The Liar by Stephen Fry Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Liar
Book Review: What does a Lyre Bird sound like?
Summary: 4 Stars
While stalled in my reading of Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, I started, and finished (a relatively quick read for me), this hilarious story by this noted British personality (and I mean that in the nicest way). I note Cryptonomicon because A) Bletchley Park and Turing are also mentioned here, but B) there is a strong theme of disinformation ladeled throughout the book.In fact, in a couple of neat paragraphs, Fry manages to communicate a couple of Stephenson's main points, many of which take dozens of pages to express in Cryptonomicon. None of this is to fault Stephenson; the point is that Fry's work, is compact, hilarious, and discusses the interpersonal and emotional aspects of deception. Stephensons is rambling, hilarious, and more interested in the mathematical and cryptographic implications required for international deception. Oh yeah, Fry's got more sex. Lots of it. Really.
His use of setting works well when it seems familiar territory: the British "public" school, apparently grown a bit more civilized since the days of "If..." and Cambridge. The brief satires of Academic eccentricity and procedure are probably the funniest sections in the book. The protagonist also, memorably, "works" briefly as a Piccadilly street hustler. Unfortunately, the story explodes into a shambles when it turns into a dis-assembled parody of a spy thriller (another quintessentially British theme). One may end up reading the novel feeling like Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd at the end of "Trading Places," after they've found that their fates were cast about simply for a $1 bet. Others may like it that way.
Book Review: Wit and a love for the English language
Summary: 4 Stars
I put myself at a disadvantage by reading Stephen Fry's second novel, The Hippopotamus, before reading The Liar. In so doing, I fostered expectations that The Liar would not live up to. The Hippopotamus is a much funnier, racier and scathingly witty work than Fry's first novel. But, after the initial shock of having my expectations dashed, I was rather pleasantly surprised at how engaging, charming and unpredictable this novel is. Well, okay, I wasn't really all that surprised. Stephen Fry is so good a writer that one book--one chapter in fact--is enough to convince you he is unlikely to disappoint. Fry writes with such clarity, flare and adeptness that one is left basking in the sheer joy of the English language. Fry lifts the veil of dreadfully dry, pretentiously hip, consciously urban and premeditatedly mainstream English that dominates literature today to reveal a language that is once again fresh, smart, vibrant, intellectual and tantalizingly naughty. Delightful! Forget that The Liar is chock full of sordid trysts (real, imagined and fabricated), homosexual and bisexual liaisons and scandalous accusations about the sexual traditions of English public schools, this is a masterful book in language alone. But if that is not enough for you, The Liar is also an exciting and maze-like blend of international intrigue, murder, teenage male prostitution and the coming of age of a pathological liar of the first degree. Or is it? You're never really sure which way's up in this book until Fry brings things to a last-minute wrap-up that would be the envy of even the most devious mystery writer. Is the Liar funny? Yes, but in a wholly different way than The Hippopotamus. It is possibly a more conventional a novel than the one immediately following it, less bizarre in its plot and less mysterious throughout. But in construction it is more compelling, intermingling episodes from different times in the Liar's life in such a way that the act of story telling itself entices the reader on. Add to that the espionage theme and the appalling escapades of Adrian, the Liar, and you end up with a novel that is hard to put down, is a smart and witty read and completely worth your time.Book Review: Witty and engaging novel
Summary: 5 Stars
Stephen Fry is a delightful actor and, as it happens, a delightful writer. "The Liar" is an ideal book in which to escape from the drudgery of everyday life. Adrian is a complex, controlled yet out-of-control character who is revealed with deliciously wicked precision. The espionage sequence became a bit laborious, but was redeemed by a strong ending.Book Review: Won the battles, Lost the War
Summary: 4 Stars
Stephen Fry's first novel, The Liar, was an irresistible read, abundant with wittcisms and nervy musings by the chief protagonist, Adrian Healey, and his various consorts. In many ways, the style of writing reminded me of another splendid British author, Tibor Fischer. The Liar recounts the experiences of a young man of relative privilege on his Odyssey through Public School and University in England. Adrian Healey is a wickedly enjoyable type that most readers probably hate to love. This was a case, however, of "won the battles but lost the war", in my opinion. The individual scenes and chapters were delightful. But, the novel as a whole felt disjointed and I was very discouraged by the addition of ,what I felt was, a novel unto it self well past the two-third mark of the book. This second theme of an Intrigue variety seemed to inform the choppy-ness of the previous section so that it might be properly included. The pace of the ending chapters accelerated rapidly from those preceding and the entire style of writing changed. This disturbed me greatly, as I was enjoying the novel quite a bit before this occurred. I would have preferred that the core message be intimated without this deluge of new information. Overall, however, I do not regret one bit the time that I spent with this book and anticipate happily reading more of Fry's work.
Book Review: high-brow humour & homoeroticism!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm so in love with everything Mr. Fry does and could not wait to get my hands on a copy of this particular work, especially since having read Moab is my Washpot, where he referred to The Liar as being highly autobiographical.
I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it and several pages had me laughing out loud. The author is truly a gem.
This story has it all... humour, homoeroticism, high-brow wit, all the H's (tee hee)! And like all of Stephen's work it was brilliantly written and positively dripping with linguistic cleverness while still remaining immensely entertaining.
This is definitely going to be one of those books I grab off the shelf again and again.