The Maze at Windermere

Posted on 13 April 2018 by Gregory Blake Smith

A dazzling high wire act I turned every page with a sense of wonder and excitement RICHARD RUSSO A richly layered novel of love, ambition, and duplicity, set against the storied seascape of Newport, Rhode IslandA reckless wager between a tennis pro with a fading career and a drunken party guest the stakes are an antique motorcycle and an heiress s diamond necklace launches a narrative odyssey that braids together three centuries of aspiration and adversity A witty and urbane bachelor of the Gilded Age embarks on a high risk scheme to marry into a fortune a young writer soon to make his mark turns himself to his craft with harrowing social consequences an aristocratic British officer during the American Revolution carries on a courtship that leads to murder and, in Newport s earliest days, a tragically orphaned Quaker girl imagines a way forward for herself and the slave girl she has inherited.In The Maze at Windermere Gregory Blake Smith weaves these intersecting worlds into a brilliant tapestry, charting a voyage across the ages into the maze of the human heart. Read The Maze at Windermere – kino-fada.fr 3.75 ambitious and notable stars to The Maze at Windermere .75This is the quite the unique read There are five separate stories across four centuries, and they all center on Newport, Rhode Island The stories have common themes, and they converge in a masterful way Gregory Blake Smith is a skilled writer, and The Maze at Windermere is an ambitious undertaking kind of a thrill ride without being a thriller I liked the characters and found each section engaging While I definitely enjoye 3.75 ambitious and notable stars to The Maze at Windermer...The Maze at Windermere, Gregory Blake Smith s staggeringly brilliant new novel, luxuriates in the demarcations of time It is an extraordinary demonstration of narrative dexterity Moving up and down through the strata of history, Smith captures the ever changing refractions of human desire.Any summary of this book s complex structure is bound to sound cumbersome, as though too much furniture has been crammed into too small a room But Smith, who teaches at Carleton College, is doing something The Maze at Windermere, Gregory Blake Smith s staggeringly brilliant new novel, luxuriates in the demarcations of time It is an extraordinary demonstration of narrative dexterity Moving up and down through the strata of history, Smith captures the ever changing refractions of human desire.Any summary of this book s complex structure is bound to sound cumbersome, as though too much furniture has been crammed into too small a room But Smith, who teaches at Carleton College, is doing something preternatural here Although the entire novel takes place in...I usually dislike dual time period books because one is always a lotinteresting than the other However, in this book the author juggled 5 time periods in a very ambitious and writerly exercise that kept me engaged throughout The story is told in alternating chapters from the points of view of 4 male and 1 female protagoni...3.5 This book appealed to me initially because it had excellent cover game It also wrongfully as it turned out suggested a Cloud Atlastype structure with multiple and intersecting stories separated through time.This is not David Mitchell by any stretch but it is an interesting book in its own way, echoing history back at the reader in surprising ways I don t know if it all worked but the attempt was honourable.The key character in this book is Newport, Rhode Island We explore it in 3.5 This book appealed to me initially because it had excellent cover game It also wrongfully as it turned out suggested a Cloud Atlastype structure with multiple and inte...Smith does something rather astonishing here The setting is Newport, R.I., where New York society has summered for over a century in lavish mansions on the Atlantic Told in alternating storylines from the years 2011, 1896, 1863, 1778, 1692 he leads us to an appreciation of the vagaries of the human heart both by those who have great wealth and those that aspire to possess it In the beginning of the novel, the storylines are distinct but as you near the end they collapse into one another Smith does something rather astonishing here The setting is Newport, R.I., where New York society has summered for over a century in lavish mansions on the Atlantic Told in alternating st...Divided and undecided, so I m rating it up Which is to say giving it a rating it initially merited, before the narrative spiraled out of control, quite literally This book is indeed a maze of mirrors, placed cleverly so that the reflections spins smaller and differently into the past, while echoing the same themes Original and quite ingenious concept of five threads crafted into a cohesive total, a Fibonacci sequence of a novel And yet such a structure requires a certain kind of patience and Divided and undecided, so I m rating it up Which is to say giving it a rating it initially merited, before the narrative spiraled out of control, quite literally This book is indeed a maze of mirrors, placed cleverly so that the reflections spins smaller and differently into the past, while echoing the same themes Original and quite ingenious concept of five threads crafted into a cohesive total, a Fibonacci sequence of a novel And yet such a structure requires a certain kind of patience and appreciation and maybe five is just too many The kids rule five kids is too many, two or three is a perfectly reasonable number, same with alternating timelines Mind you the author did a great job of it all, the narratives are distinct in style, but the juggling act got tiresome after a while and it was difficult to impossible to care equally ish about each one So I chose to read it as the first and main one was the soul of the story and the rest were just accoutrements,...Wondrous, inventive, sparkling and gracious There is simply no way to describe the pleasures of this book As others have noted, the book is made up of five stories, all set in Newport, Rhode Island, but taking place at different times separated by hundreds of years Reading The Maze at Windermere is like taking a journey on a slow train, say and noticing along the way, with growing wonder and delight, that beyond the train s windows certain scenes and themes, relationships and symbols, Wondrous, inventive, sparkling and gracious There is simply no way to describe the pleasures of this book As others have noted, the book is ... The Maze at Windermere is a beautifully written, enthralling novel Gregory Blake Smith juggles various characters and time periods with aplomb He s chameleonic in his narrative voices This book is a many layered look at relationships across time periods.In the The Maze at Windermere, we follow five storylines all set in Newport, Rhode Island In 2011 Sandy Allison is a former tennis pro, turned tennis instructor, g...I very nearly bailed on this after the first chapter what did I care about a sleazy tennis pro seducing rich women in Newport, R.I but am glad I persevered, as if this is not my favorite book of the year, it is destined to be in my top five Bold and daring in conception, brilliant and dazzling in execution, Smith s novel is a modern masterpiece I cannot fathom how he was able to so delicately and masterfully echo elements in his five storylines, without them becoming obvious or ham fist I very nearly bailed on this after the first chapter what did I care about a sleazy tennis pro seducing rich women in Newport, R.I but am glad I persevered, as if this is not my favorite book of the year, it is destined to be in my top five Bold and daring in conception, brilliant and dazzling in execution, Smith s novel is a modern masterpiece I cannot fathom how he was able to so delicately and masterfully echo elements in his five storylines, without them becoming obvious or ham fisted Each of his characters is precisely rendered, e...What a great idea this author noodled and he successfully executed it Centered in Newport, RI we are presented with five dynamic stories of very different groups of people over the centuries Each story is stunning Only complaint small font for old eyes, but I understand since it is 339 pages and would be longer if the print was large enough for me.I feel so grateful to my library I got on train and rushed through the cold and wind to pick up this book and I am going to be selfish enoug What a great idea this author noodled and he successfully executed it Centered in Newport, RI we are presented with five dynamic stories of very ...

13 April 2018

Gregory Blake Smith