Rate this book

The Last Banquet (2013)

by Jonathan Grimwood(Favorite Author)

3.67 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0857868799 (ISBN13: 9780857868794)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Canongate Books

review 1: I always like the deathbed confessional genre. In this case I really enjoyed the narrator's voice and the story of his life set in pre-Revolutionary France. Less appealing to me was the subject of his obsession with taste and his other "proclivities." By the end of the story, these were over the top and actually lowered my opinion of the book. The ending was also bizarre but actually fitting and almost beautiful (if it hadn't been in fact sort of disgusting).
review 2: This was NOT a very compelling book, however it was not so offensive as to make me actively dislike it. The setting is during the 1700s in France, a boy is found orphaned in dire circumstances who is obsessed with the taste of everything. There is definitely a 'grossness' factor in the descri... moreptions of what he eats and tastes (not a book for the squeamish). But it's also not very well structured. Large chunks of the book are missing any mention about his supposed obsession with taste. There is a bit of 18th c. version of Forrest Gump with the protaganist being in the right place to meet various luminaries of the day. I am not at all sure what the point was for the author to write this story, which he supposedly had the idea for ages ago and has been keeping on a scrap of paper for years. If you are interested in this time period and sensory obsessions, I suggest you Perfume instead. less

Download links for: The Last Banquet

Advertising