussions of that moment will be felt. For in this new world, where the aristocracy rub shoulders with the emerging nouveau riche, there are those who would prefer the secrets of the past to remain buried...
For Sophia Trenchard, the young and beautiful daughter of Wellington's chief supplier, this night will change everything. But it is only twenty-five years later, when the upwardly mobile Trenchards move into the fashionable new area of Belgravia, that the true repercussions of that moment will be felt. For in this new world, where the aristocracy rub shoulders with the emerging nouveau riche, there are those who would prefer the secrets of the past to remain buried...
417 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 30, 2016
About the author
Julian Fellowes
73 books1,460 followersJulian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes (Baron Fellowes of West Stafford), DL. English actor, novelist, screenwriter, and director.
Fellowes is the youngest son of Peregrine Fellowes (a diplomat and Arabist who campaigned to have Haile Selassie restored to his throne during World War II). Julian inherited the title of Lord of the Manor of Tattershall from his father, making him the fourth Fellowes to hold it. He was educated at Ampleforth College, Magdalene College, Cambridge, and at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.
He played the part of Lord Kilwillie in the television series 'Monarch of the Glen.' Other notable acting roles included the part of Claud Seabrook in the acclaimed 1996 BBC drama serial 'Our Friends in the North.' He has twice notably portrayed George IV as the Prince Regent in the 1982 television version of 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' and the 1996 adaptation of Bernard Cornwell's novel 'Sharpe's Regiment.'
He wrote the screenplay for 'Gosford Park,' directed by Robert Altman, for which he won an Oscar for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen in 2002.
His novel 'Snobs' was published in 2004. It focused on the social nuances of the upper class. Fellowes has described himself as coming from the "rock bottom end of the top", and drew on his knowledge of Society to paint a detailed portrait of the behaviour and snobbery of the upper class. 'Snobs' was a Sunday Times Best Seller and has now been published in many countries.
In the 1970s he also wrote romantic novels, using the names Rebecca Greville and Alexander Morant.
He launched a new series on BBC One in 2004, 'Julian Fellowes Investigates: A Most Mysterious Murder,' which he wrote and also introduced on screen.
He also penned the script to the current West End musical 'Mary Poppins,' produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Disney, which opened on Broadway in December 2006.
In late 2005 Fellowes made his directorial debut with the film 'Separate Lies.'
He is the presenter of 'Never Mind the Full Stops,' a panel-based gameshow transmitted on BBC Four from mid-2006.
On 28 April 1990, he married Emma Joy Kitchener (a Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Michael of Kent, and great-great-niece of the 1st Earl Kitchener) and assumed the name Kitchener-Fellowes by deed enrolled with the College of Arms in 1998.
{Wikipedia}
Fellowes is the youngest son of Peregrine Fellowes (a diplomat and Arabist who campaigned to have Haile Selassie restored to his throne during World War II). Julian inherited the title of Lord of the Manor of Tattershall from his father, making him the fourth Fellowes to hold it. He was educated at Ampleforth College, Magdalene College, Cambridge, and at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.
He played the part of Lord Kilwillie in the television series 'Monarch of the Glen.' Other notable acting roles included the part of Claud Seabrook in the acclaimed 1996 BBC drama serial 'Our Friends in the North.' He has twice notably portrayed George IV as the Prince Regent in the 1982 television version of 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' and the 1996 adaptation of Bernard Cornwell's novel 'Sharpe's Regiment.'
He wrote the screenplay for 'Gosford Park,' directed by Robert Altman, for which he won an Oscar for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen in 2002.
His novel 'Snobs' was published in 2004. It focused on the social nuances of the upper class. Fellowes has described himself as coming from the "rock bottom end of the top", and drew on his knowledge of Society to paint a detailed portrait of the behaviour and snobbery of the upper class. 'Snobs' was a Sunday Times Best Seller and has now been published in many countries.
In the 1970s he also wrote romantic novels, using the names Rebecca Greville and Alexander Morant.
He launched a new series on BBC One in 2004, 'Julian Fellowes Investigates: A Most Mysterious Murder,' which he wrote and also introduced on screen.
He also penned the script to the current West End musical 'Mary Poppins,' produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Disney, which opened on Broadway in December 2006.
In late 2005 Fellowes made his directorial debut with the film 'Separate Lies.'
He is the presenter of 'Never Mind the Full Stops,' a panel-based gameshow transmitted on BBC Four from mid-2006.
On 28 April 1990, he married Emma Joy Kitchener (a Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Michael of Kent, and great-great-niece of the 1st Earl Kitchener) and assumed the name Kitchener-Fellowes by deed enrolled with the College of Arms in 1998.
{Wikipedia}
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,746 reviews
July 6, 2016
I can't help feeling like Julian Fellowes targets his stories to exactly what the Downton crowd wants. Don't get me wrong, I was as addicted to Downton as anyone. But I expect different things from my TV viewing than I do from my reading. Fellowes delivers all the elements - class conflict, romance, secrets, lot's of details about life in 1800's that I'm sure fans will adore....but he also spoon feeds the reader every thought and emotion each character is having. Nothing is left to doubt. If a character is feeling jealous of another character Fellowes writes, "He was feeling jealous of the attention his father was giving someone else..." (I'm too lazy to go look for an actual quote but really, these kind of statements are made). It's as though he doesn't trust the reader to figure it out so he spells it all out plainly. At least with on TV there is still an element of showing, not telling.
However, I did enjoy it. It felt like a guilty pleasure. The story was fun although pretty predictable. And I enjoyed the serial aspect - reading along as the installments came each week.
However, I did enjoy it. It felt like a guilty pleasure. The story was fun although pretty predictable. And I enjoyed the serial aspect - reading along as the installments came each week.
December 28, 2016
This review is going to be an unabashed celebration of Juliet Stevenson, the marvelous narrator of the Belgravia audiobook. I confess I downloaded this book not because it was written by the creator of the popular TV show "Downton Abbey," but because it was read by Juliet.
I have become such a fan of audiobooks that in the past few years I have listened to more than 150 of them, and Juliet Stevenson is one of the very best performers working today. (She's also a great actress and I've loved her in a bunch of movies, including "Emma" and "Bend it Like Beckham.") Juliet is simply a delightful reader, and her characters and accents are so enjoyable that I could gush about her performance all day. I could happily download everything she's read and be entertained for months.
What about the book itself, you ask? Oh, right, almost forgot. Similar to "Downton Abbey," this is essentially a British soap opera involving both servants and landed gentry, with the story set mostly in London in 1841. I love reading about the Victorian era, so I enjoyed this historical novel and the various intrigues and twists of family fortunes. If you liked Fellowes' previous works, you will probably enjoy Belgravia.
But seriously, listen to it on audio. Juliet is the best.
Favorite Quotes
"The past, as we have been told so many times, is a foreign country where things are done differently. This may be true — indeed it patently is true when it comes to morals or customs, the role of women, aristocratic government, and a million other elements of our daily lives. But there are similarities, too. Ambition, envy, rage, greed, kindness, selflessness, and above all, love have always been as powerful in motivating choices as they are today."
"She was at that period of her life that almost everyone must pass through, when childhood is done with and a faux maturity, untrammeled by experience, gives one a sense that anything is possible until the arrival of real adulthood proves conclusively that it is not."
"Oliver did not seem to understand that the only real fulfillment on this earth was to be gained through hard work. Life as a series of momentary pleasures satisfied no one. He needed to make an investment in it, an investment of himself."
I have become such a fan of audiobooks that in the past few years I have listened to more than 150 of them, and Juliet Stevenson is one of the very best performers working today. (She's also a great actress and I've loved her in a bunch of movies, including "Emma" and "Bend it Like Beckham.") Juliet is simply a delightful reader, and her characters and accents are so enjoyable that I could gush about her performance all day. I could happily download everything she's read and be entertained for months.
What about the book itself, you ask? Oh, right, almost forgot. Similar to "Downton Abbey," this is essentially a British soap opera involving both servants and landed gentry, with the story set mostly in London in 1841. I love reading about the Victorian era, so I enjoyed this historical novel and the various intrigues and twists of family fortunes. If you liked Fellowes' previous works, you will probably enjoy Belgravia.
But seriously, listen to it on audio. Juliet is the best.
Favorite Quotes
"The past, as we have been told so many times, is a foreign country where things are done differently. This may be true — indeed it patently is true when it comes to morals or customs, the role of women, aristocratic government, and a million other elements of our daily lives. But there are similarities, too. Ambition, envy, rage, greed, kindness, selflessness, and above all, love have always been as powerful in motivating choices as they are today."
"She was at that period of her life that almost everyone must pass through, when childhood is done with and a faux maturity, untrammeled by experience, gives one a sense that anything is possible until the arrival of real adulthood proves conclusively that it is not."
"Oliver did not seem to understand that the only real fulfillment on this earth was to be gained through hard work. Life as a series of momentary pleasures satisfied no one. He needed to make an investment in it, an investment of himself."
May 12, 2017
Fellowes is a unique talent able to actually inhabit a world long past. Perhaps the motivations and language of people are not much changed from one or two hundred years ago, but habits have certainly changed. Fellowes navigates that earlier world of societal mores and constraints so beautifully, I would have loved to see him in action then.
In his new serialized novel called Belgravia, the illegitimate son of an unmarried daughter is arranged to grow up under the tutelage of a pastor. The boy grows up clever, handsome, and with all the right attitudes, having expected no advantages. When it is discovered he is not illegitimate after all, but is related to a wealthy and illustrious London family, everyone wants to align their futures with his.
The Duchess of Richmond holds a ball in Brussels on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo to which Anne Trenchard, her husband James, and her daughter Sophia are invited. The Trenchards are of the merchant class, suppliers of Wellington’s army, so it is Sophia who has secured the invitation through the attentions of The Duchess’s nephew, Viscount Bellasis.
--from "Duchess of Richmond's Ball" Wiki, Henry O'Neil (1868) Before Waterloo
I can say little more about the convoluted storyline without compromising readers’ surprise, so will just say that Fellowes is particularly good in this novel with the thoughts of the two grandmothers to the ill-begotten boy, once thought a bastard. Anne Trenchard is beautifully drawn as a woman interested little in the trappings of society but caught in the web of its importance nonetheless. The other grandmother, Lady Caroline Brockenhurst, is delightfully acerbic and yet entirely sympathetic to readers, having lost her only heir right at his moment of greatest promise. She faces the unhappy prospect of leaving her title and wealth to an undeserving nephew whom she disdains.
I listened to this book on audio and was thrilled with the narration by Juliet Stevenson, who gave each character their own particular accents. Fellowes and Stevenson both managed to give the servants in the households their due, and as usual with Fellowes’ oeuvre, there was an authentic richness to their experiences, motivations, and manner of speaking.
The aspect of this novel that gave it some cache was the serial manner in which it was delivered to readers. Once a week subscribers found an episode added to their inbox. It was good that Fellowes tried this manner of publishing again, but I found it frustrating that I could not hear the story in one go or over several consecutive days. After all, habits have developed so that we now enjoy a TV series in a glut of binge-watching. However, I was thrilled to find a new section loaded onto my device each week, and listened to it eagerly when it arrived.
Fellowes used his own delivery vehicle for this book, offering readers a Belgravia app which included many extras, like maps (with links to photos) which show the properties developed in the early 1800s by Master Builder Thomas Cubitt with the help of James Trenchard, as well as closeups of the paintings that inspired Fellowes. A link to a short explanatory youTube video shows the grand central green marble staircase which features in The Brockenhurst Mansion in Belgravia Square. The app allows readers to read or listen by episode. I found it worked well for me on an iPad and it can be enjoyed more than once if one is so inclined.
There is no one quite like Fellowes at work today, and his ability to read and write characters is unique. His novels tend toward gorgeous confections where outcomes seem destined to give the good and the evil their cosmic due. Since this is often not the way things work out in the real world, we can look forward to a fairytale outcome. There is a place for novels that involve us but do not agonize us. I look forward to whatever he wants to dish out.
In his new serialized novel called Belgravia, the illegitimate son of an unmarried daughter is arranged to grow up under the tutelage of a pastor. The boy grows up clever, handsome, and with all the right attitudes, having expected no advantages. When it is discovered he is not illegitimate after all, but is related to a wealthy and illustrious London family, everyone wants to align their futures with his.
The Duchess of Richmond holds a ball in Brussels on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo to which Anne Trenchard, her husband James, and her daughter Sophia are invited. The Trenchards are of the merchant class, suppliers of Wellington’s army, so it is Sophia who has secured the invitation through the attentions of The Duchess’s nephew, Viscount Bellasis.
--from "Duchess of Richmond's Ball" Wiki, Henry O'Neil (1868) Before Waterloo
I can say little more about the convoluted storyline without compromising readers’ surprise, so will just say that Fellowes is particularly good in this novel with the thoughts of the two grandmothers to the ill-begotten boy, once thought a bastard. Anne Trenchard is beautifully drawn as a woman interested little in the trappings of society but caught in the web of its importance nonetheless. The other grandmother, Lady Caroline Brockenhurst, is delightfully acerbic and yet entirely sympathetic to readers, having lost her only heir right at his moment of greatest promise. She faces the unhappy prospect of leaving her title and wealth to an undeserving nephew whom she disdains.
I listened to this book on audio and was thrilled with the narration by Juliet Stevenson, who gave each character their own particular accents. Fellowes and Stevenson both managed to give the servants in the households their due, and as usual with Fellowes’ oeuvre, there was an authentic richness to their experiences, motivations, and manner of speaking.
The aspect of this novel that gave it some cache was the serial manner in which it was delivered to readers. Once a week subscribers found an episode added to their inbox. It was good that Fellowes tried this manner of publishing again, but I found it frustrating that I could not hear the story in one go or over several consecutive days. After all, habits have developed so that we now enjoy a TV series in a glut of binge-watching. However, I was thrilled to find a new section loaded onto my device each week, and listened to it eagerly when it arrived.
Fellowes used his own delivery vehicle for this book, offering readers a Belgravia app which included many extras, like maps (with links to photos) which show the properties developed in the early 1800s by Master Builder Thomas Cubitt with the help of James Trenchard, as well as closeups of the paintings that inspired Fellowes. A link to a short explanatory youTube video shows the grand central green marble staircase which features in The Brockenhurst Mansion in Belgravia Square. The app allows readers to read or listen by episode. I found it worked well for me on an iPad and it can be enjoyed more than once if one is so inclined.
There is no one quite like Fellowes at work today, and his ability to read and write characters is unique. His novels tend toward gorgeous confections where outcomes seem destined to give the good and the evil their cosmic due. Since this is often not the way things work out in the real world, we can look forward to a fairytale outcome. There is a place for novels that involve us but do not agonize us. I look forward to whatever he wants to dish out.
August 2, 2016
With 'Belgravia,' Julian Fellowes establishes why he should stick to tv. A strong premise, tightly sewn ending, utterly painful boredom in between. Read only if you lost your 'Downton' bluray.
February 20, 2018
Ik ben een groot liefhebber van de serie Downton Abbey...
Het leven in het 19e eeuwse Engeland, het leven in de verschillende klassen, de intriges...ik hou ervan!!
Belgravia is echter simpel geschreven en de intriges zijn erg voorspelbaar...jammer...
Het leven in het 19e eeuwse Engeland, het leven in de verschillende klassen, de intriges...ik hou ervan!!
Belgravia is echter simpel geschreven en de intriges zijn erg voorspelbaar...jammer...
September 23, 2019
An Austen Scent
Why did I chose such a title to review Belgravia?! A book that was written 2 centuries after our precious Jane?!
Is that your question?!...
If you’re really curious about it, here's what you should do:
Close your eyes, open the book randomly, and get your nose as near as possible...
Now you got it!... 😜
Footnote: I must apologize for this, hmmmm, slightly crazy review. But sometimes a lil change of style is mandatory to flee from reiterations of overwhelming boredom 😜
Why did I chose such a title to review Belgravia?! A book that was written 2 centuries after our precious Jane?!
Is that your question?!...
If you’re really curious about it, here's what you should do:
Close your eyes, open the book randomly, and get your nose as near as possible...
Now you got it!... 😜
Footnote: I must apologize for this, hmmmm, slightly crazy review. But sometimes a lil change of style is mandatory to flee from reiterations of overwhelming boredom 😜
April 25, 2018
Translation widget on The blog!!!
O carte surprinzătoare! O poveste cu mult suspans, intrigi si comploturi. Un historical, 1841... O poveste plină de adrenalina ce îmbina realitatea cu ficțiunea.
Recenzia mea completa o găsiți aici:
https://www.delicateseliterare.ro/bel...
O carte surprinzătoare! O poveste cu mult suspans, intrigi si comploturi. Un historical, 1841... O poveste plină de adrenalina ce îmbina realitatea cu ficțiunea.
Recenzia mea completa o găsiți aici:
https://www.delicateseliterare.ro/bel...
November 25, 2017
In person book club read #11 (Dec 2017) because we're all Downton Abbey fans.
Oh, how I miss Downton Abbey. The reruns just don't cut it for me; I want to be given some new episodes to watch. However, this book, by the same author, surpassed filling many of my Downton cravings. Not as fully developed in the 400+ pages offered, but I still loved it -- sort of like settling for a chocolate ice cream sundae when you really wanted hot fudge.
There are similarities to Downton found here, but missing, among other things, are the good people of the downstairs staff. Instead, the staff are rather despicable personalities. They play a smaller role here, but pivotal to the plot nonetheless. What I truly enjoyed were the dynamics between a nouveau riche couple and a proper aristocratic matriarch as they must interact, at first unwillingly, to do what's right for their families when someone from the past appears practically out of nowhere. Secrets and hard feelings branch out even to the extended families; and the many plot twists are both expected and surprising.
The audiobook, read by Juliet Stevenson, was riveting. Her skill with voices and accents made the listening experience all the more enjoyable to me. 4.5 stars.
Oh, how I miss Downton Abbey. The reruns just don't cut it for me; I want to be given some new episodes to watch. However, this book, by the same author, surpassed filling many of my Downton cravings. Not as fully developed in the 400+ pages offered, but I still loved it -- sort of like settling for a chocolate ice cream sundae when you really wanted hot fudge.
There are similarities to Downton found here, but missing, among other things, are the good people of the downstairs staff. Instead, the staff are rather despicable personalities. They play a smaller role here, but pivotal to the plot nonetheless. What I truly enjoyed were the dynamics between a nouveau riche couple and a proper aristocratic matriarch as they must interact, at first unwillingly, to do what's right for their families when someone from the past appears practically out of nowhere. Secrets and hard feelings branch out even to the extended families; and the many plot twists are both expected and surprising.
The audiobook, read by Juliet Stevenson, was riveting. Her skill with voices and accents made the listening experience all the more enjoyable to me. 4.5 stars.
March 26, 2020
3-4 stars rounded up.
It’s 1815, location Brussels and the Duchess of Richmond is hosting a ball to which ‘The Magician ‘ James Trenchard, supplier of goods to the army is surprisingly invited, accompanied by his wife Anne and daughter Sophia. During the evening news arrives of the imminent arrival of Napoleon and the officers rush out to engage his army at the village of Waterloo outside Brussels. Shortly afterwards Sophia is devastated to learn that Edmund, Lord Bellasis who she is in love with, is amongst the dead. Fast forward twenty five years to London where James Trenchard has spent the intervening years helping to build Belgravia in partnership with William Cubitt. James has very lowly beginnings but high social ambitions and he though he has accumulated great wealth this does not necessarily give you a free pass into high society. Much of the story centres around the Trenchard family and a young, clever entrepreneur Charles Pope who seems to be attracting attention from surprising patrons. Who is Charles Pope? The unfolding storyline reveals all!
I like how the book conveys society in the early part of Queen Victoria’s reign, both the high and the low. We have snobbery in evidence and the maintenance of appearance, arrogance and some humility and the overriding greed and ambition of some of the characters in order to secure an inheritance or suitable marriage leads to all sorts of deviousness. There’s plenty going on as we have gamblers and seducers, deceivers and betrayal, the need to avoid scandal, greed and jealousy as well as kindness and a developing love story. Some of the characters are very likeable in particular Anne Trenchard, Charles Pope and Maria Grey and some are not although those do add interest to the story. We have some who are so bitter they would curdle milk, some who are so cold they’d freeze it, some are acquisitive, dissatisfied, some are inept and some are ‘bounders’!
I like how fact is woven with fiction setting the story in its historical context with the capital being vividly captured with its expansion and contrasting grandeur alongside poverty. It shows the changing times with developing industries and the increase in commerce. There are some revelations in the story that cause some ripples to say the least and a few twists along the way.
However, there are a lot of characters to get your head around and it takes a while to understand who they are. It meanders backwards and forwards especially at the beginning where the author is filling gaps and that leads to repetition. It’s a bit overblown and overdetailed in places too which I find a distraction. I guess it’s a predictable story from the author of Downton Abbey but this is his genre and you do know what you are going to get which is no bad thing.
Overall, an enjoyable, colourful read conveying a period of time well
Thanks to NetGalley and Orion Books.
It’s 1815, location Brussels and the Duchess of Richmond is hosting a ball to which ‘The Magician ‘ James Trenchard, supplier of goods to the army is surprisingly invited, accompanied by his wife Anne and daughter Sophia. During the evening news arrives of the imminent arrival of Napoleon and the officers rush out to engage his army at the village of Waterloo outside Brussels. Shortly afterwards Sophia is devastated to learn that Edmund, Lord Bellasis who she is in love with, is amongst the dead. Fast forward twenty five years to London where James Trenchard has spent the intervening years helping to build Belgravia in partnership with William Cubitt. James has very lowly beginnings but high social ambitions and he though he has accumulated great wealth this does not necessarily give you a free pass into high society. Much of the story centres around the Trenchard family and a young, clever entrepreneur Charles Pope who seems to be attracting attention from surprising patrons. Who is Charles Pope? The unfolding storyline reveals all!
I like how the book conveys society in the early part of Queen Victoria’s reign, both the high and the low. We have snobbery in evidence and the maintenance of appearance, arrogance and some humility and the overriding greed and ambition of some of the characters in order to secure an inheritance or suitable marriage leads to all sorts of deviousness. There’s plenty going on as we have gamblers and seducers, deceivers and betrayal, the need to avoid scandal, greed and jealousy as well as kindness and a developing love story. Some of the characters are very likeable in particular Anne Trenchard, Charles Pope and Maria Grey and some are not although those do add interest to the story. We have some who are so bitter they would curdle milk, some who are so cold they’d freeze it, some are acquisitive, dissatisfied, some are inept and some are ‘bounders’!
I like how fact is woven with fiction setting the story in its historical context with the capital being vividly captured with its expansion and contrasting grandeur alongside poverty. It shows the changing times with developing industries and the increase in commerce. There are some revelations in the story that cause some ripples to say the least and a few twists along the way.
However, there are a lot of characters to get your head around and it takes a while to understand who they are. It meanders backwards and forwards especially at the beginning where the author is filling gaps and that leads to repetition. It’s a bit overblown and overdetailed in places too which I find a distraction. I guess it’s a predictable story from the author of Downton Abbey but this is his genre and you do know what you are going to get which is no bad thing.
Overall, an enjoyable, colourful read conveying a period of time well
Thanks to NetGalley and Orion Books.
June 6, 2019
Um Aroma Austico
Quem, num dos seus múltiplos "scrolls" na GR Home, deu de caras com este título, estará possivelmente a interrogar-se se a palavra 'austico' não carece dum 'c' no início!?
Bem...muito sinceramente não! Não se trata duma gralha calina — não é "caustico", "rústico", "austríaco", ou qualquer outro vocábulo de sonoridade próxima — é factualmente "austico" que pretendo escrever e significar!...
Significar?!... Significar o quê? — é pertinente perguntar!
'Austico' não será provavelmente uma palavra que conste entre os vossos vocábulos, uma vez que não figura no dicionário de português! Aliás, devo honestamente confessar, que também eu não a conhecia antes de a engendrar!...
Bem...entretanto ainda não vos transmiti qual o suposto significado de "austico", e julgo que já vai sendo tempo de o fazer!
"Aust", é a sequência constituída pelas 4 primeiras letras de "Austen"!
E estou em crer que nada mais haverá a dizer, pois o restante será facilmente depreendido!...
"Belgravia" recordou-me de facto, a sublime prosa de Jane Austen, e até posso dizer-vos particularmente, em quê:
A acção começa com um daqueles sumptuosos e pomposos bailes de há cerca de 200 anos lá para trás, onde podemos observar e estudar a sociedade da época, com todos os seus maneirismos e preconceitos restritivos. Sociedade com uma riqueza de personagens femininas complexas, onde transparece uma fragilidade concomitante com uma força de caracter oriunda de princípios morais, amor, paixão,... - formas de sentir detentoras duma força visceral, apanágio daqueles que se entregam ao seu exercício!
Naquela época, a força feminina era uma benesse do caracter, pois salvo raras excepções, as mulheres de tempos tão remotos, eram economicamente dependentes, sendo o casamento a sua maior aposta de sobrevivência.
Enfim!... Compreendem agora a razão do "Aroma Austico"?!...
"Belgravia" é um romance histórico muito visual, que retrata uma época onde o amor é preterido pelos preconceitos sociais, e os amantes que se rebelam são por vezes imolados — mártires duma sociedade punitiva, em que o estatuto social se sobrepõe ao sentimento.
Porém, já foi por demais comprovado, que cabe aos mártires o papel de baluartes da mudança!
As transformações, as mudanças históricas são em regra, geradas na dor!...
Quem, num dos seus múltiplos "scrolls" na GR Home, deu de caras com este título, estará possivelmente a interrogar-se se a palavra 'austico' não carece dum 'c' no início!?
Bem...muito sinceramente não! Não se trata duma gralha calina — não é "caustico", "rústico", "austríaco", ou qualquer outro vocábulo de sonoridade próxima — é factualmente "austico" que pretendo escrever e significar!...
Significar?!... Significar o quê? — é pertinente perguntar!
'Austico' não será provavelmente uma palavra que conste entre os vossos vocábulos, uma vez que não figura no dicionário de português! Aliás, devo honestamente confessar, que também eu não a conhecia antes de a engendrar!...
Bem...entretanto ainda não vos transmiti qual o suposto significado de "austico", e julgo que já vai sendo tempo de o fazer!
"Aust", é a sequência constituída pelas 4 primeiras letras de "Austen"!
E estou em crer que nada mais haverá a dizer, pois o restante será facilmente depreendido!...
"Belgravia" recordou-me de facto, a sublime prosa de Jane Austen, e até posso dizer-vos particularmente, em quê:
A acção começa com um daqueles sumptuosos e pomposos bailes de há cerca de 200 anos lá para trás, onde podemos observar e estudar a sociedade da época, com todos os seus maneirismos e preconceitos restritivos. Sociedade com uma riqueza de personagens femininas complexas, onde transparece uma fragilidade concomitante com uma força de caracter oriunda de princípios morais, amor, paixão,... - formas de sentir detentoras duma força visceral, apanágio daqueles que se entregam ao seu exercício!
Naquela época, a força feminina era uma benesse do caracter, pois salvo raras excepções, as mulheres de tempos tão remotos, eram economicamente dependentes, sendo o casamento a sua maior aposta de sobrevivência.
Enfim!... Compreendem agora a razão do "Aroma Austico"?!...
"Belgravia" é um romance histórico muito visual, que retrata uma época onde o amor é preterido pelos preconceitos sociais, e os amantes que se rebelam são por vezes imolados — mártires duma sociedade punitiva, em que o estatuto social se sobrepõe ao sentimento.
Porém, já foi por demais comprovado, que cabe aos mártires o papel de baluartes da mudança!
As transformações, as mudanças históricas são em regra, geradas na dor!...
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January 10, 2019This is that rarest thing, a book about a grandmother. It's really focused on the two grandmothers of what in most books would be the romantic hero but is here a bit part prize. As you'd expect from Fellowes, it's also about finely observed gradations of class, the agency of servants, social climbing, and loyalty. There are lovers. There's a villain, and a near villain who reforms at the last minute. There's a secret marriage and a hidden heir. There are shenanigans. There's the Duchess of Richmond's ball, logistics, and the invention of afternoon tea. But many books have these things, if not quite so beautifully written. Read this for the rare and valuable focus on the older women.
March 14, 2018
The absence of Downton Abbey on our screens, a favourite series of mine, influenced the purchase of the book, Belgravia by Julian Fellowes. Fellowes is the creator of Downton Abbey and has written two previous novels in the past. Belgravia is set in one of Britain’s most exclusive postcodes of the era. The stunning estate on the front cover caught my eye too. Belgravia is a historical fiction novel that begins around the time of the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. I was certain I was going to love this book but as I continued to read on I felt it was on the dry side. The characters also failed to ignite my interest. So sadly, my attempts to fill my Downton Abbey void failed! I am tempted to try two previous novels Fellowes has published. I am assured that Snobs, published in 2004 was a great read, by a friend.
September 13, 2022
0,5 με το ζόρι ... κριμα τα λεφτα . Αυτο
Τελικά δεν άλλαξα γνώμη. Ήταν πιο κακό απ’ όσο ήλπιζα. Και το κυριότερο είχε και άθλιο μετάφραση εκτός όλων των άλλων.
Τελικά δεν άλλαξα γνώμη. Ήταν πιο κακό απ’ όσο ήλπιζα. Και το κυριότερο είχε και άθλιο μετάφραση εκτός όλων των άλλων.
July 5, 2016
This story might not be a bad television program...but as a novel, just meh. Readers expecting another Downton Abbey will be seriously disappointed.
March 16, 2017
Με το βιβλίο Μπελγκρέιβια ανέπτυξα κυκλοθυμικά αισθήματα. Στην αρχή της ανάγνωσης ήμουν σχετικά απογοητευμένη, καθώς η έναρξη μου άρεσε πολύ λιγότερο από όσο περίμενα, ενώ από την μέση και έπειτα οι προσδοκίες μου καλύφτηκαν και με το παραπάνω.
Τα αφηγητικά χαρακτηριστικά θα τα ανέλυα ως εξής, η αφηγηματική ανάλυση του Fellowes (το στήσιμο του σκηνικού του κ.α.) μου θύμισε κάτι από την διεισδυτική ματιά και τις σοφές παρατηρήσεις του Henry James, π.χ.
«Η Σοφία βρισκόταν σε μία φάση της ζωής της που περνούν υποχρεωτικά σχεδόν όλοι οι άνθρωποι, κατά την οποία η παιδική ηλικία αποτελεί πια παρελθόν και μία απατηλή ωριμότητα, που δεν υποστηρίζεται από την πείρα, δίνει την αίσθηση ότι τα πάντα είναι εφικτά.» σελ. 12.
Επίσης υφολογικά θύμιζε κάτι από την κριτική ματιά και την φλεγματικότητα της Austen.
Όπως γνωρίζουμε οι δύο συγγραφείς που ανέφερα, είναι μάστορες, ως επί το πλείστον, της ρεαλιστικής αφήγησης, έτσι και ο Fellowes απολαμβάνει να αφηγείται όχι απλώς με ρεαλιστική ματιά ,αλλά μεταφέροντας όλα τα αρνητικά χαρακτηριστικά και τις δυσάρεστες, πονηρές ή βλακώδεις σκέψεις των ηρώων του.
Οπότε τι είναι αυτό που με ξένισε αφηγηματικά στην έναρξη της ανάγνωσης;
Η μεταφορά των αρνητικών αυτών στοιχείων δεν γίνεται με την χαριτωμένη ειρωνεία της Austen, μα με έναν πιο «στεγνό» τρόπο, γεγονός που στο πρώτο μέρος της ιστορίας δεν βοηθάει τον αναγνώστη να συμπαθήσει και να «ακολουθήσει» με ευκολία τους ήρωες.
Στην πορεία όμως, όταν επιτέλους βάζει στην ιστορία πιο θετικούς χαρακτήρες, οι οποίοι μάλιστα είναι και τα κεντρικά πρόσωπα της ιστορίας, όχι μόνο συμπάσχουμε μαζί τους αλλά δίνουμε συγχωροχάρτι και για όλα τα στραβά και ανάποδα που μας έχει αναφέρει για τους υπόλοιπους ήρωες.
Η ιστορία μας ως προς την πλοκή ακολουθεί το μοτίβο της τηλεοπτικής σειράς «Ο Πύργος του Ντάουντον», δηλαδή βλέπουμε τις ιστορίες πολλών διαφορετικών ανθρώπων και τάξεων, ευγενείς, επιχειρηματίες, υπηρετικό προσωπικό, όλοι μπλεγμένοι στο κουβάρι της κεντρικής υπόθεσης της ιστορίας, ξετυλίγοντας όμως ταυτόχρονα και τις δικές τους μικρές υποθέσεις.
Να αναφέρω οτι ο συγγραφέας είχε «τσιμπήσει» λίγο το μελόδραμα στην πλοκή, αυτό όμως του το συγχωρούμε, διότι με αυτό το «τσιμπηματάκι» περνάει κανείς ευχάριστα.
Τελικά μου άρεσε πολύ, περιποιημένο βιβλίο, με δεμένη πλοκή και τελικά παρόλη την ανάλυση, ωραία αφηγηματική γλώσσα και ύφος.
Τα αφηγητικά χαρακτηριστικά θα τα ανέλυα ως εξής, η αφηγηματική ανάλυση του Fellowes (το στήσιμο του σκηνικού του κ.α.) μου θύμισε κάτι από την διεισδυτική ματιά και τις σοφές παρατηρήσεις του Henry James, π.χ.
«Η Σοφία βρισκόταν σε μία φάση της ζωής της που περνούν υποχρεωτικά σχεδόν όλοι οι άνθρωποι, κατά την οποία η παιδική ηλικία αποτελεί πια παρελθόν και μία απατηλή ωριμότητα, που δεν υποστηρίζεται από την πείρα, δίνει την αίσθηση ότι τα πάντα είναι εφικτά.» σελ. 12.
Επίσης υφολογικά θύμιζε κάτι από την κριτική ματιά και την φλεγματικότητα της Austen.
Όπως γνωρίζουμε οι δύο συγγραφείς που ανέφερα, είναι μάστορες, ως επί το πλείστον, της ρεαλιστικής αφήγησης, έτσι και ο Fellowes απολαμβάνει να αφηγείται όχι απλώς με ρεαλιστική ματιά ,αλλά μεταφέροντας όλα τα αρνητικά χαρακτηριστικά και τις δυσάρεστες, πονηρές ή βλακώδεις σκέψεις των ηρώων του.
Οπότε τι είναι αυτό που με ξένισε αφηγηματικά στην έναρξη της ανάγνωσης;
Η μεταφορά των αρνητικών αυτών στοιχείων δεν γίνεται με την χαριτωμένη ειρωνεία της Austen, μα με έναν πιο «στεγνό» τρόπο, γεγονός που στο πρώτο μέρος της ιστορίας δεν βοηθάει τον αναγνώστη να συμπαθήσει και να «ακολουθήσει» με ευκολία τους ήρωες.
Στην πορεία όμως, όταν επιτέλους βάζει στην ιστορία πιο θετικούς χαρακτήρες, οι οποίοι μάλιστα είναι και τα κεντρικά πρόσωπα της ιστορίας, όχι μόνο συμπάσχουμε μαζί τους αλλά δίνουμε συγχωροχάρτι και για όλα τα στραβά και ανάποδα που μας έχει αναφέρει για τους υπόλοιπους ήρωες.
Η ιστορία μας ως προς την πλοκή ακολουθεί το μοτίβο της τηλεοπτικής σειράς «Ο Πύργος του Ντάουντον», δηλαδή βλέπουμε τις ιστορίες πολλών διαφορετικών ανθρώπων και τάξεων, ευγενείς, επιχειρηματίες, υπηρετικό προσωπικό, όλοι μπλεγμένοι στο κουβάρι της κεντρικής υπόθεσης της ιστορίας, ξετυλίγοντας όμως ταυτόχρονα και τις δικές τους μικρές υποθέσεις.
Να αναφέρω οτι ο συγγραφέας είχε «τσιμπήσει» λίγο το μελόδραμα στην πλοκή, αυτό όμως του το συγχωρούμε, διότι με αυτό το «τσιμπηματάκι» περνάει κανείς ευχάριστα.
Τελικά μου άρεσε πολύ, περιποιημένο βιβλίο, με δεμένη πλοκή και τελικά παρόλη την ανάλυση, ωραία αφηγηματική γλώσσα και ύφος.
October 17, 2016
Julian Fellowes' "Downton Abbey" is one of my favorite television shows, so I was extremely excited to read this novel. And for the most part, I wasn't disappointed. It's very Downton-esque in feel and subject matter, and there are plenty of plot twists and turns.
I loved the setting and the characters of Maria Grey and Caroline Brockenhurst. I enjoyed the pacing of the book as well. I didn't particularly care for anyone in the Trenchard or Bellasis families (the Brockenhursts are my jam), but they are all pretty well-developed and interesting characters, whether they're likeable or not. At first I thought I was going to be a bit disappointed because the book was focusing mainly on the elderly patriarchs and matriarchs and I wasn't getting my young-people-in-stifling-society scandals (where are my Mary and Matthew?), but the plot picked up and I got that side in Charles and Maria eventually, though I had to wait a while. Still, it was worth it for the atmospheric set-up.
The main thing I was less than thrilled about was the treatment of the "downstairs" element of the upstairs/downstairs - with the exception of a quick couple servants who are barely seen and didn't figure much into the story at large, the servants in this novel are petty nuisances just waiting for the chance to sell out or backstab their employers. I felt like "Downton Abbey" did such a great job of making both the upstairs and downstairs sets' characters sympathetic and unsympathetic by turn, whereas here it was definitely uneven, leaning way in favor of the rich. I can't complain too much as I am a snobby snob viewer/reader and would way rather watch/read about the other snobby snobs and their beautiful fancy rich people problems than watch/read about the poor sods just scrubbing pots and pans in the kitchens and wishing they were rich. I ended up being happy the book's focus was more on the upstairs set. I just feel like there could have been a way to incorporate the downstairs set to move the plot along without making them appear quite so villainous.
Fellowes is a wonderful writer and dramatist, and strikes me as someone who could eventually present Edith Wharton-level literary offerings about rich people problems. I'm eagerly awaiting that day, and I feel like he's well on his way.
I loved the setting and the characters of Maria Grey and Caroline Brockenhurst. I enjoyed the pacing of the book as well. I didn't particularly care for anyone in the Trenchard or Bellasis families (the Brockenhursts are my jam), but they are all pretty well-developed and interesting characters, whether they're likeable or not. At first I thought I was going to be a bit disappointed because the book was focusing mainly on the elderly patriarchs and matriarchs and I wasn't getting my young-people-in-stifling-society scandals (where are my Mary and Matthew?), but the plot picked up and I got that side in Charles and Maria eventually, though I had to wait a while. Still, it was worth it for the atmospheric set-up.
The main thing I was less than thrilled about was the treatment of the "downstairs" element of the upstairs/downstairs - with the exception of a quick couple servants who are barely seen and didn't figure much into the story at large, the servants in this novel are petty nuisances just waiting for the chance to sell out or backstab their employers. I felt like "Downton Abbey" did such a great job of making both the upstairs and downstairs sets' characters sympathetic and unsympathetic by turn, whereas here it was definitely uneven, leaning way in favor of the rich. I can't complain too much as I am a snobby snob viewer/reader and would way rather watch/read about the other snobby snobs and their beautiful fancy rich people problems than watch/read about the poor sods just scrubbing pots and pans in the kitchens and wishing they were rich. I ended up being happy the book's focus was more on the upstairs set. I just feel like there could have been a way to incorporate the downstairs set to move the plot along without making them appear quite so villainous.
Fellowes is a wonderful writer and dramatist, and strikes me as someone who could eventually present Edith Wharton-level literary offerings about rich people problems. I'm eagerly awaiting that day, and I feel like he's well on his way.
August 4, 2016
With Belgravia, Julian Fellowes has written a comedy of manners set in the first half of the 19th century. The same attention to detail that was displayed on Downton Abbey is here on the page. And while about an earlier time period, Fellowes is still studying the social castes of English society. Like with DA, one sees both the upstairs and downstairs takes on life. But unlike the Crawley household, there is not the love between the servants and their employers. To quote Lady Brockenhurst “The servants were worse than the rats, the way they went from house to house, passing on God knows what to whomever they pleased.”
Anne is the voice of reason. Her husband is nouveau riche, but she is not impressed with the trappings of high society or wealth. Unlike her husband, James. “Her husband had placed a bit in his own mouth and put the reins into the hands of men who cared nothing for him and only for the profits he could guide them to.”
The book is fun. Light as air and with a plot full of twists and turns. Some of the plot twists don't bear up to close scrutiny and you can see some of them coming from a mile away. But that doesn't dampen the pleasure. Very enjoyable!
March 15, 2021
Procurava entretenimento e não desapontou. Julian Fellowes é escritor, diretor e produtor de cinema e tv. O seu trabalho de maior relevo para televisão foi a conhecida série Downton Abbey.
Belgravia, passa-se no mesmo período e a trama anda à roda dos mesmos temas. A intriga começa na primeira página e não perde o ritmo até ao final. A história, apesar de ter um desenrolar previsível, não deixa de ser cativante o suficiente para proporcionar umas horas de leitura muito bem passadas, torcendo pelo sucesso de uns e insultando a sacanisse de outros.
Belgravia, passa-se no mesmo período e a trama anda à roda dos mesmos temas. A intriga começa na primeira página e não perde o ritmo até ao final. A história, apesar de ter um desenrolar previsível, não deixa de ser cativante o suficiente para proporcionar umas horas de leitura muito bem passadas, torcendo pelo sucesso de uns e insultando a sacanisse de outros.
March 3, 2020
Een boek dat helemaal in de stijl is van Downton Abbey. Ontspannende lectuur, met intriges die voor de 'goeden' allemaal goed aflopen.
Wel typisch in dit boek is dat de goeden almaar beter en vergevingsgezinder worden voorgesteld, en het karakter van de 'slechten' zich meer en meer negatief ontwikkelt. En, boontje komt om zijn loontje...
Ik hou er wel van om af en toe dit soort boeken te lezen.
Wel typisch in dit boek is dat de goeden almaar beter en vergevingsgezinder worden voorgesteld, en het karakter van de 'slechten' zich meer en meer negatief ontwikkelt. En, boontje komt om zijn loontje...
Ik hou er wel van om af en toe dit soort boeken te lezen.
August 23, 2021
Η «Μπελγκρέιβια» είναι ένα από τα ωραιότερα μυθιστορήματα που διάβασα εδώ και πάρα πολύ καιρό, κι επίσης ένα από τα πολυτελέστερα βιβλία που έχω πιάσει ποτέ στα χέρια μου! Αξίζουν πολλά συγχαρητήρια στις εκδόσεις Κλειδάριθμος που, εκτός από την επιλογή μιας θαυμάσιας ιστορίας, επένδυσαν και στο 'περιτύλιγμα'. Ένα μεγαλειώδες εξώφυλλο, προσεγμένη σελιδοποίηση, εξαιρετική ποιότητα χαρτιού - στοιχεία που προϊδεάζουν τον αναγνώστη για μια συναρπαστική και πολλά υποσχόμενη ιστορία που διαδραματίζεται στη βικτωριανή Αγγλία.
Η ιστορία ξεκινά στην πόλη των Βρυξελλών τις παραμονές της μάχης του Βατερλό, όπου βρίσκονται συγκεντρωμένοι αρκετοί Άγγλοι αριστοκράτες. Χωρίς να φαντάζονται τι τους επιφυλάσσει το κοντινό μέλλον, οι πάντες ανυπομονούν για τον επικείμενο χορό της δούκισσας του Ρίτσμοντ. Εκεί θα παραβρεθεί η αφρόκρεμα της αριστοκρατίας, αλλά και η οικογένεια του Τζέιμς Τρέντσαρντ, ενός ευκατάστατου αλλά ταπεινής καταγωγής εμπόρου. Η κόρη του, η Σοφία, είναι ερωτευμένη με τον Έντμουντ Μπέλασις, γιο του κόμη του Μπρόκενχερστ και, παρά το κοινωνικό χάσμα που τους χωρίζει, οι δυο νέοι ζουν απόλυτα τον έρωτά τους. Κανείς όμως δεν μπορεί να φανταστεί το σκληρό παιχνίδι που τους επιφυλάσσει η μοίρα, την επόμενη κιόλας ημέρα…
Μετά από εικοσιπέντε περίπου χρόνια, η οικογένεια Τρέντσαρντ ζει σε μια από τις πολυτελέστερες συνοικίες του Λονδίνου, κοντά στην φημισμένη πλατεία Μπέλγκρειβ. Απολαμβάνουν όλα τα πολύτιμα υλικά αγαθά που θα μπορούσε κάποιος να επιθυμήσει, όμως η σκιά της απώλειας της κόρης τους στοιχειώνει το πολυτελές σπίτι τους. Μια παρόμοια σκιά στοιχειώνει και το μέγαρο των Μπέλασις, αφού ο μονάκριβος γιος τους και διάδοχος του τίτλου σκοτώθηκε στην περιβόητη μάχη του Βατερλό. Τίποτα δεν φαίνεται να ενώνει τις δύο οικογένειες, που ανήκουν σε εντελώς διαφορετικές τάξεις και κινούνται σε διαφορετικούς κύκλους, εκτός από το γεγονός πως τα παιδιά τους, που κάποτε έκαναν σχέδια για το κοινό τους μέλλον, είναι από χρόνια νεκρά.
Όμως οι Τρέντσαρντ κρύβουν ένα μυστικό, καλά φυλαγμένο για εικοσιπέντε ολόκληρα χρόνια. Ένα μυστικό που, αν αποκαλυφθεί ποτέ, μπορεί να προκαλέσει την καταστροφή τους, κάνοντάς τους να χάσουν όλα όσα έχουν καταφέρει ως τώρα. Ένα μυστικό που, από την άλλη πλευρά, μπορεί να δώσει μια νέα αχτίδα ελπίδας σε ένα ζευγάρι ηλικιωμένων που πιστεύει πως έχει χάσει τα πάντα. Το παρελθόν φαντάζει έτοιμο να τους χτυπήσει την πόρτα, ασυγκράτητο κι ορμητικό, και ο Τζέιμς με τη σύζυγό του συνειδητοποιούν πως σύντομα θα είναι πλέον ανίσχυροι να εμποδίσουν τις αλλαγές που προμηνύονται στις ζωές τους και πως θα πρέπει να υποστούν τις συνέπειες της μακροχρόνιας σιωπής τους.
Η ιστορία του Έντμουντ και της Σοφίας αποτελεί το έναυσμα για ολόκληρη τη μετέπειτα πλοκή· την αποτύπωση μιας ολόκληρης κοινωνίας, μια μικρογραφία της εποχής εκείνης στη σφαιρική ολότητά της. Ο Fellowes δημιουργεί έναν ολόκληρο κόσμο γοητευτικών αντιθέσεων – αριστοκράτες και αστοί, αφέντες και υπηρέτες, αθώοι και επιτήδειοι, ονειροπόλοι και ρεαλιστές, ευγενικοί και αδίστακτοι ήρωες ξεδιπλώνουν τα πάθη τους και συμπλέκονται σε ένα άκρως γοητευτικό γαϊτανάκι, που συναρπάζει τον αναγνώστη και κρατάει αμείωτο το ενδιαφέρον του.
Η έντονη δράση και οι απανωτές ανατροπές δεν είναι τα ζητούμενα εδώ. Η «Μπελγκρέιβια» είναι μια ιστορία που απαιτεί το χρόνο της για να μεστώσει. Έχοντας ήδη τυλίξει εξ’ αρχής τον αναγνώστη στα ασημόπλεκτα δίχτυα της με υποσχέσεις για μια συναρπαστική αφήγηση, δεν χρειάζεται ιδιαίτερο σασπένς για να διατηρήσει τη δυναμική της. Ο αναγνώστης γνωρίζει πολύ καλά πως το μυστικό θα αποκαλυφθεί στο τέλος, πως ο κάθε ήρωας θα συναντήσει, αργά ή γρήγορα, το πεπρωμένο του. Όμως το ταξίδι ως εκεί είναι από μόνο του τόσο συναρπαστικό, που κάνει τον τελικό προορισμό να ωχριά μπροστά του. Αυτό που ενδιαφέρει είναι η εκάστοτε σελίδα, και όλα όσα έχει αυτή να αποκαλύψει. Το προσεγμένο κείμενο, η καλογραμμένη πλοκή, η επιμελής ιστορική έρευνα, η φροντίδα στο χτίσιμο των χαρακτήρων, η ρεαλιστική απεικόνιση της κοινωνίας, ζωγραφισμένης με μια πλούσια παλέτα χαρακτηριστικών αλλά με πλήρη απουσία κάθε επιτηδευμένης ωραιοποίησης είναι μερικά επίσης από τα στοιχεία που κάνουν το συγκεκριμένο στόρυ ακαταμάχητο. Και, φυσικά, πανταχού παρών είναι ο έρωτας, σε αρκετές ποικίλες εκδοχές του· από την ανιδιοτελή αγάπη μέχρι τον απόλυτα ιδιοτελή πόθο.
Μπορεί πίσω από το λούστρο της αγγλικής αριστοκρατίας της εποχής εκείνης να κρύβονται κατώτερα πάθη και βρώμικα μυστικά –τα οποία επίσης παρουσιάζει εδώ ο συγγραφέας ρεαλιστικά, χωρίς να φοβάται πως θα ‘τσαλακώσει’ το λαμπερό περίβλημα της ιστορίας του– όμως πίσω από υπέροχο εξώφυλλο της «Μπελγκρέιβια» κρύβονται 540 συναρπαστικές σελίδες, ποτισμένες με το μεθυστικό άρωμα μιας μακρινής εποχής, που ανυπομονούν να σας παρασύρουν στην κοσμοπολίτικη μαγεία τους. Το μόνο που έχετε να κάνετε εσείς, αγαπητοί αναγνώστες, είναι να αφεθείτε και να απολαύσετε το ταξίδι!
Η ιστορία ξεκινά στην πόλη των Βρυξελλών τις παραμονές της μάχης του Βατερλό, όπου βρίσκονται συγκεντρωμένοι αρκετοί Άγγλοι αριστοκράτες. Χωρίς να φαντάζονται τι τους επιφυλάσσει το κοντινό μέλλον, οι πάντες ανυπομονούν για τον επικείμενο χορό της δούκισσας του Ρίτσμοντ. Εκεί θα παραβρεθεί η αφρόκρεμα της αριστοκρατίας, αλλά και η οικογένεια του Τζέιμς Τρέντσαρντ, ενός ευκατάστατου αλλά ταπεινής καταγωγής εμπόρου. Η κόρη του, η Σοφία, είναι ερωτευμένη με τον Έντμουντ Μπέλασις, γιο του κόμη του Μπρόκενχερστ και, παρά το κοινωνικό χάσμα που τους χωρίζει, οι δυο νέοι ζουν απόλυτα τον έρωτά τους. Κανείς όμως δεν μπορεί να φανταστεί το σκληρό παιχνίδι που τους επιφυλάσσει η μοίρα, την επόμενη κιόλας ημέρα…
Μετά από εικοσιπέντε περίπου χρόνια, η οικογένεια Τρέντσαρντ ζει σε μια από τις πολυτελέστερες συνοικίες του Λονδίνου, κοντά στην φημισμένη πλατεία Μπέλγκρειβ. Απολαμβάνουν όλα τα πολύτιμα υλικά αγαθά που θα μπορούσε κάποιος να επιθυμήσει, όμως η σκιά της απώλειας της κόρης τους στοιχειώνει το πολυτελές σπίτι τους. Μια παρόμοια σκιά στοιχειώνει και το μέγαρο των Μπέλασις, αφού ο μονάκριβος γιος τους και διάδοχος του τίτλου σκοτώθηκε στην περιβόητη μάχη του Βατερλό. Τίποτα δεν φαίνεται να ενώνει τις δύο οικογένειες, που ανήκουν σε εντελώς διαφορετικές τάξεις και κινούνται σε διαφορετικούς κύκλους, εκτός από το γεγονός πως τα παιδιά τους, που κάποτε έκαναν σχέδια για το κοινό τους μέλλον, είναι από χρόνια νεκρά.
Όμως οι Τρέντσαρντ κρύβουν ένα μυστικό, καλά φυλαγμένο για εικοσιπέντε ολόκληρα χρόνια. Ένα μυστικό που, αν αποκαλυφθεί ποτέ, μπορεί να προκαλέσει την καταστροφή τους, κάνοντάς τους να χάσουν όλα όσα έχουν καταφέρει ως τώρα. Ένα μυστικό που, από την άλλη πλευρά, μπορεί να δώσει μια νέα αχτίδα ελπίδας σε ένα ζευγάρι ηλικιωμένων που πιστεύει πως έχει χάσει τα πάντα. Το παρελθόν φαντάζει έτοιμο να τους χτυπήσει την πόρτα, ασυγκράτητο κι ορμητικό, και ο Τζέιμς με τη σύζυγό του συνειδητοποιούν πως σύντομα θα είναι πλέον ανίσχυροι να εμποδίσουν τις αλλαγές που προμηνύονται στις ζωές τους και πως θα πρέπει να υποστούν τις συνέπειες της μακροχρόνιας σιωπής τους.
Η ιστορία του Έντμουντ και της Σοφίας αποτελεί το έναυσμα για ολόκληρη τη μετέπειτα πλοκή· την αποτύπωση μιας ολόκληρης κοινωνίας, μια μικρογραφία της εποχής εκείνης στη σφαιρική ολότητά της. Ο Fellowes δημιουργεί έναν ολόκληρο κόσμο γοητευτικών αντιθέσεων – αριστοκράτες και αστοί, αφέντες και υπηρέτες, αθώοι και επιτήδειοι, ονειροπόλοι και ρεαλιστές, ευγενικοί και αδίστακτοι ήρωες ξεδιπλώνουν τα πάθη τους και συμπλέκονται σε ένα άκρως γοητευτικό γαϊτανάκι, που συναρπάζει τον αναγνώστη και κρατάει αμείωτο το ενδιαφέρον του.
Η έντονη δράση και οι απανωτές ανατροπές δεν είναι τα ζητούμενα εδώ. Η «Μπελγκρέιβια» είναι μια ιστορία που απαιτεί το χρόνο της για να μεστώσει. Έχοντας ήδη τυλίξει εξ’ αρχής τον αναγνώστη στα ασημόπλεκτα δίχτυα της με υποσχέσεις για μια συναρπαστική αφήγηση, δεν χρειάζεται ιδιαίτερο σασπένς για να διατηρήσει τη δυναμική της. Ο αναγνώστης γνωρίζει πολύ καλά πως το μυστικό θα αποκαλυφθεί στο τέλος, πως ο κάθε ήρωας θα συναντήσει, αργά ή γρήγορα, το πεπρωμένο του. Όμως το ταξίδι ως εκεί είναι από μόνο του τόσο συναρπαστικό, που κάνει τον τελικό προορισμό να ωχριά μπροστά του. Αυτό που ενδιαφέρει είναι η εκάστοτε σελίδα, και όλα όσα έχει αυτή να αποκαλύψει. Το προσεγμένο κείμενο, η καλογραμμένη πλοκή, η επιμελής ιστορική έρευνα, η φροντίδα στο χτίσιμο των χαρακτήρων, η ρεαλιστική απεικόνιση της κοινωνίας, ζωγραφισμένης με μια πλούσια παλέτα χαρακτηριστικών αλλά με πλήρη απουσία κάθε επιτηδευμένης ωραιοποίησης είναι μερικά επίσης από τα στοιχεία που κάνουν το συγκεκριμένο στόρυ ακαταμάχητο. Και, φυσικά, πανταχού παρών είναι ο έρωτας, σε αρκετές ποικίλες εκδοχές του· από την ανιδιοτελή αγάπη μέχρι τον απόλυτα ιδιοτελή πόθο.
Μπορεί πίσω από το λούστρο της αγγλικής αριστοκρατίας της εποχής εκείνης να κρύβονται κατώτερα πάθη και βρώμικα μυστικά –τα οποία επίσης παρουσιάζει εδώ ο συγγραφέας ρεαλιστικά, χωρίς να φοβάται πως θα ‘τσαλακώσει’ το λαμπερό περίβλημα της ιστορίας του– όμως πίσω από υπέροχο εξώφυλλο της «Μπελγκρέιβια» κρύβονται 540 συναρπαστικές σελίδες, ποτισμένες με το μεθυστικό άρωμα μιας μακρινής εποχής, που ανυπομονούν να σας παρασύρουν στην κοσμοπολίτικη μαγεία τους. Το μόνο που έχετε να κάνετε εσείς, αγαπητοί αναγνώστες, είναι να αφεθείτε και να απολαύσετε το ταξίδι!
July 31, 2023
Early Victorian slice-of-life flashbacks 25 years to the days just before the Battle of Waterloo, with particular emphasis on the events at a ball on the night before that famous battle.
Back to 1840 London; what has happened in the intervening years gradually unfolds. Who knows what, when, how and from whom is what keeps the reader ever on his/her toes. If people who live under the same roof wouldn’t insist on keeping secrets from each other—for all the wrong reasons—they’d get along ever so much better … but then we would lose out on a juicy story.
I listened to this while I exercised and it was perfect for that as it was not a fast-paced or complicated plot, yet I was interested enough to want to keep exercising and listening.
Yes, I am a Downton fan, not a crazy one, but I did enjoy watching the series on DVD. Fellowes is a good period writer. So, you know if you liked Downton Abbey you will probably like this. Of course, you can’t see all the beautiful costumes, hairstyles and sets, but the dialogue and characters are Fellowes in his element.
It is the kind of story which blooms like a delicate bud into a beautiful rose—a perfect ending.
Back to 1840 London; what has happened in the intervening years gradually unfolds. Who knows what, when, how and from whom is what keeps the reader ever on his/her toes. If people who live under the same roof wouldn’t insist on keeping secrets from each other—for all the wrong reasons—they’d get along ever so much better … but then we would lose out on a juicy story.
I listened to this while I exercised and it was perfect for that as it was not a fast-paced or complicated plot, yet I was interested enough to want to keep exercising and listening.
Yes, I am a Downton fan, not a crazy one, but I did enjoy watching the series on DVD. Fellowes is a good period writer. So, you know if you liked Downton Abbey you will probably like this. Of course, you can’t see all the beautiful costumes, hairstyles and sets, but the dialogue and characters are Fellowes in his element.
It is the kind of story which blooms like a delicate bud into a beautiful rose—a perfect ending.
January 13, 2021
2 stars
Mehhhh, this was OK. When I first saw this in the bookstore I was so excited to read it - recently I've been in this historical fiction mood, and this had a gorgeous cover and promising great secrets and scandals in 1840s London. Yeah, that sounds awesome! But, unfortunately, it didn't work very well.
The story was not terrible, but the only time I was really interested was the first and last few chapters - the 300 pages in between were SO BORING. I also didn't specially like any of the characters, including Charles -I got the impression the author really wanted us to like him, but he was just so dull...
This was definetely not a favorite of mine.
Mehhhh, this was OK. When I first saw this in the bookstore I was so excited to read it - recently I've been in this historical fiction mood, and this had a gorgeous cover and promising great secrets and scandals in 1840s London. Yeah, that sounds awesome! But, unfortunately, it didn't work very well.
The story was not terrible, but the only time I was really interested was the first and last few chapters - the 300 pages in between were SO BORING. I also didn't specially like any of the characters, including Charles -I got the impression the author really wanted us to like him, but he was just so dull...
This was definetely not a favorite of mine.
November 10, 2021
O livro começa em 1815, na véspera da batalha de Waterloo. Depois de um baile inesquecível em Bruxelas, vários jovens da alta sociedade inglesa morrem no campo de batalha pouco tempo depois.
25 anos mais tarde, no elegante bairro de Belgravia em Londres, ressurgem alguns dos segredos que ficaram guardados e esquecidos desde a altura da batalha, no meio de duas famílias muito importantes mas muito diferentes.
Sobre famílias poderosas, sobre famílias menos importantes que também gostariam de ser poderosas, sobre segredos claro, sobre ambição, sobre heranças, mas também sobre grandes amores e sobre legado, sobre aparências e preconceitos, sobre dignidade e sobre verdade.
Adorei o livro! Puro entretenimento que se lê muito bem.
Muito ao estilo Jane Austen 😍 Gosto sempre de um bom romance de época. Muito ao género Downtown Abbey também, onde as histórias entre famílias, os segredos, a intriga, o conflito e a colaboração dos criados está sempre presente.
Talvez um pouco previsível mas com algum mistério até ao final. A não perder para quem gosta deste género!
25 anos mais tarde, no elegante bairro de Belgravia em Londres, ressurgem alguns dos segredos que ficaram guardados e esquecidos desde a altura da batalha, no meio de duas famílias muito importantes mas muito diferentes.
Sobre famílias poderosas, sobre famílias menos importantes que também gostariam de ser poderosas, sobre segredos claro, sobre ambição, sobre heranças, mas também sobre grandes amores e sobre legado, sobre aparências e preconceitos, sobre dignidade e sobre verdade.
Adorei o livro! Puro entretenimento que se lê muito bem.
Muito ao estilo Jane Austen 😍 Gosto sempre de um bom romance de época. Muito ao género Downtown Abbey também, onde as histórias entre famílias, os segredos, a intriga, o conflito e a colaboração dos criados está sempre presente.
Talvez um pouco previsível mas com algum mistério até ao final. A não perder para quem gosta deste género!
May 24, 2020
Finished this one just before going in for major surgery as my leg has a bacterial septic infection & got admitted to ER in the time of the virus. Only physical book I grabbed. It got me through a lot, look forward to seeing the series when I get home soon. Trying to culture the infection & target the infection, throwing everything at it in the book, I think. Have so much going in my IV is like the L.A. freeway before shutdown. It was good to have a book that had engaging characters and a well-structured plot, motivated villains and venal servants, along with long-married couples and Victorian life. Kept me sane. Had a bad few moments when Kindle would not connect, but got it working before I went into surgery. A reader has her priorities. May add more later after...
July 11, 2024
Review from 2016
A+ for narration; B+ for content.
I’m sure that most people will be familiar with the name of the writer of Gosford Park and the creator of the hugely successful Downton Abbey. In his latest novel, Julian Fellowes continues to explore England’s past and to look particularly at the class system and the way in which convention and reputation so dominated British society in the 19th century. As one would expect from an Oscar winning screenwriter, the story is beautifully written and developed; and as one would expect from Julian Fellowes, it’s full of acute social observation and comment delivered in a classically understated, English manner. The book’s gentle pacing may not suit all tastes, but when you throw in the hugely talented Juliet Stevenson into the mix as the narrator, that only allows the listener more time to listen to her beautiful voice and enjoy her truly outstanding performance.
Belgravia is very much an ensemble piece, the story of two families who would probably not have ever come into each other’s social orbit but for a twist of fate that ends up setting in motion a train of events that continue to have repercussions over two decades later.
The story opens just before the famous ball held by the Duchess of Richmond in Brussels on the eve of the Battle of Quatre Bras (which would eventually lead to the battle at Waterloo). James Trenchard is a successful tradesman who is widely known as “Wellington’s Vittler” because he is the army’s chief supplier of pretty much everything. He, his wife, Anne, and their eighteen year old daughter, Sophia, are in Brussels with the army, and Sophia, a very pretty girl, has attracted the attention of Edmund Bellasis, the son of the Earl of Brockenhurst. Sophia is excited about the ball as she expects to see and dance with Edmund, but her mother is sceptical. Anne Trenchard is a practical woman; a tradesman’s daughter, no matter how beautiful, could never aspire to marry a viscount, and she is naturally worried for her daughter’s heart as well as her virtue. But James is more indulgent and quite happy at the attention being paid his daughter by a future earl.
When the terrible news that the French are almost upon the town reaches the ball, everyone immediately springs into action. The troops are rallied, promises are exchanged, goodbyes are said – and Sophia, miserable and scared for Edmund gets a shock. We learn shortly after this that she is carrying Edmund’s child; the couple had been married in Brussels by a friend of his whom she believed to be a clergyman, but who, she realised on the night of the ball, was nothing of the sort. Edmund was killed at Waterloo, so there is no hope for it but for Sophia to go away from London to have the baby in secret. Poor Sophia dies giving birth to her son, Charles, who is then, as James and Anne have agreed, taken in by a Sussex clergyman, the Reverend Pope.
Anne feels the wrench very deeply, losing both her daughter and grandson at one fell swoop, but there is no other way to preserve Sophia’s reputation, and she goes along with it.
Over the years, James becomes more and more successful, transferring his business interests into property development. He is a good, bluff, hearty man, but he is an inveterate social climber, something which makes Anne very uncomfortable as she dislikes forcing her way into a society that clearly doesn’t want her. Yet one afternoon, at a tea party, she finds herself in conversation with Edmund Bellasis’ mother, Lady Brockenhurst, and a chance comment from that lady decides Anne upon a course of action that will see family secrets exposed and petty jealousies explode into something far more ominous.
The storyline of Belgravia is rich and multi-layered and the relationships and connections between the characters are very well drawn. James and Anne Trenchard are at the heart of the story; Anne is a wonderful character, a kind, compassionate woman whose gentle manner belies a steel backbone. She doesn’t like her husband’s social climbing and there are a couple of times in the story when James treats her very shabbily, but there’s no question that these two are bound together by a strong, deep affection. Their son, Oliver, is discontent with the path in life that has been allotted him and proves a continual disappointment to James. His father wants him to work alongside him in business, but Oliver has no aptitude for or interest in it and aspires to be a country gentleman instead. His wife, Susan, is a calculating woman who is as unhappy as her husband, feeling that her social ambitions are being thwarted by Anne because Anne doesn’t go out into society as much as Susan would like. There’s an equally well-rounded set of secondary characters, too, all of whom have important parts to play in the wider context of the story.
As one would expect from Mr. Fellowes, the story has a fantastic sense of time and place. From the discussion of the building projects of Thomas Cubitt (with whom James is associated), the recent invention of “afternoon tea” as taken up by the ladies, the attention paid to the strict adherence to the social hierarchy and convention; the descriptions of gowns, house interiors, the London streets … it’s all beautifully detailed and part of the rich fabric of the novel as a whole.
Juliet Stevenson’s name will be familiar to many, whether from her numerous stage, television and film appearances or her large catalogue of audiobooks. She is the perfect narrator for this material; her lovely contralto is incredibly easy on the ear and her vocal characterisations are, quite simply, sublime. Every single character, no matter how large a part they play in the story, is clearly and effectively differentiated by means of a wide variety of timbre and accent and appropriate changes of pitch where necessary. Her pacing is spot on, her acting choices are excellent – it’s a flawless performance and one I can’t recommend highly enough.
Julian Fellowes’s Belgravia is an engrossing, highly enjoyable piece of historical fiction with a dash of mystery and a smidgeon of romance. It’s a superb listen on all fronts and an audiobook I have no hesitation in strongly recommending.
A+ for narration; B+ for content.
I’m sure that most people will be familiar with the name of the writer of Gosford Park and the creator of the hugely successful Downton Abbey. In his latest novel, Julian Fellowes continues to explore England’s past and to look particularly at the class system and the way in which convention and reputation so dominated British society in the 19th century. As one would expect from an Oscar winning screenwriter, the story is beautifully written and developed; and as one would expect from Julian Fellowes, it’s full of acute social observation and comment delivered in a classically understated, English manner. The book’s gentle pacing may not suit all tastes, but when you throw in the hugely talented Juliet Stevenson into the mix as the narrator, that only allows the listener more time to listen to her beautiful voice and enjoy her truly outstanding performance.
Belgravia is very much an ensemble piece, the story of two families who would probably not have ever come into each other’s social orbit but for a twist of fate that ends up setting in motion a train of events that continue to have repercussions over two decades later.
The story opens just before the famous ball held by the Duchess of Richmond in Brussels on the eve of the Battle of Quatre Bras (which would eventually lead to the battle at Waterloo). James Trenchard is a successful tradesman who is widely known as “Wellington’s Vittler” because he is the army’s chief supplier of pretty much everything. He, his wife, Anne, and their eighteen year old daughter, Sophia, are in Brussels with the army, and Sophia, a very pretty girl, has attracted the attention of Edmund Bellasis, the son of the Earl of Brockenhurst. Sophia is excited about the ball as she expects to see and dance with Edmund, but her mother is sceptical. Anne Trenchard is a practical woman; a tradesman’s daughter, no matter how beautiful, could never aspire to marry a viscount, and she is naturally worried for her daughter’s heart as well as her virtue. But James is more indulgent and quite happy at the attention being paid his daughter by a future earl.
When the terrible news that the French are almost upon the town reaches the ball, everyone immediately springs into action. The troops are rallied, promises are exchanged, goodbyes are said – and Sophia, miserable and scared for Edmund gets a shock. We learn shortly after this that she is carrying Edmund’s child; the couple had been married in Brussels by a friend of his whom she believed to be a clergyman, but who, she realised on the night of the ball, was nothing of the sort. Edmund was killed at Waterloo, so there is no hope for it but for Sophia to go away from London to have the baby in secret. Poor Sophia dies giving birth to her son, Charles, who is then, as James and Anne have agreed, taken in by a Sussex clergyman, the Reverend Pope.
Anne feels the wrench very deeply, losing both her daughter and grandson at one fell swoop, but there is no other way to preserve Sophia’s reputation, and she goes along with it.
Over the years, James becomes more and more successful, transferring his business interests into property development. He is a good, bluff, hearty man, but he is an inveterate social climber, something which makes Anne very uncomfortable as she dislikes forcing her way into a society that clearly doesn’t want her. Yet one afternoon, at a tea party, she finds herself in conversation with Edmund Bellasis’ mother, Lady Brockenhurst, and a chance comment from that lady decides Anne upon a course of action that will see family secrets exposed and petty jealousies explode into something far more ominous.
The storyline of Belgravia is rich and multi-layered and the relationships and connections between the characters are very well drawn. James and Anne Trenchard are at the heart of the story; Anne is a wonderful character, a kind, compassionate woman whose gentle manner belies a steel backbone. She doesn’t like her husband’s social climbing and there are a couple of times in the story when James treats her very shabbily, but there’s no question that these two are bound together by a strong, deep affection. Their son, Oliver, is discontent with the path in life that has been allotted him and proves a continual disappointment to James. His father wants him to work alongside him in business, but Oliver has no aptitude for or interest in it and aspires to be a country gentleman instead. His wife, Susan, is a calculating woman who is as unhappy as her husband, feeling that her social ambitions are being thwarted by Anne because Anne doesn’t go out into society as much as Susan would like. There’s an equally well-rounded set of secondary characters, too, all of whom have important parts to play in the wider context of the story.
As one would expect from Mr. Fellowes, the story has a fantastic sense of time and place. From the discussion of the building projects of Thomas Cubitt (with whom James is associated), the recent invention of “afternoon tea” as taken up by the ladies, the attention paid to the strict adherence to the social hierarchy and convention; the descriptions of gowns, house interiors, the London streets … it’s all beautifully detailed and part of the rich fabric of the novel as a whole.
Juliet Stevenson’s name will be familiar to many, whether from her numerous stage, television and film appearances or her large catalogue of audiobooks. She is the perfect narrator for this material; her lovely contralto is incredibly easy on the ear and her vocal characterisations are, quite simply, sublime. Every single character, no matter how large a part they play in the story, is clearly and effectively differentiated by means of a wide variety of timbre and accent and appropriate changes of pitch where necessary. Her pacing is spot on, her acting choices are excellent – it’s a flawless performance and one I can’t recommend highly enough.
Julian Fellowes’s Belgravia is an engrossing, highly enjoyable piece of historical fiction with a dash of mystery and a smidgeon of romance. It’s a superb listen on all fronts and an audiobook I have no hesitation in strongly recommending.
December 19, 2016
(ισως και 3.5*)
Είδα την διαφήμιση στην τηλεόραση και το ομολογώ:Είμαι θύμα του μάρκετινγκ!Δεν μπόρεσα να αντισταθώ στον δημιουργό του Downton Abbey,μια απο τις πιο αγαπημένες μου σειρές ever,ούτε και στο πολύ όμορφο μπλέ εξώφυλλο(άραγε υπάρχουν κι άλλοι που μόλις δουν μπλε εξώφυλλο νιώθουν μια έλξη ή μόνο εγώ το έχω αυτό το βίτσιο;).
Το ξεκίνησα άμεσα λοιπόν και δεν με απογοήτευσε,το διάβασα πολύ ευχάριστα, αν και ούτε με ενθουσίασε.Είναι μια σαπουνόπερα εποχής με τις ίντριγκες,τα μυστικά,τα πάθη ,τα μίση,τα ψέμματα,τις αριστοκρατικές κυρίες με τους καλούς τρόπους και τα όμορφα φορέματα,τη ρομαντικη νότα του αταίριαστου και αδιέξοδου(στην αρχή) έρωτα,τα παράνομα ζευγάρια και όλα τα συστατικά που χαρακτηρίζουν το είδος και είμαι σίγουρη οτι θα γινότανε μια πολύ ωραία τηλεοπτική σειρά.
Έχω την εντύπωση οτι ο Fellowes κάνει μια προσπάθεια να γράψει για την αριστοκρατία και τις ανώτερες κοινωνικές τάξεις της εποχής με κριτικό βλέμμα όπως έκανε η Ωστεν,η Γουόρτον ή ο Θάκερεϊ αλλά χωρίς ουσιαστικό αποτέλεσμα.Το βιβλίο παραμένει μια σαπουνόπερα για να περνάς ευχάριστα την ώρα σου όσο κι αν βάζει τη νεαρή λαίδη να αναρωτιέται για τη θέση της γυναίκας και την έλλειψη ελευθερίας σε σχέση με τους άντρες.Eπίσης κάτι που βρήκα ενοχλητικό είναι ο τρόπος που μας εξηγεί συνεχώς τις πράξεις και τις σκέψεις των ηρώων λες και είμαστε χαζοί(άλλο ένα χαρακτηριστικό της σαπουνόπερας).
Moυ άρεσε πάντως και το διάβασα με ενδιαφέρον κι ας ήταν και λίγο προβλέψιμο.
Είδα την διαφήμιση στην τηλεόραση και το ομολογώ:Είμαι θύμα του μάρκετινγκ!Δεν μπόρεσα να αντισταθώ στον δημιουργό του Downton Abbey,μια απο τις πιο αγαπημένες μου σειρές ever,ούτε και στο πολύ όμορφο μπλέ εξώφυλλο(άραγε υπάρχουν κι άλλοι που μόλις δουν μπλε εξώφυλλο νιώθουν μια έλξη ή μόνο εγώ το έχω αυτό το βίτσιο;).
Το ξεκίνησα άμεσα λοιπόν και δεν με απογοήτευσε,το διάβασα πολύ ευχάριστα, αν και ούτε με ενθουσίασε.Είναι μια σαπουνόπερα εποχής με τις ίντριγκες,τα μυστικά,τα πάθη ,τα μίση,τα ψέμματα,τις αριστοκρατικές κυρίες με τους καλούς τρόπους και τα όμορφα φορέματα,τη ρομαντικη νότα του αταίριαστου και αδιέξοδου(στην αρχή) έρωτα,τα παράνομα ζευγάρια και όλα τα συστατικά που χαρακτηρίζουν το είδος και είμαι σίγουρη οτι θα γινότανε μια πολύ ωραία τηλεοπτική σειρά.
Έχω την εντύπωση οτι ο Fellowes κάνει μια προσπάθεια να γράψει για την αριστοκρατία και τις ανώτερες κοινωνικές τάξεις της εποχής με κριτικό βλέμμα όπως έκανε η Ωστεν,η Γουόρτον ή ο Θάκερεϊ αλλά χωρίς ουσιαστικό αποτέλεσμα.Το βιβλίο παραμένει μια σαπουνόπερα για να περνάς ευχάριστα την ώρα σου όσο κι αν βάζει τη νεαρή λαίδη να αναρωτιέται για τη θέση της γυναίκας και την έλλειψη ελευθερίας σε σχέση με τους άντρες.Eπίσης κάτι που βρήκα ενοχλητικό είναι ο τρόπος που μας εξηγεί συνεχώς τις πράξεις και τις σκέψεις των ηρώων λες και είμαστε χαζοί(άλλο ένα χαρακτηριστικό της σαπουνόπερας).
Moυ άρεσε πάντως και το διάβασα με ενδιαφέρον κι ας ήταν και λίγο προβλέψιμο.
June 7, 2016
I've really been enjoying Belgravia and one of my favorite aspects of the novel is the fact that it's serialized or it can be read in "episodes." This makes the cliffhangers even more exciting. I know in the past this was a popular technique used by Charles Dickens and many others. I can see why it's so compelling when presented this way.
I also really enjoyed Fellowes' use of dramatic irony in Belgravia. We, the readers, are aware of who exactly Charles Pope is, but many of the characters are still left guessing. This only adds to the suspense and drama. Obviously Fellowes uses this technique very well.
Read the rest of my review here:
http://www.confessionsofabookaddict.c...
April 7, 2022
“Lies are so complicated, she thought. And not for the first time.”
BELGRAVIA
We all know why I picked up Belgravia—it is because Julian Fellowes is the author and he wrote Downton Abbey, so ’nuff said. This story begins just before the Battle of Waterloo. Sophia Trenchard has fallen in love. The night does not end as planned and will have repercussions for the next twenty-five years. Tragedy after tragedy has fallen on Sophia’s parents, but her father James Trenchard has had a lot of success in the trading industry. They are now rubbing elbows with the elite. The only problem is there is a secret that will shock the community if it is ever revealed and the Trenchards have people who will stop at nothing just to see them fall.
I fully intend to watch the show after reading this book, even though this book felt like a script word for word. Am I mad? No. But normally books provide more depth than the adaptation because there are just some things that adaptations will never be able to provide. I didn’t feel that depth in this book. There was just something missing.
This is also not one of those books where you’re going to fall in love with all the characters. Many of them will piss you off. Kind of like Downton Abbey. But there are always those two matriarchs who will win your heart and you really don’t care what happens to everyone else. Again, kind of like Downton Abbey.
I really enjoyed the ending. Everything came together perfectly. And I can’t forget about the narrator! Juliet Stevenson absolutely knocked it out of the park! I may be looking at a list of everything she has narrated and adding them to my TBR because she is that good! Overall, I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars!
BELGRAVIA
We all know why I picked up Belgravia—it is because Julian Fellowes is the author and he wrote Downton Abbey, so ’nuff said. This story begins just before the Battle of Waterloo. Sophia Trenchard has fallen in love. The night does not end as planned and will have repercussions for the next twenty-five years. Tragedy after tragedy has fallen on Sophia’s parents, but her father James Trenchard has had a lot of success in the trading industry. They are now rubbing elbows with the elite. The only problem is there is a secret that will shock the community if it is ever revealed and the Trenchards have people who will stop at nothing just to see them fall.
I fully intend to watch the show after reading this book, even though this book felt like a script word for word. Am I mad? No. But normally books provide more depth than the adaptation because there are just some things that adaptations will never be able to provide. I didn’t feel that depth in this book. There was just something missing.
This is also not one of those books where you’re going to fall in love with all the characters. Many of them will piss you off. Kind of like Downton Abbey. But there are always those two matriarchs who will win your heart and you really don’t care what happens to everyone else. Again, kind of like Downton Abbey.
I really enjoyed the ending. Everything came together perfectly. And I can’t forget about the narrator! Juliet Stevenson absolutely knocked it out of the park! I may be looking at a list of everything she has narrated and adding them to my TBR because she is that good! Overall, I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars!
May 29, 2020
2/5
Pamačius Julian Fellowes pavardę man ima drugeliai skraidyti pilve, nes dievaži, šio vyro rankose ir galvoje tikrai gimsta nuostabūs, absoliučiai mano skonį atitinkantys kūriniai. Jis sukūrė tiek „Downton Abbey“, tiek tokius filmus kaip „Vanity Fair“, „The Young Victoria“. Kitaip tariant – kokybiškos kostiuminės dramos, kurios mano širdžiai yra tarsi balzamas – nuostabūs drabužiai, pokalbiai, rodos, truputį apie orą, tačiau aštrūs ir slepiantys tiek daug užuominų, apraizgyti metaforomis ir subtiliais įžeidimais. Bet nesusimaišykite taip, kaip susimaišiau aš. Jeigu „Downton Abbey“ norisi ryti seriją po serijos, tarsi skaniausią ir nuostabaus šefo paruoštą desertą, nuoširdžiai nustembant net tais siužeto vingiais, kuriuos buvo galima numatyti iš tolo, perteptą puikiai subalansuotu britišku humoru, dekoruotą intrigomis ir dramomis, aplietą įtikinamais dialogais, net jei kartais šypseną keliančiais dėl savo pompastikos, „Belgravija“ šioje kompanijoje atrodo veikiau kaip džiūvėsėlis, įkandamas tik gerokai pamirkius arbatoje. Valgyti įmanoma, bet retam kuriam būtų pirmasis pasirinkimas.
Nesupraskite manęs neteisingai – esu žmogus, kuriam nėra problemų skaityti gerai sukaltą kostiuminę dramą – netrukdo nei pokalbiai truputį apie nieką, nei architektūros ar mados aprašymai, nei iš anksto nuspėjamas siužetas – tai žanro klasika, kuri man prie širdies, jei tik parašyta kokybiškai. Tačiau „Belgravija“ atrodo kaip kūrinys, parašytas paskubomis, neapgalvotai, patiekus skaitytojui maždaug tai, kas lieka ant stalo po „Downton Abbey“ puotos – blankių veikėjų trupiniai, ne tik nuspėjama, bet ir tiesiog neįdomi istorija, iki varginančio nuobodulio ištęstas siužetas, perpildytas neįsimintinais dialogais, kurie dažniausiai tiesiog jokie – jei prie žodžių nebūtų parašyta kas kalba, net ginklą prie smilkinio prirėmus negalėčiau atspėti kuris veikėjas čia prabilo. Nes jie visi vienodi. Vienodai neįdomūs, vienodai nesimpatiški – ne, ne, ne specialiai, apgalvotai nesimpatiški, o tiesiog tokie, kurie galėtų jau kitame puslapyje išgriūti negyvi ir man net širdis nevirptelėtų.
Šioje knygoje yra ir gerų dalykų, tačiau nei vieno jų negalėčiau priskirti autoriui. Kaip visuomet puikus Gabrielės Gailiūtės-Bernotienės vertimas, nuostabus baltų lankų leidimas ir liesti malonus, estetiškas, akį glostantis viršelis. Tačiau „Belgravija“ yra tik įdomios istorijos pažadas, instrigavęs vien pirmame puslapyje paminėtais istorikais konsultantais, tačiau galiausiai paliekantis savęs klausti – tai kokiu gi klausimu jie Julian Fellowes konsultavo, jei nei vienas iš galimų sudėtingų aspektų, tokių kaip karinė laikmečio situacija, architektūra, aristokratija, nebuvo išplėtotas rūpestingai, dėmesingai ir su meile?
Pamačius Julian Fellowes pavardę man ima drugeliai skraidyti pilve, nes dievaži, šio vyro rankose ir galvoje tikrai gimsta nuostabūs, absoliučiai mano skonį atitinkantys kūriniai. Jis sukūrė tiek „Downton Abbey“, tiek tokius filmus kaip „Vanity Fair“, „The Young Victoria“. Kitaip tariant – kokybiškos kostiuminės dramos, kurios mano širdžiai yra tarsi balzamas – nuostabūs drabužiai, pokalbiai, rodos, truputį apie orą, tačiau aštrūs ir slepiantys tiek daug užuominų, apraizgyti metaforomis ir subtiliais įžeidimais. Bet nesusimaišykite taip, kaip susimaišiau aš. Jeigu „Downton Abbey“ norisi ryti seriją po serijos, tarsi skaniausią ir nuostabaus šefo paruoštą desertą, nuoširdžiai nustembant net tais siužeto vingiais, kuriuos buvo galima numatyti iš tolo, perteptą puikiai subalansuotu britišku humoru, dekoruotą intrigomis ir dramomis, aplietą įtikinamais dialogais, net jei kartais šypseną keliančiais dėl savo pompastikos, „Belgravija“ šioje kompanijoje atrodo veikiau kaip džiūvėsėlis, įkandamas tik gerokai pamirkius arbatoje. Valgyti įmanoma, bet retam kuriam būtų pirmasis pasirinkimas.
Nesupraskite manęs neteisingai – esu žmogus, kuriam nėra problemų skaityti gerai sukaltą kostiuminę dramą – netrukdo nei pokalbiai truputį apie nieką, nei architektūros ar mados aprašymai, nei iš anksto nuspėjamas siužetas – tai žanro klasika, kuri man prie širdies, jei tik parašyta kokybiškai. Tačiau „Belgravija“ atrodo kaip kūrinys, parašytas paskubomis, neapgalvotai, patiekus skaitytojui maždaug tai, kas lieka ant stalo po „Downton Abbey“ puotos – blankių veikėjų trupiniai, ne tik nuspėjama, bet ir tiesiog neįdomi istorija, iki varginančio nuobodulio ištęstas siužetas, perpildytas neįsimintinais dialogais, kurie dažniausiai tiesiog jokie – jei prie žodžių nebūtų parašyta kas kalba, net ginklą prie smilkinio prirėmus negalėčiau atspėti kuris veikėjas čia prabilo. Nes jie visi vienodi. Vienodai neįdomūs, vienodai nesimpatiški – ne, ne, ne specialiai, apgalvotai nesimpatiški, o tiesiog tokie, kurie galėtų jau kitame puslapyje išgriūti negyvi ir man net širdis nevirptelėtų.
Šioje knygoje yra ir gerų dalykų, tačiau nei vieno jų negalėčiau priskirti autoriui. Kaip visuomet puikus Gabrielės Gailiūtės-Bernotienės vertimas, nuostabus baltų lankų leidimas ir liesti malonus, estetiškas, akį glostantis viršelis. Tačiau „Belgravija“ yra tik įdomios istorijos pažadas, instrigavęs vien pirmame puslapyje paminėtais istorikais konsultantais, tačiau galiausiai paliekantis savęs klausti – tai kokiu gi klausimu jie Julian Fellowes konsultavo, jei nei vienas iš galimų sudėtingų aspektų, tokių kaip karinė laikmečio situacija, architektūra, aristokratija, nebuvo išplėtotas rūpestingai, dėmesingai ir su meile?
March 24, 2018
Belgravia is what happens when you let a man write historical romance.
Well, well, well, I am a huge fan of Downton Abbey and I couldn't believe that the same Julian Fellowes wrote Belgravia. It's not bad in the therms of a very bad book, but there were some things that just didn't work together. So, you will like Belgravia if:
1. You have a degree in England's family tree and ties. If you know who is who's cousin and who can marry countesses and who don't you should be fine.
2. You just can't get enough of matronly characters. I am looking at you Lady Brockenhurst and Lady Templemore. I just couldn't figure out these two. They behaved quite erratically and weren't finished well as characters. I know that they were supposed to be these grand matriarchs, but they flopped. Both were so blah.
3. You love short, not vivid descriptions. There was supposed to be a party, but there was no party. The whole ball as so scarcely written about that I really missed something grand and important about it. The whole Belgravia was supposed to be all pillows and boudoirs, but it was meh.
4. You love insta love between to star-crossed lovers. You will find plenty of I-can't-marry-him-but-I-love-him here.
5. You love nosy characters. Really, there maids here are like crossbreed between Desperate Housewives and Sherlock Holmes.
6. Outstretched drama is your middle name. Everything is so dramatised. Like Fellowes just wanted to add as many "fun stuff" and "how people did stuff back in the day" about 18th century as possible.
Well, well, well, I am a huge fan of Downton Abbey and I couldn't believe that the same Julian Fellowes wrote Belgravia. It's not bad in the therms of a very bad book, but there were some things that just didn't work together. So, you will like Belgravia if:
1. You have a degree in England's family tree and ties. If you know who is who's cousin and who can marry countesses and who don't you should be fine.
2. You just can't get enough of matronly characters. I am looking at you Lady Brockenhurst and Lady Templemore. I just couldn't figure out these two. They behaved quite erratically and weren't finished well as characters. I know that they were supposed to be these grand matriarchs, but they flopped. Both were so blah.
3. You love short, not vivid descriptions. There was supposed to be a party, but there was no party. The whole ball as so scarcely written about that I really missed something grand and important about it. The whole Belgravia was supposed to be all pillows and boudoirs, but it was meh.
4. You love insta love between to star-crossed lovers. You will find plenty of I-can't-marry-him-but-I-love-him here.
5. You love nosy characters. Really, there maids here are like crossbreed between Desperate Housewives and Sherlock Holmes.
6. Outstretched drama is your middle name. Everything is so dramatised. Like Fellowes just wanted to add as many "fun stuff" and "how people did stuff back in the day" about 18th century as possible.
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