Book Swap Reviews: Two for Dinner by Mike Gayle

[bumbleweed]

This was a very light easy read and pleasant enough in terms of the story.

But I found the characters a bit cliched and one-dimensional - I thought it was trying a bit hard to be Hi-Fidelity by Nick Hornby with all the muso references.

Also I found it a bit predictable in where it was going and although I recognised well the world of 'early thirty-somethings', I prefer a book which is a bit more thought-provoking or provides more insights and perspectives.

Glad I read it though - nice gentle intro to book swap!

Oh f*ck. The Title is actually "Dinner for Two".

I have let the side down here and not actually finished this one, but still wanted to post my thoughts. I do enjoy light romantic comedies, and have bought Mike Gayle books before, but have usually been disappointed and this was no exception. I think my problem is that, in my opinion, his books lack any sort of bite - the protagonists are such uniformly decent guys that I find them, and in fact the books as a whole, quite bland.

Apologies for not finishing, but I decided life was too short and I wanted to read William Leith's 'The Hungry Years' (which is funny and fascinating :))

Thanks to whoever started 'Dinner for Two' on its journey round our circle anyway - it's interesting to have a mixture of books.

bump

After the feast which was Small Island, this book can be compared to a Big Mac.

Took me hours to finish, couldnt wait for it to end, knew what was going to happen, the characters didnt have any depth, the smugness of the dad pissed me off, as did the ease in which the mother let him into her daughters life, that doesnt happen

Nice to know to avoid Mike Gayle in future though

I'm another one who didn't really enjoy this book, I have read others of his before and enjoyed them so don't avoid him completly WB!

I haven't finished this one either ... agree with Franny that life's too short! I found that the characters have no character, the writing is bland and I simply wasn't enjoying it.

It's good to have a variety of books on the swap though and I'm sure this will appeal to other swappers.

gosh, apologies to whoever sent this book round, but i agree with others. far too bland and insipid, with no sub plot, and a very dull style of writing. even the magazine articles were dull. i did read it all, but then i almost always finish a book.
particularly a shock after small isalnd which is so well crafted.

bump