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The Liar
by: Stephen Fry

List Price: £7.99

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Used Price: £1.40
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780099457053
ISBN: 0099457059
Label: Arrow Books Ltd
Manufacturer: Arrow Books Ltd
Number Of Pages: 368
Publication Date: August 05, 2004
Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd
Studio: Arrow Books Ltd
Sales Rank: 15740

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Intriguing ...
... enough to keep on reading though utterly mind-boggling up to the very end.
It does include a fair amount of Blackadder-like dialogue, as I was hoping for, and a good deal of prep school and college banter. Correct, "No matter how much you shake it, the last drop always runs down you leg" is not Walton's Third Law, I do believe its Newton's Fourth since it has to do with gravity!?
Not an easy read - the upper end of the English language is thoroughly exploited if not directly challenged.
There's quite a lot of "gay stuff" as well. Skirting the invisible boundary Fry manages to stay on the right side of decency. If you are easily offended by sexual innuendo don't even bother.
Through a delicate balance between "funny ... Read More:

Rating:

- Sorry I didn't get it!
I love Stephen Fry and really enjoyed 'Moab is my Washpot' so I was keen to read 'The Liar'. I was influenced to buy it after reading all the reviews on Amazon - it is this that made me want to provide my own review, as a counter-balance to all those who liked the book.

Firstly, I found the main character, Adrian Healey, utterly unlikeable. I wasn't interested in him, or his bizarre behaviour, so didn't really care what happened to him. I didn't particularly warm to any of the others, either. The humour derived from mocking the snobbery of the public school system is short-lived and not worth the wait.

I didn't see the point of the italicized chapters until towards the end of the book - by which time I was past caring. ... Read More:

Rating:

- Almost Interesting...
I should preface this by saying 'I love Stephen Fry.' Despite being a heterosexual male, I would quite happily marry him just so I could enjoy a lifetime of his mild manners and witty repartees.

This being said, since I discovered Amazon's 'review' function I've tried to dissect books as objectively as possible. Therefore, I have to confess that The Liar was slightly disappointing for me.

Don't get me wrong: It's fantastically written. Fry's mastery of the language is quite simply art in motion, and the insight the work provides into the man himself is fascinating.

However... it's not very good, really.

I'm all for unconventional plot devices and disregarding standard narrative flow, but Fry's attempts ... Read More:

Rating:

- Weird definitely weird
After reading this book I felt confused. Yes it was funny in places and Mr Fry's literary style and prowess are undoubted. Why then can't he write a novel that coherently follows a storyline instead of flitting about like a fly on the proverbial griddle. It seems like he has written down all the points he wants to get across then got them to the publishers without sorting them into order as he was running out of time.
If this is his life story as some seem to suspect no wonder he is depressed. I was after reading it!

Rating:

- The journey is more enjoyable than the arrival
This is beautifully written and bears all the hallmarks of Fry's familiar delivery. I heartily recommend it. I have given just 4 stars out of 5 as I didn't feel particularly satisfied by the ending but I had very much enjoyed getting there. It's the first Fry novel I've read and I am certainly encouraged to read more of them.

Books : The Liar