The Island by Victoria Hislop

[Elasticwoman]

I am over half way through this.
Finding the style humourless and sentimental but fascinated by the subject matter and story. Want to know what happens next (don't tell me!)

Any one else read this, and what did you think?

It's shit. Sorry.

I've just re-read this for the second time. Loved the historical content even if the story it was set in was a bit sentimentalist.

Keep reading if you find the subject matter interesting, the leprosy story was fascinating. (The end is pants)
Don;t worry I haven't given anything anyway!

Cissy - I asked for opinions so why are you sorry?

Yes have read this cos my Mum lent it to me. It was interesting about the leprosy, the island etc but I also was not impressed witht he ending. Fascinating though!

I enjoyed it too, it is sentimental but nonetheless a very interesting topic I think.

Well I enjoyed it, it was a decent read if a bit twee. It was interesting visiting Crete after reading it, I found the historical context interesting.

Elasticwoman, I felt the same as you. It could have been a really interesting book - the subject is fascinating. However, the style of the writing ruined it for me completely. I read it over a year ago, so I can't remember the specifics of why it was so bad - only that it was awful.

The characters are so black and white - either too good to be true, or so bad you know they must come to a bad end. At the beginning, when Eleni has to leave with the little boy, it would have been quite touching if not so overdone with weeping and wailing all over the place. All the way through, the narrator tells you what to feel.

But I had no idea there was such a thing as a leper colony so recently in Europe.

I don't usually go in for sentimental stuff like this but I really enjoyed it.

style of writing was so contrived it completely put me off, but the historical story would be interesting in the hands of someone else.

Such a relief I'm not the only one who thought it was slushy - have any of you read her new one?

Couldn't bear to waste another minute of my life reading her writing!

Historical side really interested me but hated the whole 'finding roots' bollocks.

Finished it now. Why did people hate the ending so much? I didn't think it was any worse than the rest of the book.

I'm reading it now, just started. Compared to the last book I read, it is a literary masterpiece!

(The last one I read, which I wouldn't have bought in a million years was a Maeve Binchy that my mum had bought to read on the plane from Oz to London, and she gave it to me to read, it really was pants....)

I've been to Crete, and the subject matter is fascinating (didn't go to Spinalonga or Plaka though, we were in the south -west and were a Philistines that didn't even go to Knossos!).

i loved this book, BUT was on holiday in crete when i read it and got to visit spinalonga whilst there, am not sure it would have had the same appeal otherwise!