- Shopping Bag ( 0 items )
-
A Good Caper Tale
Night Climbers was an engaging story. Told in a flash-back format, the "caper" is slowly unveiled and the consequences shared in the last 50 pages. The characters are compelling and the style reminds one of Joanne Harris's "Gentlemen and Players." and definately enjoyable read.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged. -
Anonymous
Posted March 7, 2008
The Nightclimbers Never Reaches Its Peak
After having spent the summer in Cambridge, England I was eager to read The Nightclimbers, especially since the novel had such promise of the secret societies and wealth that I had heard of whilst there. At first, the book was rather promising- a likable young hero that was just as inexperienced as we were, the potential for a fascinating daring plotline, and the true intigue that is offered when a reader encounters a mysterey. The book did deliever on the character front- James is always down to earth because he's an outsider like we are, but he is severely flawed in many ways making him a sophisticated character. The vivacious, but self-destructing ringleader, Francis, is presented in such a way that we as readers can understand why the others were so attracted to him and what he represented. Other members of the Nightclimbers- the beautiful insecure Jessica, the flamboyant insincere Michael, and the shady Lisa- are also captivating. Yet overall, the story is not so. We keep waiting for real intrigue, this is one of those books that should be a pageturner, but Stourton just drivels on and never leads us to anything exciting. We end up feeling just as cheated by Stourton's antics as James is by Francis's. The narrative is also polluted with superfulous metaphors- there is almost one a page. And even though Stourton could have some rather elegant metaphors, most are randomly smashed into the end of a chapter, thus defeating the real purpose.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged. -
fascinating complex group character study
Eighteen years old Tudor College of Cambridge University freshman James Walker is a bit awed at being at the prestigious school, but that will not preclude his desire to party with pretty coeds. Still he fears he will be left on the outside unless he befriends the in-crowd whoever they are. James meets Michael Findlay and he leads the newcomer to a bunch of thrill-seekers who welcome him to join their group, the Tudor Night Climbers. Although he has some doubts about climbing buildings and other edifices at night he joins them. He quickly is attracted to Jessica Katz, but she seems to desire the dynamic leader Francis. When Francis¿ father cuts off his funding (and consequently the group), they follow up on an idea by one of them, Lisa, to continue to finance their climbing way of life Emboldened by Francis they remain naive that fourteen years later they will still be paying the price. --- THE NIGHT CLIMBERS is a fascinating complex (perhaps too complicated with its myriad of subplots) group character study. The building climbing apparently is based on a 1960s fad (although this reviewer does not know of any Queens College climbers). Each of the key characters are fully developed and ultimately tied together by the scheme more than by the climbing or the attraction. Ivo Stoughton provides an appealing glimpse at the tentative bonds of friendship. --- Harriet Klausner
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
