Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Sex and the City
Book Review: Accurate, Witty, Poignant
Summary: 5 Stars
...are three of the words I'd use to describe this (extremely well-written) book. A series of short, mostly unjointed, chapters (excerpts of life), each of which makes you think. Some of the strongest writing I've seen.Book Review: All of the irritating aspects of the TV series with none of its good qualities
Summary: 2 Stars
I should say first off that, while I've watched the series a few times with my wife, I'm not a huge fan. I think this probably makes a difference because the things I find irritating about the series are more irritating in the book and the things that are entertaining about the series--and that I suspect makes so many viewers like it--are largely absent here. What I don't like is that the women are rich and beautiful with these fulfilling careers, yet they seem to be mostly whiney and unhappy. On top of that, they're amazingly superficial, obsessed with sex and with the way they look. Make these characters into men, and women would be talking about how pathetic they were. On the other hand what's nice about the series is that it's fairly witty and the friendships between the main characters are realistic and compelling--at least more so than in most television shows.
Well, in the book--which isn't really a story or even a series of stories but rather a collection of Bushnell's columns--the friendships and the interactions among the women are missing. The main substance of the chapters is Bushnell relating things her friends haved said about men. Moreover the characters are almost entirely interchangeable. Nowhere is this more evident than places where one friend will begin an observation and another one will finish it . . . as in this exchange:
"When it comes to marrying a man in Manhattan, two rules apply. 'You have to be sweet,' said Lisa, thirty-eight, a correspondent for a network news show. But at the same time, said Britta, a photo rep, 'you can't let them get away with anything.'"
I know that Bushnell hopes that she speaks for Manhattan career women, but are such women so completely interchangeable that you can't even distinguish one from the next?
On the other hand, it's a very quick read and doesn't demand much of you. It's hard to believe anyone would give this book 5 stars, but I can see giving it three or so if you aren't going to be annoyed by the things that bothered me.
Book Review: An okay read
Summary: 3 Stars
It was easy enought to get through. But I don't think it was a good as the tv seriesBook Review: At its scintillating best!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have never seen a single episode of "Sex and the City". The simple reason being : It is not shown in India where I hail from. I happened to pick this book by chance while browsing through my favorite local bookstore and I am glad I did pick this one!What I like a lot about this book is that its not laced with any sweetness or sacchrine. It is as it is. True. Painful and yes bitter in most places. The characters are strong and yet so weak like all humans. The fact that it was nonfiction made me relate more clearly to the book and I was not biased while devouring it whole heartedly.
Candace Bushnell draws from what she has witnessed or sometimes may be overheard. The setting could not have been more perfect: Manhattan in all its glory and languish is but a cold city without any warmth. Sex as most of the book is centred around funnily enough is not of great significance in the book according to me. There are way too many other paramters like loneliness, unrequited love, survival and friendship on which the book truly stands.
A lot of negativity that this book generated was also one of the reasons why it became so famous and popular. But if someone would ask me what I found most amazing in this book: This book had the soul of a lost city. Of a city that could only cause grief!
Nevertheless, a great read on a rainy afternoon!
Book Review: Big City Fun
Summary: 4 Stars
If you are a fan of the t.v. show, you will enjoy this book. If you are comfortable with yourself and the relationships in your life, you will enjoy this book. If you are looking for a light, witty read and are not reading 'Sex and the City' as an example of what dating in New York encompasses, you will like this book. Accept the novel as a series of short stories and anecdotes written to amuse you, and you will enjoy it. I did!