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The Closed Circle
by Jonathan Coe
Coe's sequel to "The Rotters' Club" finds the British teenagers of that novel as grown adults, with the action taking place between 1999-2003.
Knopf, 384 pages
05/24/2005
$25.00
ISBN: 0375414150
Fiction
General Literature & Fiction
All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...
Publishers Weekly
A compelling, dramatic and often funny depiction of the way we live now--both savage and heartfelt at the same time.
San Francisco Chronicle Timothy Peters
Novels purport to show us both what people do and why they do it, and The Closed Circle is a brilliant (and hugely entertaining) articulation of the sheer complexity of that goal, the myriad forces -- personal and political, rational and irrational -- that drive us and, occasionally, result in powerful events.
The Independent Richard Mason
Coe has succeeded in accomplishing that rare feat: a pair of novels that combine the addictive quality of the best soap operas with a basic cultural integrity.
Atlantic Monthly Elizabeth Judd
The Closed Circle would be easy to skewer for its mind-boggling coincidences and armchair analysis (rarely does Coe show when he can tell, tell, tell), but it redeems itself with boundless energy and a cheerful capaciousness.
Booklist Joanne Wilkinson
Coe's narrative voice is pleasingly intimate, as though he were inviting his readers into the "closed circle" referenced in the tide, urging them to lean close and then closer. [15 Mar 2005, p.1263]
Daily Telegraph Jane Shilling
One of the glories of Coe's writing is a magically buoyant narrative technique that makes you feel as though you have been fostering a comfortable intimacy with all his characters since they, and you, were young.
Daily Telegraph Tom Payne
The Closed Circle is a wonderful book; but sometimes it feels like a cruel one.
Kirkus Reviews
A pleasing modern-day addition to the venerable lineage of the English social novel, easily the equal of Trollope or Galsworthy, though without the imaginative fire of Dickens.
Library Journal Barbara Love
This politically incisive sequel may be read and enjoyed independently, but fans of the earlier novel will be rewarded by the welcome return of an engaging cast of characters and the resolution of outstanding mysteries. [1 Mar 2005, p.76]
The Spectator Olivia Glazebrook
It is a tribute to the writer that the impression of uncertainty and unease, of a world in waiting, does not end with the story.
Village Voice Joy Press
The phrase "closed circle" resonates all over the book, as characters hunt down clues to old mysteries and Coe weaves together his impressively labyrinthine narratives.
Washington Post Ron Charles
Coe is a witty writer with a talent for social satire that singes characters without burning away their humanity.
Los Angeles Times Richard Eder
It is a roman-fleuve, a structure reminiscent in part of Anthony Powell's multivolume "A Dance to the Music of Time." It is as witty and acerbic as Evelyn Waugh's war trilogy -- Coe, as I've written elsewhere, is a kind of Waugh on the left: publicly ruthless, yet finally a little more merciful to his characters. [19 June 2005]
The New York Times Book Review Jenny Turner
The symmetries developed between this novel and its predecessor appear more intricate and abstract the longer you reflect on them, and yet, around these axes, much of the novel has a free-form, improvised quality. The effect is odd but also charming: sometimes bathetic, sometimes sublime.
Boston Globe Anna Mundow
Here [Coe] is less playful but no less graceful, constructing a plot that meanders enticingly yet has the pleasing symmetry of a Shakespearean comedy.
The New Yorker
Coe's knack for capturing an epoch is still strong, but, in contrast to the distant decade of the earlier book, his evocation of turn-of-the-millennium Britain seems very much yesterday's news.
TLS: The Times Literary Supplement David Horspool
The Closed Circle is a gratifying sequel. Coe's characters have developed, the ironies play out cleverly, change and continuity are shown in various manifestations. As a contribution to the author's oeuvre, however, it represents an exercise in treading water.
The Globe And Mail [Toronto] Susie Maguire
Coe's reputation as a writer of comedy falters a little in this volume; there's a lot of melancholy, fitting enough for its characters' midlife crises, but the pacing, particularly toward the end, induces page-turning for the wrong reasons.
London Review Of Books Christopher Tayler
The writing is frequently absentminded. Nevertheless, The Closed Circle is - as always with Coe - a strangely likeable performance. Even at its corniest it has a direct and unpretentious narrative drive.
The Independent Robert Hanks
Even those who loved The Rotters' Club may feel a twinge of disappointment.
The Guardian Steven Poole
In the end, this is more glum than Coe's other work, without succeeding in being what it apparently wants to be: more serious. It is to be hoped that now he has "closed" this circle, Coe's next novel will live up once again to his considerable talent.
 The average user rating for this book is 7.5 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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