Notwithstanding

by Louis de Bernières

Book Overview

As the world around it marches forward, the bucolic English village of Notwithstanding remains unchanged. It is, as it always has been, a place of pubs and cricket pitches, where local eccentrics--a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1101969873
• ISBN13: 9781101969878
• Release Date: October 2016
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

DeBernieres is back

I have a problematic relationship with the writings of Louis de Bernieres. On the one hand, Corelli's Mandolin and the Senor Vivo trilogy rank among my favorite books. I rarely read a book a second time; I have read those four three times each, and Corelli's may be my favorite modern novel. However (you knew this was coming), I found his last two full-length books, Birds Without Wings and A Partisan's Daughter disappointing: Birds felt like a rehash of Corelli, and Daughter was just too thin. But de Bernieres is back in Corelli/Senor Vivo mode, by turns sweet, laugh-out-loud funny, and heartbreaking, and Notwithstanding is a joy. This collection of interwoven short pieces, about half published in British magazines and newspapers between 1996 and 2004, becomes a picture of village life in exurban London from the 1960s through the '90s. The historical sweep and grandeur of DeBernieres' best writing may not here, but that's okay, they don't belong here; in their place is the gentle quirkiness of English village life as it might never have been lived. While the loving attitude toward his characters is distinctly de Bernieres, the writing style is pitched differently than in previous books: echoes of Milne and Barrie inform the bucolic, lost world deBernieres mourns. The tone is pitch-perfect; it's been a while since I've read sentences that are structurally so delightful. The writing here brings to mind images of Margaret Rutherford's Miss Marple and Alistair Sim's St. Trinian's, and the arch British oddness that Monty Python taps into. Writing this review makes me want to go back and read it again.