Hope you win a prize, it's beautiful. Sarah Collins Honenberger if you liked the friendship in White Lies: One person found this helpful. It's hard to gather any sympathy for characters that are abstractly drawn and hopelessly treacly. The saving grace of this wisp of a novel a mere pages is the quirky habits and details that make people human. The descriptions of the various locales around the world are mediocre at best - the author doesn't present any new visuals for places that conjure up grandeur.
We are talking Venice, Turkey, Holland, and Egypt. There is plenty to say about these countries, yet the author barely manages to describe the areas with aplomb.
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- End of the Alphabet!
- End of the Alphabet by Fleur Beale from Not For Children | RNZ?
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The married couple around which The End of the Alphabet is centered are interesting, but one never gets attached to them, nor really cares about their plight. Reading about the little bits of pieces of their personalities carries the novel, yet the characterization doesn't meet any decent expectations. The premise is wonderful, the theme of the alphabet unique.
It just wasn't carried out well enough. You will read and reread and give to all your friends. This is a wonderful, poignant, loving and poignant little jewel of a book. Beware, it will make you weep. I give it 5 tissue boxes rather than stars! Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. Far from a page turner. Other readers have rated this book quite highly. Other than dealing with a man who has 30 days to live, I didn't find anything invigorating. This is one of the best books I have read. The prose is spare and clever. The story keeps the reader engaged on every page. I am a sucker for thoughtful love stories.
Merch | End of the Alphabet Records
The more I read the more poetic it felt. I will recommend it to all my friends who enjoy reading. I did not choose this book it was for book club. Definitely not a favorite. Ruby goes on strike and refuses to help out at home.
End of the Alphabet by Fleur Beale - Part 3 books. End of the Alphabet by Fleur Beale - Part 4 books. End of the Alphabet by Fleur Beale - Part 5 books. Ruby lands a holiday job and Max takes off. End of the Alphabet by Fleur Beale - Part 6 books. End of the Alphabet by Fleur Beale - Part 7 books. End of the Alphabet by Fleur Beale - Part 8 books. Ruby goes to Wellington with Maria, Catarina and Lucas. End of the Alphabet by Fleur Beale - Part 9 books. We did see him for a coffee visit one morning during that 30 days, but in retrospect I feel terribly guilty about having taken that time from him, we just weren't important enough in his life to have justified 60 of those 40, minutes.
Maybe, since you very devoutly believed in God despite this shitty situation, you will be reading this and if so, accept my apology, Richard. This is Ambrose's account of those thirty days he discovered he had left.
Completely different from my friend Richard's. At first I thought this was a "cute" book. Its prose is completely unpretentious as are the characters. The presentation is unusual. One very short chapter that is only a paragraph long. Another is one long run on sentence, which fits in context. The underlying story, however, is anything but "cute". A man and his wife must face his impending death.
He decides to do it by seeing the world alphabetically. Sometimes a book happens when it is most personally meaning At first I thought this was a "cute" book. Sometimes a book happens when it is most personally meaningful because of other things taking place in your life at that moment in time. Six weeks ago, my daughter lost her significant other of twenty years.
It has made all of us acutely aware of the impermanence of life. In this book, it is the husband who is dying, and the wife left behind.
End of the Alphabet by Fleur Beale
She is at sea. I am the wife, my daughter was in reality the wife, and so, of course, I identified. I had already marked another by this author as Wish List. I look forward to it. View all 5 comments. May 29, Frank rated it it was amazing Shelves: This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here. OK - this one was a guilty pleasure. I stumbled across the title in one of my wife's magazines that I explore for feminine insight from time to time. The title struck me, then the brief but very favorable review pulled me in. This this a short novel - in size and pages - that can be read in an afternoon. The story could likely have been told in pages, but one of the great charms here is the brevity, and the roller coaster within it.
Ambrose and his wife Zipper are hit with some horrible news OK - this one was a guilty pleasure. Ambrose and his wife Zipper are hit with some horrible news in the first few pages, and then embark of a alphabetical journey through their past, leaving behind a home, jobs, and hospitals. The novel takes us through the bitterness of suffering, but at the same time the peacefulness letting go, and holding on only to what is most important, and letting everything else go. And letting go comes from both perspectives, the one going, and the one staying behind.
There is really no effort in the story to give the reader hope of a happy ending, but after the journey, I'm not sure I wanted that kind of an ending. What I got in the end was bittersweet and beautiful. Jul 20, Nadine Larter rated it liked it. I must admit that I particularly love books like this one.
The End of the Alphabet is kind of refreshingly without pretention or strict structure.
2 Responses so far
It reads like someone sat down and wrote something. Which is often the best kind of writing. Ambrose Zephyr has only thirty days to live, and he has decided to spen I must admit that I particularly love books like this one. Ambrose Zephyr has only thirty days to live, and he has decided to spend them travelling with his wife.
I imagine this tactic might not work for everyone, but CS Richardson certainly owns the style with flair. Should you read it? Richardson is Lemoney Snickett without the quirk. Apr 13, Edwina Callan rated it did not like it Shelves: I guess this book proves that no two people ever read the same book. I started reading this back in Feb. I finally forced myself to finish it today. At pages, this book shouldn't take more than a couple of hours to read, but it is so slow paced and boring and the characters are just so silly that I feel like it was a waste of paper to even print this rubbish.
Also, this is the first book I've ever read where the main character is I guess this book proves that no two people ever read the same book. Also, this is the first book I've ever read where the main character is dying and I could have cared less and I would have helped him along if I could have, just so this horrible book would finally come to an end. May 29, Amber rated it it was amazing Shelves: When Ambrose Zephyr finds out he only has one month to live from his doctor, he takes his wife Zipper to places he had wanted to see before he dies on a list from A through Z.
Will his wife stand for it though? Read on and find out for yourself. This was a pretty good and sad read about living life to the fullest and cherishing it every day. Definitely check this book out at your local library and wherever books are sold. Jan 10, Elizabeth rated it liked it Shelves: This debut novel from a Canadian author had an interesting premise, a touching story, and fairly likable characters.
There wasn't a whole lot that I didn't like about it, but I found the End of the Alphabet a bit difficult for me to love. The writing style was mostly easy to read and straightforward, which was nice. I didn't particularly enjoy the lack of quotation marks for conversation, but that seems a bit trivial to complain about. It was a sad little story that had genuine emotion without fe This debut novel from a Canadian author had an interesting premise, a touching story, and fairly likable characters.
It was a sad little story that had genuine emotion without feeling too sad. I liked the idea of traveling the world when being given a death sentence of an illness, and I felt like it fell apart fairly realistically. It felt a bit like stuff I have previously read from Mitch Albom. Mostly, The End of the Alphabet was a decent book that would not be my typical fare.
I didn't really expect it to be when I found it on the shelf, so I guess I got what I anticipated. A good story, but not the kind I would typically prefer. If the book description suits your tastes, you will probably enjoy it. Dec 09, Jane rated it really liked it Shelves: The End of the Alphabet is what I would call a huggable book. Ambrose Zephyr is a fifty year old, happily married Londoner. But then he is diagnosed with an unidentified terminal illness and given only a month to live.
Ambrose that he must to seize the day. And so, accompanied by his wife Zappora Ashkenazi also known as Zipper he sets off on a journey round the world, visiting each city on his list in alphabetical order.
Editorial Reviews
Each stop evokes different memories, different emotions for Ambrose and Zipp The End of the Alphabet is what I would call a huggable book. Each stop evokes different memories, different emotions for Ambrose and Zipper. The chapters grow shorter as time runs out, and events take an unexpected turn before a sudden conclusion that is, sadly, inevitable. That together with the alphabetical conceit could have been too much, but it works because those elements are balanced with very real emotions. A wealth of tiny details, the little things that couples know about each other, bring Ambrose and Zipper.
And all of the important things ring true. An ordinary couple made special by their love for each other. I was devastated for Zipper when she lost her husband, but I could smile too when I thought of her and Ambrose together. Jan 12, Becca rated it it was amazing. I loved this book. Let me start by saying, this is not my typical book. I love long, perferably multi volume books, where as this is short pages , most of the chapters are less than a page and most of the sentences are not even complete. I picked up this book because of the cover. I was dawn in by the simple drawing of two camels and a palm tree.
I even put back a book I have been wanting to read for months in order to buy this one. I think the mark of a good book is whether or not it evokes I loved this book. I think the mark of a good book is whether or not it evokes an emotional response and this tiny book did just that. The story centers on Ambrose Zephyr, who has been told he has a month to live, and his wife Zipper Ashkenazi. He has a long standing obsession with letters and travel and quickly forms a list, from A to Z, of all the places he will travel in the time he has left.
My heart broke when he had to return home after I and skipping E and H. Ambrose's calm as he faced the end and Zipper's internal strength were compelling. This little book told a much deeper story than the majority of books that are 6 times it's size. Thought about giving it two stars because it's far too whimsical for me. For example half way through the bloke - who's dying - can suddenly see across seas eg Engalnd from France, even the USA from Cornwall and into the past when visiting the pyramids sees ancient egyptians at work on them.
It's not believable but maybe it's not supposed to be. However that ruins the impact of his dying. Straight after I started reading Kyle Minor's book of picked this up from the library today wasn't keen. Straight after I started reading Kyle Minor's book of stories and the first two were also about someone dying, concentrating on very real details like the son having to undress his mother and the over specificity of a dying woman's ice cream request of her husband. Those stories really hit me hard like punches to the nose.
This slight novel never landed one. So 2 and a half. Ambrose and Zipper, married had made the decision to never have children, their careers and their relationship would be enough. Now in their fifties, Ambrose has just received the diagnosis that in a month or less he will be dead.
It is never exactly said what his symptoms were nor what he had, just the news that he would be dead. What he has is besides the point, what the book is about is how they both react to the news and what they do. How they re-evaluate where they have been while they try Ambrose and Zipper, married had made the decision to never have children, their careers and their relationship would be enough.